Personalised number plates

[Cleanbedsheets]

Why do people spend so much money on these?

AIBU to think that the only possible reason for having a PNP is to be a bit braggy?

My DP wants to get me one for my upcoming birthday, I have said it is a waste of money and to not bother. DP doesn't understand.

Your thoughts?

I think people can spend their money on whatever they like. People who spend money on museum memberships aren’t better people than those who choose to spend money on handbags. Snobbery on something that is entirely personal choice is unnecessary and odd.

I said YANBU but hypocritically I have one - it's just 1 number and my 3 initials, all correctly spaced and on a normal standard number plate.

What's really awful is the ones where people illegally change the spaces between the characters or have them made to look like something else.

I wish the police would really crack down on that as they're often unreadable and if someone did a hit-and-run for example, it would be almost impossible to decipher the registration you'd seen.

Edit: so I suppose what I would say is, if you like the idea and it wouldn't be some ridiculous looking or illegal thing, then fine. If you don't like the idea or it would have to illegal to make it look like anything, then definitely don't!

I think they're a bit odd, like walking around with your name on your t shirt. I used to know someone who loved to shout things like 'Hi Sue' when he saw someone getting out of a car with a personalised plate, and left them wondering all day who he was and how they knew him 😆

I know people who have them. They can spend their money on what they want. If you don't want one that's fine.

People spend loads of money on all sorts of stuff that I wouldn't.

I spend loads on art stuff and going to gigs, which doesn't last half as long as a personalised numberplate that clearly brings the owner some joy.

Each unto their own.

I wouldn't want one, but different people like different things and they can spend their money on what they like. Also, people generally do like to personalise their own spaces a bit (eg having your own bits and pieces on your desk at work, or using a mug with some personal reference on it like your first initial or a picture of your kids) so for some people, personalising their car is just an extension of that really.

I don't think it's any more 'braggy' than any other expensive/luxury item. They're not my thing, but fair enough if people like them. Obviously your DP shouldn't get you one if you hate them, of course!

My friend had a huge amount of trouble when her number plate was cloned two hundred miles away. Constant tickets and it took a long time to sort out. She got a personalised plate because it's unlikely to be cloned as only really dull numbers are.

I lived in the USA for a while and in my state you could have whatever you liked as your numberplate for a ridiculously low fee (something like $20 per year), barring anything offensive. Any format up to 6 or 7 numbers/letters. So I had a personalised plate that I could never have in the UK as it doesn't fit the UK format and the beauty of it was that I could always remember it if needed. (my social security number on the other hand...). Good times.

They are common. As in tacky

My son wanted one for his 18th birthday, so that's what he got. It's just a normal plate, first registered in 1987, but it means something to him. It's definitely not a status symbol for him, it makes his car appear ancient at first glance!

What about them is braggy?

You can pick up a shiny new personal number plate directly from the DVLA for £250 with an £80 transfer fee. I could have one with my initials and some other characters I could make work without any great expense.

Yes you can spend thousands on a three-digit plate but the vast majority don't. I personally find them tacky, usually used to disguise the age of a vehicle or purely for vanity but each to their own.

My neighbour removes his when he gets a ‘new’ car for instance 73 or 24 plate. Chucks it back on after 6 months when done bragging about how new his car is. Absolutely embarrassing.

The one reason I have seen for them is that they hide the age of the car, and in some walks of life where things like that matters then for that reason alone they are useful.

But beyond that, personally I can't ever imagine throwing money at something so completely pointless.

Some people like them, some people don't.

Some people think a house that is all grey is tacky, some people don't.

It's lucky that not everyone is the same!

I used to call them wanker plates but then my DH got one. ……

Does the shoe fit?

I think they're tacky. But, I suppose they do have a value if you can sell them on in future

I think people who go to museums are better than people who buy handbags.
I like both but a day at a museum is more worthy, worthwhile and satisfying than buying a handbag.
It’s not that deep or controversial surely?

Our work cars have personalised plates with the initials of the business on them.

Personally, they're not something id bother with but I know a few people who have them. Takes care of having to re-learn your plate when you change cars I suppose and you get it for life if it means something to you. I view them in the same way as I do monogrammed cuffs etc.
Not particularly offensive and personal choice but people will always have an opinion about things deemed "unnecessary expenditure"

Not deep or controversial at all, more shallow and puerile.

I think most of them are naff however, some of my friends ones have been a great investment with big financial gains these are 💰 in the bank once sold on.

I think it’s more difficult to clone them.

Personally I think they're a bit naff and I don't understand the appeal. Each to their own though and I know plenty of people with them.

Someone I know has one along the lines of CB04 JNT i.e. Chris Bloggs 4 Janet. On one hand it is quite subtle, on the other it strikes me as being the modern equivalent of those stickers in the 80s that used to go across the top of windscreens like in Only Fools & Horses.

Mine is a pure coincidence and came with the car, but I’d say each to their own. If someone can afford it then what business is it to anyone else. There’s a market for it.

No worse IMO than renaming 10 Drudge Street to "Treetops" - arguably this is more annoying because then no one can find the damn place.

People want the stuff they want and it isn't really for anyone else to judge.