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I'm looking at buyer a used car. I got the AA history report first and there were two alerts. One being financing and the second being registration.

The financing has been cleared up, it was an error and the Bank just forgot to clear it. So that alert has gone. But the question I have is around registration. It is a 2014 vehicle and in 2016 it was deregistered for about six weeks. And when it was reregistered it was registered with new plates to a car dealer. Is this something I should be concerned of? What are the ramification of this if I do buy the car?

My next step will be to get the pre purchase inspection, if it was reregistered because it was in an accident, would the pre purchase inspection find that past damage?

I just want to make sure I tick all the boxes.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Hi there,
It is possible that a personalised plate was fitted, or the vehicle was involved in an accident and written off by an insurer.
If there is evidence of a previous crash or repair visible at the time of inspection, the guys would usually pick it up and make a note of it as part of the per purchase inspection.
As long as you are aware of the history, satisfied with the vehicle condition/ repairs, and happy about the price, then there should not really be too many concerns.

Thanks for the reply Cade.

I know it wasn't a personalised plate, it was a generic plate and then it was issued with another generic plate. Is there any reason that would happen? Do you know if it is a practise some car companies conduct?

Thanks again for your advice. I'll book an inspectiong and hopefully that will come back clean.

Hi there,
No it is not common practice for a car dealer to change plates, the history report should show if an insurance company or auction house ever owned the vehicle. This may also give an indication as to if it was ever written off.