Twice a year in the UK, new registration marks come out for cars. Every march and September the DVLA release a new registration mark. It may look like just a number, but it affects the car market more than you think.
The next registration mark to be released is the ‘73’ plate, which the DVLA will issue to cars that are registered today (1st September, 2023), onwards.
What is a 73 numberplate?
We can use a car’s registration plate to find information about thew owner of the vehicle. In the UK, we can determine the year of registration and the location just by looking at the numberplate.
The current style of registration plates has been around since September 2001, and they have the following format:
- Two letters that represent the region that the car was registered
- Two numbers that represent the year the car was registered
- Three randomly-assigned letters for identification purposes.
For vehicles registered between March and September of a year, the last two digits for the year are used. For vehicles registered after September, 50 is added to the previous number.
So, for 2023, two different numberplates were released – in March and September. In March the two digits make up the number ‘23’, and in September the number is ‘73’. In 2024, the two different marks will be ‘24’ and ‘74’ on 1st March and 1st September respectively.
Here are some examples of numberplates that have been registered in Sidcup, London – represented by ‘LV’ at the beginning:
| Year of registration | Purchased after March | Purchased after September |
| 2003 | LV03 HHA | LV53 KFL |
| 2013 | LV13 KMZ | LV63 XCE |
| 2023 | LV23 EEG | LV73 SEY |
What are the rules for ‘73’ numberplates?
For standard-issued numberplates from September 2023 onwards, the following rules apply:
- The plates must be displayed on the front and back of the vehicle
- The plates must be white on the front and yellow on the back
- The letters must be 79mm in height
- The letters must be 57mm in width
- The letters must be 11mm apart
- Letter/number groups be 33mm apart
- The plates must be printed in the standard font (Charles Wright)
Cars with registration plates that do not meet the above criteria could result in the driver being fined up to £1,000.
Will the new ‘73’ plates affect the value of my car?
The number 73 on the plate makes absolutely no difference to the value of the car it is assigned to, or any other car for that matter. However the ‘73’ signifies that the car was registered after 1st September, 2023 which until March 2024 will means that cars displaying these plates will be some of the newest available models on the market. ‘
This in turn affects the value of older cars. Basically, as new cares are available, older ones decrease in value. This includes the ‘23’ plate vehicles that were released just six months ago on the 1st March, 2023. It also includes cars older than that as time marches on throughout 2023 cars registered before then become older. The same fate will lie for today’s brand new ‘73’ plates when the new ‘24’ registration mark is released on 1st March, 2024.
How we reviewed this article:
Our experts continually monitor motor industry news & research, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.
- 1st September 2023
Current Article - By Gary McKrill - 6th March 2024
Checked & Reviewed - By Sjoerd Bakker - 1st August 2023
Copy Edited - By Gary McKrill - 25th October 2024
Reviewed - By Gary McKrill