Cherished Number query - Retention Nominee (long)

michelle ( snipped-for-privacy@zzzxxxzzz.null) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I'm not sure that'd wash.

They have a V5 in their name with that plate on to prove it's theirs. What does michelle have to prove it's hers?

There has to be a way to get the plate transferred back - how do dealers manage?

Last time I did that - to register an import - it took half a day sat around and queueing.

Oh dear, you couldn't be further from the truth if you tried.

Youve obviously never seen the car 5YMC then?

Or - far more often - an

Sorry, I must have missed it with all the fun ;o)

Fair enough. Ive just never come across a Brit who uses that word

If you knew anything about the person you've managed to pidgeon-hole from reading a handful of posts, then you'd know why he's used that terminology.

If he knew anything about the person he pigeonholed (me) from my telling him I had a personal plate, he'd understand why I called him a pratt. But I dont, and he doesnt, and thems the breaks! Just out of interest now, do you see the hypocrisy in your statement above, or is it really above your head?

michelle ( snipped-for-privacy@zzzxxxzzz.null) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

How's that relevant?

If the car was restored for itself, then that's a different kettle of fish completely.

If the car was "restored" to flog the plate off, then that plate won't be on it any more, so I won't know it's that car, will I?

I'm not the 'moron' who paid money out for a vulgar 'considerably richer than yow' pair of personal plates, am I?

Do they look good on your matching pair of dull hatchbacks?

SteveH ( snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Nah, wasn't a Norn Iron plate.

Be fair. She said it was a Jag. Probably a crumbly-round-the-edges XJ40, been replaced with an early C-class Merc. I reckon hers is on a 3-series Compact.

michelle ( snipped-for-privacy@zzzxxxzzz.null) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Your plates did. And the reference went straight over your head.

No, youre making a judgement on the reason behind the plates purchase in the first place. Damn, what was that phrase again? Oh, thats it, pot/kettle - didnt you accuse me of pidgeon (LAUGH) holing earler?

Not at all, I quite like Enfield. I just chose not to rise to it. That okay with you?

michelle ( snipped-for-privacy@zzzxxxzzz.null) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Michelle - A genuine question for you.

Why do people want private plates?

You've stated that it's not an ego thing. You've stated it's not a "considerably richer" thing.

So why?

Is it because you can't remember which is your car in a car park? Is it because you think that people *care* about what your initials are? Is it because you want people to know that your car and your husbands cars are "together"?

Why? I just don't see the point.

My name, as you can see from this post, is Adrian. Back in the 70s, my mother bought a used car (year old Dolomite Sprint) with "5555 AD" on it. And sold the car with the plate still on it.

It's a nice round number, it fits to my name - it'd be the sort of private plate that would be worth a fair chunk to me if I were bothered - but I just can't see any point whatsoever in having it. I'm not even remotely bothered by the fact that it wasn't kept in some way for me to use.

Seriously - please explain to me. I'm genuinely baffled.

michelle ( snipped-for-privacy@zzzxxxzzz.null) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

No, I just genuinely don't see the point. See my reply to your original post - I look forward to a considered, sensible, genuine reply.

No, that was somebody else. I can spell and punctuate.

Well, for point I guess Id settle for it was the most imaginitive birthday present I could think of. I dont think theres much point in continuing that line, since I dont imagine there will be any common ground on the subject - you (and your 'friends' here dont see the point in them, and I on the other hand dont see why their mere existence works you up so. I'll concede that your point might be valid, it just doesnt work for me. Why cant you concede the same in reverse?

My apologies, I mixed you up

Well, obviously I can only speak for me. Well, not quite, the four of us here then, and yes, much as I can see in advance it'll only add to your preconceptions, we all do have them. Only one confesses to having it to disguise the age of her car, because, after all, we all do like to have a new car dont we? The other three, me included, just think they "look nice". And at least in theory, theyre not a bad investment either, certainly less of a downhill slope than what theyre affixed to.

In all fairness, back in the 70's there wasnt such interest in such things. Be honest, if you had that car today I doubt you'd sell it with that plate still on it, and if you did it wouldnt be at the sort of price that car would normally fetch!

No. I'm not. But I am in America, and that's what they call them here.

It was you who told me I should get out more. I don't know what could be more out that being in another country.

I got myself some eau de toilette, in case you're interested. I didn't manage to get the present for my niece; I'm going to go again tomorrow and look for longer. I've got a supplier picking me up to take me out in a few minutes.

That's vulgar.

And that's unimaginative.

Yes, she's spunky, as the merkins would say.

As a Brit whose been living in merka for going on 20 years now, this whole personal/cherished plate thing going on in the yookay is a mystery to me. In most states in merka, you can get any plate you want (barring obscenities, etc.) for very little cost. There's no status attached to them, because they cost virtually nothing. Some are stupid, 'BMW M3,' 'MY TOY,' 'NVME,' and things like that. Others can be funny, and one game is to sneak a subtle, obscene one past the screening process. But there's definitely no status attached to them because they're freely available, and cheap.

My father-in-law once lent us a clapped out and rusty Marina with the number 50 LG on it. At the time my wife worked for someone called Linda Griffiths who was the sort of person who would have loved to be seen with a number like that, but wouldn't have been seen dead with a rusty, s*it-brown Marina. So obviously, we enjoyed parking it as prominently as we could outside her house!