Custom/Vanity License Plate vs Standard License Plate

[Pool Shark]

Hey all. Curious to see which route people have gone for their G8x: a customized license plate or the standard, random license plate from the DMV.

Cheers!

[M2siast]

Semi-standard, as the specialty plate I like can't be customized.

Lots of vanity plates here in the forum though. Anecdotally guessing a 50/50 split!

[Alfisti]

It's gotta make sense IMHO, not just random. Here's mine.

[mcsquared]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

It's gotta make sense IMHO, not just random. Here's mine.

I agree, has to make sense. I’ve seen some good ones, here on the boards, and otherwise:

M3OW
SixSpd
M3NTAL (I could not get this one, unfortunately)

Thought about getting a custom plate, just not creative enough.

[Maynard]

Last track day I seriously wondered if I was the ONLY person there who hadn't gotten a personal plate. To me, they are like a tattoo - I can think of tons of things I like and think are witty in the moment, but none of them are fit to drive around with all the time on my butt.

[Bc2005]

My deciding factor was that VA charges a yearly fee for vanity plates, on top of the normal registration. I can’t see paying a yearly upcharge for a special plate they only make once.

[erickonphoenix]

my personal fave is when people spend the extra $80 a year to put the make and model of the car on the plate just inches away from where the factory put the same information.

[alpineg20]

BIMM3R

[Alfisti]

OK it's a one off fee here, not yearly, i wouldn't get one if it was yearly.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Maynard

Last track day I seriously wondered if I was the ONLY person there who hadn't gotten a personal plate. To me, they are like a tattoo - I can think of tons of things I like and think are witty in the moment, but none of them are fit to drive around with all the time on my butt.

The vanity plate that has been on my car for the last 23 years was actually the subject of an article in "Sportscar" magazine back in the day. In two more years, the car will qualify for historic plates, which under NY State DMV rules can be any state plate that was valid the year that the car was sold. NY charges a one-time fee for vanity plates, plus an additional fee at every registration renewal. Once it hits historic status, the vanity fee goes away and the registration costs drop significantly.

I have vanity plates on all three of my vehicles with a similar theme, and they aren't going out of style.....

[Watching The World Burn]

I have both types of plates. I run the standard plates right now because we have a truck and a Jeep, nothing excites me about either one.

When the kids move out, I'll dust off the vanity plate and get it attached to the sports car that I eventually buy. I have U4IC ST8 as my vanity. Or was it U4IK ST8. Can't remember if it was a C or a K. Someone else had the other letter.

[UncleWede]

UNC WED on my bike, imagine that.

Rest of them are standard. New truck came with 247 something or other, I like it!

[M-technik-3]

Originally Posted by Maynard

Last track day I seriously wondered if I was the ONLY person there who hadn't gotten a personal plate. To me, they are like a tattoo - I can think of tons of things I like and think are witty in the moment, but none of them are fit to drive around with all the time on my butt.

Not just that they are double the cost every two year, My stupid state wants me to pay to advertise I'm a Vet. I'll just continue to carry the ID in the wallet beside the license. Most cop's notice the Discrete unit patch to the left of the Plate and recognize it, not that I have been pulled over in last ten years.

[cmyx6go]

Vanity plates here. Close to my user name. Model specific but may have to change after 14 years

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

Vanity plates here. Close to my user name. Model specific but may have to change after 14 years

So do you have your eye on a replacement for the X6 that is not another X6 or is it still too early to tell?

[Llarry]

I've only done vanity plates once and then for my Sprinter van. I used that van mostly for hauling lumber, fencing, etc., but could also load my llamas in the van, which was 73" high inside, so I called it my "llama limousine" and the plate was LLAMSN. It would've been clearer if I'd been allowed one more letter I suppose.

I also did a custom two-tone paint job on the white van, having the lowers painted BMW Estoril Blue -- an M color. An M color on a utilitarian Mercedes.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Llarry

So do you have your eye on a replacement for the X6 that is not another X6 or is it still too early to tell?

Maybe I'm wrong but I thought I remember her saying she might buy out her lease.

What say you cmyx6go?

[M_Six]

IL has weird rules for plates. My neighbor has the same plate (his last name) on all 4 of his vehicles. They each have a small red letter on the far right side of the plate. A,B,C, and D. I'm pretty sure vanity plates are the same as normal plates here cost-wise as long as there is a number in it somewhere. Non-number plates cost more.

Our plates are just standard.

[///MPhatic]

I mean, if you care about your car you should care about your plate IMO, but who am I to say?

Down by the creek, walkin' on water. by Andrew Thompson, on Flickr

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by Llarry

I also did a custom two-tone paint job on the white van, having the lowers painted BMW Estoril Blue -- an M color. An M color on a utilitarian Mercedes.

Wow - your Sprinter is stylin'!

Six is certainly short when composing your own vanity plate character string. I'm not sure, but I think most states offer space for seven characters now.

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When we lived in New Hampshire and I was paying the bills, I chose a "moose plate" for our Tundra. It cost ~$25 extra at renewal each year, and the money went, I thought, to worthy "conservation, heritage and preservation programs statewide". NH is a super low-tax state, so I looked at it as a voluntary tax that I was more than willing to pay. Once the wife took over paying the bills, however, the moose plate went by the board.

Seriously, who, living in moose country, wouldn't want a plate with a moose on it?

[OtoPA]

It is my ORF go-fast car...

[cmyx6go]

Originally Posted by Llarry

So do you have your eye on a replacement for the X6 that is not another X6 or is it still too early to tell?

Originally Posted by Esteban

Maybe I'm wrong but I thought I remember her saying she might buy out her lease.

What say you cmyx6go?

My lease is up one year from tomorrow. Normally, at this point I'd be starting to get the new car excitement and thinking about my next color. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I don't like the direction BMW and all the car manufacturers are going with all this tech and screen nonsense. I want buttons and an analog instrument cluster, damn it! As it is I feel like I'm driving a video game, the newer models are worse.

I need to go to the Porsche dealer and check out the Cayenne Coupe. I read here somewhere that Porsche was going back to some buttons after push back but I'm not sure if that was model specific or which model year. I just watched a video of a Cayenne test drive and the damn thing doesn't even have a shifter anymore, it has some stupid toggle thingy. So I'm not optimistic. I may have no other choice than to buy out my current X6 ///M so I'll be keeping my vanity plate a bit longer. Not thrilled with having a vehicle out of warranty but I don't like what's out there. We shall see.

Hijack over.