Questions for My British Friends.

1. Do they come from private vendors rather than being issued from your Gov't? I get that idea by the full page ads for specific plates in "Car" magazine. Car gets one issued - alternatives can be bought

2. Are they of a certain size, esp in regards to motorcycles? It seems that in magazines like "Superbike" the writers were endlessly trying to get smaller plates past the police. Yes - life is too short to explain sizes but front plates are no longer obligatory on bikes only

3. Why are prices so high on plates that seem to have letter combos that only VAGUELY approximate a word or name (again from the ads in Car Magazine)? Because that ones the really spell the word are even more expensive

4. When you do get one of these prized numbers, do you get it for life and can transfer it from car to car, or does it go with the car upon sale? Prized plate belongs to owner to sell or keep as desired

5. What are the little round, about 3 inch diameter stickers displayed on special little plates attached to motorcycles? What do you mean ? Road tax to one side perhaps ?

 

You can buy number plates from a car spares retailer, but you need to take the vehicle's registration documents with you to prove that the vehicle is yours.

There is a regulation size, but you can buy smaller number plates on the internet. The sellers get round the restriction by selling them as "show plates" not legal for the road. Of course it's then up to you what you do with them.

A slightly smaller plate on a bike would probably not get noticed by the Police (say 6x5 instead of 7x6) but a tiny one will get you pulled.

Letter combo plates somtimes make me laugh the prices people will pay for them. In the USA I know you can choose your letters, with certain restrictions of course, but in the UK they make a fortune from selling plates like JUL 1A and also dodgy ones like KAR 3N (Karen....) Vehicle number plates also give the age of the vehicle, and people like to replace them with non-age plates. For instance W226 ODB is year 2000 but you could replace it with something like 214 GRB which does not give the vehicle age.

You can transfer the plate between cars for life, but you get charged for that too. So they make out of you again, each time you change your car.

 

"Number plates".

They're initially issued by the Brit equivalent of the DMV. However, as you've seen, there's a (strange to me) large "secondary market" on which they're traded.

Yes - The bike thing is kind of like the front plate "issue" here.

I dunno! - I agree that prices seem crazy!

By default, the plate goes with the car. But, you can apply (and no doubt pay more!) to transfer it.

They're also mounted low down on the left side of the windshield in cars - It's the "road tax roundel" - Kind of like the registration stickers on our plates - They change color every year so the cops can see from range if you've paid your road tax.....

Cheers,
Ian
PS - By default, on "standard" plates, the first letter designates the year of initial registration, and changes on August 1st (?) every year - This is the reason something like 50% of cars are purchased in August and virtually zero in July!..... Obviously, a "personalized" plate removes the "stigma" of displaying the age of your car!

 

The round sticker is the tax disc. It shows you have paid the road tax for the year and are therefore allowed to have the vehicle on the road (similar to "current registration in the US). On cars, it is kept in a clear sleeve stuck on the bottom corner of the windshield.

There are many, many regulations concerning the font, spacing, and sizing of the letters on license plates. I have a scan of a guide somewhere (out of a UK motorcycle mag), but as mentioned earlier, life's too short. People got creative and even used the fastening screws to make the combos meaningful (to them, at least) or to make it harder for speed cameras to get the correct registration, and, well, it's just a mess.

It costs money simply because there is a market for personalized plates, and people are willing to pay astronomical sums. So enterprising/lucky people snag the combos that they think are desirable, and then try to sell them on through classified ads. You can imagine a rich Arab buying UAE 1 for his Lambo or Rolls, for instance, for thousands and thousands of pounds. The more convoluted ones don't sell as fast, obviously. It's just supply and demand.

Edit: Just saw that fast Ian answered all this already!

 

Minor point, but that's no longer the case. Since September 2001 plates are now formatted as "AA 12 XYZ".
AA = a local identifier to indicate where the car was registered. The combinations of LA - LY would indicate that the car was registered in London.
12 = Age related number. "51" was introduced in Sept. 2001, "02" introduced in March 2002, "52", introduced in Sept. 2002, and so on. We are currently on "10" which was introduced in March 2010 and will be replaced by "60" (I think) in September 2010.
XYZ = A random assignment of letters.

 

Was about to say a similar thing.

 

I wish the whole world would standardize on a single license plate format. I like the slim Euro plates with the two-letter country identifier. Perhaps the authorities could agree to add a second identifier at the other side for a state identifier as well so countries with many states like the US, India, etc., could maintain their schemes and still be able to conform to one worldwide format. Even if the formats stay different, I wish the size and shape of the plates could be standardized worldwide.

 

My bad - Thanks for the correction. [I've been living over here for too long it seems....]

Again, I stand corrected.

Did this come about as a result of car-sales industry pressure? - They now sell the majority of new cars in March & September? Back in my day (!), it was crazy - Dealers would open at midnight on (IIRC) August 1st for people to pick up their new cars etc.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Yeah, sorry for explaining it again I didn't see Adam's post until after which is why I changed it .

 

Actually, UAE 1, like CAN 1 and USA 1 are reserved for diplomatic cars at ambassdorial level. I work in Mayfair, full of embassies. ITA 1 is another, on a car in a diplomatic bay across the street from me.