Friend of mine bought a plate from a trade seller in a Sunday paper. He had to pay a transfer fee plus new plates but he thought it was a good idea, we all had fun trying to decide what it actually spelt.

Finally he decide he was fed up with the embarrassment and put it on retention? for which he had to pay plus. After 3 years plate was up for sale but the cost of the retention was now as much as he had paid for this cheap and obviously worthless piece of tat.

So he lost his purchase price and the annual fees he paid.

I believe the DVLA retention fee is currently £80. So to take the private plate off of the BMW would only cost you £80 and you would then have a retention certificate which would entitle you to keep the plate for future use if you change your mind. I think ( but not certain ) that the retention can be held for up to ten years but if not used by then the right to it lapses and it would then go back to the DVLA for them to re-market it.

Bear in mind that registration plates such as the one you have will become rarer as the years roll on therefore spending £80 now may turn out to be a good investment.

Doc, thank you for your input which now prompts me to ask a question. At present I have my own private registration on a retention certificate and no plans to utilise it at the moment.

I understood that I have up to ten years to implement putting it onto another vehicle but your post states that “If you got your private number before 2015, you must renew it more often - check your V750 or V778 document”. I have had mine since around 2005 so how often does the retention have to be renewed ?

I know, I should spend a few hours trying to find my V750 or V778. LOL ??

First off, it depends how much you want for your plate as to how quickly it may sell. Second, it may be personalised to your partner and \ or Z3 which you may think means it's valuable. But imho, whatever you think the plate is worth, divide that by 4 unless it truely is a sought after plate.

EBay is awash with 'personalised' plates ranging from cheap to ridiculously hopeful prices. Ive got a work related plate that would suit someone working in IT. Im not asking a lot but it's been on EBay for 12 months.

Id suggest you either put it on retention, 80 quid for 10 years is peanuts or if you really want to move it on, bite the bullet and sell to a trader.

Bit confused after reading the guidance notes on the retention certificate. It's says : This Reg can be assigned to a vehicle at a later date. This right has been granted to you alone and is non transferable. Can you advise please ?

If you sell the number, you can assign the number to the buyer's vehicle. As you do not own the vehicle, the buyer becomes your nominee (there is a section on the form).

E&OE - above from memory.