What year is a 04 plate?
A 04 plate was issued between 1 March 2004 and 31 August 2004. That is a six-month window, not a year — UK identifiers change every March and September.
The window
| Issued from | 1 March 2004 |
|---|---|
| Issued until | 31 August 2004 |
| Half-year | The March issue |
| Came after | the 53 plate |
| Replaced by | the 54 plate |
On the plate it sits in the middle: two letters, then
04, then three more letters — AB04 CDE.
The first two letters are the
DVLA area code, which
says where the mark was issued. The last three are random and carry
nothing at all.
Why 04 and not the year itself
A March identifier is simply the last two digits of the year, so 04 ran from 1 March 2004 to 31 August 2004. The full chart has every identifier in the scheme, along with the prefix and suffix styles that came before 2001.
04 plates on the record
An age identifier is enough to search on its own — it pins two
characters of the mark, the same as typing
??04???. Every vehicle below comes from the DVSA
MOT record, with its make, model, colour, fuel and latest MOT
status.
- Every 04 plate on the record
- Black cars on a 04 plate
- Fords on a 04 plate
- The same half-year typed as a pattern
The breakdown under any of those groups the result by marque, paint or area — so which colours sold that half-year, and which marques, is a click rather than a separate search.
Common questions
What year is a 04 plate?
A 04 plate was issued between 1 March 2004 and 31 August 2004. Identifiers change twice a year, so a 04 plate names that six-month window rather than a whole year.
When did the 04 plate come out?
The 04 plate came out on 1 March 2004. UK identifiers change on 1 March and 1 September each year, and this one was issued to new vehicles until 31 August 2004. The 54 plate followed it.
Can you get a 04 plate now?
New vehicles were given the 04 identifier only while it was being issued, between 1 March 2004 and 31 August 2004. You can still buy a 04 plate on a used vehicle, and a private mark can be transferred at any time — but a mark cannot be made newer than the vehicle wearing it.
Is a 04 or a 54 plate newer?
The 54 plate is newer, by six months. A September identifier is the March one plus 50, so both belong to the same year: 04 was issued from 1 March 2004 and 54 from 1 September 2004.
What is a 04 number plate?
It is an ordinary current-style UK registration whose two middle digits are 04 — two letters, two digits, three letters, as in AB04 CDE. The first two letters are the DVLA area code and the 04 is the age identifier; the last three letters carry nothing.
How old is a 04 plate car?
It was first registered between 1 March 2004 and 31 August 2004, so count from there. The plate dates the registration rather than the build, and a car built shortly before a changeover is normally sold on the newer identifier.
Either side of it
- What year is a 53 plate? — the half-year before
- What year is a 54 plate? — the half-year after
- Every identifier, with the months it covers
- What the first two letters mean
An age identifier is enough to search on its own.