It's 'Friday the 13th' for motorists buying new cars from today

Today is March 1st, but it might as well be considered Friday the 13th, as it marks the start of the number 13 registration plate. Many speculated that this would impact on not only current, but future vehicle sales due to the superstition surrounding the odd numeral. The car information experts, CAP, have posted their views on this subject and say that they have not found the fear factor related to the '13 plate' to be true, especially in the way of increased depreciation or reduced demand for 13 plate cars by avoiding them in the future used car market.

CAP first flagged the issue of ‘triskaidekaphobia’ – fear of the number 13 – and the car market last summer, when trade talk began to turn to superstitious customers’ potential responses to the March 2013 plate. CAP also say that they will closely monitor the prices achieved in the used market by 13 plate cars as they begin to enter the used market in the months ahead, to see if there is any discernible impact from triskaidekaphobia, using Black Book Live – CAP’s unique ‘real-time’ used car valuation system.

Black Book Live senior editor, Derren Martin, said: “The key thing to remember is that customers make the decision to buy the car first and what appears on the plate is an afterthought. For this reason we believe retail sales are not likely to be affected in any significant way – either this month for new cars, or in the future for used cars.

“For fleet and business users, even though they are more likely to be aware of the numbers on the March plate, their car replacements are governed by fleet replacement cycles, which means they have little choice to defer purchases until the next plate. We have certainly been receiving anecdotal reports of some motorists expressing reluctance to take a 13 plate and it would also appear that there has been a recent increase in demand for private plates. This will no doubt partly be fuelled by those few retail customers who have realised the 13 plate is coming and are responding to personal superstition.

“There will also undoubtedly be a few people who will see that the numbers ‘1’ and ‘3’ can be spaced to make the plate appear to read as a ‘B’ even though altering the spacing of letters and numbers is illegal.

“We therefore believe that the value of a 13 plate car will not be adversely affected in the future. We will of course monitor the performance of 13 plate cars in the market over the coming months and will report on our findings should evidence emerge to the contrary.”

Whether you believe in throwing spilled salt over your shoulder, avoid walking under ladders, say a prayer when a black cat crosses your path, or fear bad luck if you break a mirror, the 13 number plate debate is still going to cause some motorists to take a 'wait and see' approach. I know I am.

Let me know how you feel about the new number plates by commenting on this post or visit me on my Twitter page.