Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with licenseplate

HY=EY to you too, buddy

ailouros08 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:00:44 -0800

I'm being outsmarted by a personalized license plate (I think)! I was driving through Durham, NC last Saturday when I saw a truck with a personalized license plate reading HY=EY. The truck also had some math bumper stickers on it. What, if anything does HY=EY mean?

How do you easily remove old accumulated registration stickers from a license plate?

pantufla_milagrosa — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:42:45 -0800

How do you easily remove old accumulated registration stickers from a license plate? You know, how every time you get a new sticker, you're supposed to remove the old one before sticking the new one? Except you never do because it's easy to just put it on top of the old one. Suppose that I wanted to remove all the old ones. What's a good trick for that? Last time I tried it seemed very hard. There must be around 15 of them piled up by now.

Do any cars come with a clear license plate cover or shield?

unclezeb — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 09:16:52 -0800

Does ANY car come from the manufacturer with a clear license plate cover or license plate shield? I see many cars with clear covers on the license plate here in California. I read up on the relevant vehicle code (VC §5201) and I think there may be a distinction between "cover" (like a car cover or a cover that goes around the boarders of the license plate) and a shield (like a clear protector - just cannot interfere with cameras, visibility, etc).

It would be very helpful to know if any auto makers sell or sold cars with a clear shield as an OEM part. Can you think of any?

Why do I keep seeing 2FAN321 on TV license plates?

chudmonkey — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 12:14:05 -0800

What, if anything, does the oft-used-on-TV license plate 2FAN321 reference? On various TV shows across the last 5 years or so, I've seen cars displaying the liscence plate 2FAN321. I first noticed it on an episode of Scrubs, and most recently on last night's episode of Psych

Googling "2FAN321" reveals several additional reports of the plate being spotted, on the TV shows Buffy, Curb Your Enthusiam, Veronica Mars and LOST, and in the films My Life as a House and Role Models.

I've come across a few attempts at explaining the plate or it's recurrent appearances, but I find most of them inscrutable. It might have something directly or indirectly to do with Ben Folds, but that's about as clear an explanation as I can come with for myself.

Assuming there is an answer beyond "It's a prop license plate with no special meaning, which gets re-used", can you explain it to me? Can you share any sightings I haven't listed?

Thanks in advance!

License to thrill? Personalized plates ideas, please.

cocoagirl — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:39:51 -0800

Woohoo, I'm converting my Prius to a plug-in! Now I want a personalized license plate to go with it. Some constraints:
- Must start with two letters
- Maximum six characters (no punctuation), minimum of two
- If numbers are used, they have to come at the end of the plate, and not be sandwiched by letters

It can be geeky, cheeky, electricky, eco-y, or whatever (well, at least some connection to it being a plug in/electric car).

personalize my personalized plate

sephira — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 05:45:36 -0800

I need help thinking of a new license plate... I live in VA, arguably the United States vanity plate capital. I've had a personalized plate for several years now, and after having my current one for a year, it is now considered profane. I have to choose a new one, but I'm having trouble thinking of something.

Your mission: a funny or geeky license plate. Difficulty: 8 spaces, one of which has to be a dash (-) or a space. No special characters (#, $, &, etc).

Bonus points if I love the new plate more than my current.

Why is this so hard?

Heminator — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 13:21:37 -0800

Anybody know how to change the license plates on a '95 Honda Accord? I know this procedure is usually idiot proof, but the top two bolts on the front plate are just just spinning and appear be held from behind by some kind of nut (not that I can see anything to verify this is the case). Trouble is, if there are nuts holding it in place they are well into the bumper assembly totally inaccesible from the engine, on top or underneath.

Curiously, changing the plates is not mentioned in the owners manual, the 1400+ page service manual and Google is a big zilch.

FWIW, bolts are very rusted. Thanks for any help you can give.

Remedy worse than malady?

Wavelet — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 11:16:57 -0800

The solution to this fix it ticket sounds worse than the ostensible problem-to-be-fixed! I just got pulled over and issued a "fix it" ticket for not having a front license plate (well, technically I got pulled over for driving on the wrong side of the street, but I ended up with a fix it ticket for flp instead). The California DMV page on obtaining a replacement license plate claims that you must surrender the remaining plate(s) in order to obtain a new set.

Why do you have to surrender the other license plate? Are you supposed to drive around with no license plates at all while waiting for the license plates to be reissued and mailed? Isn't this going to lead to being pulled over multiple times in the interim?

Is there a method for getting vehicle registration info if you're not a cop (and yes, free is better)?

JollyWanker — Sat, 10 Jul 2004 07:36:22 -0800

Is anyone aware of a method (online or otherwise) for determining to whom a vehicle is registered if you know the license plate number - without actually being a law enforcement officer yourself? Google's only turned up for-pay services (that start at US$30 or so). The vehicle is registered in Illinois, if that impacts the answer...