Motorists who are wanting to sell their car have been warned to do so by February 28.
Anyone who is looking to sell should be looking to make the sale as soon as possible and before the end of this month, according to industry experts.
And failure to do so could see sellers lose thousands of pounds. This is because on March 1, the new ’25’ plate vehicles go on sale and car owners could see the value of their current motor drop as the market adjusts to an influx of new stock.
Tim Rodie, driving expert at Motorpoint explained: “It’s well documented that new car prices are heavily impacted by the plate change, but motorists may not be aware that the price of their current vehicle can also be affected.
“Interestingly, it isn’t the new plates themselves that impact the value of your car but rather the influx of brand-new vehicles on the road. With newer models entering the used car market and lots of drivers looking to sell, you could see the value of your car decline quite considerably. If anyone is looking to sell their car, I would strongly recommend that they do so ahead of March 1.”
The introduction of “25” plates on Saturday, March 1, will be the first registration-plate change to take place in 2025 and will impact drivers across England, Scotland and Wales.
Since 2001, the UK Government has rolled out new number plates on March 1 and September 1 to clearly differentiate when a new car has been registered.
When it came to what elements of the plate change are most important, Tim said: “To understand a number plate, you don’t really need to worry about the letters, the first two act as a DVLA memory tag and the final three are completely random. The most important bit for motorists is the two numbers in the middle because these show the age of a vehicle.
“Those registered between September and the end of February have the current year plus 50, hence why the last plate to be released was the “74” plate. For any car registered between March 1 and the end of August, the identifier will be the last two digits of the current year – which is why this time it will be “25”.
Tim said the plate change is significant. He explained: “Age is one of the most important factors to impact the value of your vehicle and each time a new registration plate is introduced your car will be considered older and therefore lose some of its value.
“Keeping tabs on the age of your vehicle and selling your car ahead of the plate change is one of the easiest ways to ensure you are getting the best price possible.”