What does my number plate tell me about my Beetle?
UK Registration plates are issued periodically and the numbers themselves have meaning.
Early New Beetles (11th November 1998- 1st September 2001) used the 'Prefix' system:
This system used the first letter to identify the year of registration followed by a number (usually 3 digits) and finally an area code.
From the 1st of September 2001 the plates used the following 'Infix' system:
Early New Beetles (11th November 1998- 1st September 2001) used the 'Prefix' system:
This system used the first letter to identify the year of registration followed by a number (usually 3 digits) and finally an area code.
From the 1st of September 2001 the plates used the following 'Infix' system:
From left to right, the characters consist of:
- A local memory tag, or area code, consisting of two letters which together indicate the local region. The letters I, Q and Z are not used as local office identifiers, though O is used for Oxford; Z can be used only as a random letter.
- The first of these two letters stands for the name of the broad area where the registration office was located. For example, A is used as the first character in all registrations issued by the three offices located in the vicinity of East Anglia. A complete list of regions can be found here
- The first of these two letters stands for the name of the broad area where the registration office was located. For example, A is used as the first character in all registrations issued by the three offices located in the vicinity of East Anglia. A complete list of regions can be found here
- A two-digit age identifier, which changes twice a year, on 1 March and 1 September. The code is either the last two digits of the year itself, if issued between March and August (e.g. "09" for registrations issued between 1 March and 31 August 2009), or else has fifty added to that value if issued between September and February the following year, (e.g. "58" for registrations issued between 1 September 2008 and 28 February 2009);
- A three-letter sequence which uniquely distinguishes each of the vehicles displaying the same initial four-character area and age sequence. The letters I and Q are excluded from the three-letter sequence, as are combinations that may appear offensive (including those in foreign languages). Due to batch allocation of new registration marks to dealers, it is common for cars with "neighbouring" letter sequences to be of the same manufacturer.