Private plate year question

[hedges88]

My understanding from reading the private plate guidelines is that you cannot have a plate that has a newer year than your current registration. My car is a 52 plate but it was sold and registered in 2003. Am I entitled to use a 53 or 03 plate?

I'm looking for something cheap that ends in MMC (Mitsubishi Motor Company? The more options I have means I have a chance of getting a lower price which is the reason for asking.

[E63eeeeee...]

Surely either of those would make your car look newer than it is, which is what the rule is intended to prevent.

[hedges88]

E63eeeeee... said:

Surely either of those would make your car look newer than it is, which is what the rule is intended to prevent.

My car is a 2003 model that's for some reason wearing a 52 plate. I don't know what the system was like back then. If you had to get so far into the year to get 03 then I take your point and that would be true. It's registered in Feb off the top of my head

[E63eeeeee...]

hedges88 said:

E63eeeeee... said:

Surely either of those would make your car look newer than it is, which is what the rule is intended to prevent.

My car is a 2003 model that's for some reason wearing a 52 plate. I don't know what the system was like back then. If you had to get so far into the year to get 03 then I take your point and that would be true. It's registered in Feb off the top of my head

Yep, 03 starts 1st March 2003

[interstellar]

If your car was a 2003 52 it was registered in jan or feb 2003 so no you can’t put an 03 or a 53 plate on it as it makes it look younger than the day it was registered.

[MrBen986]

hedges88 said:

My car is a 2003 model that's for some reason wearing a 52 plate. I don't know what the system was like back then. If you had to get so far into the year to get 03 then I take your point and that would be true. It's registered in Feb off the top of my head

The system is unchanged to now - there are three plates in a calendar year:
- the one carrying over from the previous September (The previous year plus 50 - hence start of this year was 72)
- the one from March to August (This one actually has the current year in it, hence 23 plate just now)
- the one from Sept onward (From Friday will be 73 plate, which is 23 plus 50)

Hence in Feb '03, the plate would be 02 plus 50 - a 52 plate.

[hedges88]

Thanks all. This was the cheapest I could find. The website was a bit crap they made them out to be much cheaper but then add on loads of different fees. Is there any way to get any cheaper or is this about as low as it gets?

Edited by hedges88 on Thursday 31st August 20:48

[cuprabob]

hedges88 said:

Thanks all. This was the cheapest I could find. The website was a bit crap they made them out to be much cheaper but then add on loads of different fees. Is there any way to get any cheaper or is this about as low as it gets?

Edited by hedges88 on Thursday 31st August 20:48

You can buy that plate from DVLA direct for £250

[hedges88]

cuprabob said:

You can buy that plate from DVLA direct for £250

The fact they mislead on the price was a red flag for me. Thanks so much for pointing that out. So I take it that's the price and transfer fee together with nothing but printing new plates myself as an extra cost?

[interstellar]

Only you will know the Mmc link. That plate will look like a normal plate to everyone else.

Perhaps go for one that is more of a private plate like

C9 MMC or similar if that’s what you want to achieve?

[cuprabob]

hedges88 said:

cuprabob said:

You can buy that plate from DVLA direct for £250

The fact they mislead on the price was a red flag for me. Thanks so much for pointing that out. So I take it that's the price and transfer fee together with nothing but printing new plates myself as an extra cost?

Too late, I've just bought it, you can have it for £300

Yes DVLA price includes £80 assignment fee.

[hedges88]

interstellar said:

Only you will know the Mmc link. That plate will look like a normal plate to everyone else.

Perhaps go for one that is more of a private plate like

C9 MMC or similar if that’s what you want to achieve?

True, but prices go up for stuff like that. There is an AH51MC for under £500 that would be my initials and Mitsubishi motor corporation. My previous car luckily came with a standard DVLA licence plate but it started with my initials anyway just by chance and ended in YJY and reflected the fact that a previous partner named jay completely screwed me over. It made it easy to remember. I get what you're saying that MMC will only make sense to Mitsubishi fans I believe they used it on all their show cars etc just as Aston do AML. They even just badged some models MMC right up until the mid-90s.