Registration Numbers Club

What Credit Crunch?

Record prices abound despite the ‘credit crunch’ and it seems that when it comes to cherished registrations there is no shortage of cash. 1 D made an all-in price of over £350,000 at auction recently putting it in third place behind S 1 (£404,000) and F 1 (£440,000). 1 O made £210,000 not long ago but 2 O went much further down the scale making just £142,000.

Just where is all this money coming from though? Well I guess that, at that end of the market, money probably isn’t a problem. Although, with interest rates at an unbelievable all-time low, should you need to borrow, the cost is now considerably less. Savings, too, are fast being eroded in value with staggeringly low interest rates, so investing in a good cherished plate could be better than money in the bank... and at least you know what your money is being used for!

However, you really don’t need to spend more than the cost of an average house to gain individuality for your car. There are literally thousands of interesting plates on the market for not much more than the price of a few weeks’ groceries. K55 WAS, K888 KMP and K3 CGK are all neat examples available for just £195 and S5 RMO, for sale at £295, are plates I found recently and there are many, many more.

Whilst the majority of us cannot afford to splash out on a single digit, single number registration plate, it is still fairly affordable to personalise you car with limited funds.

Survey

Apparently car owners in some of Scotland’s villages are the most likely to have personalised number plates according to a Scottish newspaper. A survey found that people living in Killearn, Strathblane and Fintry in Stirlingshire topped the list with the highest percentage of personalised plates in the UK. The owners of nursing homes and drivers of Ferrari 360s are also the most likely to have personalised plates according to the poll commissioned by elephant.co.uk to find out which areas, occupations and vehicles have the highest level of personalised plate ownership. The Stirlingshire G63 postcode came top, ahead of West Hull and Anglesey, with Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire, in 14th place.

Keep it Legal

Once you’ve got the plate you’ll need to make sure you physically keep hold of it. Special screws can help to beat plate thieves and motorists in a North West town are now being offered tamper-proof ones in a bid to drive down thefts. Police Officers are handing them out across Accrington, Lancashire after receiving a number of requests from residents. Thieves need to use a special tool to remove the screws, making it more difficult for opportunist offenders. It won’t be long though, I’m sure, before plate thieves have the necessary equipment to deal with them. And drivers who fit registration plates with an illegal background to prevent identification by speed cameras will fail their MoT test as well as face prosecution when new modifications to the test proposed by the Government come into force.

Favourite Colour

Never mind the plate... what about the car colour? Well, according to DuPont, white, white with effect and silver are the most popular new tints with a surge of interest in bright reds. Black though is the new black and is still Europe’s favourite car colour, confirming a trend last year which saw it overtake silver as the most popular new car shade.

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