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DVLA Previous Registered Keepers Details for £5 - interesting ....

7K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  jaynemc 
#1 ·
Have just done this for my recently acquired 130i and if you like doing a bit of research its quite interesting. I like to know as much as possible about my car and if there are bits missing in its history when I buy it then a bit of digging around can often reveal what you need.

For a fee of £5 and completing form V888 the DVLA will provide you with details of the previous registered keepers of your vehicle. You get the name and address of each registered keeper and the date they acquired the vehicle and the date they disposed of it.

As long as you are clear on the form why you want the information you will get it - in my case I stated that it was for personal interest (not commercial use) and to complete the ownership history of my car. I've got all the stamps in the service book but I'm missing a service history invoice so I indicated I hoped to get hold of this by contacting the previous keeper. Those sorts of purposes are fine with the DVLA.

Yes that service history invoice one is a long shot but its worked for me in the past, in particular, when I owned an MG Midget in the late 1990s - by then it was a 25 year old car and restoration work had been done on it. I got the previous keeper details from the DVLA and contacted a previous keeper who had clearly never cleared his cupboards out. He sent me paperwork/invoices, etc. and lots of photos of the car before and during its restoration. That's invaluable stuff when you come to sell a classic car like that and want to be able to tell the whole story of the car and what's gone on with it.

Anyway with my 130i I found out that the 1st registered keeper was BMW in Nottingham so it was clearly a demonstrator car for the 1st 6 months of its life - I had suspected this given the spec of the car and the low miles. After that it went to London but was clearly not a daily driver given the still low annual mileages.

I've searched the electoral roll (open register) which is available free on-line to search if you have a name + address. Luckily the previous keepers had registered to vote so the roll confirms for me that the previous registered keepers still live at the same addresses in London. If you want to double check you can then search one of the web sites which give sold house prices (Zoopla, Rightmove, Land Registry,etc) - search on the address and you will find the last date the property was sold. Obviously only works if they are home owners - luckily my registered keepers still are.

So next step is to write to them and see if they have any other paperwork relating to my car other than that which I have already. The service history invoice I'm missing is from a BMW main dealer in London. I've contacted BMW about this and the only other way I can get my hands on this is to turn up in person with all the paperwork for the car at that main dealer in London. Same story from my local BMW main dealer as well. Oh well for the price of a stamp and the time to draft a quick letter I'll write to previous keepers 1st. :)
 
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#2 ·
I leave all the documents I've got for the car with the car.

All the service notes from BMW have my contact details. However I really wouldn't want people chasing me up for details. Everything is there that they should need. I also wouldn't jeep anything that's for that car.

I'd imagine that a lot of people will similarly not like to be contacted about previous cars. For most people a car is transport and not a hobby.

I'm sure a few will be quite annoyed that you've gone to the levels you have to trace them back.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the reply Kerr.

Unfortunately not everybody is as good as you at handing all the paperwork over when they sell their car - if they were then there wouldn't be people like me who feel the need to chase them up.

Yes some people might be a bit annoyed but then I've found others that are quite amused I do go to such lengths and some that are even
interested to learn what has become of their car and happy that it has gone to an enthusiast. Yes I agree with modern cars they are more likely than not just a form of getting from A to B and not a hobby. My 130i does get me everywhere I need to go but its also a bit of an interest. On the classic car scene its completely different and a complete vehicle history adds value and provenance.

If former keepers really don't like the approach then the best thing for them is just to bin my letter. I don't mind at all and they'll get over it as no harm was intended. I think maybe one day my car will be a classic. :thumbs:
 
#5 ·
Thanks to tracing the previous keepers I've now got the full invoiced service history for my 130i.

Just heard back from a previous keeper who owned the car for 5 years immediately before me - she was delighted her car had gone to a good home, she shed light on a few things with the car I had wondered about and she had been in touch with the BMW main dealer she used in London for servicing in order to get me a copy of a previous service invoice that I didn't get with the car. Some people are very kind indeed.

The missing service invoice she gave me was from 2011 at a cost of £1600!

The site you refer to Phil is one of the very many out there we can use to check everything is ok with a car immediately before purchasing. The history you refer to is slightly different to what I have been doing. That vehicle check site will tell you a lot of very useful info (such as MOT + tax status, when 1st registered, insurance write off, stolen, outstanding finance) but it won't give you a service history record which is what I was after.

Cheers :thumbs:
 
#6 ·
jaynemc said:
Thanks to tracing the previous keepers I've now got the full invoiced service history for my 130i.

Just heard back from a previous keeper who owned the car for 5 years immediately before me - she was delighted her car had gone to a good home, she shed light on a few things with the car I had wondered about and she had been in touch with the BMW main dealer she used in London for servicing in order to get me a copy of a previous service invoice that I didn't get with the car. Some people are very kind indeed.

The missing service invoice she gave me was from 2011 at a cost of £1600!

The site you refer to Phil is one of the very many out there we can use to check everything is ok with a car immediately before purchasing. The history you refer to is slightly different to what I have been doing. That vehicle check site will tell you a lot of very useful info (such as MOT + tax status, when 1st registered, insurance write off, stolen, outstanding finance) but it won't give you a service history record which is what I was after.

Cheers :thumbs:
Out of interest how long did it take to get the information back from the DVLA. I sent mine off just under 4 weeks ago but haven't heard anything.
 
#7 ·
Seem to recall it took about 4 weeks for previous keeper details for my car to come back - could have been a bit longer.

DVLA is not the fastest organisation in the world! :lol2:

Report back + let us know what you find out. :thumbs:
 
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