Cherished Number Plates News

Registration Plates Are Mind Boggling

09 September 2008

Car registration plates may as well be written in ancient Greek when it comes to the general public after a survey done by British Car Auctions (BCA) in association with honestjohn.co.uk revealed that over one third of motorists are unable to tell the age of a car by looking at the number plate.

 British number plates follow a system of letters that correspond to a different year and part of a particular year, unlike in other countries such as the Rep. of Ireland where the year of the car is abbreviated into double digits such as ‘07 or ‘08.

 The survey which was responded to by over 1,200 people highlighted that over 32% couldn’t match the year with its corresponding letters, 27% believed that the number plated which were pre 2001 were the newest and just shy of a quarter were not aware that DVLA registration plates even reflect the age of a car!

 The system doesn’t apply to cherished personal number plates, which are registered independently by the car owner.

 The PR manager of the BCA stated that “Although the new registration system has been in existence since 2001, it seems many motorists just have not got to grips with it.” This is worrying considering that age is an extremely important factor when buying any automobile.

He went on to say that “It seems the current system is far less understood than previous versions, where there was one change a year identified by a letter.”

With a used car likely to be one of the most expensive purchases most people will make other than a home, it’s very important that buyers know the basics or at least do research on a car’s registration they’re considering buying to be sure of the cars age and history.