Would you pay £100k for a personal plate? These are 2023’s priciest
- The DVLA has shared with This is Money the ten priciest plates it offered final yr
- We evaluate them to the most costly to ever promote at DVLA auctions since 1989
- Expert reveals in-demand combos and explanation why we spend large on plates
Whether you are a motorist who enjoys personalisation or an investor with an eye fixed on a future return, non-public plates have develop into sizzling property in recent times.
And the costs some folks pay for one they really need is staggering.
The world’s most costly non-public plate just lately offered to an nameless bidder in Dubai for £13 million. The plate? A lone ‘7’.
But what about again in Britain? We solely reveal the highest 10 most costly registrations offered by the DVLA.
Most costly non-public plates of 2023: We reveal which personalised registration plates had been offered by the DVLA for the very best quantities final yr – and evaluate them to the all-time priciest
Top 10 priciest registrations offered by DVLA in 2023
2023 was the tip of an period within the non-public plate world with the final in-person DVLA public sale going down in October.
Personalised registration auctions will now be solely on-line, and the DVLA holds six gross sales a yr.
Taking the 2023 primary spot at a DVLA public sale was ‘H1 NDU’, which offered for £112,010 (excluding charges and taxes).
It’s excessive sale value requires little rationalization and the six-figure value is maybe much less unsurprising than some others that make-up the most costly of final yr.
The prime 10 of was dominated by the development for personal plates with ‘O’, with half of the most costly non-public registrations following this format.
This is turning into public sale normal within the present non-public plate market.
Two ‘DEO’ plates featured in the most costly record: ‘1 DEO’ offered for £106,090 and ‘DEO 1S’ fetched £80,010.
Registrations that includes letters first and the #1 within the sequence usually obtain the very best costs, primarily based on the DVLA’s historic data.
The ‘DEO’ impressed large hitters is likely to be interesting due to the ‘God’ that means behind them, however there is no particular reply.
It’s the guessing recreation concerned that makes non-public plates comparable to an fascinating funding to many.
The greats of all time: the highest 10 most costly personalised DVLA plates offered at public sale
The most costly non-public plates ever offered by DVLA
2023 wasn’t a very excessive performing yr for DVLA registrations in comparison with the final 5 years.
Jon Kirkbright, gross sales director at quantity plate provider Platehunter places this right down to the decrease high quality inventory.
He informed This is Money: ‘The finest plates had been offered when the DVLA began its auctions again within the day.
‘Now you are taking a look at a preliminary plate however you could have three numbers after it as a result of one to 99 have already been launched.’
The prime 10 from the final 5 years ranged from £308,253 for ‘DEV 1L’ right down to £84,000 for ‘3 XRP’.
‘DEV 1L’ was additionally the third most costly of all time, with collectors scrambling over the plate from Cruella De Vil’s iconic automobile.
Five of the ten had been all above £112,000, however solely one among these was offered in 2023: ‘H1 NDU’ that was the most costly from final yr.
Smokin’: The DEV 1L plate from Cruella De Vil’s iconic automobile was offered in 2021 by the DVLA for £308,253
Comparatively, the highest 10 of all time had been all above £150,000 (excluding charges and taxes) and offered way back to 1989 – the yr the company first placed on auctions for personal plates.
The most costly DVLA registration ever offered was ’25 O’ which reached £400,000 (excluding charges and taxes) on 27 November 27 2014.
It was a superb furlong forward of second place’s ‘1 D’ which got here in at £285,000. No prizes for guessing which boy band that bidder was a fan of.
The first on-line public sale of 2024 has already taken place, with ‘L1 BYA’ the standout lot going for £80,000 (simply shy of £103,000 inclusive of public sale charges and VAT).
CarReg, a UK enterprise that specialises within the buy and sale of personal plates, informed us: ‘L1 BYA probably might find yourself on a automobile utilized by diplomats on the Embassy of Libya London as related numbers have completed so previously.’
Where the non-public plate market stands
As of 2023, companies working within the sector valued the British personalised quantity plate trade to be value over £2billion.
Jon Kirkbright, 45, is the founding father of Plate Hunter
A complete of 17,823 registrations had been offered in final yr’s DVLA auctions and consumers spent nearly £49m (together with charges and taxes).
Platehunter noticed a 25 per cent improve in turnover by the primary 17 days of January on final yr, with valuation requests per day up 100 on final yr already.
Kirkbright is anticipating this yr to be the most important but: ‘The second-hand plate market retains going from energy to energy and 2024 can be no completely different.
‘People are seeing worse plates offered by the DVLA go for a similar value they paid for a greater one at an public sale years in the past, and so are demanding two or thrice the value for his or her plates now on the second hand market’.
Five causes folks spend large on non-public plates
Names, initials and phrases
Number plates that spell out – or nearly spell out – names, initials and phrases are the most typical cause for why folks splash out on non-public registrations.
People both want to specific their individuality and persona, or an investor is aware of that sure phrases will proceed to rise in worth.
The Prince and Princess of Wales drove away from their wedding ceremony with ‘JU5T WED’ on the rear quantity plate of King Charles III’s Aston Martin Volante.
Businessman Afzal Khan reportedly turned down £10 million for his ‘F1’ plate he purchased for £440k in 2008.
Investment
Investors go the place the returns are good, and the efficiency of personal quantity plates is pulling traders away from conventional investments.
With greater returns than wine, watches, jewelry and basic vehicles and artwork, it isn’t shocking that personalised plates are creating bidding wars.
One specialist stated a plate can double in worth in 12 months.
Buyers flip over plates in a short time, and in contrast to investments like vehicles or artwork there is no storage prices. You may even drive your automobile along with your plate on with out it shedding any worth!
Covering up a automobile’s age
While you’ll be able to’t customise and show a plate that makes your automobile look newer than it’s, you’ll be able to put non-public plate on that conceals the age of your automobile.
You do not must drive round with a age-identifiable DVLA plate.
Power symbols
There’s interior confidence after which there’s needing to show it.
Drivers with non-public plates resembling standing comparable to success, cash, or affect comparable to ‘BO55’ use brief phrases or acronyms to challenge the picture of themselves they need on the market.
Sentimentality
Some folks have a locket with a photograph in, others a tattoo. But for some drivers, a non-public plate is the perfect means to recollect and commemorate particular dates, occasions or references to family members.
And as a result of these evoke private reminiscences, many consider it’s value paying some huge cash for the personalised quantity plate combos they really need.
