# About personalized license plates **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 20, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914 "2010-06-20T22:11:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/41 "2010-06-21T15:06:04Z")
I prefer the term “vanity plate” because I believe they are a vanity. But that being said I have two. One for the name of a defunct amusement park and another for a certain type of amusement park ride. I hide it well here on the Dope but I am way too deep into amusement parks. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/42 "2010-06-21T15:06:16Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Personalized plates were rare in Ohio just a few years ago. I suspect they’ve made it a lot less expensive than it used to be. When personalization is only $20, a lot of people will go for it. My plate here in California only cost me $45, I think. But I think that’s the annual cost to renew, as well, on top of my regular registration. It was still worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/43 "2010-06-21T15:12:03Z")
I have one personalized plate (NECROS) and one “specialty” plate in support of Bicycle Colorado’s Share the Road initiative. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/44 "2010-06-21T15:20:10Z")
I had a couple of different ones in New Hampshire - I had both “GNEPIGS” (since donated to a guinea pig rescue) and “EX-NYER”. The best one I saw was in Ohio a few months ago. It was “GRR ARGH”. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/45 "2010-06-21T15:37:45Z")
I think they’re fun, and I’ve seen some really clever and amusing ones. But I don’t have one and probably won’t get one, since I don’t have anything I particularly want to put on a license plate. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/46 "2010-06-21T15:43:34Z")
They’re ok, but not worth the ~$25 per year. ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/47 "2010-06-21T15:47:15Z")
I voted “other” because we don’t have access to vanity plates in Quebec. One of my brothers-in-law lives in Ontario and has one. If they were available and free, I still wouldn’t bother. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/48 "2010-06-21T15:53:11Z")
I can’t imagine ever wanting a vanity plate (I don’t have a car right now, so it’s a non-issue), but I might consider getting a specific plate that supports a cause I like, if it has a nice design. California has some good ones, like the one with Yosemite Valley (I like Yosemite) and the one with the whale tail (whales are good). Michigan, where I currently live, doesn’t have many of this sort of thing, and the ones they do have are boring and mostly seem to support universities. The University of Michigan has taken enough of my money and no fucking way am I going out of my way to give them more after I graduate. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/49 "2010-06-21T16:02:51Z")
I don’t have one because I have no interest in one. Which isn’t a poll option, strangely. ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/50 "2010-06-21T16:04:17Z")
I had one in IL where they were free (as long as you had at least one number, I think?), but I’m not willing to pay the annual fee in California. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/51 "2010-06-21T16:11:13Z")
I don’t have one because I have other priorities for my money. But I do think they are fun and a great advertising tool for business cars. Each state sets up its own fee schedule for license plates. In some states, a personalized plate is something you only pay for the first time you order the plate. In my state, you are expected to pony up the extra cash every year, despite already having the plate on your car. Therefore, we don’t have a lot of personalized plates. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/52 "2010-06-21T16:17:57Z")
> [@amaguri](#): > > I had one in IL where they were free (as long as you had at least one number, I think?), … Definitely [no longer the case](http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/vehicles/license_plate_guide/home.html). Vanity plates have no letters, personalized plates do, both cost. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/53 "2010-06-21T16:31:20Z")
Conveniently relevant: “[California license plates might go electronic](http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15338527?source=most_viewed)” ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/54 "2010-06-21T17:11:24Z")
We’ve had vanity plates on most of our cars. We don’t consider it a waste of money because they amuse us. One was part of the name of the business that we used that van for. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/55 "2010-06-21T19:57:55Z")
A thing I forgot to mention- I have very strong reactions to numbers. I _hate_ some (8, I’m looking at you), love others, and then I have to make sure the colors don’t clash. I’ve been having trouble memorizing my SS# because it’s painful to look at all those even numbers. Ugh. Also, I have definite preferences for certain letters. So I’d want to make sure I don’t end up with something like “85W-H48O”. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/56 "2010-06-21T20:00:48Z")
I have one with my Amateur Radio call sign. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/57 "2010-06-21T20:10:41Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > Strictly MHO, but I’ve always felt that personalized license plates were one of the stupidest things I can think of to blow your money on. > > More power to you if it really floats your boat, but I can’t think of any circumstance under which I would want so bad to send some kind of message that I would use such a medium. Pretty much the same here. For me, they’re like bumper stickers–for every one that is genuinely clever, there are hundreds that are dumb. As for the ones that are more Inside Jokey or Cutesy, well…whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/58 "2010-06-21T20:22:50Z")
They were one of the things I always dreamed about doing when I was old enough to drive and get my own car. But by the time I was old enough to drive and owned my own car seemed incredibly dorky. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/59 "2010-06-21T20:58:56Z")
I don’t have one because I don’t care about them. Having a personalized license plate isn’t even on the list of things I care about. It isn’t even #199,999,999. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914/60 "2010-06-21T22:39:44Z")
My ex and I, while we were together, had matching plates proclaiming us to be each other’s “grl”. Since then I’ve gotten a new plate with my Thai name that was given to me while I was in that country. Arizona, where vanity plates are relatively inexpensive ($25 I think, can’t remember if it’s one time or yearly). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-personalized-license-plates/543914.md?page=4)