There was a time when buying a car was simple as anything and even easier to tell the year of the year by the letter on the end on the registration number. But it appears despite being out for nearly eight years the new style number plates are confusing the buyers of second hand cars.
The problem lies with the number plates year number, this is fairly clear when the year is stated as 02, 03, 04, 05 etc, but it is the middle of the year registration number that is causing all of the confusion, for example 52, 53, 54, 55, these numbers are actually affecting the value of some second hand cars.
According to certain car valuation guides, when they are pricing a vehicle it would seem that the number first registered in the March to August period that will have a zero for the year are on average worth £300 more than the cars first registered in the later of the same year.
The crazy situation is a clear indication that the car buyers of today cannot get their heads around the new number plate system. But yet it only takes a little bit of education and this would be sorted out once and for all.
Source [Auto Express]
That’s crazy, when an 03 car is 6 months older than a 53…yet it’s worth more?!
Having said that, I know there’s a lot of confusion with the new style number plates. We have the same issues when customers contact us looking to buy personalised number plates.
It’s not as simple as the old prefix system where each letter denoted a year of registration but I can’t understand how so many people can’t get their head around it. It seems fairly simple to me. Having said that, I don’t think there was enough education to the general public when the new style number plates came out, as to what characters meant what.
I reckon the older the dvla number plates the better, take the dateless number plates they look fantastic on a nice car, in fact they complement most vehicles.
I like some of the current style dvla number plates too especially the ones the start OO07 ??? etc.
90% of the car buying public cannot understand the registration number system, we take hundreds of calls asking us to explain how it works.
The public are now starting to ‘get’ the new number plate system…. which has now been in place for 9 years! The 02, 03, 04, etc are reasonably straightforward. The 51, 52, 53, etc, however, still confuses people. And now we’ve moved to 60, they’re even more confused!
It’s well recognised that this new number plates system very confusing.. but it looks like we’re stuck with it for another 40 years…
The system did confuse me when it first came about and I cannot believe it has been in place 10 years now!
At first it did seem weird to see 55 etc on the front of a modern car. I do think it is a good system for the long term though. Its easy to understand, like anything, if explained properly.