text: Personal plate - Car Talk - MX-5 Owners Club Forum - Forum
  MX-5 Owners Club Forum » General Discussion Forums » Car Talk » Personal plate
  Personal plate - naff or not ?
  #1 Posted : 29 January 2019 19:13:31(UTC)
  Just looking for a few opinions before splashing any cash ! I've been looking for a dateless plate with my initials (CHL) for ages - no luck at all, a DVLA auction had one last Feb but I messed up registering in time and missed out . So now I'm just going to bung something on that may be meaningless but, to me, better than the standard 2000s format. One that's up at the moment at a reasonable price is two numbers followed by MXV -
  thoughts on naffness of this please.
  My alternative is 3 numbers followed by 3 letters (or vice -versa), just a local plate issued pre- 1963, last 2 letters FV or FR.
  Be nice to know members thoughts, but I suppose I must bear in mind I seem to b e out of step with 99% of the population on most things !
  Todays gripe - Why do people only put their indicator on at the last second when they're turning right at lights after standing in a queue for up to several minutes( in a right turn or straight on outer lane), so when you're going straight on you get blocked behind some clown you thought was also going straight on but now isn't !
  #2 Posted : 29 January 2019 19:49:18(UTC)
  As you say, personal choice. I like slightly shorter, dateless numbers but I don't want my name on my car and the letter combinations are more or less random - the criterion for choosing both was that they were available at a price that I can probably recover should I sell them. One is in AAA nnn format, the other is nn AAA.
  Both are on fully legal standard plates. For me, cherished numbers only become naff when the plates/letters/spacing/bolt head positions are messed about with.
  colindash on 31/01/2019(UTC)
  #3 Posted : 29 January 2019 20:33:07(UTC)
  These have '4 CHL' listed POA but it will be expensive.
  #4 Posted : 29 January 2019 20:41:21(UTC)
  For me, cherished numbers only become naff when the plates/letters/spacing/bolt head positions are messed about with.
  #5 Posted : 29 January 2019 21:53:40(UTC)
  My other sports car, as per my avatar, has a plate with three letters and three numbers. It bears no actual resemblance to me, but it's three letters are the initials of my wife's parents. It was donated to me on the basis that I don't ever sell it. It came into the family when it was put on the last car my late father in law owned. It suits my car because it is an old fashioned looking design and the 1986 'C' prefix number it was originally issued with didn't look quite right
  #6 Posted : 30 January 2019 08:36:46(UTC)
  We have N13 MXV and J13 MXF
  #7 Posted : 30 January 2019 09:00:28(UTC)
  Careful. I was issued a fine for reusing a plate that was transferred from one MX5 to another. The plate in question was originally issued in 1997, and the plate made was compliant with the regulations of the day. The registration number was transferred to another MX5 in 2005, but, in ignorance, I reused the same plate, rather than having a new plate made. In 2001, plate regulations changed, but there was grandfathering. Pre-2001 registrations were unaffected. But moving the plate over counted as a new registration.
  The police will no longer issue producers. You are fined on the spot, escalating with subsequent offences. On the third offence, the registration number is withdrawn.
  If the inherited plate was issued to your other sports car, if that was after 2001, then you need to ensure it is compliant with the 2001 regulations. The police cited me for font size, and lack of maker's name, even though it had a BS number.
  http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/made
  #8 Posted : 30 January 2019 10:16:09(UTC)
  Mine's MX55 ROG
  #9 Posted : 30 January 2019 12:05:57(UTC)
  Joined: 28/08/2017(UTC)
  My Mk3.5 is X21 plus my 3 initials. It undates the car and all that (other than to MX5 fans) but the best thing for me is that I can always remember it when I have to (signing in hotels and suchlike).
  John A Western
  2010 PRHT Aluminium Mk.3.5 SE 1.8 standard but cossetted. Normally summer and dry use only.
  2017 blue Citroen C3 Flair A-B chugger.
  #10 Posted : 30 January 2019 12:20:00(UTC)
  Joined: 25/02/2011(UTC)
  I've got A5 FVE,, had it for years and just about to go on my MK1
  #11 Posted : 30 January 2019 12:20:55(UTC)
  I put a 93 (L) reg plate on mine, it contains the letters of mine and my OH initials and was cheap enough to buy, had it on all my MX-5's.
  The latest 07 reg sport has had a few remarks about it's wonderful condition for an L reg car, from those that don't know how old it really is.
  Edited by user 30 January 2019 12:21:37(UTC) | Reason: Not specified
  #12 Posted : 30 January 2019 12:44:08(UTC)
  This plate has been on a string of Mazdas over the years:
  https://cazana.com/uk/car/M1ATA
  #13 Posted : 30 January 2019 12:53:43(UTC)
  I've no idea why you think my car might have illegal plates but it sounds to me that you must have bumped into a policeman having a bad day, or a very quiet day.
  The number plates on the car are fully compliant with the law in design, letter size and spacing and they have the maker's name and postcode on the lower edge, as required. In any case, both cars involved were first registered after 2001. Obviously, DVLA are fully aware of the change.
  #14 Posted : 30 January 2019 15:41:39(UTC)
  Actually it was rush hour in Watford, at night. Mobile ANPR picked up the issue I was unaware of.
  I just read your reference to a C-registered car as reference to a car first registered in 1986 (the odd looking thing in your avatar), and the other car as being older than that. If the plate swap happened before 2001, no issue. But it seems that when you said a 1986 car, you meant post 2001 car.
  Your reference to "suits my car because it is an old fashioned looking design", lead me to believe that you might have been trying to fit a vintage looking plate (eg. pressings, plastic letters on tin back, leather numberplate, silver/white on black etc) onto a newer car. People do do this, often innocently. But rather, as you clarified, by "design" you actually mean the number configuration rather than the plate construction.
  I'll refrain from offering advice like this again, as it caused upset.
  #15 Posted : 30 January 2019 21:34:54(UTC)
  I'm not upset, I just don't understand why you popped up to correct me and point out the regulations in a patronising way. The "odd looking thing" was built by myself, successfully went through SVA and MOT testing in 2002 and was subsequently registered by DVLA as new in 2002. However, because it used a number of major parts from a 1986 donor car (engine, gearbox, rear transmission) DVLA gave it an age related registration number (which is their normal procedure), hence the "C" prefix. I'm very much against the alteration or misrepresentation of a number plate, btw and see no justification to do it.
  My reference to the design meant that of the car, not the number plate. The car the number was previously allocated to (my late father in law's) was a 2009 BMW.
  #16 Posted : 31 January 2019 00:18:43(UTC)
  I have 007 on mine simply because I'm a fat Bond fan living the dream in Yorkshire !
  #17 Posted : 31 January 2019 02:10:16(UTC)
  Out here in Queensland Australia you can have pretty much any plate you like so long as you are prepared to pay. Here's my initials and lucky number on a photo of a Qld beach
  and the number plate on my SUV
  #18 Posted : 04 February 2019 08:21:36(UTC)
  Thinking of putting a new reg number on my Mx5, on our other car which is on a private plate i just bought of eBay a set of plates with fast delivery after doing the Dvla tranfer online. See now and i quite understand you have to send v5c and proof of basically who you are or similar documents before the plates are made. How can you send v5c or original they say similar document when Dvla site says new V5c will be issued and can take 2-3 weeks but car cannot be driven on a public road until new plates are fitted. Just scratching my head. Even Halfords which i popped into said they could not make up plates without an original document proving your ownership of the new number.
  #19 Posted : 04 February 2019 09:08:30(UTC)
  I stuck MX05 ??? on mine which is my three initials, wife thinks im a knob having a private plate lol. But its the MX05 bit i like which is a bit mad as i debadged the car anyway. I'm sure all i took to the local garage was the proof of purchase bit from the DVLA. Plate conforms & has the printers address/ post code on it and a registered mark in the corner.I asked if i could have MXO5 OC in small letters at the bottom center of the plate, which as refused.(good job as no longer a member now)
  See loads on the road that are just the reg number with no other markings on the plate at all.Take it these are Ebay jobbies?Why would anyone not want the required ADD/REG mark on the plate as its hardly noticeable. Insurance companies only need that one little bit of none compliance as an excuse to not PAY OUT. I even had to make them aware when i debadged my MX5.
  Edited by user 04 February 2019 09:09:48(UTC) | Reason: Not specified
  #20 Posted : 04 February 2019 11:52:01(UTC)
  Thanks for all replies - I was very tempted to get 15 MXV, (it's still up for £1200 ish on Plates 4 less if anyone fancies it), but decided just to get a local dateless plate after all, OFR***
  Process using plates 4 less looks pretty simple on the face of it - I'll see if the reality bears this out.