Why Vanity Plates So Expensive In UK?

[jyl]

While browsing 911 & Porsche World I noticed that "vanity" license plates sell for serious money in the UK - I saw plenty at GBP 2,000 and up. What's this about? Seems a ton of money to pay for a license plate.

[304065]

You can't order a custom plate over there. So all the cool plates, like one that went for big bucks (pounds?) for an Aston Martin -IJB 007, command huge premiums.

Also, the year of manufacture is included in the plate which confounds getting the one you want.

[Saffs]

Complex answer, really. Firstly, cars are dated - up until recently - by their "number plate". Like, it started in 1963 with "A" at the end of the number plate. "B" was '63 - '64 etc., etc. It switched to "A" at the beginning of the number plate in '83. Now, it's changed again and I've been out of the UK too much to decipher the new ones!
So, people want to disguise the year of their car, so they get a "private plate", but not - up until very recently - from the government, but from private individuals and dealers. There's only so many "dateless" number plates, so it's supply and demand all the way.... Like the plate "U2" exists - I've seen it - and it's going to be from like 1910 and it's worth maybe $20,000, as there's only one in the Country; it's highly collectable.
Now the DVLC (R/DMV equiv.) make up number plates themselves and sell them for less than the private sellers/dealers.
A few notes: in the UK number plates stay with the car through change of owners, and all its life, usually. They only really change if you buy a vanity plate, then it's yours whereas, it's the cars, before.
Hope this helps. Basically, vanity plates are a buisness. Therefore prices for meaningful plates (peoples' initials, words) are coincidence (they were just created by chance) and become a desirable item to some. Supply and demand creates the rest...

[epbrown]

Thanks for the info, guys - I was curious as well. In a recent article (about the black turbo) the owner mentions paying 2000# for his plate and being offered 5000 soon after. Weird.

No worse than the US I guess. I worked for a company that wanted the local phone number that spelled the company name, already assigned to some little old lady. They paid nearly $10,000 for it.

Emanuel (or 362-6835 )

[Doug E]

Interesting. I saw a similar add in a British Car magazine recently and wondered the same thing.

Thanks for the explanation Saffs.

BTW, suddenly my $10 per year for my plate seems like a bargain!

[dickster]

i think "A1" was the most expensive - due to being a motor trade description in the uk.

can't remember the exact amount but 100's of thousands £ - REALLY.

crazy world

[Rick Lee]

I may have told this story in another thread, but it bears repeating:

In Germany license plates begin with the code or abbreviation for the district in which the car is registered - F=Frankfurt, DD=Dresden, BIT=Bitburg, etc. While living in Trier, which is near the Bitburg US AFB, there was an SUV with the plate BIT CH 69. We saw it often and wanted so badly to steal it, but the only chance we had arose late one night, while we were coming home from the bars on foot with no screwdrivers on us.

[Milu]

RICHARD!
YOU TOUCHA MY PLATE I TOUCHA YOUR FACE!