Your car’s age is one of the most essential pieces of information you need to know. Knowing how old the car is can help you arrange your finances and even get insurance quotes. Maybe you’ll just need it to get a new set of headlight bulbs or shop for car parts. Or maybe you’re thinking of buying a used car and would like to know how old it really is. Whatever the reason, knowing a car’s age is important and can be easily done. In this article, we’ll show you just how you can know how old your car is.
Why Do We Have Number Plates
Most of us don’t think twice about number plates or even notice them unless we’re stuck in traffic and there’s nothing better to do than to read the numbers on the vehicle in front of us. These same numbers can be really useful if you want to figure out your vehicle’s age. Registering vehicles were first introduced in the UK in 1903 when the motor car act was first issued. At that period, the motor was at its peak of popularity and more British people owned cars. The British Government had to find a way to keep track of all these vehicles and trace them to their owners in case of an accident on the road. The motor car act stated that all vehicles that were to circulate on the British roads had to be registered and following the registration, the vehicles were to hold number plates identifying them and linking them to their owners. In 1904, it was generalised to any person owning a car. The first number plates to be registered were the DY1 and A1. Currently, there exists a different format of registration with prefixes and suffixes. We’ll explain more about the plating systems later on.
Registration Year vs Manufacturer Year
This might sound confusing, but there are two different years related to your car. Sometimes, they coincide in the same year, but other times, the two years are completely different.Let’s start with the manufacturer’s year. It’s as simple as it sounds. The manufacturer year refers to the year in which your car was created in the production line. The registration year, however, is the year in which your car was registered in the forms of the DVLA by the dealer you bought your vehicle from. The reason the registration year and the manufacturer year can be different is in case a vehicle is imported and will take months to arrive at the dealer’s shop. It’s only when the vehicle has finally arrived that the dealer can send in the registration forms.
How Do I Find Out The Year Of My Car
There are many methods to find out how old your car really is. Some of them are straightforward and simple. Others require a bit of digging.Here are the ways we think could help you figure it out!
Check The V5 Registration Document
Before you start decoding your number plate or checking online. There is a way you can easily know your car’s age just by checking the vehicle’s paperwork. What you’re looking for is the car’s log book also known as the V5C certificate or simply the V5 registration document. It’s a multi-coloured form with four sides issued by the DVLA. The form includes the person responsible for the registration and the taxing of the car as well as all the details about the car including the engine capacity, fuel type, and even the colour and weight of the car. You can easily find the full vehicle registration date within this document under the ‘Vehicle Details’ section.
Understand How The Number Plates Work
Even if the registration number looks like a string of meaningless numbers, they’re not entirely random. The number plates follow a structure and an identification system that is easy to read once you know what you’re looking for.
Millennium Registrations
The millennium registrations are the system that is currently used to register vehicles. And like the name might suggest, it was introduced in the year 2001 and it is still used today.
The system structure follows 2 letters, 2 numbers, 3 letters format. The first two letters are the regional identifier. They help you locate where your car was registered. The following two numbers are what you’re looking for. These are the year identifiers. The rest is just a random combination of letters.
Here’s a millennium plate registration example: CB 52 1BC.
Now, the question is how can you identify the year in which your car was registered with just these two numbers?
That’s easy. Year identifiers are issued twice every year. First in March, then in September. The first one retains the same number as the calendar year. So it’s easier to remember and figure out. For example, if your car was registered in March of 2020, the two numbers would just be 20.
The September age identifiers work a bit differently. Instead of just keeping the calendar year, the cars registered in September have the number 50 added to the two digits. So if your car was registered in September of 2020, the two numbers would be 70 instead as in (50+20).
If you’re still lost somehow, just follow the code table below. The millennium registration system is said to continue until 2049. Then the British Government will decide on the next system to follow.
| Registration Year | March 1
To August 31 |
September
To February 28 / 29 |
| 2001 – 2002 | – | 51 |
| 2002 – 2003 | 02 | 52 |
| 2003 – 2004 | 03 | 53 |
| 2004 – 2005 | 04 | 54 |
| 2005 – 2006 | 05 | 55 |
| 2006 – 2007 | 06 | 56 |
| 2007 – 2008 | 07 | 57 |
| 2008 – 2009 | 08 | 58 |
| 2009 – 2010 | 09 | 59 |
| 2010 – 2011 | 10 | 60 |
| 2011 – 2012 | 11 | 61 |
| 2012 – 2013 | 12 | 62 |
| 2013 – 2014 | 13 | 63 |
| 2014 – 2015 | 14 | 64 |
| 2015 – 2016 | 15 | 65 |
| 2016 – 2017 | 16 | 66 |
| 2017 – 2018 | 17 | 67 |
| 2018 – 2019 | 18 | 68 |
| 2019 – 2020 | 19 | 69 |
| 2020 – 2021 | 20 | 70 |
| 2021 – 2022 | 21 | 71 |
Older Number Plates
Now, if your car was registered before 2001, it follows a very different system than the millennium registrations. Two systems have been used in two different periods: the prefix and suffix systems.
Prefix System
The Prefix system is a registration system that was introduced in August 1983 and had been used up until the introduction of the millennium system in 2001. The prefix registration system follows this structure: 1 letter; 1, 2, or 3 numbers and 3 letters.
The first letter is the year indicator. This is why the system is called a prefix because the age marker is the first letter.
The three last letters are the area indicators that will tell you where your car was registered.
The rest of the numbers are just random and there can either be a single number, two, or three.
Here’s a table that will help you identify how old your car is based on the first letter of the prefix system. Keep in mind that this will only work if your car is registered between August 1983 and 2001.
| Age indicator | From
(Year of registration) |
To
(Year of registration) |
| A | August 1983 | July 1984 |
| B | August 1984 | July 1985 |
| C | August 1985 | July 1986 |
| D | August 1986 | July 1987 |
| E | August 1987 | July 1988 |
| F | August 1988 | July 1989 |
| G | August 1989 | July 1990 |
| H | August 1990 | July 1991 |
| J | August 1991 | July 1992 |
| K | August 1992 | July 1993 |
| L | August 1993 | July 1994 |
| M | August 1994 | July 1995 |
| N | August 1995 | July 1996 |
| P | August 1996 | July 1997 |
| R | August 1997 | July 1998 |
| S | August 1998 | February 1999 |
| T | March 1999 | July 1999 |
| V | August 1999 | February 2000 |
| W | March 2000 | July 2000 |
| X | August 2000 | February 2001 |
| Y | March 2001 | July 2001 |
Suffix System
The Suffix system is a registration system that was introduced in 1963 and had been used up until the introduction of the Prefix system in 1983.
The Suffix registration system follows this structure: 3 letters; 1, 2, or 3 numbers; and 1 last letter. This last letter is the year indicator. This is why the system is called a Suffix because the age marker is the last letter in the sequence.
The three first letters are the area indicators that will tell you where your car was registered. The rest of the numbers are just random and there can either be a single number, two, or three.
Here’s a table that will help you identify how old your car is based on the first letter of the Suffix system. Keep in mind that this will only work if your car is registered between 1963 and July 1983.
| Age indicator | From
(Year of registration) |
To
(Year of registration) |
| A | Start of 1963 | End of 1984 |
| B | Start of 1964 | End of 1985 |
| C | Start of 1965 | End of 1986 |
| D | Start of 1966 | End of 1987 |
| E | January 1967 | July 1967 |
| F | August 1967 | July 1968 |
| G | August 1968 | July 1969 |
| H | August 1969 | July 1970 |
| J | August 1970 | July 1971 |
| K | August 1971 | July 1972 |
| L | August 1972 | July 1973 |
| M | August 1973 | July 1974 |
| N | August 1974 | July 1975 |
| P | August 1975 | July 1976 |
| R | August 1976 | July 1977 |
| S | August 1977 | July 1978 |
| T | August 1978 | July 1979 |
| V | August 1979 | July 1980 |
| W | August 1980 | July 1981 |
| X | August 1981 | July 1982 |
| Y | March 1982 | July 1983 |
Use The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
Much like the V5 document, this method requires the vehicle’s paperwork. You can find the VIN number under the ‘Vehicle details’ section of the log book we previously mentioned then decode the digits.
You can also find the identification number without the paperwork. It’s often marked at the bottom of the windscreen on the car, usually in the clear glass section but you might find it marked in a metal section around the engine bay or the driver door.
Once you have your VIN, it should consist of seventeen digits, retain the tenth character. Then, use the following universal code to find the year your vehicle was manufactured at.
The VIN will often change since car models get modified all the time. This is why using the VIN will give you an approximately correct date but not the exact one. You should also note that the code has been in use since 1980 so the tenth character can be a letter or a number.
| Code | Year |
| W | 1998 |
| X | 1999 |
| Y | 2000 |
| 1 | 2001 |
| 2 | 2002 |
| 3 | 2003 |
| 4 | 2004 |
| 5 | 2005 |
| 6 | 2006 |
| 7 | 2007 |
| 8 | 2008 |
| 9 | 2009 |
| Code | Year |
| A | 2010 |
| B | 2011 |
| C | 2012 |
| D | 2013 |
| E | 2014 |
| F | 2015 |
| G | 2016 |
| H | 2017 |
| J | 2018 |
| K | 2019 |
| L | 2020 |
| M | 2021 |
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