... to be entertained by personal registration plates?

[ImJustMadAboutSaffron]

First off, I have a personal registration plate and I am not knocking them in general. You wouldn't really know it though, because it has a letter, three random numbers and my initials. Well you would if you know, as it makes it look as if the car dates from 1991, but it isn't "stand out".

I'm on about the weird ones, try-hard ones, just odd ones and the ones that look just daft.

M444 RKD. (Mark Dobson (for example). The name is Mark, not Maaark).

CL14 REK - It's Claire, not Cliare.

And where I live, a lot of plates starting with HG11 and similar. Having your postcode as a registration number? It's bizarre. Ironic, too, when the plate indicates the car was registered in Hampshire or Dorset, not Yorkshire.

And don't get me started on K155, M155 (seen on several white Audis), BO55 (my most hated one. So embarrassing! If you are really a "boss" you wouldn't need to tell everyone).

Yep I might be sneering and I expect a lot of brickbats. But what do other Mumsnetters think? Am I being mean? Any other examples?

Not sure why you care what letters on on someone else's car.

Maybe someone's surname is boss

YABU
The whole point of a personal registration is for things like this. Why get one to have 'random' letters and numbers?

Also BU with regards to those which are not clear names - 1 - you don't know that's not their name and assuming it's another one, 2 - if their name is Claire their personal reg options will be limited with the amount of Claire's there are.

So your private plate is fine. But others aren’t?

personally I would never have one but I really couldn’t put enough thought into it to be bothered. Makes it easier to remember the number plate If they do something daft if guess!

I don't exactly "care" but I am curiously entertained. And I don't know why.

Re your last point, yes I hadn't thought of that. I didn't realise there were so many people in the UK with that surname. 192.com however throws up none around where I live.

Mine doesn't have random letters, it has my initials. The numbers are random, so it doesn't stand out, ie it isn't something like S123 or K400. Didn't want to be an attention seeker, you see 😉

The examples you've given look like the names from afar. They make more sense than paying for a private plate with no reasoning - like random numbers.

I'm confused OP. So they are "attention seekers" because they have a number plate that spells out a name ? And yours is just initials ?

I saw a number plate that said WILLY the other day.... why just why?

I think personalised number plates are tacky and pointless, but you’re being unreasonable to have one yourself and yet judge others for having the wrong kind of number plate. I don’t see why it’s weird and try hard to have one that spells your name slightly wrong (but still obviously alludes to Claire/ Mark or whatever) but not completely weird and pointless to have one that has your initials on but that nobody else would even notice. At least paying for a numberplate that is obviously personalised sort of makes sense, why go to the effort or seeking out and paying for a numberplate when it doesn’t even look personal to you? I think you’re unreasonable to think your personalised number plate is somehow superior to or different to anybody else’s when honestly, it’s just as tacky and pointless and odd that you’ve got one as all the other ones you’re judging!

I was behind a van from West One bathrooms which had the numberplate WE57 ONE. I thought that was pretty cool!

But they DON'T spell out a name. That's my point. My first name has 5 letters and I couldn't fit the name on a plate, so I don't. Any attempt to do so would look wrong and silly. Like S444MMY or M444RK or CL14RE or S60 TTD.

I could find S4 FFY I guess.

It DOES look personal to me, to those who know me. It doesn't scream "look at me" in a car park or attract comments from strangers. Actually, the car itself might do as it's a classic. My other car is a 12 year old runabout with a bog standard Yorkshire registration.

Y8NBU

Brilliant!

(Actually Y4 NBU would be better!)

So you have a "look at me" car but other people cant have a "look at me" registration plate 😂 I think you might need.to accept you are being unreasonable and a bit of a hypocrite. There is a taxi around here with the number plate taxey and I always smile when I see it.

So you have a classic car with a personalised number plate but think that somehow you’re not attention seeking, but that anybody with something like M444RK is?

Honestly, I think you need to accept your personalised numberplate on a classic car is not really that different to having B055 on a Ferrari. I wouldn’t judge you any differently to them.

Is Hyp0cr1t3 available for your car?

The only people that personal number plates mean anything to is the owner and possibly their immediate circle. As a motorist myself it doesn't matter if Jon is driving JON 1. All I need to know in the event of an accident is that Jon's car is street legal.
Why pay an additional premium for something that has to be attached to the car anyway and is issued according to uk law....

And where I live, a lot of plates starting with HG11 and similar. Having your postcode as a registration number? It's bizarre. Ironic, too, when the plate indicates the car was registered in Hampshire or Dorset, not Yorkshire.

Dealerships often bulk buy and mass register. I'm in Scotland and most of the Vauxhalls are either registers in England or Glasgow, not my area. The postcode thing may simply be mass buying.

YABU and really quite weird to slate people with a private reg when you have one yourself, no matter what format it is.

Let me check and come back to you.

I think personalised number plates are one of the most pointless and tacky things that someone could spend their money on - however I'm perfectly aware that there are probably lots of things I've bought that others would think was a complete waste of space and money, and personalised numberplate don't hurt anyone so who cares.

I don't get the ones that are insults though- was behind a car with the number plate TWAT before, although tbh from my brief observation of his driving style it was useful as a warning.