Dateless Number Plates

First issued in 1904, dateless number plates now act as a way for vehicle owners to make their car look more timeless. The formatting of this plate style makes it impossible to pinpoint how old the plate is, making it a great choice for anyone who wants a more classic look for their vehicle.

What are Dateless Number Plates?

Dateless number plates are number plates that do not use numbers or letters as age identifiers, so you can hide the age of your vehicle. They are also valuable and popular with car owners as dateless number plates can be unique, creative, and flexible. Dateless number plates can have anywhere between 1 and 6 characters.

Because these plates are dateless, they ignore the DVLA rules on how number plates cannot make your vehicle appear younger or older than it is. Therefore, you can use them for any vehicle no matter how old, making them favourable to drivers.

Should You Invest In Dateless Number Plates? 

When private number plates started to be circulated in the UK, they were often seen as a status symbol due to the cost. However, in recent years, private number plates have become a lot cheaper and more accessible. Some dateless number plates go for even less than £200, £100 and even £50.

Compared to other styles of plates dateless number plates are the most valuable in terms of investment. This is mainly due to their rarity as they were the first set of number plates to ever be introduced over 100 years ago! In fact, some of the most expensive number plates in the world are dateless. 

So getting a dateless plate can be a very lucrative personal investment as they appreciate in value over time due to their uniqueness. It's also no surprise that they are frequently the most popular type of number plate to be auctioned off.

Selling Dateless Number Plates 

Dateless number plates are considered desirable by collectors and car enthusiasts because they’re unique. Due to this, selling dateless number plates can be very lucrative. Here are the steps and different ways you can value and sell your cherished number plate.

Getting Your Dateless Number Plate Valued 

There are a few different ways you can sell your dateless number plate, but first, you will need to get a valuation for your number plate.

At Absolute Reg, it's easy to get an accurate valuation for your dateless reg plate from our team of experts with years of selling experience. All you have to do is fill out the form at the bottom of our valuation page and get your valuation within 24 hours! 

Sell With Absolute Reg And Auction Your Dateless Number Plate 

Once you know exactly how much your dateless registration plate is worth, you can put it up for auction on our site hassle-free! At Absolute Reg, we’re always looking at expanding our stock of number plates. We can even sell your number plate for you to relieve the trouble of doing it yourself. You don’t have to worry about your dateless plate staying on our site for long, as our team will actively seek out potential buyers for you. To ensure your plate is sold, we use multiple networks to guarantee your plate gets purchased for the best price.

To learn more about how we sell your number plate, see our sell my number plate page.

Transferring Dateless Number Plates 

When you’ve purchased your dateless number plate, you can transfer it to your current vehicle using a few different methods. 

To transfer your dateless plate to your car, you’ll need to apply online to have it changed via the DVLA. Before you apply there are a few requirements that you’ll need to follow:

• You’ll need a V750 (you get this when you purchase your number plate) or a V778 certificate (retention form)

• You must be registered with the DVLA

• Your vehicle needs to be able to move on its own once you start it

• You need to be available for inspection if it’s required

• Your vehicle must have been taxed or had a SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification)

• Even if your vehicle is usually exempt from MOTs, you'll need a current MOT certificate if you have a historic vehicle

You also cannot have the following:

• A number plate starting with ‘Q’ or ‘NIQ’

• A personalised number plate with a vehicle registered as ‘Q’

• A number plate that makes a vehicle appear newer than it is. For example, having a ‘09’ reg number on a vehicle registered in 2008

If you pass the eligibility test through your application, your dateless registration plate will automatically be applied to your vehicle and you will be sent a new log book. This can take between 4–6 weeks to get to you.

If you use a V317 form to apply instead, you will need to send this physically in the post and pay an £80 transference fee. You will also need to send your logbook to be successful.

If you would like more information on transferring your number plate and retaining your number plate, see our how to transfer your number plate blog and our blog on how to put a number plate on retention.

Find the Perfect Dateless Number Plate with Absolute Reg

Finding dateless number plates is very straightforward, through our registration search function. You can type in the terms or names you want personalised and then search through our selection of thousands of dateless number plates.

Dateless number plates range between 1 – 6 letters, so be on the lookout for the best dateless number plate that suits you. As an example, if you're looking for a personalised plate with “John”, you might get the result “JOH II”.

Why You Should Buy Your Dateless Number Plate from Absolute Reg

Largest Stock

We have the most license plates of any dealer – 50 million altogether, including the DVLA!

Price Promise

You can be sure you're getting the best deal on private registration plates through Absolute Reg's price promise.

Lifetime Customer Service

Our friendly after-sales team is always ready to assist you, whether it's two weeks after your purchase or two years down the road.

Rated Highest On-Time Delivery in 2020

Purchase your private number plate online or by phone today and find out why our private number plates are so popular! You can also view all our accolades on reviews.co.uk.

Finance Your Dateless Number Plate Purchase

You can also apply for finance for registration plates that you would like to purchase that exceed your budget. As a recognised reseller of DVLA registrations, we also offer a price match guarantee. 

Therefore, if you find the same dateless number plate elsewhere, we will either match the price or beat it by £5 where we can. So, you get the registration plates of your dreams as well as the industry-best customer service offered by Absolute Reg!

Other Popular Number Plate Styles

Current/New Style

Current registration plates also referred to as “new-style registrations”, were introduced in September 2001. New-style number plates identify the year of issuance with a number. For example, 01 = Mar 2001, the first month of issue.

Suffix Style

The suffix number plate was introduced in 1963 and they contain three letters and three numbers. The last letter indicates the year the vehicle was registered, for example, A = August 1963.

Prefix Style

Prefix style number plates were first issued in August 1983 after seeing the suffix registration marks expire from the issue. Prefix registrations are most popular across the private number plate market.

Northern Irish

Over the years, the Northern Irish registration plates have remained the same and are used across the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland for private plates. Northern Irish registration marks will always contain I or Z to represent the area of Northern Ireland when they were first issued.

Dateless Number Plates FAQ

What do dateless number plates mean?

When a car registration is dateless, It means the number plate does not reflect the age of the vehicle, unlike prefix and suffix number plates. Thus, they can be attached to any vehicle.

When did dateless number plates start being issued?

The first dateless number plates were issued in 1903, and new dateless plates stopped being issued in 1963. 

Due to the variety and rise in traffic in registration plates, the DVLA decided that car number plates should be easy to identify. Making way for the suffix-style number plates that were then introduced.

Are dateless number plates a good investment? 

Dateless number plates can be a great investment and some are extremely valuable to collectors since dateless number plates are so varied. Dateless number plates that have three or fewer characters are the most valuable, as they are the rarest. 

Some combinations can be valuable as well, such as clear names or phrases. So, dateless number plates can be a very lucrative investment. If you're interested in learning more, read our guide to investing in number plates.

Do you have to pay to put a dateless number plate on a car?

It is free to apply to change your number plate. The only thing you need to do is fill out the application and submit it for review. 

Do not forget to apply to remove your old number plate, or it will not be deemed valid. Otherwise, you will not be able to replace it with your dateless plate.

Is It Legal To Own A Dateless Number Plate? 

Dateless number plates are legal to own. In fact, unlike other number plate styles, dateless number plates can be displayed on any vehicle and do not have an age identifier. For further information on this topic, read our guide to laws surrounding number plates.

Get Your Dream Plate with Absolute Reg

Whether you’re looking for a classic plate for the aesthetics or the investment opportunity, Absolute Reg can help. With a bigger stock of plates than even the DVLA, finding your dream number plate has never been easier than using Absolute Reg’s number plate search feature.

Read More

Number Plate Rules and Laws

Guide to Number Plate Formats For Beginners

Number Plate Spacing Laws: How to Stay Compliant

Sources

Displaying Number Plates - DVLA