What is the new system for imported cars' registration numbers?

Hello, first of all congrats on a great Irish car website. It seems that the system of registering a imported used car has changed since late last year. It is now easy to spot imported Dublin registered cars because the plate starts at 120,000 upwards. I cannot find any information on the Revenue website but I remember reading a newspaper article in early 2012 about it. What are the starting numbers for other counties especially Wicklow?

Jerome O'Connor (Wicklow)

Nov 2012 Filed under: registration

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Expert answer

Hi Jerome,

This change was made in December 2011 and as you rightly point out, imported used cars registered in Dublin start at 120,000. That's for each year of manufacture, so the first important car from 1994 will start 94 D 120000 and there could also be a 01 D 120000 for instance. Each of the counties has a different starting number appropriately higher than the highest number of cars sold in that county in any year. The list doesn't appear to be available online, but we've requested it for information and will pass it on as soon as we get it.

Shane O' Donoghue - Complete Car Adviser
@Shane_O_D