The Puzzle Over Number Plates

Well, we are now once again heading towards the autumn, with the new ‘58’ number plates set to be released next month. Although the current system has been around for seven years, it appears that the new format is still causing trouble for drivers.

According to a recent survey carried out by British Car Auctions (BCA) and Honestjohn.co.uk, a third of 1,200 motorists asked could not tell the age of a car simply by looking at the number plate. Perhaps a trifle more startling, 23% of those questioned did not know that the new style number plates reveal a vehicle’s age! Finding this out, we can’t help but wonder how many unsuspecting buyers and sellers have unknowingly been conned out of cash. It can be pretty hard to tell a vehicle’s age just by looking at its condition, and we suspect that it’s likely that someone who is unclear about number plates would not exactly be an expert when it comes to cars!

Clearly, number plates are causing rather a lot of confusion. Considering that this system is set to be with us for at least another forty odd years, we’d like to think that those looking to buy or sell a car will at least get a little more clued up on number plates. We can only hope!

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