Malaysian Vehicle Registration Plates

Want to know where a vehicle was registered? Here is a quick guide to Malaysian Vehicle Registration Plates.

Private and commercial motor vehicles in Malaysia mostly have number plates which have a format like this:

WTB 1956

Where the first letter stands for the State or territory (W in this case for Kuala Lumpur)
The next two letters (TB in this case) are issued in sequence but excluding I, O and Z.
The numbers are issued in sequence although car owners can, for a fee, request particular numbers (such as lucky numbers, memorable numbers or vanity numbers) if these have not already been issued.

The Peninsular Malaysia State or territory prefixes are as follows:

A Perak
B Selangor
C Pahang
D Kelantan
F Putrajaya
J Johor
K Kedah
M Melaka
N Negeri Sembilan
P Penang
R Perlis
T Terengganu
V Kuala Lumpur
W Kuala Lumpur

There are some exceptions to the normal format. When Kuala Lumpur exhausted the W series of license plates in 2013 it was decided to add an additional alphabetical suffix like this

WTB 1956 A

But as this format was not seen as popular a new V prefix series was begun for KL in 2016.

Putrajaya

When Putrajaya was founded in 1995 the first 9,999 license plates issued bore the name of the territory like this:

Putrajaya 1956

Now Putrajaya license plates begin with the letter F (for Federal).

Sarawak Vehicle Registration Plates

QAA 1956

The numbering system in Sarawak is slightly different with all license plates beginning with the letter Q followed by a letter denoting the division (district) of registration as follows:

QK Kuching

QA Kuching

QB Sri Aman and Betong

QC Samarahan and Serian

QL Limbang

QM Miri

QP Kapit

QR Sarikei

QS Sibu and Mukah

QT Bintulu

Sabah Vehicle Registration Plates

SAA 1956

Similarly, Sabah number plates being with the letter S followed by a letter denoting the division of registration as follows:

SA West Coast

SY West Coast

SB Beaufort

SD Lahad Datu

SG Sabah Government

SK Kudat

SL Labuan (now replaced by L)

SS Sandakan

SM Sandakan

ST Tawau

SW Tawau

SU Keningau

Taxis in Malaysia usually have license plates beginning with the letter H followed by another letter denoting the State of registration. Airport limousine taxis at KLIA bear the prefix LIMO.

Driving around Malaysia you will see various commemorative license plates with prefixes such as XXVIASEAN, which was issued to mark the 26th ASEAN Summit which was held in Malaysia in 2015.

Vehicle Number Plate Auctions

Like many countries, prestigious or personalised number plates in Malaysia are highly sought after. The number plate WWW1 was sold at auction for RM520,000 in May 2012.

You can find the Traffic Department's official auction bidding site here.