[Closed] Private reg plates - I don't get it

I've gotten to know a lot of petrol heads over the years, top reasons seem to be:

1) hide the age of it - a £1000 15 year old S-Class with a £200 bit of plastic will still impress the neighbours.

2) It's another thing to spend money on - so you've turbo'd the engine, fitted terrible suspension and spent £500 on 'detailing' crap - what's left? Buy a number plate.

3) They think it's worth a fortune. There was a time, 20 years ago when there was a massive bubble with private reg plates and they sold for huge sums, there we auctions and all sorts, but like every bubble the arse fell out of it at some point - I think the 'problem' is the most people don't realise how many combinations of numbers and letters are possible within the set format of number plates - put any combination in to a Reg re-selling site and they'll tell you it's worth thousands, and it *possibly* is to the right person, but it's a buyers market, in fact it's so far that way that if you owned one and you wanted to sell it this very moment, it's all but worthless - I owned one for a bit, came with a car - I've always hated them, but the seller sold the car "private reg, worth £2k" on a £4k car, I never believed him of course, but I thought if I could sell it for a few hundred i'd do it to be free of the thing - I registered it with a seller, it's still on their site now 7 years later (5 after I sold the car) not a single enquiry.

Who cares, its the kinda thing you see all the time on the roads these days. But you seem to be in the land of Pedant so maybe have a word with the Nobs that manipulate the Regd Numbers rather than here on a forum discussing them.

Ooft touched a nerve there. Just because you can't get the registration plate you want don't get all uppity with me son.

😆

Like it.

You missed the point 😆

I have two. Both were gifts. The first was a gift from my (now) wife. I was 22 and the time, My car was a V reg - V22MJM. The second was a gift from my parents when I graduated uni in 2011 - W11MJM. I had two cars at the time. V22 has been on every main car I've owned and W11 was on the second car (which I currently don't have).

I really don't care what people think and they're neither pretentious, nor chavvy IMO-it's just some people like to personalise things. As for mine, they're as much a part of my car life as anything else and i'll be keeping them for as long as i'm allowed.

I don't get it either but I do have one on both my car and motorbike. Car coz it's company car & bike coz 6 digits instead of 7 = legal small plate 8) the bike one doesn't spell or pretend to spell anything & the car one you'd only understand if you knew who I work for.

PS can someone buy me D1CKY for my birthday

Mine cost £250. For a start you can't tell the age of the car, mine is nearly 11 years old now but looks immaculate and almost new. You may call that vanity if you wish.

I don't know that I'd call that vanity - You clearly look after your car and it's something you take pride in. I understand that, and I can see why you would want a private reg plate.

Maybe she thinks riding bikes is odd

Riding bikes is very odd.

I guess it's just because I know my sister and while her car is ok (a 2008 mini) she doesn't look after it and it's certainly not immaculate, so wanting this private reg plate has clearly nothing to do with pride in her car.
She's a very materialistic person (has a collection of fashion accessories worth god knows how much) and regularly gets birthday/xmas gifts costing £500 or more (handbags, clothes etc.) so I kinda think this is just the next in a line of fancy stuff she wants, but doesn't really know why...

As a broader point of principle though, private reg plates are the perfect example of modern capitalism. Take Corundum's plate that's valued at £1800 - the only justification for that price is that people want it. There are no R&D costs, there are no complex moving parts, there are very few logistical costs associated with it (bearing in mind he bought it for £300 a few years ago) and it doesn't functionally do anything. Nevertheless it's "worth" £1800. You could buy a bike for that money! 😆

Gary_M - Member
Might do mine one day: WHO 5AST
Doesn't exist and neither does CLA 55Y

Yes it does: https://www.mycarcheck.com/check/?reg_no=cla55y

I saw COT1C - Cy would love that I'm sure....

These are the best:

[img] [/img]

A genuine question to all the people who don't get it.

Does the rear windscreen of your car have a sticker on it with the name of the car dealership it was purchased from?

That's one that I don't get.

Why would you drive about for years giving free advertising to someone who was undoubtedly done their very best to stitch you up?

I see this all the time, far more commonly than I see private plates.

This one, in particular, grinds my gears because reasons...

[img] [/img]

Does the rear windscreen of your car have a sticker on it with the name of the car dealership it was purchased from?

That's one that I don't get.

Slightly different situation. If my car was bought from dealership A and came with a sticker in the window, I wouldn't go out my way and pay several hundred £ to replace with with a sicker from dealer B.

I'd imagine most people simply don't notice or don't care enough to remove it.
Come to think of it, I have no idea if there's a sticker in the rear window of my car.

I used to have an old sports car with an NI plate the previous owner had put on, most folk weren't familiar with the car model so it hid the age well as it was in good condition. It was in a wacky font though I quickly changed it for a standard font plate. Sold it again with the car.

Not a fan of funny fonts though on my current imported motor I sometimes get told my (non private) plate is illegal because it uses smaller motorcycle sized font - it is allowed when the bumper on an import does not have space for a full size plate.

I don't know that I'd call that vanity - You clearly look after your car and it's something you take pride in. I understand that, and I can see why you would want a private reg plate.

The thing is if I had an 11 year old car that was immaculate and in 'as new' condition I'd rather people knew it was old.

Does the rear windscreen of your car have a sticker on it with the name of the car dealership it was purchased from

Gets taken off as soon as I collect the car.

CLA 55Y doesn't exist according to DVLA, may have been scrapped or torched by a rival drug dealer 🙂

@Mudshark - That's cool. If I had enough money to have a Bentley AND an Aston, I'd have em registered with something clever like that.

It's very different from having a fairly nondescript private plate on a fairly nondescript car though.

CLA 55Y doesn't exist according to DVLA, may have been scrapped or torched by a rival drug dealer

Last spotted here:
[img] [/img]

I have no idea if there's a sticker in the rear window of my car.

Maybe why that's you don't get it.

Some people care more (or less) about how some things look.
I hate stickers on cars but like my number plate beacuse I think it looks better.
£200 on the price of a car is not really very much.

It's not about vanity ( on my 8 year old, dirty SMax )or trying to look posh or adding value ( my plate cost £250 and is worthless to anyone else but me)

It lends an additional emotional attachment to the car that I like. That's it.

I always take the sticker off the rear window when I get a new (to me) car as I agree with the advertising thing and often they reduce visibility.
I have never felt the desire to have a different number plate though.

If you really want idiocy personified a girl I worked with had her normal number plate re-spaced so it looked almost like a personal plate but was just a big standard one.

****ing idiot

perchypanther - Member

Maybe why that's you don't get it.

Some people care more (or less) about how some things look.

[i]I'll just quote myself from three months ago.... [/i]

We get it, but they never look good, they never fit your name and more importantly, random strangers don't want or need to know your name, nickname, initials or your profession, nor do they want to engage in a somewhat involuntary guessing game as to what the hell you are trying to spell in some kind of garbled moron speak.

Of the 30 million or so cars on the road the vast majority are anonymous and relatively invisible as the number plates aren't some narcissistic statement of misplaced self importance.

Do people with p3r50nal13d registrations feel the need have a giant banner on the roof of their house announcing their identity to passers by? Do they have t-shirts with their names printed on them so complete strangers will know who they are when they walk around town?

I once passed a tiny little man in Belfast who looked a lot like the boxer Carl Frampton. "That looks like Carl Frampton" I thought for a split second before I read his t-shirt which said [b]CARL FRAMPTON[/b].

Oh how I muttered derisively.

[/sarcasm] [/devilsadvocate] [insertsmileyface] [insertfiendishsmileyface]

Maybe why that's you don't get it.

You're probably right. Although I know several petrolheads, and people who just like to have nice cars, which I understand (although I couldn't give two monkeys myself) - it's the same as me liking nice bikes, and liking to have nice bikes.

As per my previous post though, this all stems from this issue with my sister, who I know doesn't give a sh*t about her car. It's always filthy and full of junk, and she has to be reminded by her mum every year that it needs to be serviced. It just seems to me to be an exercise in "what can I splurge a load of money on this year?"

I have two excellent reasons for it.

1. I like it

2. I don't give a monkey's hump if anybody else dislikes it.

You forgot no. 3 Perchy.....I'm a Chav! 🙂

bikebouy - Member

Like it.

You missed the point

I didn't, you missed me not missing the point.

p3r50nal13d doesn't exist by the way.

this all stems from this issue with my sister

mmm just sit down on the couch and tell me all about it....

What I don't get is why people have them on low spec cars?
Spend the money on getting a betterer car? 😆

What I don't get is why people have them on low spec cars?
Spend the money on getting a betterer car?

How much betterer a car would you get for £250?

I used to see the registration 'A3' near where I lived at the time, thing was it was on a shabby mattalic lime green 3 series estate. It was, apparently a family heirloom, which they'd owned from new and it was just passed from car to car

You forgot no. 3 Perchy.....I'm a Chav!

There are no such thing as chavs where I live.

We have neds.

A genuine question to all the people who don't get it.

Does the rear windscreen of your car have a sticker on it with the name of the car dealership it was purchased from?

That's one that I don't get.

Yes, but that pretty much explains - I think even the most anti-car, car owner takes a little tiny bit of pride in their car, but it's only a tiny bit - car comes with a couple of plastic plates with AB17 BCD or whatever and "S****horpe Skoda" on a little sticker at the bottom of the rear window and that's how it's stays, most peoples level of giving a monkeys about how it looks starts and ends with running it through the car wash once a month.

It's the same thinking that makes someone pay hundreds to change the plastic plates that makes them climb in the boot to remove the dealer sticker.

Oh, and once I tried, they seemed to have fashioned the thing to the glass with dried wheatabix or something, Superman couldn't shift it.

mmm just sit down on the couch and tell me all about it....

Yeah, in hindsight I should have phrased that better.

i used to think they were for bellends only, but then someone I know bought an M3 and promptly adorned it with the plate M3 OOH YH which made me chuckle

climb in the boot to remove the dealer sticker.

I always remove them and just stand outside the car to do it.

Razor blade slide under the sticker, gone in less than 60 seconds.

RU4 REAL

Seen more than one person who used a razor blade then need a new screen as they've buggered the element....

Are all heated screen not built into the glass now?

If anyone wants an Arnold Clark sticker removing from their car I'll take great pleasure in removing it personally.

I've done loads.

If anyone wants an Arnold Clark sticker removing from their car I'll take great pleasure in removing it personally.

I've done loads.

jimjam - Member 

SaxonRider - Member

I know you will probably just take it for granted and say it's no big deal, but I find the display of vehicle model years really aggravating.

I can't find any sense or coherent logic in this post tbh. Stupid plates hide the year to everyone who doesn't care, and anyone who knows anything about cars will know what year it is (accurate to within about 3 years at most) or they can just use the device in their pocket to find out exactly, and anyone who has a genuine interest in it, like a prospective buyer will need to know exactly anyway

TurnerGuy, who posted right after I did, pretty much nails it. Take a look at his support for my argument.

I'm thinking of getting one for my van.

Either SC 07 RTE or ON 10 N

That's the second time today i've been called a windae licker.

I might start taking it personal. 😉

I've removed the dealer sticker from the rear window of my car purely because it was positioned immediately below the central brake light.

It lit up the entire rear screen (and my rear view mirror) with red light every time I braked during the hours of darkness.

Ironically as it was stuck to the inside of the window it was virtually invisible from the outside due to the (standard factory fitted) tinted rear glass 😀

SaxonRider - Member

TurnerGuy, who posted right after I did, pretty much nails it. Take a look at his support for my argument.

TurnerGuy - Member

Apart from car model changes it hides the age of the vehicle reasonably well, so somewhat frees someone susceptible to peer pressure from worrying about it.
Lots of people do succumb to that age pressure

When my four year old daughter tells me that all the other girls in her class have little furry toys attached to their school bags I can see why it's easier to buy her the toy than explain why she shouldn't succumb to peer pressure. But seriously, I don't think grown adults should waste too many calories worrying about what other people think of the year of their car. But my point was that you can't hide the year of the car.

Anyone who has an interest in cars will have a pretty good idea what year the car is. Anyone who cares to find out exactly can do so in an instant and people who don't care won't care. So the only people you are fooling about your car's age are people who don't give a shit about cars, so why would you bother?

scotroutes - Member

I'm thinking of getting one for my van.

Either SC 07 RTE or ON 10 N

Oh and another thing...would anyone on here have the blatant lack of respect for themselves to use text speak, either on a forum or in an email to a colleague? When I receive a text message and the sender uses txt sp33ch I find myself disgusted at the sender.

If you wouldn't do it in private communication, don't do it on the roads 😆

Oh and another thing...would anyone on here have the blatant lack of respect for themselves to use text speak

Certainly not, I blocked a potential ebay buyer this morning as they kept emailing me in text speak.

I have great difficulty working out how the owner interprets their plate.

Only just worked out that this probably isn't meant to say "Scrote"

SC 07 RTE

Not read the whole thread yet but I had to chip in on this

The ones I really don't understand are the vehicle-specific ones, like having a BMW X5 with [X5 ***] on it. What happens when you buy something else?

There's one by me that is M5 ... first was on a nice but older M Sport 5 series, not an M5 but, ok. Then it was on something else, a mondeo I think. Now it's on a proper ratter of a transit connect. It looks stupid.

Dave Gorman did a good bit about private plates a bit ago, jist of it was that if you've got a private plate, everyone thinks you're a dick.

I have one, a present from my wife when i was 40. I like it and its been on all my cars over the last 14 years. Transferring is a pain though, with cost and the faff of additional paper work.

Re dealers' stickers - I always peel them off. I once bought a car from Fords of Winsford, whose logo is a laurel leaf design, and each of the bloody leaves were separate. Tens of 'em!

Oh and I once bought a £250 knackered Transit - I sold the registration number for £400!

If I pass someone getting out of a car with a personalised plate that is clearly a name, I like to give them a cheery personal greeting.

eg. SU51E GS - "Alright Susie!"

Generally leads to looks of complete confusion. Works even better if it's Susie's husband getting out of the car.