Or a Pratchett fan.
Today I saw an out-of-state plate with BETEJNE.
I couldn’t get a good enough look to identify the state, But I’m pretty sure Betty Jean was driving.
That’s the first thing I thought of, too. 714 still means Orange County (CA) to me.
Some years ago, I saw a Volvo with the personalized plate VOLVO.
Well, yeah. I guess you really love Volvos.
His other car probably has a plate that says FORD. He (good bet it’s “he”) got the custom plates so he could tell them apart.
Always has, always will. Some shit die hard. 
There’s a Kia I see once or twice a week on my way to work that has XO KIA XO
My state (Kansas) offered custom license plates for the first time in the late 70s or early 80s. I know this, because a guy I worked with in that period was the first one I knew that got a custom plate. His highly original plate said ‘CAR TAG’.
A few years after that, another acquaintance purchased a used hearse. He got a custom plate that said ‘SO LONG’.
I found myself driving behind an SUV with a license plate that read MRS HULK the other day. And, I tell you what, she was not at all content to express her devotion to the big guy with her license plate alone. She had a whole theme going. The vehicle, for starters, was green. And in each lower corner of the rear window was a Hulk-themed sticker. I would definitely be afraid to SMASH into her rear bumper. I also can’t help but wonder if she’s any good at changing a flat tire in the rain.
Don’t cut her off in traffic. You wouldn’t like her when she’s angry.
I saw a real hot 50ish woman hop into a white SUV today. BKINIS was the plate and the frame was all sparkly fake diamonds.
Shame I didn’t get a chance to talk with her.
It’d only get you in trouble 
Saw 2BYSEA on Paul Revere Road yesterday.
A coincidence, I’m sure, because the plates are from another state. You can’t get that vanity plate in MA because our vanity plates have to start with a letter. Regular plates begin with a digit. I’ve had the same license plate since I bought my first car in 1986 (not just the same number/letter combination - the same physical plate). The paint had cracked and faded and the state threatened to make me replace it. I wanted to get it as a vanity plate but no can do because of the above rules. So I got it repainted instead. My nearly 40-year-old plate looks like it was just made.
It’s a badge (no pun intended) of honor here to have a plate from before 1988. As a bonus we’re the only people in MA who get to use only a rear plate. Newer plates must be displayed on the front and rear.
Wow.
If you have an ordinary non-personalized plate here in FL they send you a new plate with a new number every 10 years whether you like it or not. No old ratty hard to read plates for us.
I don’t know whether or how how they handle periodic replacement of personalized plates.
I think it was seven years here in Washington. Total scam, IMO. I wouldn’t be surprised if the state was getting kickbacks from 3M. My plates were never worn. They stopped requiring total plate replacement a while ago.
What on earth is the rationale for this? It does sound like a scam.
Here in OR I see old plates all the time. My BIL has the OG blue plate on his 196-something Chevy pickup, a style that was discontinued in 1973. The best are the Oregon Trail plates with the covered wagon, which were only manufactured for a few years, weren’t very popular (although I loved the design and had them on my first car), and the most recent ones are now 24 years old.
It’s not like they wear out.
I saw a plate yesterday, DEAD MOM.
The car did not have any Grateful Dead stuff on it soooo…I’m not sure what that was about 
I don’t know for sure, but here’s some speculation.
I suspect it’s to mop up fake plates, or stolen ones with fake tags. And the new ones have features like improved reflectivity in IR & whatnot that make it easier for automated plate readers to read them.
It depends. In the desert southwest, sun and sandstorms take their toll on the paint. The plate on my car is about 20 years old (in NM, when you buy a new car, you move the old plate to the new vehicle). The letters and numbers are still legible, but overall, the plate is kinda ratty-looking.
Probably reminded people of this. 
