DVLA's March 2024 auction was an online event that ran from Wednesday 20th to Tuesday 26th March.
As always, prices quoted in this report include fees and taxes.
The top five
March's highest price was the £51,453 paid for KUR 1D. While that seems surprisingly modest for an auction top-spot, we think it's a pretty good price for that particular plate to achieve.
In second place was the intriguing 50 DPM, which sold for £36,045. However, unless it was selected as a nice, dateless initials plate, its significance eludes us.
The third place in March's chart went to 8 XU at £32,193. This would be a great number for someone with the Chinese name Xu. The names written in Chinese as 徐 and 許 both transliterate to 'Xu', and the presence of the lucky number 8 obviously adds greatly to the plate's desirability.
At number four was 1000 CC which made £29,240. This is another one that invites speculation: it would make a great CC initials plate but then there's that obvious representation of 1000cc as in cubic centilitres. One wonders what, specifically, that could allude to. A car engine size of 1000cc is not something people usually brag about, although it could be pretty potent on a motorcycle.
56 OO at number five achieved £28,341. Visually it's a fine plate, but frustratingly light on clues as to what else may have been in the purchaser's mind.
Word plates.
Words were not a conspicuous feature of this latest auction. There were a few nice representations and sources of amusement but stand-outs were a little thin on the ground.
AYE 600D at £9,081 made a nice 'Aye, good!' but, once again, the inability to read the purchaser's mind does leave one wondering what it may refer to.
FOR 53T could easily work as 'forest' or 'forget'. Presumably that was the reason it made £6,449. Other word plates in this auction included L119 HTS ('lights') at £6,320; SP21 NGS ('springs') at £6,192; WAR 910R ('warrior') at £4,189 and GH20 OST ('ghost') at £2,648.
Name number plates
8 XU, which we saw earlier, was the best name plate by far. Other good name renderings were AYM 3N ('Aymen') at £21,150; SAD 4M ('Sadam') at £17,555; SU24 NNE ('Suzanne') at £15,128 and MAD 130N ('Madison') at £11,649.
There were also quite a few decent name numbers at bargain prices. As we've seen time and time again, perfect representations command big prices, but there is still a substantial market for name representations that may be imperfect on a letter-for-letter basis, but which work really well visually.
As perfect name plates become harder to acquire, the value of these second-tier name number plates also rises. Amongst examples in this sale were: PH06 EBE ('Phoebe') which sold for £6,620; SA24 RAH ('Sarah') at £5,871; WAT 90N ('Watson') at £5,576; CH67 LOE ('Chloe') at £5,486 and LAU 23A ('Laura') at £5,216.
Car plates
Number plates that could reflect car names were, as usual, mostly references to Porsche or Ferrari, although BUG 10, which sold for £18,762, could have been bought as a Bugatti plate. On the other hand, the buyer could also have been a particularly enthusiastic VW Beetle driver. 812 MF at £25,501 could have been bought for initials, or as a reference to the Ferrari 812.
In our experience, the majority of people buying 911 plates intend to put them on examples of that particular Porsche model. The auctions often include a generous selection of these. Examples snapped up in this auction included 911 RAT (£12,933); 911 TK (£12,317); P911 WOW (£11,007) and P911 DAK (£4,587).
Between the cracks
Once again, not really fitting into any of the usual categories, we find those plates that seem to be chosen purely for their visual impact. OO24 OOO, which sold for £7,065, is in a style we have seen many times before, including at last month's DVLA auction.
Plates with some kind of visual symmetry are popular, as are many featuring a lot of zeros and/or Xs.
| Plate | Price * |
|---|---|
| KUR 1D | £51,453 |
| 50 DPM | £36,045 |
| 8 XU | £32,193 |
| 1000 CC | £29,240 |
| 56 OO | £28,341 |
| 60 DJM | £25,850 |
| 181 O | £25,773 |
| 88 LAW | £24,656 |
| 211 B | £23,231 |
| AYM 3N | £21,150 |
| 111 ASK | £19,353 |
| AVI 11 | £19,353 |
| 4 YDN | £19,353 |
| BUG 10 | £18,762 |
| 82 XX | £18,390 |
| 1 XCM | £18,082 |
| SAD 4M | £17,555 |
| 412 P | £16,656 |
| 8 MEE | £15,514 |
| 812 MF | £15,501 |
| 7 NKB | £15,501 |
| SU24 NNE | £15,128 |
| 180 YO | £15,013 |
| S513 NNA | £14,859 |
| AKS 4A | £14,461 |
| KLA 551C | £14,345 |
| RHE 7A | £14,230 |
| 85 AY | £14,217 |
| 13 JSB | £14,217 |
| 851 S | £14,217 |
| 1 VJF | £14,217 |
| 111 TRU | £14,217 |
| 114 NDA | £14,217 |
| 2 OON | £13,909 |
| 606 M | £13,472 |
| GOL 3F | £13,202 |
| 77 LY | £13,125 |
| 660 C | £12,933 |
| AYL 4N | £12,933 |
| 9 NEW | £12,933 |
| 911 RAT | £12,933 |
| JDM 1A | £12,933 |
| IG 44 | £12,933 |
| 750 GC | £12,920 |
| 184 M | £12,483 |
| 239 A | £12,419 |
| 911 TK | £12,317 |
| 15 DSH | £12,304 |
| 750 PS | £12,252 |
| 5 HCB | £11,790 |
* Prices include fees and taxes.
The stats
March's DVLA online auction comprised 2,500 lots, 2,467 of which were sold and 33 unsold. Purchasers spent a total of £6,745,644, delivering £6,317,252 to the Treasury.
The next DVLA timed online auction will take place from Wednesday 8th May to Tuesday 14th May 2024.
More great number plate auction information
The Regtransfers auction
Buy and sell with our number plate auction. You can see what is coming soon or jump in to the listings.
DVLA February 2024 Auction
Learn more about personal number plates that sold for great prices in the DVLA's previous auction.
