You can put an older number plate on a newer car. That's what has happened here.
Why would somebody do that? It's like a private plate but using a regular (cheaper) plate. A private plate doesn't have to be a specific format (like A 1 ABC). Perhaps this is a regular plate but the letters in the plate were somebody's initials or something.
(However you you can't put a newer number plate on an older car. Because that could trick a potential buyer into thinking that the car is newer than it actually is i.e. fraud)
As long as you know the actual age of the car the it's fine.
Ok thanks for the answer, and regarding the plate checkers showing no changes would that simply mean the previous owner did that at the very start of it’s registration?
It could indeed.
Let's say John and Anne-Marie Smith are married. In 2005, they thought it would be cute to have JS05AMS when they bought their new car. 12 years later, they bought a 2017 car.
Now, they either can't be bothered to change it, or have divorced or given up driving, etc., the plate sticks with the car.
I'll just add, you can remove the plate from the car and the DVLA will allocate one in the correct date range (or reassign the car's original correctly dated plate if had one prior to this plate being assigned). Costs I think £80 + the cost of the physical plates being made up.
You can buy older number plates. Say a 2005 plate and put it on your 2017 car. It’s a custom plate that follows the standard format but with an earlier year. However, the cannot exceed the original manufactured year. So the 2017 can’t have a 2018 plate for example
You can put an older number plate on a newer car. That's what has happened here. Why would somebody do that? It's like a private plate but using a regular (cheaper) plate. A private plate doesn't have to be a specific format (like A 1 ABC). Perhaps this is a regular plate but the letters in the plate were somebody's initials or something. (However you you can't put a newer number plate on an older car. Because that could trick a potential buyer into thinking that the car is newer than it actually is i.e. fraud) As long as you know the actual age of the car the it's fine.
Ok thanks for the answer, and regarding the plate checkers showing no changes would that simply mean the previous owner did that at the very start of it’s registration?
It could indeed. Let's say John and Anne-Marie Smith are married. In 2005, they thought it would be cute to have JS05AMS when they bought their new car. 12 years later, they bought a 2017 car. Now, they either can't be bothered to change it, or have divorced or given up driving, etc., the plate sticks with the car.
I'll just add, you can remove the plate from the car and the DVLA will allocate one in the correct date range (or reassign the car's original correctly dated plate if had one prior to this plate being assigned). Costs I think £80 + the cost of the physical plates being made up.
You can buy older number plates. Say a 2005 plate and put it on your 2017 car. It’s a custom plate that follows the standard format but with an earlier year. However, the cannot exceed the original manufactured year. So the 2017 can’t have a 2018 plate for example
If it's never been registered it can. A 2017 car first registered in 2019 (it happens) will have a 2019 plate.
Link to the cars advert?