Looking a pride & joy

[Crossland]

Hey Everyone - thanks for allowing me to join. Unfortunately I lost my dad in the middle of last year - and so I want to try and hunt down his pride and joy. He sold it in the mid 1980s in the UK and always regretted it. The UK government still says it's on the road. Any ideas on how I find out where? Thanks Everyone.

Reg is PNN 436F

DVLA says untaxed (but imagine it would be exempt)

DVLA says not MOT'd (but imagine it would be exempt)

Year: 1968

Model: Mk3 1500

Colour: Black, Red or White (DVLA says it's currently red, it was black new, but that photo of my dad shows it white!)

[Guest]

Hello,

I have looked at the vehicle registration and DVLA references.

DVLA still states the Spitfire is black; quite often when a vehicle is disposed of, DVLA generally update their records to show the original vehicle details as per first registration - hence the original colour being declared.

However, of greater concern is that the last call for the car to be taxed was in 1988 with zero trace on the MOT history.

Taking all these facts in to consideration, I regret to say that is more than probable the vehicle no longer exists and has long since gone. Not the update you wanted, but I believe that to be the reality.

Good luck.

Richard.

[dougbgt6]

Hi,

You’re correct about the MOT exemption, but ALL cars have to be either taxed or SORN. Once the car reaches 40 years old tax is free, but you still have to go through the motions. My car is a 1973, tax due in August, they will send me a reminder, a dreadful waste of time and money. I will go online press the buttons and the car is taxed, but no money changes hands.

Which means, sadly, your car is probably no more.

Doug

[thescrapman]

There is also the status of "pre-SORN" where a car is neither taxed or SORNed as it has been off road since before 1998 I think it is.

DVLA is unable to handle that status anymore if you buy a car that is pre-SORN as it will write to you after you buy the car advising you that you need to tax or SORN the car, even IF you did SORN it when you purchased it, and if you check it will again show as untaxed, so you SORN it again and still it will not show as either taxed or on SORN.

It is incompetance of the highest order.

[Colin Lindsay]

1 hour ago, thescrapman said:

There is also the status of "pre-SORN" where a car is neither taxed or SORNed as it has been off road since before 1998 I think it is.

One of my Estates was like that, I moved house back in 2016 and sent the V5 in to have the address changed. It was registered in my name in 1995 and had not been on the road since 1977. When SORN came in I tried to SORN it only to be told that as it had not been taxed, I didn't need to. 

Then of course, when I tried to change the V5 details they told me it was 'not on record' so I had to fill in a few forms and send photos to prove the car actually existed. Now we're street legal.... and it still has never been on the street.

[dougbgt6]

My car was in this category, off the road when SORN was introduced. I wrote the DVLA for clarification and they said I didn’t have to do it. HOWEVER, the rules were changed not long ago and now ALL cars have to be taxed or SORN. We discovered this when my brother bought his Spitfire in 2018.

Doug

[Steve P]

My Vitesse was off the road for about 10 years+,before Sorn came in,not taxed or MOT`d,when i got it back on the road i was prosecuted for the 10 years back tax,i contested the case and won on the basis of proving it was in bits in a garage the whole time.That was around 2009.

Steve

[68vitesse]

Bit confused, I have two Vitesse which have not been on the road for years, when I bought them was adviced by DVLA that I didn't need to anything as they had not been taxed for years. Vehicles are registered in my name with V5 do I need to sorn them?, looked at .Gov.uk website but can not see anything relevent.

Regards

Paul

[dougbgt6]

The DVLA site no longer mentions the "stored before SORN was introduced" escape clause. The problem is Continuous Insurance Enforcement introduced in 2014, primarily aimed at people using uninsured vehicles on the road, but including the likes of us with long term stored vehicles.  The DVLA database is scanned and compared with the Motor Insurance Database, no insurance/tax/SORN gets a warning letter, then fine and 6 penalty points. Even Steve's "car in bits" now falls into this. There was a guy on here last year got a letter wondering what to do about it, I think he got away with immediately declaring it SORN. 

Doug

[68vitesse]

The two cars I've got, bought one in 96 the other in 06 can't find a modern V5 for the 96 one but paper work in my name and address, they have not been taxed insured or mot in my ownership and for some years before. If they needed to be taxed or sorn then the DVLA should have sent me a letter as they do with my modern car or is that expecting to much from a government department.

Regards

Paul

[Colin Lindsay]

33 minutes ago, 68vitesse said:

The two cars I've got, bought one in 96 the other in 06 can't find a modern V5 for the 96 one but paper work in my name and address, they have not been taxed insured or mot in my ownership and for some years before. If they needed to be taxed or sorn then the DVLA should have sent me a letter as they do with my modern car or is that expecting to much from a government department.

Regards

Paul

I really must ask the question: do you want them to? The onus is on you to keep your vehicles legal and a letter from the DVA now might not be that welcome when it arrives after all this time...

Say nowt, let sleeping dogs or civil servants lie, and think up a good excuse for when the time does come and you have to try to tax them.