To ask people with personalised number plates.......why?

[itsgoodtobehome]

Genuinely interested. I see more and more personalised number plates (Sha70n) on my way home which inspired this thread. Why do you do it? Do you want people to know your name? Do you wear your name on the back of your jacket or on the front of your t-shirt?

I am really intrigued as to why people would flaunt their name, initials, nickname, whatever.....on their car.

MN enlighten me please!!

'upmarket version of the "Gary and Shazza" sun strips' or 'Bruce and Sheila'

Upmarket?

I have one... ish. I chose my name/initials as the last 3 letters on my new car when I chose the Reg. More luck than judgement though. I have it like that because I can

My plate is personalised but normal format so not obvious, and for me it's like keeping the same phone number when I change phones.

People know it's me no matter which car it's attached to, so they know they aren't being waved at by a crazed stalker.
It's just familiarity.

Itsgood

SHA 70N is interesting as it isn't actually a personalised plate. DVLA show it as belonging to a red 1974 Ford Escort. If you see it again and it's not an old Ford I'd report it

I have never had a problem remembering my car registration.

Slapin, yeah nouveau rich, and stupid like the Queen!

I have one. My dad bought it for me when I bought my first new car. I’ve moved it from car to car ever since.

I couldn't afford a personal plate, so I changed my name to EF57DFM

But now I've bought P16 LET

I call them vanity plates. DH got one because it had his 3 initials in it. I was easy to spot in a car park but I really don't approve.

It was.

I don't get it either, and think it's a bit showy and crass.

My DH's brother has one - but he is a showy git anyway.

It says his name - kinda! Eg, PAU 1 EDW (for paul edwards... not his real name obvs!)

It cost him about £700. Waste of money imo. His car is a 2017 one, so it's not to hide the age as it's almost new. Seems a shame to put a private plate on it really. It could easily be 10 years old, so no-one knows it's almost new. If I had a one year old car, I would want everyone to know it was a 2017 reg!

Maybe I am a bit showy too.

Slapin, yeah nouveau rich, and stupid like the Queen!

IIRC the Queen is so bling she doesn't even have a reg plate on her car

Because I’m single, child free, financially successful, have a bit more money than I know what to do with, and I like a bit of garish bling. I’m not particularly bothered by what society at large thinks it says about my personality or aspirations

High five to that. Love it

@badlydrawnperson Upmarket?

Ok, more expensive and better made. Does that suit better?

Seriously how can anyone have strong views about this unless they have an incredibly bad dose of snobbery/reverse snobbery? It’s surely entirely a matter of personal preference, like what TV shows you may or may not like. I’m struggling to understand why anyone cares either way.

Not snobbery - struggling to see the point but I fully accept many people would find my choices odd and maybe even contrarian.

Loving the people trying to pretend their plate was forced on them or, even worse, ironic.

Love people saying it hides the age of the car. Maybe the exact age yes but an older car is an older car. Even 2-3 years old you can tell it’s not brand new 🙄

I like business ones that spell something to do with the business.

I love a good play on words. If you could pick anything out of thin air it would not be half as much fun.
I knew a vicar who had B15 HOP . If he could take the humour from it then so can the rest of us .

Badlydrawn, the Queen has ER II (or similar), so she does have a number plate.

Excellent thread actually!
I am in my 40’s now, was a complete madam with sports car in my 20’s and my real name is very unusual - I bought a plate that is my whole name with just one number in it. Even now as a mature adult I love it, can’t give you a specific reason, I’m attached to it and it’s no longer an ego thing.... and I no longer have a sports car!!!!

Love people saying it hides the age of the car. Maybe the exact age yes but an older car is an older car. Even 2-3 years old you can tell it’s not brand new

I originally said it tongue-in-cheek. But I do know people that have not-quite-classic-yet older, under-stated quality cars (think BMW 7 series rather than an Evoque in council white) that use private plates and because they keep the car in such good condition you wouldn't realise it was 10+ years old.

Maybe we should hide the age of all cars, having seen a few defensive comments along the lines of "we change our cars regularly" - like that's a good thing rather than a status thing.

There’s a Porsche round where I live with the registration VAG 2.

I've never understood the appeal. I see them as tacky and downmarket.

@MaxTeyon You say that the "On Pill" one I saw wasn't possible, that might be the case I guess, but I was with my Dad and it was he who pointed it out. I am guessing as to the layout but that is what it said. Just to be clear, I wasn't making it up for the sake of the thread!

I have one, which was on my Mum’s car before she passed away.

My DH has one also, his birthday is 8th August so his lucky number is 8. Let’s say his name was John Smith his reg is / would be J888 SMT

My friend is 42 (?) and her Dad bought her one for her 18th, when they weren’t really a big thing and it’s her initials ie. JS11

Apparently it’s worth a FORTUNE now and the funniest thing is it’s on a 14 year old fiesta! The plate is prob worth 20 x the car