To not see the point in personalised reg plates?

[Flexilexy]

As I sat in traffic this morning trying to work out if someone's reg was their initials or if it was meant to spell a word out, I wondered why they even bothered.

If you have a personalised registration plate, why?

This is one of those things I've just never understood why anyone would spend money on it. I'd have to have a LOT of disposable income before this is something I'd part with cash for.

Google says "The cost of a personalized number plate can range from a few hundred pounds to hundreds of thousands of pounds."

I'll be honest, and show my judgemental side. Most (not all) of the people I know with personalised reg plates are skint, or just scraping by month to month. So it really baffles me that this is something they'd chose to do with their money.

But also, even if I could afford it, what's the appeal? I'm genuinely interested to know what makes you want one?

And yes, I'm fully aware it doesn't have any impact on my life at all, but one is allowed to ponder. This entire site is full of people complaining about things that aren't relevant to them, it's just a discussion.

YABU - Personalised reg plates are wonderful and not just an expensive bit of plastic that collects dead bugs
YANBU - They're totally fucking pointless

It's a harmless but pointless affectation, like wearing clothes with logos on.

B7ESST

That's not a valid plate.

Unless they're for a business (like the hilarious "teeth" example for a dentist) they're just awfully tacky. Whenever I see someone with a variation of their name on the reg I just cringe.

I can get my initials pretty good for £250. If it were a gift I’d be pleased with it. As opposed to the random useless stuff I generally get.

I think it harks back to the time that you could make an instant wealth judgement of someone by what car they drove because leasing cars was only a tiny share of the market back then.

I know people who have bought older cars and specifically bought a personalised number plate because they didn't want others to think they couldn't afford a newer car.

I like the ones that spell an actual word which is relevant, like the dentist’s car.

I do worry about how identifiable they are from a harassment point of view, actually. I had a small group of people take against me in a parish council situation. They decided something I had no influence over was my fault. I would have felt a bit more vulnerable in an identifiable car, irrational really.

I don't see the point of patterned gel nails, or having my eyebrows threaded, or fake tan.
But I do have a personalised number plate.
It cost me £300, IIRC, about 20 years ago.
Wouldn't life be dull if we all liked the same things?

I had one as a gift. My initials too. I was pleased with it. I’ve seen one on a driving school car PA55 YAY. I think that’s a good one.

I gave DPs one with their initials on it as DM had always wanted one. When they changed the second car they bought another one (same but different year).
Unless you saw their two cars together you would be unlikely to realise they were personal plates although now the plates are "older" than the cars you might wonder (but truthfully I don't think people take that much notice).
It made them easy to remember.

I won’t use a tradesman/business who have personalised plates on their work vehicles. It just makes me think they charge over the odds if they can afford to do that.

It just makes me think they charge over the odds if they can afford to do that.

The myth is that personal plates are expensive, most aren't expensive at all.

My husband and I have 'his and hers' plates that look very similar. They were not particularly expensive and we love them- it feels like an upgrade to the car.

My dad has just joined the club and bought himself one that says his name. He's really hoping his ex wife sees it on his brand new, massive expensive car that he was able to buy with funds from the divorce settlement. I love that type of pettiness myself 😂

Its very handy only every having to remember one number plate from now on, but its a pain to pay out £80 every time we change the cars.

I have one. It de-ages my car, means it’s easy for me to remember my number plate, and I just like it. I don’t know why anyone would care, it’s not hurting anyone.

You could ask that about 70% of the posts on MN.

Where I live they're seen as a status symbol (mainly among the offshore community).
The only advantage is that they're easy to remember if you're involved in an accident and they don't stop.

How many times have we had this thread now? Why do people care what other people do when it doesn't impact them at all? And why all the unnecessary cringing?

My son has one. He bought a 17 year old sports car that looks as good as when it was new and looks exactly the same as a current model.

He got a personalised plate to disguise the real age of his car. It only cost him £180 and spells his first name but with an x at the end instead of the letter it should be.

The car cost him £8k but looks like it cost him a fortune and being 19 years old he likes the fact it makes him look far richer than he really is.

I love mine, I chose it as it has my dad’s initials and he passed a few years ago. When I see it I think of him, we used to go on road trips all the time and it’s lovely.
I don’t care what others think.

But why does that matter? I know how old my car is. If I ever sold it the buyer would know how old it is. How fragile does your self esteem have to be to care about what total strangers think about the age of your car?

By the looks of it you have even less to think about given that you took the time to open the thread and leave a comment on a discussion that doesn't interest you. Watch the Ricky Gervais clip about twitter, and his analogy of someone using a notice board to advertise guitar lessons. Reflect on the fact that you're shouting "I DON'T WANT GUITAR LESSONS" at the notice.

I don’t mind individuals having them. But I get annoyed by companies having them - another cost which ultimately falls to their customers. Yes I know, probably loose change to the company.

I do that too 😂

If I had one I'd basically want it spell my name otherwise I don't understand it. Like someone I knew who had Thomas with a 7 in there too. Must have cost him a fortune!

I think a lot of folk like to disguise the age of their car with a private reg. So get a 7yr old Range Rover and put a private plate it so no one can tell how old it is.

Makes it very easy on all the wretched parking apps. Mine didn't cost a fortune, I'm not scraping by either.

me and my siblings all have them. They’re just personal to us.

I wouldn't get one, but I see them as quite socially acceptable type of luxury.

Now real/unfair advantage is gained and the state can charge for it (hopefully more than enough to cover the costs of having them)