California’s Running Out Of License Plate Numbers Faster Than It Thought, But There’s A Fix

Since 1980, California’s passenger car license plates have followed the same format: one number, three letters, and three numbers (think 1ABC234). But that tried-and-true combo is at the end of its rope. Despite a recent surge in car sales, the current plates are expected to last through the rest of the year, at which point a solution will need to be implemented. Thankfully, it’s a straightforward fix.

The state knew this day would come sooner or later. The first few months of 2025 have seen a huge spike in car buying there, too. According to the California New Car Dealers Association, 463,114 cars were registered in the first quarter. That’s up 8.3 percent year over year. No doubt, buyers are eager to snap up cars in case tax incentives disappear or before tariffs cause prices to rise.

Read: California Lawsuit Against Scout’s Direct Sales Could Change How You Buy Cars

As a result, the DMV is running out of plates in its current format. The SF Chronicle reports that it’s currently issuing plates in the 9UBA000-9UBZ999 range. When it finally reaches 9ZZZ999, it’ll have to make a change to the format that has lasted for almost 50 years. Don’t worry, though. The state isn’t going to just throw in the towel and ban new cars once the current plate format runs out.

We reached out to the California DMV, and a spokesperson told Carscoops, “The current sequence, which will end with 9ZZZ999, is projected to end sometime in 2026 due to the dwindling number of available combinations. The formatting of the next sequence will be ‘Numeral Numeral Numeral Alpha Alpha Alpha Numeral’ (e.g., 000AAA0).”

So in the end, the change will be a slight one that few really notice. In addition, it’s worth noting that commercial vehicles, motorcycles, trailers, and other specialty categories will go on unaffected. They use a different format.

Interestingly enough, the state used to believe it would run out of plates in the current format this year. Now, it predicts the switch for early 2026. That could have something to do with the CNCDA believing that sales will slow later this year.

It wrote in a report from earlier this month, “The forecast is cloudy with uncertain predictions for the remainder of 2025; registrations are now expected to dip 2.3 percent to 1.71 million for the full year. Looming trade policy changes have thrown a wrench into the outlook. A rush of buying in March and April, likely ahead of anticipated tariffs, may be short-lived if vehicle prices spike.”

While it might sound dramatic, California’s license plate format change isn’t much of a disruption. It’s a small tweak most people won’t even notice. Let’s hope the transition is seamless, and we can all go back to worrying about more important things, like how much longer we’ll have to deal with registration fees.

Lead Photo: LicensePlatesAreUs

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