Euro Status Check — Is My Car Euro 5 or Euro 6?

For diesel cars, no — the London ULEZ requires diesels to meet Euro 6, so a Euro 5 diesel is non-compliant and faces the daily charge. For petrol cars, the requirement is Euro 4, so a Euro 5 petrol comfortably meets the standard. The rule of thumb most drivers use is: petrol must be Euro 4 or newer, diesel must be Euro 6 or newer. Always confirm against your vehicle’s actual emissions data rather than its registration date alone.

The Euro emissions standard is determined by the vehicle’s type approval, not simply its registration year. As a guide, diesel cars first registered from September 2015 are usually Euro 6, and most petrol cars registered from around September 2015 are Euro 6 too. The most reliable way to confirm is to check the vehicle’s emissions information — the official Transport for London ULEZ vehicle checker will tell you definitively whether a specific registration meets the standard.

Both are EU emissions standards, but Euro 6 (mandatory for new type approvals from September 2014 and most new registrations from September 2015) tightened the limits on nitrogen oxides (NOx) significantly for diesels compared with Euro 5. Euro 6 diesels emit far less NOx, which is why clean air zones such as London’s ULEZ set Euro 6 as the diesel threshold. Petrol limits changed less between the two standards.

Yes. ULEZ in London and Clean Air Zones (CAZ) in cities such as Birmingham, Bristol, Sheffield and others use Euro standards to decide which vehicles pay a daily charge. Vehicles that meet the minimum standard (petrol Euro 4+, diesel Euro 6+ for most car zones) drive in free; those that fall short pay the daily fee. Charging zones and exact rules vary by city, so check the relevant local authority scheme for the area you are driving in.

If you regularly drive into a clean air zone, buying a vehicle that already meets the standard avoids ongoing daily charges that can add up to hundreds of pounds a year. Euro status can also affect resale value and, in some cases, insurance and company-car considerations. Checking the Euro standard before you buy means you understand the running costs upfront rather than discovering a charge after purchase.