DVLA auction report for May 2024

The top 5 number plates sold at DVLA Auction in May 2024

DVLA's May 2024 auction was an online event that ran from Wednesday 8th to Tuesday 14th May.

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

Top performers

The highest price achieved at this latest auction was the £93,825 paid for 1 WLK. This was a substantial sum for a three-letter, digit-first number one.

In second place was 11 RM which made £55,305.

The number three spot was a little more intriguing. We suspect the new owner may intend 8055 G to be read as 'Boss G'. Whatever the motive, the number was worth £38,600 to the purchaser.

At number four, 911 FU sold for £32,180. Registrations containing 911 are frequently snapped up by Porsche owners. This one is notable for the FU letters it contains. This combination was previously suppressed by DVLA as being potentially offensive. Another FU combination, 2 FU, was the most expensive registration sold at the February 2024 auction.

At number five in May's chart was AST 30N. An excellent 'Aston' plate, this may have been bought for £30,267 by someone of that name, or by an Aston Martin owner.

Lost for words

There were not very many notable word plates this month. Some of those that did appear were as likely bought for their brevity and neat visual impact as for the random words they happened to resemble: 6 MUD, for example sold for £20,136.

Other possible word depictions included 11 UCK ('Luck' or 'Muck'?) at £18,069, ROC 111N ('Rockin' ?) at £14,820, CA24 VAN ('Caravan') at £14,474, 888 SKY ('Sky') at £12,946 and ROK 111T ('Rock it' or 'Rocket'?) at £12,419.

Names

Names were a little more evident. After the 'Aston' registration mentioned above, the best performance by a possible name plate was delivered by 488 AS ('Abbas'?) at £20,663. A44 MED ('Ahmed'?) sold for £18,326.

NAV 41D ('Navid') achieved £15,629. Lower down in the rankings was BB51 NGH, a good 'Singh' plate for £10,622.

Cars

We saw AST 30N and 911 FU earlier in this summary. Other apparent car references included 355 S (for a Ferrari 355 S?) at £16,772 and a number of the ever-popular '911' combinations: 911 PTS at £14,230, 911 GSB at £7,540 and 911 SOC at £4,831.

Others

Overall, buyers at this sale seemed more attracted to short registrations than to names or words. Several of those shorter numbers were number-ones, which never go out of fashion.

1 JXB at £24,489, 1 TKG at £21,921, 1 OPP at £19,353 and 1 HXJ at £17,684 are good examples. Even if they don't contain the buyer's initials, they still have that number-one appeal.

The trend for plates that give an impression of symmetry was nowhere to be seen. The closest thing to that style, or that of repeated characters was probably 8888 SO which sold for £4,510.

Top 50 sales

Plate	Price *
1 WLK	£93,825
11 RM	£55,305
8055 G	£38,600
911 FU	£32,180
AST 30N	£30,267
891 M	£28,328
RJS 111	£25,965
1 JXB	£24,489
1 TKG	£21,921
212 X	£21,369
241 O	£20,663
488 AS	£20,663
6 MUD	£20,136
88 LAM	£19,353
1 OPP	£19,353
A44 MED	£18,326
11 UCK	£18,069
1 HXJ	£17,684
666 SOS	£17,619
14 ASG	£17,619
ESA 4H	£17,427
151 N	£17,427
31 OOO	£17,042
355 S	£16,772
68 JAS	£16,194
SJP 111	£15,681
247 AC	£15,655
NAV 41D	£15,629
ONB 41L	£15,514
115 HAN	£15,501
181 W	£15,501
440 P	£15,501
10 UKA	£15,244
18 MJS	£15,206
239 B	£14,872
ROC 111N	£14,820
CA24 VAN	£14,474
786 MHD	£14,409
911 PTS	£14,230
880 J	£14,230
123 KJ	£14,204
12 YN	£13,934
234 DC	£13,575
1985 A	£13,318
VOS 5	£13,087
4 MLB	£13,074
1 OGH	£12,946
888 SKY	£12,946
HAY 5R	£12,933
841 LER	£12,933

* Prices include fees and taxes.

The stats

May's DVLA online auction comprised 2,000 lots, 1,989 of which were sold and 11 unsold. Purchasers spent a total of £6,562,210, delivering £6,143,316 to the Treasury.

The next DVLA timed online auction will take place from Wednesday 19th June to Tuesday 25th June 2024.