Hexen numberplate

I saw this on ebay: For any UK Hexen fans with a large amount of cash to spare:

HEX 3N

I take it you can't just request a custom license plate for a slight additional fee there like you can here in the US? I have my old IDDQD plate from Washington hanging on my bedroom wall.

I went to get a custom plat but was flabbergasted when they rang in a $270 charge. No thank you.

exp(x) said:

I take it you can't just request a custom license plate for a slight additional fee there like you can here in the US?

Unfortunately not. Number plates are issued according to a strict system in the UK (you can read about the various systems that have existed in the UK on Wikipedia if you really want).

The number plate has letters/numbers to identify the place of registration and year of registration and then there are additional characters that ensure that the number is unique. Most numbers are dull and unremarkable but, every now and then, there is a combination of characters that makes the number more valuable than others. The really choice ones can swap hands for £1000s (eg something like DAV 1D would be worth a lot to a rich man called David). Low numbers, such as single digits (especially 1) are more valuable than higher numbers. A fairly boring plate that might mean something to someone, but very little to anyone else will typically go for around £300.

Even changing the plate involves a bit of a fuss, some official form filling and a fee of about £80 every time you swap the number to a new car.

Didn't stop me getting "A14 ENJ" for one of my cars though. ;)

Enjay said:

Unfortunately not.

Good. I'm tired of going down the road and seeing a red corvette blaze by with "RCHDAD" or "GUDWIF" (seen both) or, my favorite recently, some high school bitch that couldn't drive with a beamer and a plate that said "SWT16." It seems to me that at least 90% of the time vanity plates are used to remove doubt in your mind that the person driving that expensive car down the road did nothing to earn that car. Every once in a while (like in exp's case I'm sure) theres one thats not, but it seems most of them are.

I'll put in an offer for 15 L's. I don't know how much that is in real money, but I'm pretty sure it's remotely affordable.

I will never bitch about taxes and fees ever again.

Lüt said:

I'll put in an offer for 15 L's. I don't know how much that is in real money, but I'm pretty sure it's remotely affordable.

I think that's about 30 buckskins.

Csonicgo said:

I will never bitch about taxes and fees ever again.

Sure you will, just move to the Chicago area.

exp(x) said:

I take it you can't just request a custom license plate for a slight additional fee there like you can here in the US? I have my old IDDQD plate from Washington hanging on my bedroom wall.

I think I may have to make a stop at a Registrar's Office after work tomorrow...

Post the price.

Technician said:

I went to get a custom plat but was flabbergasted when they rang in a $270 charge. No thank you.

According to google:

UK £2,995.00 = US $5,201.41

I think mine was around $50 for a year. It certainly wasn't more than $100.

exp(x) said:

I think mine was around $50 for a year. It certainly wasn't more than $100.

At least mine is permanently mine and the only time I have to pay in relation to my number plate is if I transfer it to another car. Of course, our plates are not license plates. We have a paper tax disk that we have to fix to our windscreens to show that we have paid to take our cars onto the road. Annual road tax varies depending on the engine size and emissions of the vehicle etc but around £160 per year is about right.

My plate is permanently mine, too. I just can't put it on my car anymore because I moved from Washington to Oregon. The fee I was paying wasn't actually for the plate but for registration renewal. It just costs a little more for renewal if you have a custom plate.

Is my state the only state that calls plates "tags" ? I've never heard this anywhere else but Alabama, and I can't find any information as to why this is. It's peculiar.

I think that "tag" in Indiana/Kentucky refers to the little sticker you put on the license plate each year when you get it renewed.

david_a said:

I think that "tag" in Indiana/Kentucky refers to the little sticker you put on the license plate each year when you get it renewed.

I've seen that the term changes meaning through the regions. Sometimes, a Tag is a simple parking permit, in the form of a cling-on sticker on the windshield. In Alabama, even in the state law, refers to plates as "tags".


Of course Alabama's law and legalese is old as hell, filled with stuff influenced by the civil war (yes, even in 1901) and since it was just a reinstatement of the 1861 constitution, it a lot of weirdness. It might be the most convoluted document ever devised. The spelling is all over the place.

I know the official term for not having a license plate is "failure to display tags" and that when cops write down a plate number they call it a "tag number". Otherwise they're mostly called licenses or plates.

Yeah, my "7STRING" Michigan license plate only cost me $60 extra per year. I'm very surprised that British plate is going for so much, even considering it's more of a hassle over there to get a custom plate.

exp(x) said:

I have my old IDDQD plate from Washington hanging on my bedroom wall.

Nice. In rush hours, IDCLIP would be even more useful though.

Plates here in New Zealand are normally limited to 6 letters/numbers. I really want 1337NS or CAC0S (preferred) as a license plate though.

deldelda said:

I'm very surprised that British plate is going for so much, even considering it's more of a hassle over there to get a custom plate.

Traditionally, they were regarded as very expensive and something only the rich would do. So, the money was less relevant and you probably had someone to sort out the paperwork for you.

A few years ago, various people (including the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) who are the responsible authority on all such issues) realised that it could be a very lucrative business so things got easier paperwork-wise.

Now we have many companies who make their money by buying and selling plates and the DVLA themselves are part of the action by auctioning off desirable plates rather then just issuing them to a car for someone else to spot that they are valuable.

Heh, we in Germany have humane prices on "vanity" plates.
The idea is: The first letter represents the city you registered your car in, so DO for Dortmund, B for Berlin, BO for Bonn and so on.
Then you can assign up to 5(?) chars, the first has to be a letter and the last has to be a number.
If it is not taken you pay around 11 € more than the regular fee, 44€ in Essen, other citys have other prices.

That way i got those two:
E-KB 640 for my car
E-SX 64 for my bike

My next one will be E-L 337, if thats free then. ;)