23/03/2026
Yep. Except my car is on a 13 plate and still going strong !
The '26 plates dropped recently and somewhere in Britain right now a man is sitting in a dealership spending £47,000 he doesn't have because the number on the back of the car changed.
I need someone to explain this to me.
Because we do this twice a year.
Every year.
Without fail.
March and September.
The number changes.
And dealerships across the country fill up with perfectly sensible adults who have decided that this specific moment is the one to commit to a finance agreement that will follow them around for the next four years.
Not because anything about the car changed.
The car is identical to the one that was sitting there last Tuesday.
Same engine.
Same spec.
Same seats.
Same everything.
Except the plate now says 26 instead of 75.
And for reasons that cannot be fully explained by science that makes it worth driving to a dealership on a Wednesday morning and signing things.
The '75 plate car that was on the forecourt last week?
Already worth less.
Immediately.
Automatically.
Because the calendar moved.
Not because anything went wrong with it.
Not because technology improved.
Because it's March.
Britain is the only country in the world that does this twice a year.
Every other country manages with one plate change annually.
Some manage perfectly well with none.
We do it in March and September specifically to create two artificial peaks of demand.
Which keeps the showrooms busy.
Which keeps the finance companies happy.
Which keeps the whole beautiful machine turning.
At the expense of everyone who buys a new car in March or September and watches several thousand pounds evaporate from its value before they've found somewhere to hang the air freshener.
The 26 plates are out.
The forecourts are buzzing.
The finance agreements are being signed.
And somewhere a perfectly good '75 plate car is sitting on a used forecourt for £4,000 less than it was worth last Monday.
Which is, now I think about it, probably the most sensible place to buy a car.
