How old is that car?
Every British number plate since September 2001 tells you roughly when the car was first registered and which part of the country it came from. Type one in, or use the tables to play along in the car.
How to read a number plate
UKBD73 XKM
BD
Where: the first letter is the region the car was first registered in (B for Birmingham), the second is the local office.
73
When: the age identifier. 73 means it was first registered between September 2023 and February 2024.
XKM
Nothing: three letters picked at random, so no two cars have the same plate.
The age identifier changes twice a year, on 1 March and 1 September. In March it is the last two digits of the year (24 for March 2024); in September you add 50 (74 for September 2024). The letters I and Q are never used, and Z only turns up among the last three letters.
A personalised plate can make a car look older than it is, but never newer. So if the plate says 2019, the car was first registered in 2019 or earlier.
Age identifiers, year by year
| Year | From 1 March | From 1 September |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | old style | 51 to Feb 2002 |
| 2002 | 02 | 52 to Feb 2003 |
| 2003 | 03 | 53 to Feb 2004 |
| 2004 | 04 | 54 to Feb 2005 |
| 2005 | 05 | 55 to Feb 2006 |
| 2006 | 06 | 56 to Feb 2007 |
| 2007 | 07 | 57 to Feb 2008 |
| 2008 | 08 | 58 to Feb 2009 |
| 2009 | 09 | 59 to Feb 2010 |
| 2010 | 10 | 60 to Feb 2011 |
| 2011 | 11 | 61 to Feb 2012 |
| 2012 | 12 | 62 to Feb 2013 |
| 2013 | 13 | 63 to Feb 2014 |
| 2014 | 14 | 64 to Feb 2015 |
| 2015 | 15 | 65 to Feb 2016 |
| 2016 | 16 | 66 to Feb 2017 |
| 2017 | 17 | 67 to Feb 2018 |
| 2018 | 18 | 68 to Feb 2019 |
| 2019 | 19 | 69 to Feb 2020 |
| 2020 | 20 | 70 to Feb 2021 |
| 2021 | 21 | 71 to Feb 2022 |
| 2022 | 22 | 72 to Feb 2023 |
| 2023 | 23 | 73 to Feb 2024 |
| 2024 | 24 | 74 to Feb 2025 |
| 2025 | 25 | 75 to Feb 2026 |
| 2026 | 26 | 76 to Feb 2027 |
| 2027 | 27 | 77 to Feb 2028 |
The highlighted row has the plates being issued now (76).
Where the letters come from
| First letter | Region | DVLA offices |
|---|---|---|
| A | Anglia | Peterborough, Norwich, Ipswich |
| B | Birmingham | Birmingham |
| C | Cymru | Cardiff, Swansea, Bangor |
| D | Deeside to Shrewsbury | Chester, Shrewsbury |
| E | Essex | Chelmsford |
| F | Forest and Fens | Nottingham, Lincoln |
| G | Garden of England | Maidstone, Brighton |
| H | Hampshire and Dorset | Bournemouth, Portsmouth |
| K | Borehamwood and Northampton | Borehamwood, Northampton |
| L | London | Wimbledon, Borehamwood, Sidcup |
| M | Manchester and Merseyside | Manchester |
| N | North | Newcastle, Stockton |
| O | Oxford | Oxford |
| P | Preston | Preston, Carlisle |
| R | Reading | Theale |
| S | Scotland | Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness |
| V | Severn Valley | Worcester |
| W | West of England | Exeter, Truro, Bristol |
| Y | Yorkshire | Leeds, Sheffield, Beverley |
Source: DVLA leaflet INF104, Vehicle registration numbers and number plates. Northern Ireland plates look different (three letters including an I or a Z, then up to four numbers) and don’t show the age. Cars first registered before September 2001 have the older style, with a single letter for the year at the start or the end.