What does "T reg" mean in an auto ad?

I keep running into to this phrase on Autotrader, and it's not in the glossary.

Example:

T reg. 56000 miles, Panther Black, 2 lady owners, MoT and tax, f/T/s/h, sunroof, e/w, c/locking, pas, alarmed, alloy wheels, superb condition. £3,695. eve

 

They use that instead of listing the year of the automobile. So, whatever year they were issuing T reg plates is the year the car was manufactured. But, even knowing that, I tried to find a list on Google for you so you could see what year the car was and I couldn't find anything. I must be using the wrong words, or something. LOL

I'm sure someone here can give you a clear answer!

This was the best I could find and it doesn't look like it's been updated in a few years but I guess you can work it out from there. It looks like a "T reg" is a 1999.

http://www.ukcar.com/features/reg_year.htm

It was the year a car was registered, not it's age (see below for the new system).

T is a car registered in the 1st half of 1999.

The system used to be the first letter was the year, then the letter would be on the end

As the suffix:
A=1963, B=1964,...Y=1982

As the prefix:
A=1983, B=1984.... S=1998

Then they changed it to encompass 2 registrations per year

T=1999 1st half
V=1999 2nd half
W=2000 1st half
X=2000 2nd half
Y=2001

Then they changed the system yet again with :

The plate has 7 characters in 3 parts, each with a different meaning

AB39 EDY

The first two letters show where the vehicle was registered, the local memory tag.
The two numbers indicate the age of the vehicle, the age identifier.
The last three letters give a unique identity to a vehicle, the random letters

Local Memory Tag (first 2 letters)
 
The first character (A) refers to a region, the second (B) refers to the local DVLA office

Age Identifier

2003 53
2004 54
2005 55
2006 56
2007 57
2008 58
2009 59
2010 60

Random Letters

The three final letters will provide a random element to make each registration mark unique.

Letters "I" and "Q" are to be excluded along with letter combinations that may be considered offensive. The letter "Z" will be acceptable in this element of the number plate.


Clear as mud now eh? Used to be so simple....

Why wouldn't people advertise the year of the auto then? That's one of the first things I want to know about a vehicle when I'm shopping for one.

Thanks for the detailed description there! I guess I didn't have it right. Although, my car is a K reg and is a 1992 so, generally, I would assume most cars are registered the year they are manufactured and the reg letter is a good indication of how old the car is?

Normally they were registered in the same year but not always. So everyone here ususally knows a T reg is a 1999 (I didn't! But I knew roughly. I have to work it out, and then not all letters were used.)

Now had someone bought a car (1989 mnf) in France and lived there and then came to the UK in 1999 it would be a T or V reg. But if they were to sell it they probably would advertise it as a 1989 model.

The new system allows the age (the 2 numbers).

Hope that makes sense. It doesn't to me..

I could be wrong about this but I think it is illegal to put a number plate on a car that gives the impression that it is not as old as it actually is.

For example you can't put an Y plate on a car registered in February 1999 as this would suggest that it was registered in 2001.

If you are serious about buying a car you have seen I would always recommend getting an HPI check on the vehicle.

You would be surprised at how many cars have a hidden history or still have money owing on them which could result in it being repossessed and you ending up with nothing except a few thousand pound out of pocket.

If you are serious about buying a car you have seen I would always recommend getting an HPI check on the vehicle.

You would be surprised at how many cars have a hidden history or still have money owing on them which could result in it being repossessed and you ending up with nothing except a few thousand pound out of pocket.

I agree 100% unless you know the dealer and even then...who knows.

I could be wrong about this but I think it is illegal to put a number plate on a car that gives the impression that it is not as old as it actually is.

For example you can't put an Y plate on a car registered in February 1999 as this would suggest that it was registered in 2001.

I think that is true regarding a car that is already registered as your example, the car is already registered in 99 so making it a Y, I think is illegal. But if the car has never been registered in this country then it used to get a registration number of the year it was registered here.

I'm not sure now as the registration scheme is so different now.

And if you chose ''personalised'' plates (at a price!) and you must re-register the car with the DVLC. Then when you sell the car, the registration should revert to one for the year it was first registered. I think the policy is to give back the original registration number.

Wow! Thanks guys!

Ayoubob has put all the info on there nicely about reg plates!

As for the illegal thing, I still see SO many deliberatly mis-spaced lettering in order to make 'an interesting' plate - I 'slightly' altered the appearance of my private plate as it's only 5 characters so I made the whole number plate plastic as small as it could be whilst keeping the legal sized lettering! The cops left me alone ! a few friends would every month or so get a tug for their plates and get a fine etc.

Courtney - there's good advice here, it's imperitive you get a HPI check done on the vehicle  - I think they run at around £45 at the moment, so obviously only choose to do it on a car you are very seriously intending to buy. Like the posting in another board about buying a car, nip into WHSmiths and pick up copies of the 'car buying' magazines and start your research.

for fun - Me and my bro and of course many of our friends have personal/private plates and they can be big business/change hands for lots of money. All my USA connections are amazed at how much we've paid for plates and the whole 'vanity' plate thing here. A few weeks ago my bro brought 'P111 SED' and that so far has caused a few looks. My mum, me and my bro each have our own plates which make up our family name quite nicely, and for the F150 Truck, we got one that starts 'V8' so as to match it's spec. I saw an old XJS jaguar yesterday with 'JAG 5Y' and he'd put the holding screw on the '5' so it looked more like a 'G' and so it said 'JAG GY'. I've seen 'L4 MBO' on a lovely Diablo on the M4 into Heathrow, and a good friend has 'R10 GUE' with a very thin '1' so it looks like 'RO GUE' (which he is !)

there's way too many others I know of - but i'll shut me trap now!

Dennis! West London & Slough UK!

Thanks for the great advice!

I am not sure if I will buy a car or not to be honest. After driving in the US for 23 years, I am not sure how easily I can transition to the UK.

If I do buy, it will be something tiny and affordable. I like the looks of the Toyota Yaris and they are a Which? Best Buy for reliability. There are so many things to take into consideration though.

My flat is about 6 miles from work and the buses are very doable. I'm going to give public transportation a try and see how I fare.

It is such an involved process to buy over here, and it would be great if one of you car lovers would write a Car Buying 101 Guide for the rest of us! Maybe even collaborate? <hint hint> 

I am not sure if I will buy a car or not to be honest. After driving in the US for 23 years, I am not sure how easily I can transition to the UK.

If I do buy, it will be something tiny and affordable. I like the looks of the Toyota Yaris and they are a Which? Best Buy for reliability. There are so many things to take into consideration though.

My flat is about 6 miles from work and the buses are very doable. I'm going to give public transportation a try and see how I fare.

That is exactly how I thought when I first came to the UK, Courtney. I'd been driving in the US for 25 years, so was worried about changing over. I did the public transport thing for a few weeks, but started really missing the convenience of my own wheels. I ended up buying a teeny-tiny very old car -- which was a perfect first UK car. Now that I'm used to things, I've upgraded to a slightly less old, bigger car.

I didnt drive for the 1st 10 years i was here!
I lived in Glasgow, which has a brilliant public transport system (buses, trains, subway) and i only lived a couple of miles outside the city centre, so did a lot of walking as well.

I never missed driving at all, until we bought a house and got our dog... suddenly we were going to Homebase and B&Q and Costco, and wanting to take the dog out with us for weekends, etc... and for that, we really wanted a car.

The exact system has changed over time.  Prior to 1963, there was no year coded into the number at all, and numbers just appeared as something like ABC 123 (although the BC part of that did tell you wher it was registered originally).

The first few suffix letters were based on the calendar year of when the car was registered: A=1963, B=1964, etc.    However from E/F onward, the system changed so that new registrations came out in August, so F was August 1967 through July 1968, and so on. 

The August change continued when the year letter became the prefix, so A = August 1983 through July 1984, and so on.

However, the last few prefix letters were changed every six months in order to "use them up" before the completely new coding system was introduced for 2001 models onward.    A "T-reg"  (as prefix) means that the car was registered between March and August 1999.

This link has a full list of all suffix and prefix letters, starting about two-thirds of the way down the page:

http://www.wolfbane.com/vreg.htm

(Lots of other information on the area codes as well.)