Crash data analysis shows no spike in claims around the 13th of any month and a 13-plate motor should behave no less nicely than any other. Nevertheless, fear of reduced future value may be more of a rational reason to avoid investing in the new prefix this spring or summer.
While one in ten drivers questioned by the AA thought they would avoid the number if they could, around a quarter of all drivers seriously considered it might hamper any future sale of a new-used car. Unscrupulous dealers may sadly have yet another weapon for their armoury when it comes to assessing a punter’s trade-in: “Nah mate, no-one wants ’em, they’re unlucky, you see?”
2. Thankfully then, 13 is here to stay, perhaps not least because of what the private plate industry calls the “scrabble value” of a 13 in the mix. It brings in all sorts of lucrative opportunities: treat the 1 and the 3 as a ‘B’ and it’s easy to see why the DVLA wants to make a quick buck on such novelties as KG13SPY (at £699, it costs more than most Ladas) £799 for NO13 CAR (perhaps an Pagani Zonda?) and ultimate Valentine plate FE13 LUV, a gift at £399. Let’s just ignore such puerile delights as YO13CAR, RU13 BER, GO13SHT et al, though the DVLA has them all up for grabs. Adapting your plate is technically bad luck as it’s illegal, though the rates for successful prosecution in the UK are laughable.
3. Look further afield and you could be forgiven for concluding there’s something unlucky in any digital combination. Drive in Afghanistan, if you have the bottle, and you’ll not find too many cars marked with a number 39. That’s despite the fact that this prefix was the first to be adopted in accordance with a new system instigated in 2011. The number is allegedly so hapless you might as well invite the Taliban to use your grille for target practice. The idea was shunned so much that sales of new motors took a dramatic dip.
6. It’s easy to offend certain cultures with the wrong plate, and virtually impossible to know some of the more obscure unfortunate combinations. In Mandarin, 250 is slang for ‘imbecile’, while 748 can be read as “Why don’t you go and die?” The innocuous-looking 167, meanwhile, in Cantonese is commonly read as a term for male genitalia. And you’d never flog the plate 5354 to any Cantonese: it means something neither dead nor alive.
Simon Hacker