# Car registration plates and age.



## geordieboi

Hi, apologies if this has been asked before but I can't find it if it has. Is the year a car was first registered signified in some way on the number plate as is the case in the UK? Thanks for any information.


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## pnwheels

I believe the older cars with one letter, four numbers, two letters could be, but the current layout of four numbers, three letters cannot.


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## geordieboi

Ah ok. I thought that might be the case. Have tried to find out elsewhere online but didn't find any information either way. It's not really an issue just thought it would be useful when I'm looking at used cars to buy as signs in cars don't always state the year.


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## whitenoiz

Essentially, if the number plate consists of one or two letters, followed by four numbers, followed by two letters the date of first registration is prior to Jan 2000. The first on or two letters are an indication of the cityprovince of origin of first registration; eg M signifies Madrid, MA Malaga, B Barcelona, GR Granada etc etc. Pre 2000 Vehicles from the Canary Islands carry GC or TF plates
More details here...

Vehicle registration plates of Spain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

With cars whose registrations comprise four numbers followed by three letters It is fairly safe to say that the first of the three letters whilst not an exact reflection of the vehicles age will give a rough approximation... eg my registration letters are BDP and the vehicle was first registered in 2000. The higher in alphabetical order of the first letter the newer the car...


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## Campesina

Try this:

Edad o años de coches y motos a partir de la matrícula


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## geordieboi

Campesina said:


> Try this:
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> Thanks for the link. It appears that it will be very useful when I start looking at cars. Even with my, at the moment, limited Spanish seems straightforward to use.


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## Dunpleecin

That link isn't particularly good as it always says a vehicle is 2003!

The new system in place since I think 2000 is 4 numbers and 3 letters. However the 3 letters cannot be vowels. So the first one will be 0001 BBB then 0002 BBB. The letters would then be BBC, BBD etc. At present we are up to, I think around HWX or perhaps later. The newest I've seen is HWW. The letters also span the years too so you can't say that any particular letter is for a particular year. The current ones beginning with H have been around a few years now. 

However, one thing of note. Re registered cars take a new number just like a new car does so you could be fooled into thinking that a car is newer than you think. This is easy to spot with an obviously older right hand drive car but if someone has brought a left hand drive car and matriculated it and if you're not really that well up on cars you could fall victim to an unscrupulous seller although the paperwork does show its age these can be forged like anything.


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## andoba

A rule of thumb:

- Post 2000ish plates have a XXXX YYY format, being X numbers and Y letters. Those plates are shared among all the cars registered in Spain, so if I register a car in Madrid now, it could have the 1234 HTN plate, if then a car was inmediately registered in Barcelona, it'd be the 1235 HTN. And those plates haven't got vocals in them.

Cars with plates with B__, C__ and D__ are from the bubble era, so there're a ton of cars from that time. F__, G__ and H__ are quite recent cars, as the market has nearly stalled. I haven't seen a car with a J__ plate yet, but there might be some alredy. I doubt it though.

Before 2000 something, plates were issued depending on where was the car registered. The first one (or two) letters indicated the province, and then up to 5 numbers and 2 letters identified that car in the province. These are the province letters (the ones that you might see, at least):










Figuring this is very important, because as plates are issued per-province, provinces with more vehicle registrations have bigger number plates than others with less registrations. For example, this Madrid registered car has an AG ended plate:










But this Castellón registered car has an AF registered plate...:










So clearly you can't know how old a car is (or it's registration is) by it's plate, if it's from before the 2000's.

I hope this helps in some way!


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## Campesina

The other link works for me but here is another one:

:: eCoches ::

Anyway, before you buy any second hand vehicle you should obtain a report from DGT:

https://sede.dgt.gob.es/es/tramites-y-multas/tu-coche/informe-de-vehiculo/


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## geordieboi

Thanks for the replies and information. Though I had figured out what the letters for pre2000's were for regions thought numbers on any plates may refer to actual years rather than just the next in order.


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## BF4 PLAYER

*I need to know*

I need to Know who onwes this vehicle.
the registration munber plate is 1118-JNN


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