I have been offered S2 NNM (my initials) today by junk mail from a company called Alpha One, Amersham, Bucks for the apparently very reasonable price of £360 plus VAT and DOT assignment fee of £80.
I very much fancy this registration for my S reg Rover 600. Does anyone have any experience with this company? Should I go ahead? Will a personal plate increase my insurance costs (increases the risk of vandalism?)?
Thanks,
Nick Moore.
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Nick,
This seems an awful lot of money for a registration number that doesn't mean anything to anyone other than yourself. The fact that you needed to explain that NNM are your initials supports this view.
Your money, of course, but I find it so difficult to understand the attraction in so-called personal registrations.
David.
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Ah, but if you had a 3 letter surname you might!
Mr. Rex
(no, you're right. They are terribly naff. Anyway, don't pay more than £250 direct from the DVLC.)
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A five digit reg will fit the plate recess on the back of a grey imported Japanese car. See the thread about tiny typesizes.
HJ
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I had a similar mailshot the other day that said I could be the proud owner of a unique number. I'm not sure what their point was.
Chris
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I've got a personal reg number, so has my brother as well as my cousin. If you want it and can afford it, buy it ! If it means something to you then why not ? It'll cost £80 a time to remove it (plus an extra £25 if you want to put the number on retention ) but it will never depreciate in value.
It won't increase your insurance premiums but don't forget to tell them when you have it issued to your car. Pick up a leaflet from your local Vehicle Registration Office, or go to www.elite-registrations.co.uk. There is lots of info on this site and should help you.
Rgds,
Ash.
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Me neither - I'd be annoyed if my car registration wasn't unique!
Regards
John
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You did'nt ask for peoples opinions on personal plates .....
So to answer your question...
I would visit a few websites that offer reg plates (elite/reg transfer) first to see if this price is typical. Seems about right for a plate with one number on it.You may even find this plate available thru the above sites. They are mainly brokers who often offer the same plates for sale.
Not aware that insurance companies penalise cars with personal plates but worth checking.You will have to inform them anyway if you change the registration on your car.
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No experience of this company, only Registration Transfers.
The price is not unreasonable IMHO.
Insurance costs will be unaffected.
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A possible consideration...when you come to sell the car, you won't be able to get the original number back, the transfer will show up on a HPI report, and if you have etched windows, they won't match the reg. Potentially off-putting for buyers.
But if that doesn't bother you, try searching for similar numbers at www.dvla-som.co.uk - after all, this company have probably just bought the plate from there and whacked their profit on top. www.newreg.com is also pretty comprehensive.
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DVLA told me that the original number should be available if it has not been re-issued in the meantime (unlikely unless it is, itself, special in some way.
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It is worth haggling on the price too, I got about £75 off one from a similar company, so if you are interested make them an offer.
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Is that right - just swapped the wife's plate off her 106 onto the Puma, The Pug's revised doc came through the post dispalying its original number, the car was next seen on the Dealer's forecourt with the original plate on it. In fairness the Dealer also mailed me the tax disc (now displaying the original number) soI could cash it in.
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Maybe I stand corrected then. But a couple of years ago, I looked at a car whose seller wanted to keep the personal number, and told me he'd be obtaining a new number before sale because he couldn't get the original one back. That was one of the reasons I walked away...damn!
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If any one knows the whereabouts of the following reg numbers I would be interested
WDD 69
B 16 CUM
B 19 CUM
CUM is the local registration to my area.
Bill
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Did the DVLA REALLY allow CUM?!
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Thanks for all the information, chaps. Had no idea I was opening such a can of worms on this one!
I agree that some "personal" registrations look very tacky - there is a CLK here in Cambridge with the reg Y11MMY, with a black bolt low down between the two ones so that it reads YUMMY. Of course, such use of bolts is now illegal, I think.
Still quite like the idea of a short but fairly innocuous registration, but I probably have someting better to spend the money on.
Many thanks to everyone.
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I thought that number plates were supposed to be standard size, regardless of how many characters/letters in the registration.
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Always thought UK efforts to personalize license plates, with the types of config used, are feeble and invariably look ludicrous and contrived. And as for paying stupid money for them, more so. Give me the US style where you can get a sensible personal plate.
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Growler,
Got to agree with you totally but that is too easy isn't it? My friend in LA has VaughnH as his reg, his name being Vaughn Howes. You might suppose that William should be ok the powers that be wont allow it because it might not be as easy to read as say TW 51 THD. You go figure.
Bill
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Yeh, Brit personalised plates are ..mmm..bit of a joke really..I bought my wife one for her 42nd birthday in NZ..It read DEBS42 and cost me £140.
You can make up any plate with 6 digits so long as it isn't taken.
One day once the DVLA realise the money to be made, I'm sure they'll change their ways.
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I loved my Mustang's one when it was in Florida "GROWLER"Still have the plate (rear only, don't need one at the front over there). Can't recall the cost, wasn't much. Got it from the DMV in a day or so.
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Growler's post reminds me that, although the computers used by the US licencing, sorry licensing authorities are programmed to reject "offensive"
combinations of letters proposed for cherished/personal registrations (or vanity plates as they perhaps more realistically call them, they are not always clever enough to reject British English as opposed to American English.
My favourite was sighted on the Long Island Expressway a couple of years ago on a light blue metallic XJS convertible, comfortably exceeding the speed limit in the lane reserved for HOVs (High Occupancy Vehicles - minimum two people) - with driver plus large dog only. The registration said it all, namely - "B*LL*X"!
Incidentally, I asked a state trooper out at the beach under what conditions a dog qualified a car for the HOV lane. He thought for a moment, and then replied "Only when it's a seeing-eye dog, sir"! Think about it .....
Ronnie
PS Growler - I didn't have *you* down as a vanity plate man! Since you obviously are, you ought to have a look at the selection of Mustang vanity plates listed at links.vintage-mustang.com/index.html - some really quite clever. What system do they allow in the Philippines or, judging by your very interesting anecdotes about life in Metro Manila, it is probably preferable to have a completely unmemorable plate, such as TW 51 THD perhaps.
PPS Yes, I have one and, no, it's not RON 1E.
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Another US plate seen a few weeks ago was
@!#$
As you say the systems are not programed to 'see' UK english....
then again the family name for the tv series Married... with Children wife was Peg @!#$ and she came from @!#$ County.... so the ranks of the clueless in the US is rather large.
ounty
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Humm the filter on this site though seems to be a bit more informed!
the Word was W@n&er lets see if that makes it...
~R
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I saw a clip from a film called the 51st State. A black American criminal is in London being taught English swear words & expressions. After some thought he says:
" Bol****s is bad - right? but the dog's bol****s is good - right"
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Always, before thinking of going to the sellers-on, try the DVLA site first.
They offer S2 NNM for 250 pound all in. No Vat no transfer fee. Just 250 quid.
We bought S1 CTR for my wife. 500 pound from DVLA. Advertised by New Reg for a grand. Always try the DVLA first.
www.dvla-som.co.uk/
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