Irish Car Registration Plates - Is there vanity buying of new Regs?

There's a Car Reg or Number Plate thread on p.ie here and if you can wade through the sniping there are some interesting things about the Number Plate such as its simplicity and bit of geographic logic. A car reg in Clare registered in 1999 will have a reg like 99 CE 1956 - the last number being the nth car registered in the county. Some people think CE is 'Cork East' but that's another story. Then you have LK, L and something else for Leitrim and I'm not sure about those ones myself. Anyway, do ye think there is a vanity thing and buying associated with number plate recentness? Personally I enjoy having an 11-year old plate and if I wash my car it almost looks new. But I just prefer the idea of having an older car... Any thoughts?

Eamon Ryan apparently wants to change the number plate so it reflects CO2 emissions primarily, not the date of the car or anything.

Stealth Assassin wrote:

Cars are registered by the local authority so it's logical that the Reg Number should indicate the registration area. To have a national system would be unworkable since you'd end up with 10 or 12 digit numbers and endless confusion. Tipperary having two registration numbers is also logical since the county is divided into two administrative districts and no different from Limerick and Waterford cars being registered in the county or city. As far as I know you cannot register your car in Dublin unless you live in Dublin. The car registration system is logical and it works. If it isn't broke don't fix it. Mr Ryan would be better employed trying to sort out a national public transport system rather than navel gazing.

clareman51 wrote:

The Irish reg is one of the easiest to understand. If someone wants to include the car emission,just add a letter to the end.

code twinkle wrote:

Pidge that's an incredible graphic thanks for the info.

PIDGE GRAPH
http://www.politics.ie/viewtopic.php?p=1106768#1106768

At first glance it made me want to cry for the pure vulnerability of us all in being so utterly imprisoned by our relentless need to impress others and gain social acceptability - its up there with some of the best literature of successive world civilizations...

...But in fairness, the figures by themselves just show a huge numerical differential in the purchase of new cars from start to end of year, which is presumably driven as much by depreciation in value as anything... you'd really need to factor in the amount of new cars bought per annum in relation to the overall car-aquisition figures every year to get a Greek tragedy out of it....

I'd say it does contribute to a lot of extra car buying, whether for vanity or the perception of holding value.

However I think buying new cars every 2 years is the biggest waste of money in the world, with most cars losing 50% of their value in the first 3 years.

It also contributes to the car waste heap, why have to recycle something if it was not necessary to make it in the first place ?

I generally by 5-6 year olds and keep them for 4-5 years. Cars are very solid these days if treated properly. And you can get them at a snip.

There is a degree of vanity and competitiveness in any capitalist open market system. It is blindingly obvious that many people want to be seen to have a new car. There are other valid reasons for buying a new car but together they cannot fully justify the huge cost penalty in buying a new car and suffering huge depreciation in the first two years. Keeping up with the Jones's or ahead of them is a reality of life. To stir things up, I might suggest that it is a particularly important part of rural and small town life.

Zhou_Enlai wrote:

There is a degree of vanity and competitiveness in any capitalist open market system. It is blindingly obvious that many people want to be seen to have a new car. There are other valid reasons for buying a new car but together they cannot fully justify the huge cost penalty in buying a new car and suffering huge depreciation in the first two years. Keeping up with the Jones's or ahead of them is a reality of life. To stir things up, I might suggest that it is a particularly important part of rural and small town life.

... and KP rises to the bait...

In fairness, you're more likely to see crocked up old bangers in the country than in the city.

Having said that small town life is a feature of cities/suburbs as well as rural areas. I'm sure there are at least as many 08 reg cars in Donnybrook as there are in Mullingar.

The depreciation on a new car is unconscionable - and this business of trading up every two years is mind-boggling. Like EVM I've always bought cars that are a few years old for pretty decent money.

My sister-in-law bought a car that had been driven only 20 or so miles and was returned by the woman who bought it because her disabled mother couldn't manage getting into it. Sister-in-law saved thousands and the first owner lost a fortune simply by driving out the dealership gate.

There is a vanity attached to having a new car - Pidge's pie chart showed that very clearly.

I think that the January purchase surge only signifies that cars devalue in years not months. It is the same for professions - your wage expectation is according to how many years you are qualified starting from the year of qualification whather it be January or December. This won't change if the year is taken off the reg - the January spike will still exist. However, less new cars might be bought over all.

I think that people want to be seen in a new car. The reason I target rural areas and small towns is that people know they will be seen by their neighbours. Sure, some people don't care but a certain type do and I think they are more prevalent in rural areas, particularly in border counties . On the other hand, I as an urbanite, am unlikely to be seen by anyone who will recognise me on a day to day basis as I walk to work and I don't know my neighbours other than as neighbours. Also, Dunphy is hardly in a position to look down on my car!

I expect the competitive streak is brought to the fore again in estates where children bring families together and children talk about other families cars. Perhaps if children start talking about which car is the most environmentally friendly then that will change things. Having the CO2 emissions on the car would help generate that kind of peer pressure. For this reason, I think this is a good idea and it is one I suggested previously on p.ie.

Mmm, bait...

A lot of rural small town-dwellers commute, you seem to forget. A flashy car is a flashy car, regardless of whether observers know the owner. Why are SUVs considered status cars when they exist for that purpose mostly in urban areas?

bait indeed! Good answer with the SUVs.

No I think it's a fierce stupid idea.

Leave license plates alone

You should have a look on speedyreg.co.uk. it is a great site full of information on the history of Car Registrations.

Number Plates wrote:

You should have a look on speedyreg.co.uk. it is a great site full of information on the history of Car Registrations.

Uk number plates make no sense. Although I know that X-reg was 1981-82 because I had on once.

NI number plates are even worse.

Surely if you want to buy for vanity or to show off you'd choose a 90 D over an 09 of any other letter.

Number Plates wrote:

You should have a look on speedyreg.co.uk. it is a great site full of information on the history of Car Registrations.

I made a few bob selling an old number plate in the UK a while back. Is that still allowed?

cactus flower wrote:

I made a few bob selling an old number plate in the UK a while back. Is that still allowed?

Actually I'm pretty sure you can still sell your old car number plates at website's like this.

cliffdodger wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

I made a few bob selling an old number plate in the UK a while back. Is that still allowed?

Actually I'm pretty sure you still can: http://www.theprivateplatecompany.co.uk/private-plate/sell
Site's like that can tell you what it's worth.

Very good of you to post that link cliffdodger. Welcome to Machine Nation. Are you a technically minded poster? Auditor#9 will be glad to see you.

Technical in what way?

cliffdodger wrote:

Technical in what way?

As opposed to nontechnical like me

There are some posters here who would be interested in how solar energy would affect our lives and national economy, and there would be others who would also like to know how the bits fit together.

lol, I dare say I'm more interested in the technical side of what they're using. I used to argue that there was little "green" benefit to solar panels because of the toxicity of plastics used in producing them and the amount of pollution in the manufacturing process... however I've recently learned that they've found a way to make organic solar panels from living organisms. So yeah, I'm the more technical type.

cliffdodger wrote:

lol, I dare say I'm more interested in the technical side of what they're using. I used to argue that there was little "green" benefit to solar panels because of the toxicity of plastics used in producing them and the amount of pollution in the manufacturing process... however I've recently learned that they've found a way to make organic solar panels from living organisms. So yeah, I'm the more technical type.

These ?

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/OSP.php

not sure it's the same research - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080206154631.htm
and more currently http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090115164518.htm

Quote :

A new design principle helps to save costs, too: Until now, the front electrode, the one that faces the sun, has usually been made of expensive indium tin oxide because this material is transparent. But now there is an alternative: The Fraunhofer crew has interconnected a poorly conductive transparent polymer electrode with a highly conductive metal layer on the rear side of the solar cell. This connection is done trough numerous tiny holes in the solar cell .This has the advantage that a low-priced material can be used. The idea has already been patented.

It sounds as if solar is going to get a lot cheaper.

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

Number Plates wrote:

You should have a look on speedyreg.co.uk. it is a great site full of information on the history of Car Registrations.

Uk number plates make no sense. Although I know that X-reg was 1981-82 because I had on once.

NI number plates are even worse.

NI has no excuse but it would be difficult in the rest of the UK to adopt a system like Ireland's.... you would need reg plates as wide as the car itself with all the digits. Alphanumerical plates have to be used when you have alot of registrations.