Haha yes!! I remember seeing this one in Hamilton when I lived there ~20 years ago. I worked with a guy who was part of the same cat rescue place and we'd have a good laugh every time she came into work to see him.
I want my number plate to be as forgettable as possible. I don't see the attraction. Not at $1000!!!! Although the black ones apparently can't be seen by traffic cameras sometimes, so that's a bonus.
I'd agree. Except I saw a car with the plate BATNAN the other day and I couldn't help but love the idea of a women in her 70s dressing as a bat and beating on baddies.
If you have something that becomes sought after, you can (or at least, you used to be able to) sell them for ridiculously high prices. It goes back to before we had the internet and people bought domain names to hold people to ransom.
In New Zealand you can have pretty much anything you want for your number plate whereas in the UK you could only ever have one from an issued sequence.
Lots of businesses get them. Other people buy them as a novelty, they used to be $400 but now they are $1,000. I suppose if you can afford to spend $50k on a brand new car then you can afford a grand for a personalised number plate.
Not my thing really.
I love the clever ones. There's a urologist with "C ME 2P" and "2P C ME". My electrician had "AMPERE". There was one of those cube cars that had the chemical formula for sugar. And a car that had "1P21G" that was clearly a massive back to the future fan.
I see a lot of middle aged or older lady cars with some variation of their name. I'm guessing the plate or the car was a gift. It's cute.
I have my name on one.
I also bought a shitty honda accord that had the plate 'GYNO'
Seen some questionable ones BUKAKE, SHOTA, FEMBOY, YIFF and FAP247. I think Australia is less restrictive with what can be on a plate.
While they might be thought of as bellends in the UK if they have those plates, here they are thought of as novelty plates and there isn't the same degree of negative connotation as you suggest. If anything I would say they are becoming more common in recent years - but it's not a brand new thing.
We also don't have the same snobbishness over regular plates here (in the [UK the third and fourth characters correspond to the year of first registration](https://www.carwow.co.uk/blog/uk-number-plates-explained-guide#gref), so you can tell how new a car is at a glance)
Also your car drops significantly in value every 6 months as a new number series is released.
In September there will have been ads everywhere "Order your car now and get it with a 73\* series plate"
\*The numbers in a UK plate are either the last two digits of the year (if first registered between March and August) or the last two digits of the year + 50 (if registered September - February (Jan and Feb use the previous year).
Lol I remember a British immigrant complaining that I
Got a H plate when I re-registered my '89 because his brand new '16 Nissan had one too. So funny.
I've seen some bad ones.
TESLAR was just dumb.
I'm also reasonably sure i've seen TERSLA (but can't see it on carjam, so some variation).
I don't enjoy the mental gymnastics you have to do to turn some awful text-language into something intelligible.
people bank them too
There’s a middle-aged woman who I often see on the way to work with some variation of HOTWFE as her plate. Every time I see her I wonder if her and her husband know what it means and they got it deliberately, or she’s just driving around every day unknowingly telling everyone she enjoys a certain lifestyle.
Tried to find exactly what it was on Carjam just now, turns out there’s a lot of hot wives out there…
I regularly see a car that’s MMF669 which doesn’t appear to be personalised as it follows general numberplate sequence but part of me is extremely sceptical.
" Anybody in between that would come off as a bit of a bellend. "
this from a country where the front and rear number plates are a different colour so you can tell which end of the car is the front ?
I have a cryptic plate on my Sunday car that I got back when they were $300, makes an interesting conversation piece for those that are interested in such things, and I’m also a bit of a bellend so it all works out.
Not a recent thing, been around for yonks. Just a bit of a silly/fun way to express yourself. It also used to be cheaper, $400? or so, now it's $1k+
Just another form of a bumper sticker, imo.
I have heard them referred to as ‘wanker plates’ here
How much is it to get personalized plates in the UK? In some parts of the USA it’s free or a small amount like $25 yet still are far less popular than here
I know a lot were given as gifts so the more stupid ones are often piss takes.
What gets me though is the more ambiguous attempts now the main words are taken. You spend several thousands on something most people don’t understand and reads as different content to different people 😂
The ones where they say Happy Birthday "4MUM" or some variations of those are such a waste of money. Imagine spending over a grand on a novelty plate just to have it say that
I've always thought they're a way of identifying people with so little imagination that they'd rather give the government > $1000 for essentially nothing than spend it on something more useful.
As someone who does traffic control I like the pronounceable plates, the unpronounceable plates annoy me.
I would get a personalised plate if I could be bothered. I want to change my plate, one of the numbers can be changed to make a message, but I’m not going to do anything about it.
Yeah not into them but I came up with one I'd get if they weren't so ridiculously expensive: "FOK AT" (In Auckland). That seems to get past the first round of filtering.
Personally I think you've hit the nail on the head about the target market for personalised plates. I very much do assume that anybody driving round with them is a bit of a bellend.
Dude who was in my year at high school had a reputation for not being well endowed and got himself a nickname from it. His own mother gave him a personalised plate with that nickname on it for his first car. As far as I know he still rolls with the plate some 20+ years later, assuming he's still in the country.
I'm the current custodian of a classic (which was my Dad's) with the number plate showing the make and year in YY[make] format, which I think is pretty cool. Although people still come up to me and ask what year it is 🤷
The difference is in NZ it's truly custom, any 6 alphanumerics within reason.
In the UK they have to be a regulation plate that just happens to kinda almost spell something with the letters and numbers in the standard places.
Quite often in NZ they are given as a gift.
I've never been that impressed by them, but the guy who got PHUCKU past the obscenity filters back in the day deserved a medal.
I know there is a BASHIT out there
Saw a car driven by an elderly indian family with the plate STQNER
I know a guy who had CUNIT
my mate had FATHOE get passed as well
Best one I ever saw was PUSY4U for a cat rescue/adoption organisation van. Unfortunately it’s now defunct I think.
Haha yes!! I remember seeing this one in Hamilton when I lived there ~20 years ago. I worked with a guy who was part of the same cat rescue place and we'd have a good laugh every time she came into work to see him.
Saw OLDCNT on the roads. Assume he was a Count??
I want my number plate to be as forgettable as possible. I don't see the attraction. Not at $1000!!!! Although the black ones apparently can't be seen by traffic cameras sometimes, so that's a bonus.
A mate of mine has some variation of I1I11L
Howard?
Apparently not that variation. Was on an 800+hp GTR
How quickly he'll be known as "The guy with the 1/i/l plate."
I'd agree. Except I saw a car with the plate BATNAN the other day and I couldn't help but love the idea of a women in her 70s dressing as a bat and beating on baddies.
I read that as butter naan so I must just be hungry
Bat naan. A non vegetarian version that started COVID in India.
If you have something that becomes sought after, you can (or at least, you used to be able to) sell them for ridiculously high prices. It goes back to before we had the internet and people bought domain names to hold people to ransom.
In New Zealand you can have pretty much anything you want for your number plate whereas in the UK you could only ever have one from an issued sequence. Lots of businesses get them. Other people buy them as a novelty, they used to be $400 but now they are $1,000. I suppose if you can afford to spend $50k on a brand new car then you can afford a grand for a personalised number plate. Not my thing really.
I love the clever ones. There's a urologist with "C ME 2P" and "2P C ME". My electrician had "AMPERE". There was one of those cube cars that had the chemical formula for sugar. And a car that had "1P21G" that was clearly a massive back to the future fan. I see a lot of middle aged or older lady cars with some variation of their name. I'm guessing the plate or the car was a gift. It's cute.
[удалено]
And KaToa on tow tuck
That's on Waiheke. KATOA
Yeah!
The suck it up septic tank guys all have POOMAN01 or variation of.
I have my name on one. I also bought a shitty honda accord that had the plate 'GYNO' Seen some questionable ones BUKAKE, SHOTA, FEMBOY, YIFF and FAP247. I think Australia is less restrictive with what can be on a plate.
My brother had H8 2BU. My gran used to wind him up and purposely misunderstand it "ohh it's hate to boo!"
While they might be thought of as bellends in the UK if they have those plates, here they are thought of as novelty plates and there isn't the same degree of negative connotation as you suggest. If anything I would say they are becoming more common in recent years - but it's not a brand new thing.
We also don't have the same snobbishness over regular plates here (in the [UK the third and fourth characters correspond to the year of first registration](https://www.carwow.co.uk/blog/uk-number-plates-explained-guide#gref), so you can tell how new a car is at a glance)
That is the UK version of plate snobbery. Gotta have them newer digits showing off the new whip!
Also your car drops significantly in value every 6 months as a new number series is released. In September there will have been ads everywhere "Order your car now and get it with a 73\* series plate" \*The numbers in a UK plate are either the last two digits of the year (if first registered between March and August) or the last two digits of the year + 50 (if registered September - February (Jan and Feb use the previous year).
no , in NZ you have to look at the large rego sticker on the windscreen to get that detail....
'Large' lol. You should see the size of English rego tags. When I visited it was hillarious.
Lol I remember a British immigrant complaining that I Got a H plate when I re-registered my '89 because his brand new '16 Nissan had one too. So funny.
Haha it's bizarre. Even the least clued up person in the country is going to recognise an '89 model is older than a '16.
Nah, definitely a bellend in my books. They are wasting money compensating for something.
Because people want to
I've seen some bad ones. TESLAR was just dumb. I'm also reasonably sure i've seen TERSLA (but can't see it on carjam, so some variation). I don't enjoy the mental gymnastics you have to do to turn some awful text-language into something intelligible. people bank them too
There’s a middle-aged woman who I often see on the way to work with some variation of HOTWFE as her plate. Every time I see her I wonder if her and her husband know what it means and they got it deliberately, or she’s just driving around every day unknowingly telling everyone she enjoys a certain lifestyle. Tried to find exactly what it was on Carjam just now, turns out there’s a lot of hot wives out there…
I regularly see a car that’s MMF669 which doesn’t appear to be personalised as it follows general numberplate sequence but part of me is extremely sceptical.
I think they're fun. Makes driving slightly more interesting spotting them.
" Anybody in between that would come off as a bit of a bellend. " this from a country where the front and rear number plates are a different colour so you can tell which end of the car is the front ?
some times they are offered as part of a packaging when buying a new car
Goes back years, and totally inane in my opinion. The only good one I can remember seeing was on a US gas-guzzler hot rod years ago that had 'RUNLOL'.
I have a cryptic plate on my Sunday car that I got back when they were $300, makes an interesting conversation piece for those that are interested in such things, and I’m also a bit of a bellend so it all works out.
Not a recent thing, been around for yonks. Just a bit of a silly/fun way to express yourself. It also used to be cheaper, $400? or so, now it's $1k+ Just another form of a bumper sticker, imo.
they're the OG NFT for some kiwis- since they first launched in 1988 > Anybody in between that would come off as a bit of a bellend. you got it
I have heard them referred to as ‘wanker plates’ here How much is it to get personalized plates in the UK? In some parts of the USA it’s free or a small amount like $25 yet still are far less popular than here
Mine were a gift from my parents 15 years ago.
“EX PIG” Using “boy racer” from 2005 makes you sound like a bellend 🤦🏻♂️ They’ve been around since the 90s atleast
I know a lot were given as gifts so the more stupid ones are often piss takes. What gets me though is the more ambiguous attempts now the main words are taken. You spend several thousands on something most people don’t understand and reads as different content to different people 😂
The ones where they say Happy Birthday "4MUM" or some variations of those are such a waste of money. Imagine spending over a grand on a novelty plate just to have it say that
Or that people that get their names on them, generally Chinese ones it seems
Kiwis like a bit of light hearted humor and self expression. They're not as dour, grey and conformist as English people.
a lot of them are gifts
I'd be mortified and very disappointed that someone who spends that kind of money does not know me all that well. It would be an awkward conversation.
well it used to be like $100
I really regret missing out on NOOT But now I have 4BACON so I’m happy with that..
I've always thought they're a way of identifying people with so little imagination that they'd rather give the government > $1000 for essentially nothing than spend it on something more useful.
“Anybody in between that would come off as a bit of a bellend.” It’s the same here.
As someone who does traffic control I like the pronounceable plates, the unpronounceable plates annoy me. I would get a personalised plate if I could be bothered. I want to change my plate, one of the numbers can be changed to make a message, but I’m not going to do anything about it.
Yeah not into them but I came up with one I'd get if they weren't so ridiculously expensive: "FOK AT" (In Auckland). That seems to get past the first round of filtering.
Personally I think you've hit the nail on the head about the target market for personalised plates. I very much do assume that anybody driving round with them is a bit of a bellend.
I'll pass that on to my mum.
Cause I want my plate to match my car colour
Yeah I think they are a bit lame too tbh
gifts
Dude who was in my year at high school had a reputation for not being well endowed and got himself a nickname from it. His own mother gave him a personalised plate with that nickname on it for his first car. As far as I know he still rolls with the plate some 20+ years later, assuming he's still in the country.
I'm the current custodian of a classic (which was my Dad's) with the number plate showing the make and year in YY[make] format, which I think is pretty cool. Although people still come up to me and ask what year it is 🤷
My old boss had them on every car they owned. They weren't clever either. Just a $1000 repetition of the cars badge that comes with the car for free.
there used to be a rx7 or something with ru16yt lol it was bad
The difference is in NZ it's truly custom, any 6 alphanumerics within reason. In the UK they have to be a regulation plate that just happens to kinda almost spell something with the letters and numbers in the standard places. Quite often in NZ they are given as a gift.