Leslie:

Maybe someone else could give me/us a better explanation why paying that much for a (customized) license plate?

I guess there is no good explanation -except that some people obviously have so much money, that they don't know what to do with them...Why would anyone pay millions for a coin -or a stamp -or a painting..? Or...etc.
Things cost what someone is willing to pay.

Okay, sounds fair enough, but in this case license plates are official registered plates with non personal text on it?

macjonny1:

OK I don't understand this (I live in the USA).  How can this license plate be worth this much?  Maybe this is a joke and it flew over my head! 

Where there's a demand, there's a market.  Where there's a market, there's a profit.  First and foremost, when it comes to number plates - i'm a businessman and have made money on my number plates over the years. Much more than I would have putting it into a bank - or property even. I treat it as an enjoyable investment that needs absolutely no maintenance.  

Why do we pay vast sums for number plates?  Well.. it's down to individuality I suppose.  Would an American pay extra to have the only corvette in the USA in a one-off special Chevrolet colour (sorry, color )?  Yes, of course - it's individual. A one-off, just like a cherished number plate.  The US Government have either been very kind, or missed a trick letting you choose your own number plate.  It would instantly kill a multi-million pound revenue stream for the UK Tax coffers if we took this route!

It must be difficult to understand exactly why some people pay so much for their name or business name, or initials on their car - and i'd say you were probably right to be confused!  However, we have BE02 YOU (Beo to You) on one delivery van, BEO IV (Beo4) on another, and V13 WNG (Viewing) on the other.  All raise a smile when we pull up - and they were all cheap number plates (no more than £600 each).  A nice business tool.

Also - they can hide the age of a car..  a real boon if you've bought a 2 year old car in brand new condition.  An expensive number plate on a car which looks new makes it look brand new.  Some people like that - personally that doesn't appeal to me, but hey.

Have a read of this article too.

Lee

Now it makes sense. thanks Lee!

This is definetely not allowed in the Netherlands (pitty though)!

Also a nice Christmas present for loved ones.  No guessing my wifes name!

This plate has almost doubled in value in the 3 years she's had it. Bought at a DVLA auction for a good price..  

Is your wife's name '52 JO'???

Thanks for the explanation that was an interesting (and yes, very strange) read.  Unlike a unique color or some other aspect of the corvette you mention, a license plate doesn't garner much attention here in the USA so culturally it doesn't add up.  Personalized plates are so common here no one cares.  Cars that are 2 years old that look new still look new, just like the current model.  No one will know the difference. 

Oh by the way Audis are so much superior to BMWs....

A slightly different angle on this subject is that I have a non-personalised registration on my car but everyone thinks it is!! (I am not ginger - Or call Nigel, which passers by occasionally seem to enjoy commenting on!)

Sportback - looks lovely!  We had one of those on the LifeStyle fleet for a while.  Suspension like a go-kart (we had the S-Line) but looked the part, even for a 1.6 Petrol !

I too would have thought you'd paid for that plate.  In fact, you should advertise it for sale!  "Proud to be Ginger? - Yes, I'm a frickin' Ginge - FG11 NGE'

Thanks! It's a great little car to be honest :-) Really economical too being a 2.0 low pressure TDI... Mine is a sport and also handles like a go-kart! I'd recommend these to anyone over say an Astra/Focus (same price - the mind boggles).

I kind of like the plate in a strange way but some nutter would probably buy it!

What a market for plates! Gosh!

My favorite personalized plate was a classmate from high school, he drove a Civic Si, the plate read "VVVVTEC"

Me being a huge Honda junkie, I was really jealous!

Years ago I saw either DVL666 or HEL666 I cant remember which but it was on a bright red Jensen CV8 and it was the most evil looking car ever. Fabulous!

A mate of mine has CHR1S looks great especially as he is called Chris Mr Evans I believe offered a nice amount a few years ago for it, or so the story goes.

Jonnie

Wings:

Am I missing something?  It is nearly 30,000 pounds just for the plate?  For that price, would it be better to take the car and leave the plate?  ;)

30,000 pounds is indeed a lot of money for a registration plate, it's a lot of money full stop of course. In the UK though, these prestigious plates can go to even more stratosferric levels....recently I saw in the newspaper an advertisement for a forthcoming auction of one of THE most prestigious and oldest plates it is possible to get  ~ '1 G'

The plate was pictured sitting on a Rolls~Royce Phantom, and the guideprice for '1 G'........£250,000+ ($380,000+)

I'm not sure if the sale has already passed, but I wouldnt be suprised if it went for even more than this. As with everything, it's worth as much as someone is prepared to pay for it.  

There's a big market for numberplates here in Australia too. the number plate with the number '1' on it is worth over a million dollars! Any single or 2 digit plate is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, 3 digit plates are worth $50 - 100 thousand dollars!

Standard number plates are 3 letters and 3 numbers eg ABC-123 my plates are 356-653 (Beocool would understand!!)

Jonathan:

There's a big market for numberplates here in Australia too. the number plate with the number '1' on it is worth over a million dollars!

I saw a Merc yesterday in South Yarra (Jonathan et al will know what THAT means) with a number plate of "D" :-)

In Toorak theres a crappy old Ford Falcon station wagon with the number plate '2' !!!

Jonathan:

In Toorak theres a crappy old Ford Falcon station wagon with the number plate '2' !!!

In other words the number plate is worth more than the car !!!

A-MAZE-ING