262 Reg Ireland — What the July–December 2026 Plate Means for Buyers

If you're shopping right now, the more useful question is: should you pay for the brand-new 262, or grab a nearly-new 261 or a one-year-old 252 and let someone else absorb the first, steepest chunk of depreciation? That's what the rest of this page works through, with dated euro examples.

What "262 reg" actually means

• →262 = a car first registered in Ireland, July–December 2026.
• →It became the current plate on 1 July 2026, and stays current until 31 December 2026.
• →Every January and July, the plate rolls over. So 262 is the "new number" that Irish buyers search for from July onward, exactly the way 252 was the talking point in the second half of 2025.

How the Irish reg system works (251, 252, 261, 262 explained)

Since 2013, every Irish plate has followed the same three-part shape: YYH — CC — sequence.

So the recent plates line up like this: 251 (Jan-Jun 2025) → 252 (Jul-Dec 2025) → 261 (Jan-Jun 2026) → 262 (Jul-Dec 2026, current) → 271 (Jan-Jun 2027, next).

Why the half-year split exists

Before 2013, Ireland used a single year number for all of a given year. The two-half system was brought in for 2013 for two reasons: to avoid an unlucky "13" plate that dealers feared would dent sales, and to spread new-car demand more evenly across the year. It worked — July is now a genuine second "new-plate" season, with a real (if smaller) sales push alongside the bigger January one. That second selling season is exactly why July is an interesting month to be a used-car buyer.

Is a 261 or 252 car better value right now?

New cars lose the largest share of their value early — the well-worn industry rule of thumb is roughly a fifth in the first year and around 40% over three years, with the steepest drop happening the moment the car stops being brand-new. The plate change makes that drop visible and dateable, because everyone can read the age off the number.

Worked example — illustrative figures, as of 6 July 2026. These are round numbers to show the shape of the maths, not a quote on a specific model. Real prices vary by make, spec, mileage and demand — always check live listings.

Read that table the way a value buyer does: the 262 premium is real but temporary — you're paying roughly €4,000 (illustrative) for the newest plate, and the car starts shedding that premium the day you drive it out. The 261 is the sweet spot for "as new for less": still the current model, often barely run-in, frequently an ex-demo or dealer-registered car — yet already the "old plate". The 252 stretches the saving further: only a year old, still very current, and that illustrative gap buys a lot of tax, insurance, or a nicer spec for the same monthly budget.

Why July is a strong month to buy the outgoing plate

The moment 262 goes on sale, the 261 instantly becomes "last plate". Nothing about the car changed — but the label did, and labels move prices in Ireland more than in most markets because the age is stamped on the plate for all to see. So in July and the weeks after, outgoing-plate stock tends to be freshly repriced down to make room for new 262 arrivals and trade-ins, and more plentiful, because the new-car push generates a wave of part-exchanges. More supply plus a psychological "old plate" discount on a car that's still essentially current = one of the better windows in the year to buy nearly-new. (The same is true every January when 271 arrives and 262 becomes the outgoing plate — this is a twice-yearly pattern, not a one-off.)

Trade-in timing works the same way — in reverse

If you're selling or trading in, the plate rollover cuts the other way: your car takes a visible step down in perceived age each time a new plate lands. If you're planning to change car anyway, trading in before the rollover (or right as it happens, against a new purchase) generally protects more of your car's value than waiting until it's clearly a plate or two behind. Buying the outgoing plate and selling the outgoing plate are the same coin: the buyer wins on the discount, the seller loses on the label.

Bottom line: if brand-new isn't essential to you, a 261 or 252 in July 2026 typically delivers a near-identical car for a meaningfully lower price — and the outgoing-plate window right after a rollover is when that gap is widest.

By The Autoza Team — Updated 6 July 2026