Is a private plate worth it?

[ms500]

I was looking at 'MBZ 2147' a little while ago to put on my 124, I've been toying with the idea ever since. The plate was up for £297 including all transfer costs.

Though I suppose the head gasket should be a priority at the moment, do you think a private plate is worth it? I think it would look nice, but then I remember that essentially I'm spending a few hundred on something that is pointless.

 

[BlackC55]

I would tend to avoid the Irish plates MBZ**** etc as I don't think they look as good.

I do love my plates and it is very much a taste thing IMO.

 

[Godot]

 

[janner]

£300 is too much for an MBZ plate. I bought an Irish plate years ago (for £79 I think) but left it on the car when I sold it. Fun while it lasted but not worth transferring.
The prices seem to be crazy for the DVLA auction stuff. Maybe because you can now bid online without having to attend. I quite fancied YUM 11E for my van as it had a reserve of £300 but it sold for £3900 +premium +vat

Either buy a good plate or don't bother. Why do you want it to say MBZ anyway? Are you worried people might not know what car it is?

 

[Smatt]

A private plate is all about appearance & hence is extremely subjective.
Many pay much more than this on other aspects of the appearance of the car.
It is entirely upto you if you feel it improves the appearance in a way that appeals to your taste.

Other benefits are that it does not give people so many clues as to the age or original location of the car. Although not an expensive plate, it will retain some of its value for resale.

fwiw both my wife & I have private plates!

 

[manalishi]

No-one abbreviates "Mercedes Benz" to "MBZ" anyway. Confused by this, I am...

 

[Nibbo]

I was looking at 'MBZ 2147' a little while ago to put on my 124, I've been toying with the idea ever since. The plate was up for £297 including all transfer costs.

Though I suppose the head gasket should be a priority at the moment, do you think a private plate is worth it? I think it would look nice, but then I remember that essentially I'm spending a few hundred on something that is pointless.

No one can see your head gasket when driving around. Go for the plate.
I have seen a couple with MBZ plates on and I think they look OK.

 

[verytalldave]

I havent voted as there isnt a third option "it depends".
Its a personal choice, usually dictated to a degree by the size of your disposable assests.
I dont like plates that need "cosmetic manipulation" to mean something. But plates that can stand scrutiny unmolested are OK.
Your last sentence sums it up quite nicely.

 

[Mudster]

There are lots of J 300 plates available at £188 + costs....

So J 300 AAA (whatever your initials are) would look better than an old Irish plate. Suits the car (assuming it's a 91 J and not an H).

www.nationalnumbers.co.uk

 

[A210AMG]

4 digit irish plates are cheap and imo look naff.

I would stretch if you can to a dateless 3 * 3 plate


3 letters and 3 numbers possibly with no meaning but look far better.

I bought SLX 280 a few years ago for £300 and I've been offered a lot more, I just which I bought a lot more back then.

Also as above could you get J300 XXX (your initials) cheepest place is DVLA includes VAT And transfer

cheers

 

[BTB 500]

Personal plates in general are OK, but as mentioned 4-digit Irish ones look cheap & nasty. The BNZ prefix is a bit better IMO, one of those with a 3-digit number wouldn't be too bad but would obviously cost a bit more.

 

[ms500]

No one can see your head gasket when driving around.

But they can see the white smoke from the burning antifreeze!

I was looking through the car's history the other day, and noticed that at some point someone had put a private plate on the car, a Mr G Bates, with the registration 'GBZ xxxx' where the x's were numbers.

 

[ms500]

I like this one, too bad it's a later plate and therefore illegal on my car

W124 YDS

http://www.nationalnumbers.co.uk/options/W124_YDS.htm

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Haven't voted either as there wasn't a third option "it depends". Although having said that I love private plates and have a number of them myself.

I know it's all personal taste but my view is in order of preference / ranking:

1. Pure dateless plate ideally 2 x 2 (i.e. two letters two numbers)
2. A DVLA plate that doesn't need doctoring with mis-spacing, strategically placed bolts etc. e.g. S4 NDY would be good, S8 NDY with a bolt in the bottom half of the 8 would be naff.
3. A1 xxx DVLA Select plate
4. Any other DVLA Select plate, lower numbers preferable, although stuff like S500, S600 etc also works

4. (although I wouldn't even rank it that high!) Would be Irish plates. If I really had to have an Irish plate something like BXI 600 would be acceptable but I wouldn't generally go for any random numbers, needs to be a 'nice' number.

Sorry if I offend any Irish plate lovers, this is just my view...

 

[hindesbeans]

I would say go for a private plate for sure, but why personalize it to the car. I dare say that you wont always have a merc 124, and then your £297 plate will be wasted. Why not try to get a plate personnel to you or your family, it will last forever and then the few hundred quid is a small price to pay.

 

[Howard]

I like personal plates .

I really think they 'finish' the look of the car nicely ...

But a proper one mind , none of your MBZ , TAZ , OIL nonsense ....

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I like personal plates .

I really think they 'finish' the look of the car nicely ...

But a proper one mind , none of your MBZ , TAZ , OIL nonsense ....

Unless you're a Tasmanian oil magnate with a Merc.

 

[Howard]

Whenever i see a TAZ plate on a car , it always seems to be driven by the sort of person that has a Tazmanian Devil tattoo

 

[Laters]

I've just been through the decision of getting a private plate for my car.

I decided I wanted a non age related plate & that I also didn't want an Irish plate either.
After a bit of searching I found a 3 number plus 3 letter plate that dates back to the 50's that took my liking.

Cost a little more than I could have got an Irish plate for but looks so much better.

 

[popuptoaster]

Cant see the point of em myself, they still look like a number plate and spoil the look of any car, if you must have your name or some random initials and numbers that are sposed to mean something on your car just write on a bit of cardboard and stick it in your window, much cheaper.