The Latest Project!!

[CitroJim]

I love sunroofs. Not for the fact they open so much as how much extra light they let in and make the car feel airier and more spacious inside.

It all stems from that I'm a wee bit claustrophobic and like my space. A sunny'd XM gives me that...

My Activa has one but sadly my V6 doesn't.

I'm 5'11" and agree that if I was a bit taller such as like you Will then a sunroof would start to be an irritating problem...

[MTXM]

Although I accept the points Jim makes and it is obviously a personal thing, I also think with an XM there is so much other glass you hardly notice the omission. When closed the 'fritted' finish also restricts light input as well as glare. Regards, Matthew T.

[MTXM]

Just to steer things back 'on topic' here is a photo of one of the new registration plates I had made up with the original dealer logo. The new number obviously includes one of our local area codes 'PW' (for Norfolk). Regards, Matthew T.

[citroenxm]

Age related plate too how lucky.. could of easily had a q plate.. wonder what that was off originally in 1991..

[CitroJim]

Q plates are only issued when the date of manufacture of the car cannot be determined Paul. In Matthew's case it could be with ease and thus allowing it to wear an age-related plate.

wonder what that was off originally in 1991..

Nothing. It would have been an unissued one held over and just waiting for Matthew to come along with his gorgeous XM.

[MTXM]

As stated by Jim, 'Q' plates are only used when age cannot be determined, although following my earlier comment in this case I would have got a 'J' plate if I had not argued the case that 'H' was more appropriate based on the build date of 4th December 1990. Like Paul I assumed the reg. I acquired was recycled from another vehicle so that is interesting! With regards, Matthew T.

[CitroJim]

As I understand it, a registration number stays with a vehicle for life and when the vehicle dies the number dies with it.

I know that when I put a private plate on my Activa, the original registration number of my Activa was marked as non-transferrable and if at any time I move the private plate to another vehicle then my Activa would receive it's original number back which in fact it did once as it has now had two private plates in its lifetime. Furthermore the vehicle from which the private plate was transferred received its original number and that was again marked as non-transferrable.

The only way to transfer a transferrable number is if both donor and recipient are taxed and MOT'd. It is, as far as I know, impossible to ressurrect under any circumstances a number from a scrapped vehicle as it could result in much confusion.

That's how I understand it and you can be happy that no other vehicle has ever worn H175APW

I may of course be completely wrong but otherwise there would have been no need to introduce new registration schemes in 1963, 1983 and 2001 perhaps if recycling was the policy...

This belief of mine is further straightened by old and long off the road vehicles that 'lost' their original numbers when the DVLA records were computerised in the 1980s get age related numbers from obscure places in the UK that issued few registrations for a given year, such as remote parts of Scotland that have plenty of 'spares', when brought back on the road as it is almost certain that if the car was say, first registered in Bromley in say, 1956, there would be no 1956 Bromley registrations available now as they have all been used up.

In the early 1960s just before the A suffix was released there was a grave shortage of registrations and some odd schemes were used to overcome the shortage such as the 'reversed' four digit two letter (e.g. 2975XM) series. Now that example would look great on an S1 V6 XM...

A very famous DS wears 1974DS.

Sorry, I'm in anorak mode - I find registration numbers a fascinating subject... Sad I know... Sorry...

[citroenxm]

Heres a good reg for you Jim, A friend of sarahs has got B10 OBO, make it what you like, but I dont think its B100 BO.. so must be as first put...

The way a number CAN become available is when a car is fitted with a private plate the original is removed, then that old number can be given to something else. I know this from an XM I have been in contact with.. It was issued with its plate, transfered to a private, then for some reason its original number was not avalible, so another number was issued to it..

Now I cannot remember for the life of me which XM it is, I dont think its one of my own..

[russ92xmsed]

Very nice number plate Matthew, quite a good number issued, and good for you fighting for the 'H' plate.
Where do you have them made up? ..might change mine, it has some details on it I don't want to advertise!

When you say water in your boot, do you mean wet carpets, or just general misty windows and damp?

[MTXM]

Jim - I can understand your interest and I have always been fascinated by area codes, in fact I have a book from my childhood listing them all!! I knew that a car had to be MOT'ed to remove the number, since one of the XMs I broke a while ago had 'H11 PCL' I hoped (in vain) might then be available. My rhd 24v had a private plate for a time and then at point of sale the original number was reinstated that must have been set aside I guess.
Russ - I have found an excellent place in Norwich that has made replacement plates for all my cars including assistance with the reproduction of original dealer logos, which strictly speaking they cannot now do. It was necessary for me to identify and acquire fonts and I also provided the earlier number typeface 'Carplate'. By water in the boot I do mean wet carpets, which seems to be a very common problem, sometimes attributed to blocked sunroof drainpipes.
With regards, Mathew T.