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Biases towards some counties on the car reg plates

  • 27-03-2021 4:50pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9 mczandre


    Hi folks.
    Need your help to understand some particularities of the motor industry here in Ireland.

    Some while ago I bought a car from a BMW dealer in Tipperary. Great car, right spec, reasonable price... all good. Worth to mention that the car was firstly registered in Tipperary hence it has the "T" on the plates.

    Now that I am trying to sell the car, I keep hearing that the "T" on the registration is an issue, and I will have problem to sell it in Dublin due to the fact that people in Ireland are still very biased towards buying cars from counties other than the ones that they live in.
    When I challenged the salesmen, both said that this is all about "cultural matters". One of them even mentioned that it is always advised to buy cars from big cities such as Dublin and Cork, and avoid "countryside" places.

    Does that make sense for you?

    Thanks!


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    It is a thing for some people, some cars and some places.

    Plenty of people on here and in the real world say it doesn't bother them and thats fair and true, but for others it does.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,673 ✭✭✭User1998


    Bit OCD here but my preference would be D, and then after that I’d take any single letter reg. I wouldn’t be mad on a reg with two letters. No idea why tbh


  • Posts: 7,712 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    The Tipperary reg being T annoys me far more than it should.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 443 ✭✭TP_CM


    I never heard of T being a problem. But I've heard problems with Donegal on a reg plate because of the boy racer culture up there. But depends on the car and on the buyer


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 40,061 ✭✭✭✭Harry Palmr


    Dublin cars have wrecked clutches.

    Might be true.

    In the way Cavan cars struts are shagged.


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  • Posts: 7,712 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    TP_CM wrote: »
    I never heard of T being a problem. But I've heard problems with Donegal on a reg plate because of the boy racer culture up there. But depends on the car and on the buyer

    A DL will most likely have been driven to death on kerosine for its life. And you’ll probably be taxing it for the first time no matter what age it is.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,632 ✭✭✭carsfan2


    Whether people agree with it or not it is definitely easier to sell a “premium” brand car if it had a D reg. I presume the snob factor of Dublin buyers not wanting others to know they bought their car used is what drives it.
    I had experience of this when trying to trade in a BMW with country reg in Dublin. One dealer even wouldn’t take the car.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 671 ✭✭✭madmac187


    If it were me I’d say **** them and take business elsewhere. Any salesman that says **** like that to any customer is going to do you, whether it will be warranty work, poor job to get car cleaned or whatever. I was in a main dealer looking at a new car and the salesman was so ignorant in regard to me and my vehicle I told him I would take my business elsewhere. In another main dealer I drove a secondhand A4, went on the motorway, the plastic under tray flies out from underneath the vehicle shatters and very close to causing an accident. I contacted the salesman straight away and he asks is the car alright, not am I ffs. I bought the vehicle afterwards, but pointed out the clutch was on its last legs. Salesman says no bother fixable under warranty. He noted it in paperwork and initialled it. I said ok, have the vehicle 4 weeks flywheel pops, the dealer call me with an estimate of 1500. I speak to salesman then he says I didn’t agree to that. After a lot of arguing on a dealer floor in front of customers, they fix it, for the master cylinder not to be put back right and car breaks down 40 minutes after pick up. This is a main dealer.

    Rant over.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,749 ✭✭✭LillySV


    I’ve regularly heard that D is the reg that holds the most value .... which I think is mad.... I’d prefer anywhere but D! The way I’d look at D cars, they were more likely to get a slap in car park so might be partially resprayed.... if it’s a diesel there would be worry that it only got short slow drives most of time in traffic... which wouldn’t be ideal for a big diesel... and then maybe it was robbed/tampered at some stage or another also ....a lot of undesirables up there at that ...

    Btw my current car is D reg but that’s only coincidental .... the car I got is rare enough and didn’t think twice when it came up


  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional North East Moderators Posts: 10,877 Mod ✭✭✭✭PauloMN


    I'm in Meath so our cars are usually MH or D. I'd have a slight preference I guess for a "region" plate like D or MH as that's where I spend most of my life. I'd buy a car with any plate in reality if the car was 100% what I was after, but being honest DL would be absolute bottom of my list.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,835 ✭✭✭ari101


    My current car happened to be an import when I bought it (outside Dub) and I was specifically told if I had a Dublin address to register it there for resale value; that some Dubs are unwilling to buy non D reg cars. I lived in Dub anyway so it made no difference to what I was doing. Single letters are aesthetically nicer but it wouldn't make a difference to me buying a car, finding the right spec car on the other hand...

    I was also told I'd lose my 'culchie allowance' - switching from a country to D reg in Dublin I'd be more likely to be treated as local by other drivers, so less tolerance for being unsure of my lane, for example, or not making fast progress at lights, etc. ;)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,370 ✭✭✭micosoft


    Interestingly WW seems to have snob effect over D plates in North Wicklow and parts of South Dublin... less common and from "posh countryside"...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,100 ✭✭✭✭Del2005


    Plenty of people will only buy D or their county plate. A sales persons job is to big up their products and say that yours has issues.

    I'll buy a car on its condition and couldn't care less what letters are on the least important bit of a car. But it's handy if people do over look then as it makes it cheaper for me to buy a good car.

    The tyres and paint condition will tell you at a glance if the car is worth buying quicker than the letter on the reg plate.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 180 ✭✭Tippman24


    I was told it years ago about certain rural registrations are a no no with Dublin car dealers. The two mentioned to me were Tipperary and Kerry.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 124 ✭✭manor


    Wish I read this, just traded my D reg car for a T reg!!!!!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 73,520 ✭✭✭✭colm_mcm


    It’s about being conspicuous. Driving a T reg in Dublin immediately labels you as either being a culchie or having bought a used car.
    It’s the buying public that influence prices, dealers will charge what they can get away with. Much as a certain colour might be unpopular, it has to be reflected in the price for it to sell.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 36,895 ✭✭✭✭BorneTobyWilde


    How funny it is that an island as small as Ireland needs to have different regs for every 40 miles. Comical, should dump it asap, should be an ROI reg across the board


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 492 ✭✭PaulRyan97


    Obviously a 'C' reg is by far the best one can hope for in a car. C is closer to the start of the alphabet and therefore superior. Also it is in the humble opinion of us Corkonians the best county in Ireland.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 36,895 ✭✭✭✭BorneTobyWilde


    211-ROI-7777


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 73,520 ✭✭✭✭colm_mcm


    211-ROI-7777

    Approx 80000 vehicles registered every year though. Makes recalling reg numbers way more difficult without the county identifier.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,067 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    KY = muck savage inbreds, drive cars like tractors

    DL = mad boy racers, clocked/stolen nordie cars re'reg'd to southern plates

    LH = provo'land, cars used for smuggling, racketeering and dead bodies in the boot

    *it's just the above three counties that i have a hang up about, the rest are fine


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    It’s true, the D reg appears to hold more weight when trading up but it’s such a load of BS. Mine is D reg and while it spends some time in Dublin it spends a lot more of it in a lot of other counties. It’s all about how it’s looked after.
    Notions of the highest order :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 210 ✭✭Doublebusy


    Never bothered me of the county on the reg
    Its the dealer stickers badges and reg plate surround thats annoying - first things i take off


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 36,895 ✭✭✭✭BorneTobyWilde


    colm_mcm wrote: »
    Approx 80000 vehicles registered every year though. Makes recalling reg numbers way more difficult without the county identifier.


    Why would you need to recall it though. I can't think of a reason, it's right there on your number plate if you forget it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 118 ✭✭Skipduke


    noticed how D regs have a habit of slipping into drains and lacking the ability to reverse once outside the m50


    my reg is KY, thankfully. wouldn't want to be seen as a pretentious snob or tourist. Most D reg's here in kerry are hire and drives or tacky west brits with a superiority complex. hard avoid


  • Posts: 13,688 ✭✭✭✭ Kimber Hundreds Pedicure


    Any time I see a 'D' registration plate I think "taxi".

    Dublin plates also look manky with their five sequence numbers.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 596 ✭✭✭nsnoefc1878


    I know Ireland is a country full of materialistic snobs, especially since the celtic tiger days, but this reg snobbery is beyond a joke.
    It simply wouldnt even occur to be to concern myself over it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,324 ✭✭✭JustAThought


    fryup wrote: »
    KY = muck savage inbreds, drive cars like tractors

    DL = mad boy racers, clocked/stolen nordie cars re'reg'd to southern plates

    LH = provo'land, cars used for smuggling, racketeering and dead bodies in the boot

    *it's just the above three counties that i have a hang up about, the rest are fine

    So true! Definately a thing.
    I’ve walked away from otherwise acceptable cars because of the reg - and not just these. Who wants an Offally or Laois or Carlow reg - Galway might be OK but the car might be used for hauling hay or sheep or be driven into the ground over huge distances daily.

    OP - it’s definately a thing and a big thing. Unless you’re selling locally in your rural village/town which also brings its own issues.

    And no - I wouldn’t drive or buy a T reg. Or Cork or Kerry for reasons already outlined. But if I was moving to a new area for 10 years or so and needed a new car then I’d consider a culchie plate - but only if I had to buy a new car. I wouldn’t like all the mucksavage gardai with chips on their shoulders singling me out for tickets and locals ID’ing my car wherever I went because of the plate - not to mention lunatic Cork heads with aspirations to belong to real capital keying it because of their notions or capitol envy.

    Reg plate hate is real!!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 627 ✭✭✭Mullaghteelin


    fryup wrote: »

    LH = provo'land, cars used for smuggling, racketeering and dead bodies in the boot

    *it's just the above three counties that i have a hang up about, the rest are fine

    Plenty of LH plates around rural North County Dublin from Drogheda based dealers. Provoland would most accurately describe south Armagh.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 596 ✭✭✭nsnoefc1878


    ari101 wrote: »
    My current car happened to be an import when I bought it (outside Dub) and I was specifically told if I had a Dublin address to register it there for resale value; that some Dubs are unwilling to buy non D reg cars. I lived in Dub anyway so it made no difference to what I was doing. Single letters are aesthetically nicer but it wouldn't make a difference to me buying a car, finding the right spec car on the other hand...

    I was also told I'd lose my 'culchie allowance' - switching from a country to D reg in Dublin I'd be more likely to be treated as local by other drivers, so less tolerance for being unsure of my lane, for example, or not making fast progress at lights, etc. ;)

    Aesthetically nicer?! Its a code on a piece of plastic ffs!
    And aesthetics are subjective anyway, so there is no hard and fast rule to it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,324 ✭✭✭JustAThought


    Aesthetically nicer?! Its a code on a piece of plastic ffs!
    And aesthetics are subjective anyway, so there is no hard and fast rule to it.

    Its an aesthetic and a big one.

    What football team do you follow? Would you put your opposing sides sticker up on your greatest moveable asset?


  • Posts: 13,688 ✭✭✭✭ Kimber Hundreds Pedicure


    I agree with single letters being more pleasing on the eye.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 596 ✭✭✭nsnoefc1878


    Its an aesthetic and a big one.

    What football team do you follow? Would you put your opposing sides sticker up on your greatest moveable asset?

    I dont have an emotional attachment to the county my car was registered in. Do you?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,602 ✭✭✭JeffKenna


    Would never buy a car without the beautiful "W" reg. Almost had a car bought a few years ago but the garage had it registered already as a "C" reg so had to pull out of that purchase.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 393 ✭✭Rustyman101


    JeffKenna wrote: »
    Would never buy a car without the beautiful "W" reg. Almost had a car bought a few years ago but the garage had it registered already as a "C" reg so had to pull out of that purchase.
    KK would be my nemesis, just couldn't do it....ðŸ˜


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 36,895 ✭✭✭✭BorneTobyWilde


    It just makes no sense putting county letters on regs when the cars ultimately end up else where


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,324 ✭✭✭JustAThought


    It just makes no sense putting county letters on regs when the cars ultimately end up else where

    Oh no they don’t!!
    Usually!!
    Hence thread!


  • Posts: 3,801 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    So true! Definately a thing.
    I’ve walked away from otherwise acceptable cars because of the reg - and not just these. Who wants an Offally or Laois or Carlow reg - Galway might be OK but the car might be used for hauling hay or sheep or be driven into the ground over huge distances daily.

    OP - it’s definately a thing and a big thing. Unless you’re selling locally in your rural village/town which also brings its own issues.

    And no - I wouldn’t drive or buy a T reg. Or Cork or Kerry for reasons already outlined. But if I was moving to a new area for 10 years or so and needed a new car then I’d consider a culchie plate - but only if I had to buy a new car. I wouldn’t like all the mucksavage gardai with chips on their shoulders singling me out for tickets and locals ID’ing my car wherever I went because of the plate - not to mention lunatic Cork heads with aspirations to belong to real capital keying it because of their notions or capitol envy.

    Reg plate hate is real!!!

    This is almost too much like a windup.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,324 ✭✭✭JustAThought


    This is almost too much like a windup.

    Truth can be funnier than fiction.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 180 ✭✭Tippman24


    KK would be my nemesis, just couldn't do it....ðŸ˜
    Could not drive a KK registered car. No self respecting Tippman could.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,844 ✭✭✭s8n


    madmac187 wrote: »
    If it were me I’d say **** them and take business elsewhere. Any salesman that says **** like that to any customer is going to do you, whether it will be warranty work, poor job to get car cleaned or whatever. I was in a main dealer looking at a new car and the salesman was so ignorant in regard to me and my vehicle I told him I would take my business elsewhere. In another main dealer I drove a secondhand A4, went on the motorway, the plastic under tray flies out from underneath the vehicle shatters and very close to causing an accident. I contacted the salesman straight away and he asks is the car alright, not am I ffs. I bought the vehicle afterwards, but pointed out the clutch was on its last legs. Salesman says no bother fixable under warranty. He noted it in paperwork and initialled it. I said ok, have the vehicle 4 weeks flywheel pops, the dealer call me with an estimate of 1500. I speak to salesman then he says I didn’t agree to that. After a lot of arguing on a dealer floor in front of customers, they fix it, for the master cylinder not to be put back right and car breaks down 40 minutes after pick up. This is a main dealer.

    Rant over.

    Hard man


  • Posts: 7,712 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    s8n wrote: »
    Hard man

    Because someone stands up for themselves? You have to be joking.

    No wonder businesses think they can walk on people.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,809 ✭✭✭✭whisky_galore


    Couldn't give less of a shyte what county appears on the number plate. Drive a D reg nowhere near Dublin and don't care.

    The ones that do care are the sort flying county flags and more stickers on their car than a children's diary.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9 mczandre


    Guys,
    Just reading for all those different perspectives and PoV... I can't express my gratitude for your thoughts around this topic.
    Thanks for that!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,993 ✭✭✭✭zell12


    Saw a car with plate 00 L M0000
    Should have been 00 LM 0000

    Why would someone show such disrespect for lovely leitrim? And more importantly, how do they get away with it?


  • Posts: 7,712 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    zell12 wrote: »
    Saw a car with plate 00 L M0000
    Should have been 00 LM 0000

    Why would someone show such disrespect for lovely leitrim? And more importantly, how do they get away with it?

    For the same reason that all the gob****es with reman style plates on a rattly Audi or VW on heating oil get away with it. Change it for the NCT and nobody cares the remainder of the time.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 81,220 ✭✭✭✭biko


    There is clearly biases left in the world. We'll leave it for this time.


This discussion has been closed.
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