Plate years. Made simple
Want to know how old a car is from its plate?
Here's how UK registrations work.
There are four main systems:
- Current style (2001 to present)
- Prefix (1983 to 2001)
- Suffix (1963 to 1983)
- Dateless (1903 onwards)
Current style (2001 to present)
Example: AB23 CDE
The two numbers in the middle tell you when the car was registered. Plates are released twice
a year.
March to August gets the year number.
September to February gets the year plus
50.
So 23 means March to August 2023. And 73 means September 2023 to February 2024.
The first
two letters show where it was registered. The last three are random.
Current style registration years
| Age identifier | Registration period |
|---|---|
| 51 | Sept 2001 - Feb 2002 |
| 02 | March 2002 - Aug 2002 |
| 52 | Sept 2002 - Feb 2003 |
| 03 | March 2003 - Aug 2003 |
| 53 | Sept 2003 - Feb 2004 |
| 04 | March 2004 - Aug 2004 |
| 54 | Sept 2004 - Feb 2005 |
| 05 | March 2005 - Aug 2005 |
| 55 | Sept 2005 - Feb 2006 |
| 06 | March 2006 - Aug 2006 |
| 56 | Sept 2006 - Feb 2007 |
| 07 | March 2007 - Aug 2007 |
| 57 | Sept 2007 - Feb 2008 |
| 08 | March 2008 - Aug 2008 |
| 58 | Sept 2008 - Feb 2009 |
| 09 | March 2009 - Aug 2009 |
| 59 | Sept 2009 - Feb 2010 |
| 10 | March 2010 - Aug 2010 |
| 60 | Sept 2010 - Feb 2011 |
| 11 | March 2011 - Aug 2011 |
| 61 | Sept 2011 - Feb 2012 |
| 12 | March 2012 - Aug 2012 |
| 62 | Sept 2012 - Feb 2013 |
| 13 | March 2013 - Aug 2013 |
| 63 | Sept 2013 - Feb 2014 |
| 14 | March 2014 - Aug 2014 |
| Age identifier | Registration period |
|---|---|
| 64 | Sept 2014 - Feb 2015 |
| 15 | March 2015 - Aug 2015 |
| 65 | Sept 2015 - Feb 2016 |
| 16 | March 2016 - Aug 2016 |
| 66 | Sept 2016 - Feb 2017 |
| 17 | March 2017 - Aug 2017 |
| 67 | Sept 2017 - Feb 2018 |
| 18 | March 2018 - Aug 2018 |
| 68 | Sept 2018 - Feb 2019 |
| 19 | March 2019 - Aug 2019 |
| 69 | Sept 2019 - Feb 2020 |
| 20 | March 2020 - Aug 2020 |
| 70 | Sept 2020 - Feb 2021 |
| 21 | March 2021 - Aug 2021 |
| 71 | Sept 2021 - Feb 2022 |
| 22 | March 2022 - Aug 2022 |
| 72 | Sept 2022 - Feb 2023 |
| 23 | March 2023 - Aug 2023 |
| 73 | Sept 2023 - Feb 2024 |
| 24 | March 2024 - Aug 2024 |
| 74 | Sept 2024 - Feb 2025 |
| 25 | March 2025 - Aug 2025 |
| 75 | Sept 2025 - Feb 2026 |
| 26 | March 2026 - Aug 2026 |
| 76 | Sept 2026 - Feb 2027 |
Prefix plates (1983 to 2001)
Example: A123 ABC
The first letter tells you the year. After that is three numbers and three letters.
Prefix registration years
| Prefix | Registration period |
|---|---|
| A | Sep 2001 - Feb 2002 |
| B | March 2002 - Aug 2002 |
| C | Sep 2001 - Feb 2002 |
| D | Sep 2001 - Feb 2002 |
| E | Sep 2003 - Feb 2004 |
| F | March 2004 - Aug 2004 |
| G | Sep 2004 - Feb 2005 |
| H | March 2005 - Aug 2005 |
| I | Sep 2005 - Feb 2006 |
| J | March 2006 - Aug 2006 |
| K | Sep 2006 - Feb 2007 |
| L | March 2007 - Aug 2007 |
| M | Sep 2007 - Feb 2008 |
| N | March 2008 - Aug 2008 |
| Prefix | Registration period |
|---|---|
| O | Sep 2001 - Feb 2002 |
| P | March 2002 - Aug 2002 |
| Q | Sep 2001 - Feb 2002 |
| R | Sep 2001 - Feb 2002 |
| S | Sep 2003 - Feb 2004 |
| T | March 2004 - Aug 2004 |
| U | Sep 2004 - Feb 2005 |
| V | March 2005 - Aug 2005 |
| W | Sep 2005 - Feb 2006 |
| X | March 2006 - Aug 2006 |
| Y | Sep 2006 - Feb 2007 |
| Z | March 2007 - Aug 2007 |
Suffix plates (1963 to 1983)
Example: ABC 123A
The last letter tells you the year. Before that it's three letters and three numbers.
Suffix registration years
| Suffix | Registration period |
|---|---|
| A | 1963 |
| B | 1964 |
| C | 1965 |
| D | 1966 |
| E | Jan 1967 - Jul 1967 |
| F | Aug 1967 - Jul 1968 |
| G | Jan 1967 - Jul 1967 |
| H | Aug 1967 - Jul 1968 |
| I | Jan 1967 - Jul 1967 |
| J | Aug 1967 - Jul 1968 |
| K | Jan 1967 - Jul 1967 |
| L | Aug 1967 - Jul 1968 |
| M | Jan 1967 - Jul 1967 |
| Suffix | Registration period |
|---|---|
| N | Aug 1967 - Jul 1968 |
| O | Sep 2001 - Feb 2002 |
| P | Mar 2002 - Aug 2002 |
| Q | Sep 2001 - Feb 2002 |
| R | Sep 2001 - Feb 2002 |
| S | Sep 2003 - Feb 2004 |
| T | Mar 2004 - Aug 2004 |
| U | Sep 2004 - Feb 2005 |
| V | Mar 2005 - Aug 2005 |
| W | Sep 2005 - Feb 2006 |
| X | Mar 2006 - Aug 2006 |
| Y | Aug 1982 - Jul 1983 |
Dateless plates
Example: AB 123
No age identifier. That means they don't give away when the car was made. Which is exactly why they're popular.
One rule that applies to all of them. You can make a car look older. You can't make it look newer. The DVLA won't allow it.
Not sure if a plate will work on your vehicle? Ask us before you buy. We'll check.