teambwr47

Having bought a nice car, today we looked at a registration plate for it as we used to have two nice personal plates in the uk that were purely personal to us.

In the UK we had B1 WDY and D1 WDY which are now for sale at near £2000 each with a UK plate company having more than doubled in price since we bought them. Here in NZ the same two plates are $699 each

Best of all we've looked at one of my dream plates in the UK which is currently for sale at £17495.....price in NZ $699!!!!
By the time the plate company take their money on the sale of my UK plates i should see near $7000 returned to me while here i buy effectively a $47000 plate for $699....quids in or should that be dollars in

Obviously these are not essential items in any way at all but if you want them they're so much cheaper than the UK its almost laughable.

The other thing we sorted today was car insurance and its come out for both of us to drive with windscreen cover, hire car cover etc plus anyone can drive with our permission at about $670 or £250. Tried to qoute the same car online in the UK and its not far off double that without the ability for anyone to drive which would add loads of money to the quote.

Happy days................

UKNZAUS

I can get my name here on one for $599 - how cool is that ?! Couldn't get it for less than £1k back in the UK

Dandy Dan

Hay, thats really cool i bet they look great

Bit of a waste off money though don't you think

I could think of more exciting things to spend my money on

RobClubley

I want one. But I can always find something more important to spend $600 on.

UKNZAUS

Yeah, and with 3 kids thats why I didn't buy it

teambwr47

Complete waste of money as the car obviously comes with a perfectly good normal plate, its a novelty i guess and if its like the UK you won't lose money on them.....so long as they sell one day that is

Buy more than one and they do a bit of haggling for a 'package deal mate'

P2L

A personal plate would be a nice novelty. Not so sure I would post my personal finances on the web though.

uk+kiwi

Personally, I don't understand the desire for personalised number plates. I have always found them a massive intrigue.

What do others think personal number plates 'say' or 'mean', given that they are not for private pleasure, but for public display?

Is it simply, I fancy something mroe unique than the one given to the car, or something else? Or maybe lots of reasons? Very curious.

Edit to add: or do people see them along the lines of a wedding ring or other jewellery, clothes etc?

Am Loolah

Who told you it wasn't essential? I've got mine and love it, Hubby got it for me for my birthday!

The one I had wanted for the last 10 years or so in the UK was £27,500 back in the day ... it's an essential treat!

brandn

DAFT 1D3A
if you ask me!

Am Loolah

You can't have that, you're only allowed 6!!

lardyl

interesting, certainly there is a type of person who is attracted to them, not all people who want one do for the same reason, but some are just the "me, me, look at me" type - could be another thing to add to the phat exhaust and the rest of the bling - personally I see that as low self-esteem coming out in over-compensation.
I fancy the idea of one as a laugh, maybe to show how witty I am (or not - again the low self-esteem perhaps???).
I do find some of them funny, bizzare and plain old dumb and every so often have a little chuckle.
eg the Audi Q7, that had the plate I Q7 I - I read it as "IQ71", which was not quite the intention but probably said a lot about the person who fitted it to their shiny new "Chelsea Tractor"!
Interesting one I saw in the last week was "OOOOOH"
Kiwis do like the letter/word play and so like to show off their wit via a plate.
No doubt someone hasexploited this in order to make a fast buck, but then the value of investments can go down as well as up...........

UKNZAUS

I saw one the other day when we were out driving ....

0N BAIL ... I was wetting myself! Got a pic but it's on my phone and nothing to connect it to my laptop til I get my stuff here Seen another funny one but can't remember what that was

uk+kiwi

Yes, this is essentially what I have always thought, so was then surprised by the responses on this thread about people having them, previously had them or wanting them, which got me wondering if there were more subtle or positive reasons for wanting/having them. Or if in fact they weren't any different to many other materialistic possessions many of us have.

I really like the 'wit' idea, although sadly have never seen any that fall into this category. I'll start paying attention.

I have only ever known two people who owned them, both of whom were too embarrased to use them. Weird.

Am Loolah

I drive mine with pride, I am an exhibitionist and a show off, but I also find them funny and really liked the fact that Hubby bought it for me ... I see it as no big deal because they are not anywhere near as expensive or considered as exclusive as the prices that drive the personal plates in the UK. Hubby figured it was the same as jewelry or shoes or new handbag!!