Talk to me about private number plates

[Firsttimemummy19]

DH has suggested buying me a private plate with our babies name on it. He's found one which is £300 and thinks it's a good idea as we could pass it on to our boy when he's older.

I like the idea of passing it on so I'm swaying towards getting one but I'm not 100% sure. Are they a bit crappy?! What's the pros and cons of having one?

I have one, it was on my first car.
Pro's you remember the reg, con's people think it's wanky/vanity.

Private reg plates are massively tacky and I imagine that for 300 quid said plate will be some crappy number letter mix that at best has a vague resemblance to the desired name only adding to the overall naffness.

They are usually used to disguise the age of the car and also “ look at me”. Each to their own but in my opinion they’re naff.

I got a new car in December that was 4 years old, so I got a private reg to hide it's age because it looks immaculate. It's my only point of vanity plus it looks more symmetrical which pleases me

is it actually a name plate or do the letters/reg just fit the initials and DOB??

I have a plate from a car that I owned in 2001. I loved that car - and did thousands of miles in it. When it gave up the ghost I transferred the plate to my next car, and now it's on it's third vehicle. I didn't do it for "look at me" - I did it because I wanted to.

Hell no!

Unless it’s rude then it’s a yes.

Bercow has a personalised number plate, it’s very wanky and ‘look at me’.

If the baby's called JEF, you can buy mine for £200.

If it's just a standard plate that happens to have a personal connection, I can't see anything wrong with it. It's when people use them to disguise the age of an obviously older car, and those that have repositioned characters or bolts positioned to make characters look like something else that are, imo, naff.

I don’t really get the whole ‘hiding the age of your car’ thing. If it’s a nice car, it’s a nice car, regardless of whether it’s 1, 3 or 10 years old?? And anyway, surely if you’re really into that kind of thing, other things give it away? DH and I both drive the same car but his is an older model, so a different shape?

FWIW IMO personalised plates are really naff. Both my parents have them and it makes me cringe so much. But that’s just my opinion

We all have them. Very personal reasons. Nowt to do with an6t bugger else. Have what you want OP.

Major plus is that none of us ever forget our reg.

I have had mine for about 15 years. I bought it with some inheritance I was left by my grandmother, I wanted to spend it on something I would always have. I like it, and don't care what anyone else thinks!

Sorry but ‘very personal reasons’ just sounds weird. Obviously it’s really no ones business why you have personalised plates but it’s like saying ‘I buy expensive designer handbags... for very personal reasons.’ Surely it’s only because they say either have dates or initials/names of significance to you??

PrimeraVez then weird it'll have to be as I'm not explaining. People can have and do things for their own (very) personal reasons. Nowt to do with anyone else. But feel free to find it weird

I’d love to have a personalised number plate, I just cannot Justify the expense.
I don’t find them wanky or pretentious, but some people think driving an Audi or a BMW is wanky. It takes alsorts.
If you like the number plate, buy it.

Mumsnet.com thinks they are naff and a waste of money.

Mumsnet is wrong.

If you’re planning on having more children it’s a bad idea as you can’t necessarily get them all a number plate and it’s likely to breed resentment/ claims of favouritism/ sibling rivalry amongst your children.

Plus personalised number plates are awfully tacky, people will secretly think you’re show-offy and self-important and there are much better ways you could spend £300 to do something nice for your son, especially as chances are when he’s older he wouldn’t be seen dead with a personalised number plate.

But apparently spending £500 on a designer handbag is ok, not naff and not a waste of money

They are incredibly tacky, especially the ones where the spaces between letters/numbers are changed or a weird font is used in the hope it looks more like the word. The police love those.

I have an average memory and can remember the registration numbers of all my cars; I can even remember the number of my parent's car from the 1950s. If you can't remember 6 numbers and letters I would advise a visit to the GP.

Some people who are a bit dim and judgmental think private plates somehow make you a bad driver. They also seem to think that their personal taste is the only acceptable one. I pity them.

I have one. It's my late father's initials and my mum bought it for him for a special birthday then passed it to me when I got my first car. People might think it's wanky but I don't care. It means something to me.

I have one, it's my name. I like it and it doesn't bother me what other people think of it. Also re hiding the age of the car, I think it's fairly obvious whether someones car is old or new regardless of the plate.

They are usually used to disguise the age of the car

Have you conducted a large survey then?

Tacky central. I don't understand why people waste money on them!?

I have a personalised plate with a couple of letters and a couple of numbers on it. It belonged to my grandpa and I think it looks really smart. Each to their own. I'm not as keen on ones that say names though.

Strike me as very ‘look at me, I can afford vanity plates’. Very needy..