Why obscure number plate when selling?

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curlcrown, Sep 7, 7:23pm
See this a lot. Is it paranoia? It looks dodgy.

gusthe1, Sep 7, 7:25pm
Probably because the last ad the seller looked at had an obscured number plate.

nice_lady, Sep 7, 7:37pm
It might be a carryover from when it was possible to lookup the owners address and etc from the number plate. I suspect a lot of people think that's still possible.

clark20, Sep 7, 8:07pm
And dodgy people find a similar car as theirs, and print out your number plate so it looks legit, and then do something illegal.

tamarillo, Sep 7, 8:53pm
Puts me off the advert. Feels like going to be hard to communicate with so why bother

socram, Sep 7, 9:10pm
Because the plates on the car now (personalised) won't be on the car when sold. Nothing dodgy about that. If the potential buyer is interested, they can ring up and ask.

Wouldn't put me off buying a car I was interested in. As clark20 says, too many crooks around and plenty of fake ads appear from what I can gather using stolen plates/details.

Equally, also agree with nice_lady. It may not be as easy as it once was, but still possible.

spead, Sep 7, 9:13pm
it is still possible for a small fee

noodleman4, Sep 7, 9:23pm
Really ?

realtrader1, Sep 7, 9:36pm
Each to their own on this one and fully agree with the above. There can be lots of reasons and as well it is a privacy thing. In fact it can be the dodgy types who want the id details. The only people you want to hear from are genuine types who will make contact. It is a bit like home owners selling their home with an agent but refusing to have a sign outside their home. Good on them. Is there an issue?

supernova2, Sep 7, 9:49pm
Well what perverted logic applies to this?. Obscure the plate in the pictures but list the number in the advert and then have a pic of the licence label?

gpg58, Sep 7, 10:00pm
Agree, comes across to me as dodgy, i bypass all ads i see like that (as i did when recently buying 2 vehicles, including house bus - (yes some had hidden it on those too).
If i can not check carjam for info, i am not going to waste my time with that seller.

sw20, Sep 7, 10:02pm
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/how-the-motor-vehicle-register-affects-you/requesting-register-information/

You can apply, but chances of NZTA releasing personal information to random people wanting to see who owns a particular car are slim to none.

john1623, Sep 7, 10:04pm
So you cant look it up on Carjam.

sw20, Sep 7, 10:09pm
Only if the owner is a company or trust. Otherwise it will say "Personal details protected by law." or "Access to personal details revoked/opted out by law"

toenail, Sep 7, 11:27pm
haha the plate number is on trademe ad's anyway if the car is registered regardless of what sellers do with the photos. It's one of the field you have to put in when selling.

franc123, Sep 8, 6:19am
No plate number=no further enquiry from me, WTF are they hiding? Even if it is revealed doesnt mean the seller isnt a dishonest bozo re its identity, I was looking at a car just yesterday on FB that seemed to have plates on it that were too old for the car, looked it up and I was right.

tgray, Sep 8, 8:34am
Yes, a lot of people cover their plate up but happily list it in the description box above.

lilyfield, Sep 8, 8:45am
noodleman4 wrote:
Really ?[/quote

Yes

kazbanz, Sep 8, 9:00am
The way I see it is if there was a legitimate reason to cover the plate up then you would mention it in the body of the advert.
Ie --pictures taken with personalised plates etc.
I've done that on a few occasions.

mikek, Sep 8, 9:12am
You can block your details here - https://transact.nzta.govt.nz/transactions/PersonalInfoAccess/entry

Which means noone apart from Law Enforcement can look up your details without a court order. So no need to blur your plate - Its also handy as Wilson parking or any other private firm can never get your details so never can chase you for fines. They have to get your name to do anything and they cant do anything with this in place.

intrade, Sep 8, 2:50pm
yea

socram, Sep 8, 7:45pm
If you are looking at Toyota RAV4's or Corollas and there are hundreds listed, by all means skip the ones with obscured plates. But if you are looking for a TVR Chimera or a Swallow Doretti, you are going to ring the seller and find out what you want. In which case, they are going to be up front.

Carjam is OK for a superficial check but even after 29 years, it is still showing my 2 seater as a 5 seater.

Carjam also shows that there is only one in NZ and there are two. The other is down as 'Custombuilt' - and has 2 seats. That isn't Carjam's fault, as they get their info from the NZTA system.

Odometer readings are often incorrect, as older cars rolled over at 99999, so the car could have 120,000 or 920,000 on the clock.

car__parts, Sep 8, 8:21pm
Any one can go online and mess with your rego details, put your car on hold, change ownership etc.

nesta129, Sep 9, 7:38pm
I was always told to blur the plates (this was more than a decade ago) because dickheads could use it to get your address and come steal your car if you had a car of great value etc.
But then people started registering their cars to a different address than their own haha.

201, Sep 10, 1:10pm
Jeez it doesn't take much to upset some people. Going to "by-pass" anyone selling a vehicle with the plate covered. Are you buying the car or the plate?
If I found a vehicle of year & specs I was looking for I certainly wouldn't give a Rats' arse about the plate being covered. Do due diligence on ownership etc before buying but don't be so small minded to flag a vehicle because you can't read the plate.