When do 27 plates come out?
Not yet: 119 days to go. The 27 plate is first issued on 1 March 2027 and stays on new registrations until 31 August 2027, when the 77 plate takes over.
-
119
days until it arrives
The 76 plate is being issued now
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1 Mar 2027
first issued
The March identifier
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31 Aug 2027
issued until
Then the 77 plate
What a 27 plate tells you about a car
What the 27 plate will mean
Not on the road yet
From 1 March 2027. Two cars on the same plate can be almost six months apart.
MOT on a 27 plate
None due until 2030
The first fall due from 1 March 2030. No car wears it yet, so there is no MOT history to read.
Car tax on a 27 plate
The flat standard rate
One standard rate after the first year, plus a five-year supplement if the car cost over the expensive-car threshold new. Our car tax calculator works out the current figure.
27 plate cars in clean air zones
Where the 27 plate sits against the emissions standards for London's ULEZ and the UK's clean air zones.
ULEZ and clean air zones
Petrol and diesel generally comply
A 27 plate petrol car will be registered after 2005, so it will generally meet Euro 4, the petrol standard. A 27 plate diesel will be registered after Euro 6 became compulsory in September 2015, so it will generally meet the diesel standard. Check one car with our ULEZ checker or TfL's.
An area code, the age, three random letters
What the rest of the plate means
The first two letters name the region of first registration. See the area codes, the regions or the free plate decoder.
Before or after 1 March?
The weeks before a change
Dealers are trying to shift cars on the current identifier, so there is more movement on price, and the car is no different from one that arrives a fortnight later. It does look a plate older from day one, which costs a little at resale. More in our guide to the best time to buy a used car. Buying used instead? The free MOT history check shows how any car has been kept.
Buying before 1 March?
Check the car, not just the plate
Whatever plate it wears, check its MOT history, mileage and any scrapped, exported or imported markers before you pay. From £5.
Every identifier since 2001
Each year has a March plate, which uses the year, and a September plate, which adds 50. The yellow one, the 76 plate, is being issued now. When the next plate change happens.
The 27 plate: common questions
When do 27 plates come out?
The 27 plate is first issued on 1 March 2027, so no 27 plate cars are on the road yet. It stays on new registrations until 31 August 2027, and March identifiers are the last two digits of the year, so 27 means 2027.
Can you buy a 27 plate car before 1 March 2027?
You can order one, but it cannot be registered with the 27 identifier before 1 March 2027. Dealers usually take orders in the weeks before plate day and hand the cars over from that date.
When will a 27 plate car need its first MOT?
Three years after first registration, so the earliest 27 plate cars will need one from 1 March 2030 and the last of them from 31 August 2030. After that it is an annual test.
What plate comes after the 27 plate?
The 77 plate, first issued on 1 September 2027. Plates change every 1 March and 1 September, and the September identifier adds 50 to the year.