What year is my car?

Whether you’re looking for parts, getting an insurance quote or selling your car, it’s important to know how old it is.

If you’re not sure what year your car is, our guide will help you find out.

Whether you’re looking for parts, getting an insurance quote or selling your car, it’s important to know how old it is.

If you’re not sure what year your car is, our guide will help you find out.

Written by

Julie Daniels

Motor insurance comparison expert

Posted

30 DECEMBER 2020

4 min read

How can I find out what year my car is?

Reading your car’s number plate is the quickest way to find out how old your car is.

The letters and numbers on your number plate tell you how old your car is and where it was first registered. This can be very helpful information if you’re looking to insure your car, get parts for it or if you want to sell it.

Current number plate series

The current number plate series we use in the UK is called ‘Millennium registration’. These plates have been issued since 2001.

Millennium plates follow a specific format which is:

2 letters (local memory tag) – the first two letters on your plate show where your car was first registered. The first letter is a postcode area, the second identifies the DVLA office where your car was first registered
2 numbers (age identifier) – the middle numbers represent the year of your car and the six-month period it was registered in – either March to August or September to February
3 letters (random letters) – this is the random part of your number plate, three letters that give your car its distinctive identity

How old is my car?

If your car was registered after 2001, it will have one of the following two number formats in the middle of the number plate. These will tell you the year and the time of year it was first registered:

Age identifiers 2001-2030

Date	Code	Date	Code
		Sept 2001 – Feb 2002	51
March 2002 – Aug 2002	02	Sept 2002 – Feb 2003	52
March 2003 – Aug 2003	03	Sept 2003 – Feb 2004	53
March 2004 – Aug 2004	04	Sept 2004 – Feb 2005	54
March 2005 – Aug 2005	05	Sept 2005 – Feb 2006	55
March 2006 – Aug 2006	06	Sept 2006 – Feb 2007	56
March 2007 – Aug 2007	07	Sept 2007 – Feb 2008	57
March 2008 – Aug 2008	08	Sept 2008 – Feb 2009	58
March 2009 – Aug 2009	09	Sept 2009 – Feb 2010	59
March 2010 – Aug 2010	10	Sept 2010 – Feb 2011	60
March 2011 – Aug 2011	11	Sept 2011 – Feb 2012	61
March 2012 – Aug 2012	12	Sept 2012 – Feb 2013	62
March 2013 – Aug 2013	13	Sept 2013 – Feb 2014	63
March 2014 – Aug 2014	14	Sept 2014 – Feb 2015	64
March 2015 – Aug 2015	15	Sept 2015 – Feb 2016	65
March 2016 – Aug 2016	16	Sept 2016 – Feb 2017	66
March 2017 – Aug 2017	17	Sept 2017 – Feb 2018	67
March 2018 – Aug 2018	18	Sept 2018 – Feb 2019	68
March 2019 – Aug 2019	19	Sept 2019 – Feb 2020	69
March 2020 – Aug 2020	20	Sept 2020 – Feb 2021	70
March 2021 – Aug 2021	21	Sept 2021 – Feb 2022	71
March 2022 – Aug 2022	22	Sept 2022 – Feb 2023	72
March 2023 – Aug 2023	23	Sept 2023 – Feb 2024	73
March 2024 – Aug 2024	24	Sept 2024 – Feb 2025	74
March 2025 – Aug 2025	25	Sept 2025 – Feb 2026	75
March 2026 – Aug 2026	26	Sept 2026 – Feb 2027	76
March 2027 – Aug 2027	27	Sept 2027 – Feb 2028	77
March 2028 – Aug 2028	28	Sept 2028 – Feb 2029	78
March 2029 – Aug 2029	29	Sept 2029 – Feb 2030	79

Find out the year of a pre-2001 car

Cars registered between 1983 - 1 September 2001 used a ‘prefix registration’ format in this sequence:

1 letter (age identifier) – symbolising the year the car was first registered
Random numbers
3 letters (area code)

Cars registered between 1963 – 1982 used a ‘suffix registration format’ in this sequence:

3 letters (area code)
Random numbers
1 letter (age identifier) – the year the car was first registered

The car registration years chart below shows how old a car is depending on the suffix (1963-1982) or prefix (1983-2001) formats.

Age identifier	Suffix	Prefix
A reg year	1963	1983
B reg year	1964	1984
C reg year	1965	1985
D reg year	1966	1986
E reg year	1967	1987
F reg year	1967	1988
G reg year	1968	1989
H reg year	1969	1990
J reg year	1970	1991
K reg year	1971	1992
L reg year	1972	1993
M reg year	1973	1994
N reg year	1974	1995
P reg year	1975	1996
R reg year	1976	1997
S reg year	1977	1998
T reg year	1978	1999
V reg year	1979	1999
W reg year	1980	2000
X reg year	1981	2000
Y reg year	1982	2001

Did you know?

In both the suffix and prefix formats, the letters I, O, Q, U and Z weren’t used. This was partly because, in the case of I and O, they could be confused with numbers, and U looked too much like V.

However, Q plates are used for cars when their age can’t be determined, for example, kit cars, classic cars and imported cars.

Other ways to check the age of your car

If you don’t fancy decoding your number plate, there are other ways to find out how old it is.

Look in your V5C logbook
The V5C logbook will tell you when the car was first registered, who the current registered keeper is, as well as MOT, service history and tax details.

To find out when your car was first registered, go to the ‘Vehicle Details’ section of your logbook.

Get info on your car directly from DVLA
You can find out a whole heap of interesting information about your car on the DVLA website.