Plate County Snobbery

TheDriver

Would you mind what county was on the number plate. Do Kerry people mind driving an RN plate. I know Cork people would prefer not to buy KY. I also notice on carzone that non D reg plates in Dublin garages are cheaper, so would people prefer not to buy e.g. a C plate in Dublin?

Bpmull

My mother bought a new car last year with an LD reg and we live in Kilkenny. By getting the LD plate she saved 3k as it was a demo even though it only had 2km on the clock and was never driven. So none of my family care obviously we would prefer a kk plate but its not a deal breaker.

BUBBLE WRAP

As long I have money for petrol, tax, and insurance I couldn't give a toss.

djimi

Id like to have a D reg car, but thats for personal reasons (originally from Dublin) rather than any belief that it is more valuable, in better condition than a country car etc. Other than that I couldnt really give a toss.

Sunnyisland

I am from and live in Dublin,my last car was a DL my current one a WW,does not bother me in the slightest.

bazz26

It's just an identification number to me, I'm more interested in the car it is attached to.

Two main reasons for reg snobbery -

1. It tells your neighbours that you bought a used car instead of new.
2. The stigma attached to cars from a certain county and the roads they were driven on.

Laughable thing about no 2 is that I had a D reg company car many years ago that probably drove on every road except a Dublin one. It only had a D reg because that was where the company that bought it had it's registered address.

slimjimmc

djimi wrote: »

Id like to have a D reg car, but thats for personal reasons (originally from Dublin) rather than any belief that it is more valuable, in better condition than a country car etc. Other than that I couldnt really give a toss.

Unfortunately many do fall for the fallacy that D cars are in better nick than country cars. They fail to realise that D represents an entire county, and that quite a few D-reg cars are country cars, some of the roads and streets of county Dublin are as bad if not worse than other counties. Many D cars tend to be subject to harsh stop-start driving, dents, kerbing, etc just like many non-D cars which spend most of their time around their respective towns and villages, short runs to school, mass, etc. Not every non-D car is an agricultural vehicle.

I judge the car on it's own individual merit, not on some assumption that because it's a certain reg it must be in better nick.

JJJJNR

Apparently no one lives in Leitrim apart from the last owner of my car.

ottostreet

I actually take pleasure in getting weird reg counties. (Well, the less common ones, as opposed to weird.)

From Carlow, I've had:

CW
LS
C
D
MH
LH
MO
RN
G
L
LK
KK
CE

No KY or DL yet but I don't want DL. Only reg plate I'd be wary of!

Our man in Havana

I has a CE plate now. People get out of your way when you are carrying the mark of the devil.

realgirl

I'm from Dublin and recently bought a C Reg car. My parents keep commenting about it, they seem to find it weird. I've no idea why!

Our man in Havana

realgirl wrote: »

I'm from Dublin and recently bought a C Reg car. My parents keep commenting about it, they seem to find it weird. I've no idea why!

Have you been disowned yet?

Backfire

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Have you been disowned yet?

Well my first car was C reg and i am from and live in kerry

But i have a KY now

Honestly i dont mind what it is as long as its not D
Too many Ds...:)

realgirl

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Have you been disowned yet?

Not that I know of....watch this space

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

my first was KE ... preferably

and on number two now with MO

My bro likes to slag me with culchie accents.

tbh I like to avoid D regs but don't know why.... maybe because half Dublin drivers are absolute idiots..... things seem to run better on country roads with courtesy etc.

dgt

I prefer MH but will drive almost anything else with the exception of a few

CrowdedHouse

You couldn't give away an OY car in my area !

darragh_haven

ottostreet wrote: »

I actually take pleasure in getting weird reg counties. (Well, the less common ones, as opposed to weird.)

From Carlow, I've had:

CW
LS
C
D
MH
LH
MO
RN
G
L
LK
KK
CE

No KY or DL yet but I don't want DL. Only reg plate I'd be wary of!

DL is probably the only plate I'd be wary of too, but saying that, if it was the exact car I was looking for, I'd still buy it

fricatus

I think it's the "next county" factor that's the most powerful. I'm from Waterford and while it wouldn't bother me in the least to drive a C, MH, SO, G or D plate, it would have to be a good car at a good price to tempt me to take something with KK or TS on it!

I don't think that "urban v rural" thing has any basis at all in reality (though of course perception is another thing). A car with a D plate could have been used for long motorway runs, clutch-intensive city driving, pootling around the suburbs or driven like a demon on back roads around Lusk! One with a TS plate might only ever be driven around the town of Clonmel, but could equally be hared up back roads at speed its whole life... you just don't know.

Anyway if you believe that "urban" cars are better, the only plates you should consider are W and L because they're the only two purely city plates in the country. C and G could be city or county, and while a D plate is overwhelmingly likely to have come from city residents, there's always the slight chance that it was originally owned by... a farmer!!! :eek:

Berty

Live in Limerick/Tipperary(border town)

Have a LH
Previously had

about 5 D's
LH
MN
L
LK
KY
CE
C

Somebody in Dingle thought MN was in Northern Ireland and my neighbours think I'm buying cheap cars from border counties because over the past 5 years I had mostly had 2 LH's and an MN. :rolleyes: All company cars are companies just happened to be in Fundalk.

You can buy a D if you like and be a snob about it but who's to say it wasn't driven to death by a knacker family from Finglas or Ballymun and given a nice bow on it by a salesman who said it was owned by an elderly couple in Dalkey. :rolleyes:

I once drove a KY into Dublin and it took me a while to figure out why people were actually stopping in their tracks to look at my car. Looking back, it was like I had a dead body strapped to the front of the car. In fact they were, as far as I could tell, amazed by the KY reg.

D reg company cars abound around the back roads of the country with reps, some who couldn't give a rats about the car, and will end up back on Dublin roads being sold to suckers who think a D is the best thing in the world.

"A fool and his money"

markc1184

I've lived in Louth all my life, driving 10 years and I've never owned an LH reg. 2xD, 2xMH and currently KE. Wouldn't bother me what reg is on the car as long as it is the car I have been looking for.

CrowdedHouse

....and I was told years ago never buy a Dublin car 'cos the clutch and gearbox would be worn out from crawling in traffic.

furtzy

Not bothered that much about the county plate. I'm in an LK in my current but hopefully brief daliance with the cheap end of the market. I would draw the line at a DL reg. I spend a lot of time up there and the driving standards together with the road standards would put me off

keithclancy

This would look much better :P

daaaycent boy

TN now but will have a C in the New Year hopefully. There is something wrong with a DL!

Bearcat

Proud to have an LM plate

Dord

In Dublin and mine has a CW reg. It doesn't bother me in the slightest.

joolsveer

I'm from Dublin and drive a KE reg. It doesn't bother me at all. My first car had a Wicklow reg.

Nissan doctor

Most of my cars have been D but only because most were imported so registered to my then address. I've also had KK, WX and my wifes car now is an LH. My current car/van is a D reg but for no other reason then that reg happened to be attached to a van that was the right condition/spec/price.

lway

I'm from Galway but when working and living in Dublin I drove a D reg, now working and living in Cork and drive a G reg. Dunno why but it's kinda nice to have that link back to the home county, have been asked by other Galway people I work with where i'm from after they've seen the reg.

I agree with the neighbouring/rival counties stigms though. Would have to think twice about a MO or RN reg and come to think about it i'd probably walk away from a KK

ted1

some counties can't drive, keep an eye out for WD plate drivers. i'd worry about the clutch.

some counties have notorousily bad roads. check the shocks, wishbones etc, of cars from Cavan, leitrim etc.

some counties tend to use the cars for towing or carrying agriculture materilas/animals.
once again check the shocks etc.

so yes there is a basis.

mitosis

WX and WD cars are either ex-rental or ex-traveller.
Midlands reg cars have probably been used to draw overweight turf trailers.
MN and CN have been driven over rubbish roads with animals in the back.
DL cars have been ridden hard and dry over bad roads.

I have a D and a WH. The WH has a towbar and was used for hauling turf. It's been fine for the last eight years.

It matters not what the county is to me - except DL, that would get a more thorough pre exam and on an all things being equal footing would not be selected - though most people I know would prefer a reg from withing the Pale.

mitosis

ted1 wrote: »

some counties can't drive, keep an eye out for WD plate drivers. i'd worry about the clutch.

some counties have notorousily bad roads. check the shocks, wishbones etc, of cars from Cavan, leitrim etc.

some counties tend to use the cars for towing or carrying agriculture materilas/animals.
once again check the shocks etc.

so yes there is a basis.

I wasn't aware they had cars in Leitrim.

Where To

I prefer DL as they are generally well maintained and our roads are among the best roads in the country.

Pique

Where To wrote: »

I prefer DL as they are generally well maintained and our roads are among the best roads in the country.

_Kaiser_

I have to admit, the plate would make a difference to me - sorry but that's the way I am

If I was buying a "premium" brand Audi/Merc/BMW, or even browsing on Carzone I'd be looking out for the D reg to be honest.

If not a D reg though then I might be able to live with a well maintained CN reg - C, DL, KY, KE etc all just "look wrong" to me!

Could also be (as noted above) that as a Dub who's lived outside the city/county for years , it's nice to still have that link back.

spank_inferno

I do prefer a WW plate I must say.

People round here are wary of cheap 'WX' plate cars, incase a "dagg" will be part of the deal.

bladespin

Have to admit I do try to avoid D plates, nothing to do with my opinions etc but I find it makes life a little easier around the rest of the country.

keithsfleet

I live in dublin and have a few female friends that suffer with serious plate snobbery.
One of them has a 10D seat leon and her gearbox went. It was out of warranty and she couldn't afford to repair it for a few months so offered her a 99L punto I had sitting around til she got the money together.
Turns out beggars can be choosers, she chose the bus over an old country reg.

BUBBLE WRAP

bladespin wrote: »

Have to admit I do try to avoid D plates, nothing to do with my opinions etc but I find it makes life a little easier around the rest of the country.

How do you mean?

bladespin

BUBBLE WRAP wrote: »

How do you mean?

Other cars giving way, being let out, generally being allowed make a mistake without getting blown out of it.

Wishbone Ash

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

I have to admit, the plate would make a difference to me - sorry but that's the way I am

Me too!

I saw a DB9 recently on TN plates. It just looked so wrong!

keithsfleet wrote: »

I live in dublin and have a few female friends that suffer with serious plate snobbery.
One of them has a 10D seat leon and her gearbox went. It was out of warranty and she couldn't afford to repair it for a few months so offered her a 99L punto I had sitting around til she got the money together.
Turns out beggars can be choosers, she chose the bus over an old country reg Fiat.

FYP

_Kaiser_

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Me too!

I saw a DB9 recently on TN plates. It just looked so wrong!

not just me so! :P

To make things worse/better? though, the YEAR on the plate wouldn't bother me, as long as it was a D

advertsfox

Didn't this snobbery occur when people from any other county in Ireland came to Dublin for a GAA match and intentional damage was done to their cars because of this?

Pretty sure I've heard this before...

Where To

Pique wrote: »

That wasn't a joke. I honestly can't tell you of one substandard road surface within twenty miles of my house. How many other counties could you say that in?

Wishbone Ash

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

the YEAR on the plate wouldn't bother me, as long as it was a D

The year wouldn't bother me either - once it wasn't too new.

Jogathon

I have driven a D reg, a WW reg, and my current car is a C reg. Have never noticed any difference with how I was treated in any place in Ireland.

I would have a problem with a KY or a DL, but purely because of the possible damage done to cars because of the substandard roads.

Wishbone Ash

Where To wrote: »

That wasn't a joke. I honestly can't tell you of one substandard road surface

In fairness I don't have any problems with the road surfaces in Co Donegal. They are quite good. It's the constant twisting, turning, tilting, climbing, descending etc. that makes driving there more demanding and surely more demanding on the vehicles themselves. It seems to be impossible to stay in one gear for more than a few seconds!

...And you have the only public road I know of where my car will only go up in first gear!

furtzy

Where To wrote: »

That wasn't a joke. I honestly can't tell you of one substandard road surface within twenty miles of my house. How many other counties could you say that in?

Take a spin down to Gweedore Although the locals there don't seem to like the DL regs either...they prefer NI/UK ones

Where To

furtzy wrote: »

Take a spin down to Gweedore

That's a different planet altogether.

The DL plate snobbery always amuses me because a sizable minority of cars here are on plates from other counties. That lovely D plate on your drive could quite easily have spent all it's life up here.

_Kaiser_

Well yes, NI reg is the ultimate win..

- Cheaper motor tax
- No penalty points down here (yea yea, "shadow license" and "points transfer" imminent! Given the inefficiency of this country generally I wouldn't be too worried)

Just need an NI address and a few bills really .. Bonus points: Cheaper Sky and all the UK/Irish channels (except TV3.. or ITV Ireland as it's also known) on the EPG and recordable.