the dvla are quietly working behind the scenes to clean up their database if you have a vehicle that's been sorned for years and the dvla have not sent out a red 5vc and only have a blue v5 be warned, they are in the process of removing it from their database as they have determined that the vehicle no longer exists and is not going to ever be returned to being used on the road ultimately this means that if your cherished restoration project / barn find / boxes of mismatched rusty pieces are ever reassembled you find have some grief getting it back on the road and even more grief getting / retaining the original number (which the dvla have possibly already resold on) cure - contact DVLA and ask for a red V5c and let them know that it is eventually going to be returned to road use
This is so stupid though because you have to re-apply for SORN don't you? so surely they know which vehicles are still out there. God the DVLA are hopeless!
You can just pop down to your local DVLA office and sort it out ... oh, nope, they closed them all last year!
I have an Aprilia somewhere that is SORN so I better check I have a red V5. They changed them all due to fraud didn't they and it just confused me!
in my case its 23 years since it was legally on the road and about 18 since it was illegally on the road
