DVLA auction report for January 2024

DVLA's January 2024 auction was, as previously announced, an online event that ran from Wednesday 10th to Tuesday 16th January.

As always, prices quoted in this report include fees and taxes.

Top tier

Someone clearly had a little money left over after Christmas, or maybe they just got a lot of cash in Christmas cards from wealthy relatives. However they managed it, the purchaser of L1 BYA (Libya) was happy to part with a very healthy £102,800. This was the highest price paid in a DVLA auction since July 2023.

Second place was taken by 8 XP at £40,154. Presumably the registration was purchased for its reference to the Experience Points cryptocurrency. This was one of several similarly themed numbers we've seen at auction in recent years.

In third place was 980 S (£32,193), a cool number to display on a Porsche 980.

Car brands and models

Other car-themed personal registrations in the sale included:

997 GTS (for Porsche 997 GTS) at £23,911
AMZ 2 (Aston Martin Zagato) at £15,629
V815 LAY (Land Rover V8 Islay) at £11,623
FER 812C (Ferrari 812 Competizione) at £10,005
RED 911T (hopefully for a red Porsche 911) at £8,980
DBX 707X (Aston Martin DBX707) for the bargain price of £6,513

Name number plates

The Spanish name 7 ORO (Toro) at £19,379 would have been a great number for Puerto Rican movie star Benicio Del Toro or My Chemical Romance guitarist Ray Toro, but as neither of those are likely to spend much time driving around on British roads we're guessing it went to someone else.

16 UY (1 Guy) sold for £18,120, DEV 7N (Devin) for £12,922 and DAR 10X (Dario X) for £11,366. FA73 MAH (Fatemah) went for £9,222, RY51 NGH (RY Singh) for £9,209 and PB51 NGH (PB Singh) for £8,824.

We've also been observing the trend of name numbers containing numbers that the purchasers seem happy to disregard altogether. A couple of those that appeared in this latest auction were AK17 TAR (Aktar) at £10,365 and FR18 ANK (Frank) at £8,439.

For comparison with those above, Regtransfers currently offers AKT 42R at £9,371, F244 NKY also at £9,371 or F244 ANK at £7,496.

Words

Some nice word numbers were snapped up this time out. STO 13N (Stolen) was indeed a steal at £17,427. BOS 5A (Boss A) sold for £10,172 while WAR 110R (Warrior) was acquired for just £7,283. Visually, one of the best was OCE 34N (Ocean), a bargain at £6,513.

Oddities and novelties

We think OMY 90D (O my god), which achieved £12,008, was lucky to get released. Plates with religious references, or aspects that sensitive people might consider blasphemous have been withheld in the past. On the other hand, we have seen other examples recently that probably wouldn't have seen the light of day a few years ago.

Another which could be seen as containing a cheeky message was 24 FFS which sold for £15,488. We won't spell that one out for you.

OOO 100X (£14,204) and S100 OOO (£4,610) are typical of another trend. Plates without discernible meaning but which are striking purely in their visual effect have been popular for a while now. Examples containing repetition of the letter O, the digit 0 and/or the letter X seem to attract particular interest. They have often sold for higher prices than would previously have been expected.

60 YRS (£11,007) and 1964 S (£14,217) both seem to contain nicely represented, specific time references but beyond that we have no idea.

One last cause of speculation was BMT 216G at £7,540. We suspect it may have been acquired by a James Bond fan, as it is just one character away from a Bond plate we wrote about in 2022.

The stats

January's DVLA online auction comprised 2,500 lots, 2,459 of which were sold and 41 unsold. Purchasers spent a total of £7,091,184, delivering £6,443,424 to the Treasury.

Plate	Price *
L1 BYA	£102,800
8 XP	£40,154
980 S	£32,193
7 OMG	£32,193
511 AF	£25,773
997 GTS	£23,911
432 O	£21,921
23 YK	£21,908
2 OBE	£21,305
1 YFD	£20,329
8888 V	£20,008
7 SEC	£19,571
7 ORO	£19,379
74 RAN	£19,340
16 UY	£18,120
SSS 888	£17,915
STO 13N	£17,427
160 T	£16,913
480 B	£16,875
505 A	£16,169
8 HSS	£15,758
1 VKB	£15,758
171 VAN	£15,693
1 OEH	£15,655
AMZ 2	£15,629
1111 NH	£15,501
46 DPM	£15,501
9 AFF	£15,488
24 FFS	£15,488
550 AM	£15,437
23 KAM	£14,987
774 M	£14,345
114 DAM	£14,230
1964 S	£14,217
22 SLR	£14,217
93 LF	£14,217
OOO 100X	£14,204
RJS 17	£13,896
121 CM	£13,703
22 PJS	£13,575
1 YTV	£13,408
21 SRP	£13,048
1 OUA	£12,997
DEV 7N	£12,933
885 G	£12,894
83 SJW	£12,804
10 SKD	£12,804
AAA 8A	£12,368
104 AC	£12,304
ORH 44N	£12,291