Tracing the owner of a car

[Ross365]

I want to see if I can find out who owns a car I used to own. I've found out that it is SORN, so there's no justifiable reason to ask DVLA re parking etc.
Anyone know how it could be done? There are lots of Ads on Google, but I don't think any of them actually produce names and addresses.

 

[Dee J]

I want to see if I can find out who owns a car I used to own. I've found out that it is SORN, so there's no justifiable reason to ask DVLA re parking etc.
Anyone know how it could be done? There are lots of Ads on Google, but I don't think any of them actually produce names and addresses.

I'm sure there isn't a legal and legitimate way to achieve that aim unless you can claim the data is in some way directly relevant - such as parking issues or dumped vehicles. That said, I'm sure there are folks who, for a fee, will misuse power on your behalf. Why not just post the vehicle details to social media and Web forums to see if you get a bite. It's then up to the current owner if they chose to get in touch.

 

[brightspark]

last timei asked dvla i had to pay a fiver. someone bumped my van in a carpark and the old bill wouldnt tell me who as it was private park .u need a valid reason . even the old bill get asked why they do a pnc on vehicles now to stop mis use

 

[Migmac]

We tried to trace the owner of a Land Rover ( think it was sorted too) that had a personal plate on it. Son would have liked to buy the plate We tried DVLA and it’s a no go. A friendly copper who is willing to bend the law is about the only way we could see working. We hit a dead end

 

[Ross365]

Thanks guys; that's just about what I thought. Don't know any friendly coppers, but I might know a man who does.... but it would be wrong to do that.

 

[TEO]

Thanks guys; that's just about what I thought. Don't know any friendly coppers, but I might know a man who does.... but it would be wrong to do that.

If you have to ask the question I reckon you already know the answer

 

[stuvy]

We tried to trace the owner of a Land Rover ( think it was sorted too) that had a personal plate on it. Son would have liked to buy the plate We tried DVLA and it’s a no go. A friendly copper who is willing to bend the law is about the only way we could see working. We hit a dead end

They can’t do it any more due to too much miss use, like this

Owners clubs and forums would be the best bet

Is the car anything special
When was it last on the road?

 

[James1979]

Thanks guys; that's just about what I thought. Don't know any friendly coppers, but I might know a man who does.... but it would be wrong to do that.

He would get reamed big time if they found out.

Do you know anyone at local council highways? They have access to PNC data for cars that are in the way that they need shifted for tarmacing and what have you. They only can see registered keeper. They would still get sacked if they were found out and it’s all logged

Only real option is to contact DVSA with some made up excuse - dumped vehicle, non payment of invoice etc. shouldn’t matter it’s sorn. Just say it’s the only way of tracing the customer available to you

 

[Nomad]

What type of car? I often use oddball motors - it''s surprising how often a get a message from somebody who used to own / drive / see whatever it is.

I bought a distinctive green car from an interesting chap in Wales and took the car to my home near the Scottish borders - went shopping a few weeks later and found a note on the screen from somebody who knew the car from Wales but didn't realise it now lived Oop North.


A few years later I took it to a back-street MOT station, MOT chap was convinced he'd sold the same car 5 years earlier - I didn't believe it could be the same car so rang the chap in Wales - it was!
He'd taken the bus from Wales to Darlington to buy it, used it for several years then sold it to me - and I took it back to the same garage in Darlington for the MOT. Coincidences are strange things

My latest is a fairly ordinary 70s motor, I joined the owners club and a chap who sold it 10 years ago (to the chap I bought it off?) got in touch to give me some history about it.

A chap I know had a huge 1930 McLochlin Buick project 90% complete but the engine was missing the pistons, a chap in Canada had a set of pistons but was asking top dollar for them. There was 1 potential buyer in the world for the only set of new near-100-year-old pistons, the buyer wouldn't pay the asking price and the seller wouldn't drop the price. The car never got it's pistons

The world is a small place when you get involved with older cars.

 

[stuvy]

What type of car? I often use oddball motors - it''s surprising how often a get a message from somebody who used to own / drive / see whatever it is.

I bought a distinctive green car from an interesting chap in Wales and took the car to my home near the Scottish borders - went shopping a few weeks later and found a note on the screen from somebody who knew the car from Wales but didn't realise it now lived Oop North.
View attachment 385575

A few years later I took it to a back-street MOT station, MOT chap was convinced he'd sold the same car 5 years earlier - I didn't believe it could be the same car so rang the chap in Wales - it was!
He'd taken the bus from Wales to Darlington to buy it, used it for several years then sold it to me - and I took it back to the same garage in Darlington for the MOT. Coincidences are strange things

My latest is a fairly ordinary 70s motor, I joined the owners club and a chap who sold it 10 years ago (to the chap I bought it off?) got in touch to give me some history about it.

A chap I know had a huge 1930 McLochlin Buick project 90% complete but the engine was missing the pistons, a chap in Canada had a set of pistons but was asking top dollar for them. There was 1 potential buyer in the world for the only set of new near-100-year-old pistons, the buyer wouldn't pay the asking price and the seller wouldn't drop the price. The car never got it's pistons

The world is a small place when you get involved with older cars.

Iv noticed the car world is a very small place

 

[droopsnoot]

Consider that if you contact the DVLA for the information and make up some kind of reason such as a parking problem even though the vehicle is on SORN, you might unleash all sorts of problems on the owner of it when the DVLA get on to them for using it while on SORN. So you might cause them some trouble, and still not get the information you'd like.

 

[Migmac]

They can’t do it any more due to too much miss use, like this

Owners clubs and forums would be the best bet

Is the car anything special
When was it last on the road?

Nothing special, son just wanted the private plate

 

[Nomad]

Put the plate into as many archive sites and search engines as you can find and see if you get any hits - if you can find the plate dealer who sold it you can ask them to forward a message to the buyer? https://web.archive.org/

 

[stuvy]

Nothing special, son just wanted the private plate

A note under the windscreen if your lucky to see it again

 

[Migmac]

A note under the windscreen if your lucky to see it again

He found it online not in person, makes it hard to put a note under the wiper

 

[Tom O]

I want to see if I can find out who owns a car I used to own. I've found out that it is SORN, so there's no justifiable reason to ask DVLA re parking etc.
Anyone know how it could be done? There are lots of Ads on Google, but I don't think any of them actually produce names and addresses.

Do you have the serial # I’ve done it before looking for proof of ownership.

 

[Gritineye]

What type of car? I often use oddball motors - it''s surprising how often a get a message from somebody who used to own / drive / see whatever it is.

I bought a distinctive green car from an interesting chap in Wales and took the car to my home near the Scottish borders - went shopping a few weeks later and found a note on the screen from somebody who knew the car from Wales but didn't realise it now lived Oop North.
View attachment 385575

A few years later I took it to a back-street MOT station, MOT chap was convinced he'd sold the same car 5 years earlier - I didn't believe it could be the same car so rang the chap in Wales - it was!
He'd taken the bus from Wales to Darlington to buy it, used it for several years then sold it to me - and I took it back to the same garage in Darlington for the MOT. Coincidences are strange things

My latest is a fairly ordinary 70s motor, I joined the owners club and a chap who sold it 10 years ago (to the chap I bought it off?) got in touch to give me some history about it.

A chap I know had a huge 1930 McLochlin Buick project 90% complete but the engine was missing the pistons, a chap in Canada had a set of pistons but was asking top dollar for them. There was 1 potential buyer in the world for the only set of new near-100-year-old pistons, the buyer wouldn't pay the asking price and the seller wouldn't drop the price. The car never got it's pistons

The world is a small place when you get involved with older cars.

Wow how cool is that Mclochlin, never heard of those before.

https://flic.kr/p/8rGLFF

 

[Ross365]

Do you have the serial # I’ve done it before looking for proof of ownership.

Firstly, I note your are in Canada. Do you mean that you have used a chassis number to get ownership from UK DVLA???

 

[Wedg1e]

Funnily enough, I've just bought another bike (from a salvage auction) and was wondering whether the DVLA still give you everything on file in exchange for a fiver - I guess not Bloody data protection nonsense.
Obviously I was hoping I could contact the previous owner (assuming he survived the prang that put the bike into salvage) and see whether he still has spare keys, any maintenance history etc. Now as it happens the auctioneers said it's only had two owners, and DVLA website helpfully says last V5 was issued in 2016 and would you believe it, in the fairing compartment I found an expired insurance cert with the guy's name on it - but no address!
There was also a car park ticket from a hospital 'down south' to narrow the search area so I reckon with a bit of 192.com I can probably find him

 

[Olderisbetter]

I think the historic check for £5 has stopped due to data protection, if you want details from a number plate then you need a private investigator you will find an ex copper P.I. is best.