What Age Is My Car?

Find out exactly how old your car is and what year it was manufactured or registered. Essential information for insurance, finance, and buying parts.

Enter UK Registration

Estimate based on plate format. Actual registration date may differ.

Registration Year vs Manufacture Year

It's useful to know that the 'registration year' and 'manufacture year' are sometimes different - even if they appear to be the same thing.

Let's say you buy a new Volkswagen Golf. The vehicle will be manufactured in Wolfsburg in Germany - then it'll make its way to the UK before being registered by the dealer you've bought it from. There could be a number of weeks (or even months) between the car leaving the production line and being registered by the dealer - so the dates can be quite different.

Example: A car leaves the factory in December 2019 but doesn't get to the dealer until January 2020. The registration year will be 2020, but the manufacture year will be 2019.

5 Ways to Find Out Your Car's Age

With information that most drivers can easily access, there are 5 different ways to check how old your car is.

Use a Free Car Valuation Service

Whether you're buying, selling, part-exchanging, or scrapping - a big part of what any vehicle is worth is how old it is. Getting a valuation for your car will also tell you the year it was made.

Get a Free MOT Check

Since vehicles need to have an MOT carried out 3 years after they are first registered, a free MOT check service gives you the car's first registration date, along with its next MOT date and full test history.

Understand Number Plate Years

Although they might look like a random string of letters and numbers, a vehicle's number plate is actually a great way of working out different car registration years. Use our age checker above to decode your plate instantly.

Check the V5C Registration Document

Your V5C certificate (log book) issued by the DVLA has a 'Vehicle Details' section showing everything from engine capacity and fuel type to the full vehicle registration date.

Use the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)

The 10th character of the 17-digit VIN indicates when the model was manufactured. You can find the VIN on your log book or on a plate at the bottom of the windscreen or in the engine bay.

UK Number Plate Age Identifiers

The two numbers in a modern UK plate (since 2001) indicate when the vehicle was first registered. New plates are released twice a year: March and September.

March Registrations

Use the last two digits of the year

24 = March 2024 - August 2024
25 = March 2025 - August 2025
26 = March 2026 - August 2026

September Registrations

Add 50 to the last two digits of the year

74 = September 2024 - February 2025
75 = September 2025 - February 2026
76 = September 2026 - February 2027

Millennium Registrations (2001 onwards)

Plate	From	To
51	September 2001	March 2002
02	March 2002	September 2002
52	September 2002	March 2003
03	March 2003	September 2003
53	September 2003	March 2004
04	March 2004	September 2004
54	September 2004	March 2005
05	March 2005	September 2005
55	September 2005	March 2006
06	March 2006	September 2006
56	September 2006	March 2007
07	March 2007	September 2007
57	September 2007	March 2008
08	March 2008	September 2008
58	September 2008	March 2009
09	March 2009	September 2009
59	September 2009	March 2010
10	March 2010	September 2010
60	September 2010	March 2011
11	March 2011	September 2011
61	September 2011	March 2012
12	March 2012	September 2012
62	September 2012	March 2013
13	March 2013	September 2013
63	September 2013	March 2014
14	March 2014	September 2014
64	September 2014	March 2015
15	March 2015	September 2015
65	September 2015	March 2016
16	March 2016	September 2016
66	September 2016	March 2017
17	March 2017	September 2017
67	September 2017	March 2018
18	March 2018	September 2018
68	September 2018	March 2019
19	March 2019	September 2019
69	September 2019	March 2020
20	March 2020	September 2020
70	September 2020	March 2021
21	March 2021	September 2021
71	September 2021	March 2022
22	March 2022	September 2022
72	September 2022	March 2023
23	March 2023	September 2023
73	September 2023	March 2024
24	March 2024	September 2024
74	September 2024	March 2025
25	March 2025	September 2025

This system continues until the end of 2049, at which point the government will decide on the next format.

Prefix Registrations (1983-2001)

Before the current system, 'Prefix registrations' were used. These follow a format of 1 letter, 1-3 numbers, then 3 letters (e.g., A234 ABC). The first letter indicates the year.

Prefix	From	To
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

Note: Letters I, O, Q, U, and Z are not used as prefixes to avoid confusion.

VIN Year Codes

The 10th character of a VIN indicates the model year. Since there's only one character, it cycles through letters and numbers.

Code	Year	Code	Year
A	1980 / 2010	N	1992
B	1981 / 2011	P	1993
C	1982 / 2012	R	1994
D	1983 / 2013	S	1995
E	1984 / 2014	T	1996
F	1985 / 2015	V	1997
G	1986 / 2016	W	1998
H	1987 / 2017	X	1999
J	1988 / 2018	Y	2000
K	1989 / 2019	1-9	2001-2009
L	1990 / 2020	M	1991 / 2021

The VIN is usually found on a plate at the bottom of the windscreen or in the engine bay.

Check Your Vehicle's Full History

Now you know how old your car is, check its full MOT history, mileage trends, and any recorded defects with our free vehicle check.

Check Vehicle