What Does ‘Pre-Registered’ Mean?

You will often see vehicles referred to as ‘new or pre-registered’ and perhaps wonder what this means and why some vehicles are treated in this way.

A pre-registered vehicle is one that has been registered with the DVLA before it is sold to the end user or customer. This means that when the van is ultimately sold it will be registered for a second time.

Why Does This Happen?

Manufacturers often offer sales bonuses based upon the number of vehicles sold in a period and stipulate that the vehicles must be registered by the deadline. Consequently some vehicles are registered without being sold to a true customer so that the dealers hit their targets and receive the cash bonus.

At Zebra we also have large fleet discount terms with manufacturers. These manufacturers reward us for the volumes that we buy. To be able to count the vans that we sell the manufacturers sometimes require the vans to be registered to Zebra before being registered to the customer. In this instance the vans are pre-registered just a day or so before they are delivered to the customer.

Will a Pre-Registered Van Be Worth Less Money?

The number of ‘registered keepers’ shown on the V5 Log Book is important to dealers in the car market i.e. a car with 1 previous keeper is worth a couple of hundred pounds more than one with 2 previous keepers.

However the van market is different. As a van is a business tool the primary importance is that the van is fit for purpose and that there is good life left in the van.