Check Car Age

In most cases, you can use the vehicle registration plate to check the age of a vehicle. This isn’t possible on vehicles with a private plate. For these vehicles you would need to check the vehicle registration document (V5C) or enter the vehicle registration to find out the year of manufacture.

Vehicles with the current plate format (registered from 2001) have two letters at the beginning of the plate to indicate where they were registered. For example, vehicles with a plate starting EA were first registered in Essex.

Vehicles registered before 2001 (e.g. S123 AAA) use the final two characters to indicate where they were registered. You can view a full list of number plate registration locations or enter the vehicle registration to find the location.

As UK number plates indicate the age of a vehicle, you aren’t able to put a plate on a vehicle that would make it appear newer than it really is. For example, a private plate with the year 18, couldn’t be added to a vehicle which was manufactured in 2017.

A number plate starting with the letter Q will be issued by the DVLA when there is doubts about the age. You will be unable to add a private plate to any vehicle which has a Q plate.

The cost of transferring the plate on a vehicle is £80. You will also need the vehicle registration document (V5C) to complete the number plate change.