To chuckle when I met a family with matching personalised number plates!

[QuacksLikeADuck]

I certainly raised an eyebrow, and stifled an inner chuckle when I met this family...

OK so Mum, Dad, 20-something Son and Daughter have a car each, so 4 cars with 4 personalised number plates.

Say Mum is called Emma Sophie Lanchester, her number plate is:
FAM4 ESL

Say Dad is called Humphrey Charles Lanchester, his number plate is:
FAM4 HCL

Obviously these are not the real names and number plates but you get the idea! They all start with the same four letters, and end with the drivers initials.

Of course the parents have matching Range Rovers, and the two kids have an Audi each!

At first I was , but then I was at the things some people will waste their money on! AIBU?

And of course people form judgments from people's outward behaviour. That's life.

Oh, I agree. I've formed the judgement that a fair number of people on this thread are a bit thick.

I would say that 99.9% of the twattish drivers, "park like a cunt"s and aggressive knobs I encounter have standard plates on their car.

If you don't want people to take the piss out of your numberplate, perhaps don't have one? :o

People can waste their money any way they want. Luxury items will normally enhance you're life in some small way - holidays, nice clothes, food etc.

Personalised number plates on the other hand do nothing but make you look like a stupid egotistical twat who deserved to be judged.

Twat (sorry, the rest was too annoying to type ), thanks for the information. Would've replied sooner but disappeared down the vehicle registration rabbit hole.

With limited research, I've yet to find another country that includes year of issue in the numbering system and still don't know why it's important to publicise it in the UK. The only thing I can think of is it might help when making a police report?

Anyway, apologies for derailing the thread; you may all resume calling each other names and hoiking your judgey pants.

Yes I don't really understand the year thing with numberplates in the UK. I can't see any good reason for it at all (other than the MOT thing after 3 years being mandatory but that's really tenuous)

Is it to encourage people to buy more new cars?

Sparkling, surely that comment needs to be on the 'conspiring theorys' thread?

F or what it's worth, I've always found the US plates very interesting. Unconstrained by the need for numbers in most cases (if not all), people just write what they want, which has led to some great mirth.

And I have a friend who worked in Colorado twenty years ago who almost purchased Bellend for his plates, just because he could. (This was way before the Top Gear fiasco.)

Finally (I will stop, I promise), in the USA they're referred to as vanity plates.

Republic of Ireland does, Sprink. They also note the county where the vehicle was registered. In Irish.

i knew an earl who had his'n'hers range rover n jag with M1 LORD and M1 LADY....

Oh no, my car is 11 years old and DH's is 16 years old, we're both FAILURES.

I must immediately rush out and get PPs to hide my shame.

There are lots at DS's school which start with MR5 or MI55 and then a form of the surname which make me laugh. Especially when they get pulled up in the newsletter for parking badly as then we all know who they are.

What angelos02 said

We saw this last year. Hoping for a vet or a deviant but possibly just bad luck.

Personalised number plates on the other hand do nothing but make you look like a stupid egotistical twat who deserved to be judged

And yet some of the most genuine, nicest people I know have 5 and 6 figure plates. I feel like the poor relation with my 3k plate to be honest when I'm parked with them

Old PPs are a valuable form of investment - like other antiques, and the earlier numbers are extremely valuable. I bought one for £8k which I sold 7 years later for£22k, but it was an early one. They are often also family heirlooms - my cousin has one which belonged to his grandfather, which is very rare but which he will never part with, as it has great sentimental value. Some plates are also just amusing and a bit of fun - it would be boring if everyone were the same, wouldn't it?

What happens if you get divorced?

Or remarried?

It's a bit flash and show-offy. If I saw it, I would just assume they were wealthy and had nothing better to spend their money on. I would assume they drove audis or beemers.

This is an interesting thread.

Not that long since personal number plates were the height of aspirational chic but I have noticed for a while they are much less in evidence than they were.

Probably a combination of conspicuous consumption being regarded as passé in the immediate aftermath and beyond of the economic meltdown and a subliminal shift in the national mood that means they're now seen as a bit of a joke.

I have a personalized number plate even though I'm not a fan because DH really wanted me to get one. It was not for vanity purposes, it was because the age of the car isn't then immediately obvious. He wanted it, I couldn't care less so we bought it. It cost the grand sum of £250 and wasn't worth the bother of protesting. It spells out my initials but since I don't even use my first name I doubt anyone even realises.

DH has a number plate which spells out the make of the car. It came with the car when he bought it (as most plates of that nature do). It's actually worth more than his car!

I saw one last week which read 'pussy'. I thought it reached a new low

People buy them to hide the age of the car?

Bloody hell. Imagine caring about this shit.

He cared, it makes no difference to me so I was happy to go along with it, why should anyone else be affected by it in any way?

I guess he cared about the age of the car in the same way as someone else might be concerned about whether they were wearing last season's fashions. Why does it bother you how someone else chooses to present themselves hester?

My DH is a great husband and a fantastic father, he doesn't spend much money on himself and he works really hard. If it makes him happy then who cares.

I seen one near me that read as exhume. Very strange! What must his profession be? X

Exhumer maybe?

Ha, I thought he looked a bit like a wrestler (thinking along the lines of the undertaker).

Here (in Germany) you can choose any number plate you like, although the first 2 or 3 letters will be dependent on where you are registering (town-related). The rest is totally up to you, for no extra fee, so here it is completely normal to have personalised number plates, not a sign of anything at all!