My fairly well-off brother has them on his two cars and paid quite a lot for one for his wife. You can buy them from a couple of hundred pounds up to thousands ( ) My hubby hates them and thinks they are pretentious. My Dad thinks they're a waste of good money!


I think they're kind of cute. What do you think of them?


I've just bought a new car (well, it's not new by a long shot.. it's fairly old really but it's SHINY ) and I think it would look cool.... or am I just being pretentious now? hmmm

If it's your car then it's nobody's business what you do with it. In my opinion (and I am not a driver) "normal" number-plates are booooooooring !!! Pretentious? I would certainly not agree with that. If anyone says something, tell them to mind their own business. After all, would you make a comment about someone's number-plate? Go for it and have fun! Don't mind all the killjoys.

I'd love to have one and I know what I'd want.
Not really my car though and if I had a couple of hundred pounds to spare there's a list waiting to claim it.

Yes, that's the trouble

The one I really want would be in the thousands and I'd never spend that kind of money on something like that but there are some cheaper options that look quite good.

I've had three cars with private plates, none of which I bought (the plates that is I bought the cars!)

JUI(and four numbers I can't remember)
PXI2105 (or Pixie )
PCZ9417

All are Porsches and all had these plates put on fairly early into their lives!

I'm not a massive fan of these particular plates but can't be bothered to change the curret one back to it's "rightful" year plate either.

One of the few plates I would buy is around ?85,000 and is NZ1 - my initials. Or I would have NZ944 - my initials and 944 for Porsche 944.

My worry if they give away your name is that everyone knows who you are. Maybe I'm paranoid about stalkers.

I really don't like them (sorry!) It just seems pretentious to me - why not just stick a wad of cash on your dashboard if you want to show others how much spare cash you've got? They really have no intrinsic value and there are lots of things that are cute but are actually nice and useful too.



I really can't understand why anyone would spend that much on a number plate (not you Pixie but rich people in general!) I find it quite obscene when there are people starving......yes, I know massive clich?....and I know I buy lots of useless stuff but actually spending megabucks to have a particular combination of letters....eeurgh, no....

Does the plate come with the car?

When my brother buys a new car he just puts his private plate on it.

The car I've just bought already has a private plate but I thought that would be taken off and the original plate put back

I agree. If I had a spare ?200 I could think of better things to do with it !

They are a bit tacky, but I have seen the following three plates:
L1 NVX (the owner said that someone already had L1 NUX)
A4 PGP
A1 GCC

RMS 240V would probably be an acceptable one.

People with personalised number plates often seem to be bad drivers which is perverse. If you're going to drive badly wouldn't you want a number plate that was hard to remember?! Or is it that having drawn your attention you then notice the bad driving when it's no worse than most other people's? No, I'm sure more personalised number plate cars are driven badly.

Alpha Male Jazz Cat has a personalised number plate on his Corvette but the car came with it. And it is TRULY dreadful (the plate, not the car).

And no. I am not going to share it with you all!



Car-Bag x

Apart from the first one I don't even get what they are meant to say! Anyone?

Nope, me neither!

I kind of do, but they're techie jargon and I'm not sure I could explain it. I'm not saying this in the semi-sneering way that some geeks put on when talking to non-geeks - think of it this way, how would you explain why "Gone Chopin, Bach in a Minuet" is funny to someone who has never had anything to do with classical music before?

Personalised number plates do not, as far as I am aware, have any intrinsic value over and above the number plates which are supplied with any car as standard. Their utility value (which in turn is reflected in their market value) must, therefore result from some other sense of well being which owners gain from displaying them. Same concept as expensive brands for clothes, cars etc. which essentially do the same job as something much cheaper.

I spent my spare money on a decent piano, but have a boring car with ordinary plates. And I wear boring clothes. Other spare money overpays the mortgage or goes to charity.

Each to their own!

I reckon that if it's your own money obtained by legitimate means then spend it on whatever you want! I suppose one could say that it's "unethical" to spend so much money on something with "so little use" but then would we apply the same rules to someone buying a designer handbag? Too much of a minefield...

(full disclosure - I can't drive, and don't own any designer handbags.. I have a fancy computer though)

To respond

To say someone with a private plate is a bad driver, is absolutely and utterly rubbish, some "private plates" you wouldn't even know they were! Fact is you're probably going to notice something like TVR1 on a TVR and not going to notice Mr. MPV with E578FTG, are you?! Seriously?! So while you may notice the "bad driving" both times lets face it the hypothetical TVR will stick in the mind more than the hypothetical MPV...

I can't see me having the cash to lay out on NZ1 anytime soon but if I did and it's was spare, spare cash, lol...I'd actually buy it

Bagpuss - Corvette - what year? I love the Corvette Stingray I do fancy having something american at some point, though not too sure what as yet ...

I was given one as a present and I love it

It is MU51C JJ

Do you know what it is yet??

Love it!


I noticed VL04 OLA is still available for only ?255.... wonder if I could get hubby to agree

I did look for AN 04 NTE once, but it wasn't available.

I could get one with my initials and surname - the benefits of having a three-letter surname - but I have never got further than checking availability. My last car had my initials as the first two letters of the plate, but I was rather miffed when I changed my car that the local garage did not automatically get the same two letters as the new one is slightly different.

I would like a number that begins MXX 3xx

Attached to one of these.

I used to know someone with one of those. It wasn't licensed for the road but his mate had a huge piece of land where he could drive it round so he took us for a spin. It was fabulous.

It seems to me that in many cases you see a number plate which you know must be personalised because of its slightly odd appearance but then it's impossible to work out what on earth it's meant to say. That's the kind of plate that seems to me like an utter waste of money, but I suppose they mean something to their owners..

I get unreasonably cross about personalised number plates. I'm sure there are lots of other expensive frivolities that don't irritate me half as much. They just seem to say something bad about the state of society to me...

But some of them are fun. When I was an undergraduate at Cambridge Mary Archer used occasionally to come to work in the chemistry labs in "ANY 1" and I passed a car this morning whose registration was :

R1 OJA

There used to be "ONE 111" around here.

Ooh I like that one.

Secretary of my guitar orchestra has promised to buy me TO55POT

There are much worse things to spend money on.

I have a private plate for my own car, as I think a normal plate would spoil it's handsome lines, (the car's, not mine).

I always fancied A 350 YAM for my motorbike but I think someone must have got there first.

As for RMS 240 V, I suppose that could be upstaged by PEAK 338 V, although that might be a bad sine?

SB

I once sold an old Cortina with the plate 3939MP and found out afterwards it was worth more than twice what the car was!

I had a friend with a car with a plate ALF xxY and she sold the plate, with the car attached - it was more valuable than the car which was a bit of a rust bucket!

In the good old days, I threatened to go to Norwich and buy a car when the year was right, because their number plates started with SAH xxx which were my initials before I married. But time passed ......

Not sure I'd buy one now. There are so many round here that it's getting a bit tedious. I suppose it might be nice to have if you had a special birthday, or anniversary coming up.

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra's lorry has H1 SCO

Jimmy Tarbuck can sometimes be seen around Mersersyde driving COM 1 C

The best one I have seen is; V10 LIN, on a porsche, belonging to one of the leading violinists.

When my OH told me he'd like a personal number plate for his 40th birthday, I told him I'd look out for the following: W4 N*R Haven't the DVLA pulled all offensive (or likely to cause offence) number plates now though?

Not if they allow a fiddle player to put V10LIN on a Porsche, no...

That definitely caused offence round here.... A fiddle player? A Porsche?

Well, I've had my plate T8 SGP on a number of my cars now, so if you see it around, give me a wave!

What wrong with violins? What is wrong with Porsches? Hmmm Porsche ...



Will look out for you, you're local to me

What do you drive?

I'm mostly in PCZ9417 (Porsche 944, in black) give me a wave if you see me

Um how to put this...

The violins - they're wrong. Too screechy.
Male auditory response is mid-range, not tear-inducing.

The Porsches - well, comfort and luggage space have been replaced by fuel inefficiency. Not a good trade.
Male wallet response is mid-range, not tear-inducing.

I love the sound of the violin but I prefer high notes to low ones!

As for Porsches I don't understand exactly what you are saying but think you may be saying the same thing as my other half - they're too expensive to put right when they go wrong ... which they often seem to! LOL! I get about 22mpg from my Porsche, it's the most comfy car with the most luggage space that I have

I used to have one.

When my grandfather died I was left enough money to buy a small car (the first one I owned outright) so I spent about ?200 of my own money on a personalised plate.

H15 DOH

I still miss it...

There's nothing wrong with Porsches. I had a few in the 80s/early 90s. Even had 924, 944 & 911 number plates - but only because they were alteady on the cars when I acquired them.

I'm still thinking about them

I know an artist who has A12 ART but I think that's reeky-cheese if you ask me

I also know someone who breeds Great Danes and has K9 DOG -- that one must have cost a FORTUNE!

A vet I know had H11 YAL which always makes me smile


There is one I'm getting rather fond of and am thinking about buying but Hubby still says they're a "waste of money"

Our vet's number plate had DOA as the last 3 letters... Was never sure if it was unlucky coincidence or intended!

This is the root of my problems with personal number plates. This just looks like an ordinary number plate to me.. Why would it make you smile? Someone please explain!

I think you're supposed to smile that someone genuinely thinks you spell HI with two ones and that no-one else will notice that actually it's not all that well done :-)

And of course, all British vets speak in a Deep South drawl - that just clinches it for me :-)

Thanks, Derek. You confirmed my suspicions about what it was meant to resemble - and my suspicion that the whole business is ludicrous! (Nevertheless, I've been inspired to investigate what plates are coming up for auction by the DVLA next month.......)

Another bit of car-story...

Hopefully today I'll be going to the city to pick up my new car

My old car has rusted to pieces and is so old that it's going to go to the 'dead car' auction or be scrapped altogether (the garage tells me).

But my new-to-me car is Japanese!! It needs new brake pads before I can have it and they're having terrible trouble getting parts because of the crisis in Japan just now. Apparently all the car-parts factories are only working one day a week and production of most Japanese cars and parts is down 63% I'm not being as selfish as this sounds - I really hope the Japanese people manage to get through this terrible time they are having.


AND doesn't this sound odd but I feel guilty about my old car going to the 'knackers yard' It's been such a good car and we've had really great times and some fantastic road-trips. I know cars don't have feelings but....



(Oh, and I can't just 'give up' cars because I live 7miles from the nearest village and bus-route and I don't own a bike!)

I am waiting (patiently) for OR64NST

Lottie - why on earth would you want to give up cars anyway?

I haven't!!! Phew!!!

Lovely shiny 'new' car sitting in the garden. Now I just want the rain to go off so I can go and play with it (get my dog guard fixed up )

Ooooh I wish they stayed shiny like this - they've even painted something black and shiny on the tyres!!

It won't last