Many states have the option to customize your license plates. Some call these “Vanity Plates”, which is very appropriate. And a growing number use the price paid for this “privilege” as a source of extra tax revenue. So, I’m here to tell you this whole practice should stop.  License plates are like social security numbers, they serve an administrative purpose and it doesn’t really matter what numbers you get. Plus, more importantly, we’re abusing the privilege regularly enough that the offenses can be grouped by type.

Rebadging:
This is the biggest waste of money and resources. Considering that every car comes from the factory with at least 1 badge telling you what it is, there’s no sense paying extra to tell us all what you’re driving. The car does this for free.

Because Carrera 4S wasn't clear enough.

OH, I missed the badge just beside the license plate - thanks!

In case I didn’t see the side or happen to be colorblind.

And interestingly, owners of expensive cars seem most prone to do this. If you’ve got too much money, why not just give some away. In fact, I’ll send you my address.

Pride & Politics
This category could almost be exclusively for the Toyota Prius, but it encapsulates all those owners who believe they must tell us why their car is wonderful.

Apparently you hate your car as well, because you've run it into enough things to mangle this plate.

Yes, you’re using less gasoline than the rest of us, but you driving a Prius is not saving the polar ice or stopping pollution.

9/11 was terrible, but the Taliban would be madder at you spending extra money for a license plate than your cars MPG.

Stating the obvious
This is only slightly less annoying than the rebadging problem. Except here I can’t figure out if the owner thinks everyone else is stupid, or if they themselves must be reminded about key features on their car.

Has someone ever looked at a Miata and thought otherwise?

Thanks, cause I didn’t notice the logo or the fact that you have no roof.

Those who mispronounce Porsche aren't going to get it by reading your plate.

Funny to you
An ever growing category of license plates which must make sense to the person writing the check, but are lost on the rest of us. These are the automotive equivalent of a “You had to be there” joke. And it makes the driver seem more suited for the short bus than behind the wheel.

Are you the owner of a hog farm? Pork processing plant? Or just a fan of clogged arteries?

Is this “For Sure” and I’m supposed to find it funny, or are you obsessed with Fashion and I’m supposed to be impressed?

Does that mean brown?

Now you might be saying “Hey… you guys use your personal plate on the back of cars you test”.  And of course you would be right. I am aware that sometimes personalized plates can work or serve a purpose.  We use them to tie our test cars together or in some cases to protect the identity of private owners.  And we know there are owners out there who successfully make a joke or statement with their license plate, but it’s about as common as snow in Los Angeles.

The real gems are the unintentional statements. The rare times when a state issued plate says something anyway. This is my current favorite:

In fact I think that applies to this whole topic. I’d like the information about what exactly is going on with these license plate owners. The 411 on What the F….

The Awarning is this: accept the fact that license plates exist and spend your hard earned money on something else. Anything else.

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