Q Plate

[Guest weanspapa]

O.K. here goes, what is the general perception about Q plates. When watching any cars for sale, Q plated cars just don't seem to move and sellers go out of there way to emphasise the fact there car has no such reg.. My general perception is that there is an element of snobbishness involved. If there is no genuine reason, please remember that any fellow members with such cars are being ill served by other members holding such views. If there is a good reason to be aware of them

A. What should we be looking out for?

B. Can anything be done to rectify this?

At this time I have no opinion one way or other.

many thanks Robert

[brumster]

The general perception of Q plates is that they are horrible, disease-infested vehicles that should only be approached with rubber gloves and a 10ft barge pole.

 

 

Now being serious for a bit...

 

I think there is a degree of snobbishness, particularly on cars that are trying to pretend to be something they're not (e.g. ferrari replica running around on a Q-plate just won't float with anyone, will it!).

There is a possible argument that since the bits are sourced from all over the place and the car cannot be identified from a single donor, that this may leave the history of the vehicle (or it's constituent parts) in doubt.

Some people may argue they can't put a private plate on it, I guess

Otherwise, I think it's just that less desirable 'branding' that a Q-plate puts on a car.

[Guest MarkB]

The only difference between a q, an age related plate and a new reg is proof of parts, it's down to paper work only.... Proof that most parts came ffrom a single donor... Age related, proof that the parts were supplied new.... Current year reg and then a car with no proof of parts origins gets a q because they have no way to determine a year.

 

 

As I have said many times before a q plate is deemed as being the devils spawn because q's were mainly reserved for stolen recovered and chop shop vehicles.

[Guest MarkB]

End of the day, most westfields are on q plates so theres no snobbery there

[Grim]

i think most of the stigma comes from the days where stolen recovered vehicles were registered as Q plated. That's just not valid anymore.

If someone is bothered that others will know it's a kit car, then i don't think a kit is suitable for them!

[sj-bradley]

Heck, even new 12 plates can have at most ONE reconditioned part so even those aren't entirely "new"

 

Simon.

[Guest weanspapa]

Yes! I am considering buying a Q plated zero. Is there anything to be particularly wary of, any best way to check this out

Non-snobby Robert (something to do with beggars etc.)

[biksz]

agree a kit with q plate is ok but if it was a focus on a q plate then i would ask questions.as you would not be sure about it, a kit car is expected most of the time when they was built long ago in my eyes to be a q plate but that is my opinion it would not put me of.

[Guest alfaGTA]

personally the number plate does not interest me on a kitcar, there are far more interesting bits to worry about as far as i am concerned-but then i'm a kitcar owner and not a potential first time buyer.......... Plus most joe blog car drivers have no inclination of number plates and only look at how shiny a car is.

[Snapperpaul]

The Q plate tends to allow an easier emmissions test at MOT

[brumster]

Check the VIN against the V5 too, of course (same with buying any car, but moreso on a kit as I've known misprints to cause troubles!)

[Guest chrispine]

Hi, with a Q plate, easy emissions for mot as already stated, only problem I've found is that I can't have both my cars on one insurance policy due to the Q plate, unless anyone else knows different?

 

Chris

[speedtripledan]

my last car was q plated made no differance whats so ever.

[ibrooks]

There's a lot of snobbery around Q plates so in the real world they will fetch less money no matter how wonderful the car wearing it is. This can be a good or bad thing from your point of view.

 

The real question you need to ask yourself about a car with a Q is "why does it have a Q?" There's no hard and fast rule to answer that question and to how the answer will affect you if you buy it.

 

Generally with a kit car it means the parts have come from more than one source which is unlikely to be a problem and possibly an advantage as hopefully it means the builder selected the best bits rather than making do with what was in a single donor.

 

On a "normal" car it's more likely to mean something questionable has gone on in the cars past so you need an answer as to what and you need to make a decision based on that information. When the Q was issued can have a bearing here as in recent years they are rarely issued so it tends to be something seriously iffy whereas in the '80's it seemed that a Q was issued if the DVLC were too lazy to look in the files to trace a cars proper ID or if they were at all confused as to what they should issue. Imports, kit cars, stolen recovered etc. anything out of the ordinary was likely to get a Q-plate at the drop of a hat or if the usual person that dealt with that sort of stuff and knew how to handle it was on hols, sick or the loo when it came across their desk.

 

Living with one.....

There's the snobbery and stigma that you can just ignore.

Some insurance companies are a bit iffy with them - some won't touch them and some will apply a loading because of the Q. Generally this is in the mainstream world and the specialists that you would need to go to for a kit-car anyway take a more sensible view so in reality it's not a problem for us.

As mentioned if you come to sell it you'll get less money than for a comparable car on an age related plate and some buyers will just dismiss it out of hand which limits the market.

It confuses people when it comes to age-related anything (like emissions tests). If you can talk fast and be convincing this will generally let you swing things in your favour if it's advantageous that the car is teated as being older.

 

My GTM is on a Q and on balance if I could swap it for a personal or age-related plate I would but it doesn't overly worry me that I can't.

 

Iain

[Guest ickle]

turns out a mate that has just bought a Q plate locost aint allowed it on his traders policy

not much o a issue but something to remember

 

regards stuart