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Why do some hitch hikers hold up licence plates?
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[Deleted User]
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What's that all about?
Can any one give them a lift or is it some kind of code?
Can any one give them a lift or is it some kind of code?
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They don't usually have to wait very long before a fellow driver stops for them.
Yup and commercial vehicles or someone in the 'motoring' trade is more likely to pick them up....thereby saving them the train/bus fare home.
And as mikeyddd said they pocket the expenses for the return journey. Shrewd these old codgers!
Or do they???
Not sure I like the idea of old codgers delivering a new car, they have a habit of driving up the wrong side of the motorway.
And I wouldn't fancy the idea of a young thing delivering either - most likely the engine would be revved flat out, tyres scrubbed, interior filled with empty McD wrappers, Red Bull cans and stale **** smoke....
And if by "old codgers" you mean someone in the 60 - 65 age group, then I think you'd find that these drivers take much more care of the car and have much more respect for the new owner since they too will probably have been through a new car experience unlike the young chavs who scrape together a few bob to buy an old banger.
You're joking aren't you? A lot of them don't get return expenses paid.
Some of them are self-employed anyway.
trade plates. I don't know what trade but I know it helps them get a lift.
If you look, you will see that these plates have white lettering on a read background as opposed to black-on-white/yellow. They are temporary plates, called "trade plates", to be used when it is necessary to drive a new car to its destination before said car is properly registered. Quite why a vehicle can't be registered before the delivery, I don't know.
Anyway, these people you see hitchhicking with said plates are called "tradeplaters"; they drove the car from somewhere to somewhere else, and now they obviously have no car left with which to take them back.
The car dealership pays these people to deliver the vehicle and presumably enough to get the train/bus back to wherever it is they live/work.
Some people prefer to save the money and hitchhike back instead. They carry the plates to reassure any potential picker-up that they are not going to rob them or accuse them of rape. (It is presumably possible to identify the company in question from the plates, but I've no idea how to do this.)
Richard [in SG1]
It's not just about it being unregistered, though. Trade plates also cover VED so this isn't required to drive on them, again on new vehicles this would be paid for by the dealer selling the vehicle or the customer.
Also, it covers vehicles which aren't currently registered but have previously been. If a vehicle is sold to a dealer it is de-registered from the previous keeper but not actually registered to the dealer (although I assume the DVLA keep a record of which dealer is in possession of it) so the vehicle registration isn't valid to drive on and also it would be untaxed - so a trade plate is required to move the vehicle.
Actually it's red on white.:)
A lot of cars can't be registered as they're dealer transfers. It's VERY common for dealers who can't immediately supply a new car in perhaps the colour the customer wants to get it from another dealership. Sometimes they swap, sometimes not. If the end user is agreeable to the car being driven, the dealership will send some one for it, but usually on the bus or train.
Customers registered cars are never delivered on trade plates - there's no need, but the driver will take a trade plate with him if he intends to get a lift back. Sometimes there is no convenient public transport. They do get paid any expenses incurred for the return journey, but a lot prefer to set out with a trade plate rather than wait hours for a train.
They are not conning the dealership- where do you think they get the plate from in the first place?
A new car is NEVER delivered to a retail customer unregistered. The V55/1 is for dealer use only. Even cars sold to large leasing companies have to be registered before delivery to the customer.
Ah, OK. You meant dealer transfer.:)
Sorry, I picked it up wrongly.
Leasing companies will usually use the dealer nearest the end customer, but the those supplying big fleets, such as BSM, will buy from whoever gives the craziest discount, no matter where they are.:)