Personalised number plates and snobbery?
- Thread starter Barks
- Start date
The person who lives next to me has some sort of Merc, it was on a H plate before he got a personalised number plate for £245. Now to me, someone who's interested in cars but has no knowledge of older Merc's I wouldn't be able to tell if it's a A reg or a W reg personally.
It just removes that element of "Oh your car is 20 years old" and replaces it with "Oh, old Merc, personalised number plate, must love his cars" or something like that.
I bet 90% of th British public wouldn't know how much a personal plate has cost or is worth.
Hiding the age of your car is the same principle as splashing out thousands for a pretentious plate like "B055"
It's pathetic that someone will look at a car and evaluate their opinion on its age rather than what it is. What's the difference between a 55 plate Golf and a 58 plate Golf. Absolutely nothing, only that the person who owns the latter can afford to buy it brand new.
It's pathetic that someone will look at a car and evaluate their opinion on its age rather than what it is. What's the difference between a 55 plate Golf and a 58 plate Golf. Absolutely nothing, only that the person who owns the latter can afford to buy it brand new.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Or that the person with the 55 plate could afford to buy it themselves or has perhaps had it from new 3 years ago whereas the person with the 58 plate had to take out a loan or lease it..
So why do you hate Personal plates so much?
I myself have never seen a private plate on a car that didn't look like it was well looked after and therefore the owner cars about their cars enough to personalise it that little bit further than everyone else who just uses it as A>B transport.
Even the big Execs that buy big Mercs and Audis etc with just normal plates on, they're not interested in spending time looking after it, they just drive it and get the locals to clean it as usual so couldn't care less about a private plate. More likely than none anyway.
I myself have never seen a private plate on a car that didn't look like it was well looked after and therefore the owner cars about their cars enough to personalise it that little bit further than everyone else who just uses it as A>B transport.
Even the big Execs that buy big Mercs and Audis etc with just normal plates on, they're not interested in spending time looking after it, they just drive it and get the locals to clean it as usual so couldn't care less about a private plate. More likely than none anyway.
That is a ridiculous generalization. The latter paragraph I would argue the opposite, the sort of people buying cars to be ostentatious are precisely the same sort of people who would purchase ridiculously expensive number plates, for exactly the same reason.
I also object to the fact it's a trade based irrefutably on gullibility and profit. If private plates didn't exist, no body would care. Anything that enables a human being in Western society to have some sort of status symbol above the rest seems to become popular. Private plates are a perfect example.
Last edited:
I'll remove that because I'll admit it's counter productive to the argument and a bit personal. What I was getting at is even a plate as cheap as £250 can be viewed by many as a complete waste of money, and could be more effectively invested in improving the car. Maybe I should have said if someone bought me a plate for my birthday I'd be disappointed and would rather had the money put towards a driving experience day or something more rewarding.
I honestly would not have a problem if all plates were the same price and it was done on a first come, first served basis. That is personalisation but without ostentatiousness and exploitation.
Fact is there's a status symbol-wealth element involved and the DVLA make millions from it which is utterly ridiculous.
Fact is there's a status symbol-wealth element involved and the DVLA make millions from it which is utterly ridiculous.
True true, but we gotta make do with the system we got (since we can't really change it [isnt democracy great])
Really? That takes the average man or woman in the UK 20 hours to earn before tax. If you have that attitude towards everything, it slowly adds up
Last edited:
Adds up to what exactly? 
you only buy a personal plate once...and it's with you for life so it goes with you from car to car, not just stuck onto the same car forever!
Mine for example means something to me and those who know me by name will instantly recognise it too - But it would mean jack all to anyone else, well except for that Canadian rapper who has the same name as me...
you only buy a personal plate once...and it's with you for life so it goes with you from car to car, not just stuck onto the same car forever!Mine for example means something to me and those who know me by name will instantly recognise it too - But it would mean jack all to anyone else, well except for that Canadian rapper who has the same name as me...