ELI5%3A%20What do car plates mean?

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For example when somebody says they have a 15 plate Mercedes, what does the plate mean? Is it the year of release or a batch or is it to do with something else. Cheers

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3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

I have never heard that term. But I’m going to assume that means the model year.

FWIW, new year cars are typically built and released in the fall preceding the actual model year. So a “2015” model year car may have actually been built and sold in late 2014, but it’s still considered a 2015. Also some cars remain on the dealers lot beyond their model year. So a 2024 sitting on the lot right now might still be there in 2025. So even though it is a brand new car to a buyer in 2025, it’s still a 2025 model.

So calling something a “year plate” is probably just a simple way of stating what model year it is, even though that model year may not match the current year. Just a WAG

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