Psuedo German number plates

[therealpigdog]

I have pressed plates on both my cars. Correct font and spacing with GB euro flag thingy. 100% legal and I think they look better.

Still probably a moron though.

[xjsdriver]

Cat said:

xjsdriver said:

There again, the car could've been first bought and registered here then shipped over to Poland and re-registered, same applies for any other country.

If that is what has happened and it has been done properly then the vehicle will have an export marker on PNC. However, once again, that is not the scenario which NinjaPower referred to.

Others have suggested that the Polish authorities will not allow a RHD vehicle to be registered in Poland so in the case of a RHD car bearing Polish plates it would seem unlikely to have happened as you describe.

Cat

..........if (and it's quite a big if it's been done properly......I'll concede you do have a point....
Plus there may have been a recent change to regs. - but in the past I've bought RHD cars from Holland and Germany with respective plates of each country...

[Cat]

xjsdriver said:

Plus there may have been a recent change to regs. - but in the past I've bought RHD cars from Holland and Germany with respective plates of each country...

What about from Poland? The Netherlands and Germany both allow RHD vehicles to be registered there, Poland doesn't (although this may change as a result of a recent EU court ruling).

Cat

[thecremeegg]

As long a plate is legible does anyone really care?

[Juliet1981]

thecremeegg said:

As long a plate is legible does anyone really care?

This is the internet ...... everybody cares!!!!!!!

[mybrainhurts]

thecremeegg said:

As long a plate is legible does anyone really care?

Just seems odd to go to the trouble of having plates made that look bloody awful.

When I was a lad, you could stamp your name on a soft metal plate with machines found in fairgrounds.

They looked basic and crap. I'd forgotten about them until I spotted one of these plates.

[anonymous-user]

Polish plates also have a Hologram after the first 2-3 characters, The Authorities here are pretty strict with documentation etc making it tough for even honest people to get things done. Its highly unlikely that they have acquired genuine plates for a RHD car without it having ever been to Poland. If theres no Hologram on the plate then its definately a fake.

As for RHD vehicles whilst technically not impossible its very difficult to pass a technical check with a RHD vehicle as the legislation doesn't allow for it and the car will instantly fail in the "Clear view of the road" part. This is changing though albeit very slowly.

I found out the hard way having paid the import duty, stamp duty, had all my documents translated etc, Switched the headlights over to LHD configuration and changed the mirrors only for my perfectly serviceable and safe car to fail the examination.

Poland is only in the EU when its receiving money for building roads, stadiums and shopping centres, When someone from another member state needs something it plays ignorant

The stupid thing is I can't legally buy a car here as i haven't got a Polish ID card, I can't get one because i'm an EU citizen. Honestly people in the UK don't know quite how efficient the UK systems are until you have to get something done in another country.

[Sheepshanks]

jaf01uk said:

AndrewEH1 said:

jaf01uk said:

I have 100% legal pressed steel number plates on my car, no 'D' just a Euro stars circle with a saltire underneath, let the judgemental amongst you proceed...

Where did you happen to buy these?

Got them on EBay from a seller called Norfolk Plates

Norfolk Plates

There's a long thread on one of the Mercedes forums where an Indie driving a customer's car got done for having pressed metal plates.

He got stopped as they came up as "unreadable" on the police car's ANPR.

He took pretty heavy duty legal advice and the result (as in all things legal) wasn't 100% black and white but it was that they were probably illegal as they're not constructed of retro-reflective material.

IIRC this applies after a certain date - 2002?

[eccles]

Sheepshanks said:

jaf01uk said:

AndrewEH1 said:

jaf01uk said:

I have 100% legal pressed steel number plates on my car, no 'D' just a Euro stars circle with a saltire underneath, let the judgemental amongst you proceed...

Where did you happen to buy these?

Got them on EBay from a seller called Norfolk Plates

Norfolk Plates

There's a long thread on one of the Mercedes forums where an Indie driving a customer's car got done for having pressed metal plates.

He got stopped as they came up as "unreadable" on the police car's ANPR.

He took pretty heavy duty legal advice and the result (as in all things legal) wasn't 100% black and white but it was that they were probably illegal as they're not constructed of retro-reflective material.

IIRC this applies after a certain date - 2002?

It would have to be after a certain date otherwise there's a lot of illegal vintage/classic cars out there with non reflective plates!

[Red Devil]

Sheepshanks said:

IIRC this applies after a certain date - 2002?

Nope - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/schedu...

[Sheepshanks]

Red Devil said:

Sheepshanks said:

IIRC this applies after a certain date - 2002?

Nope - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/schedu...

Is that "nope" because it's Sept 2001 and I put 2002?

[Red Devil]

Roll your eyes all you like. It doesn't alter the fact that where legislation is concerned the specific date from when a particular regulation comes into effect is of crucial importance. It can mean the difference between being compliant or otherwise. Assumption is the mother of all -ups

[Sheepshanks]

I think you need to revisit the definition of "crucial" in the context of this discussion.

[TooMany2cvs]

Sheepshanks said:

Is that "nope" because it's Sept 2001 and I put 2002?

I think the assumption was that you meant "cars registered after" - whereas it's "plates made after". And that's why older cars still use the old plates, because they were made before that date. For plates - even for old cars - to be legally supplied since '01 they have to meet the current regs.

[y2blade]

swerni said:

A get a life

I couldn't have put it better myself tbh.

[shakotan]

AndrewEH1 said:

jaf01uk said:

I have 100% legal pressed steel number plates on my car, no 'D' just a Euro stars circle with a saltire underneath, let the judgemental amongst you proceed...

Where did you happen to buy these?

There are a plethora of legal pressed number plate sellers on eBay, all much cheaper than Dubmeister et al.

[shakotan]

Sheepshanks said:

jaf01uk said:

AndrewEH1 said:

jaf01uk said:

I have 100% legal pressed steel number plates on my car, no 'D' just a Euro stars circle with a saltire underneath, let the judgemental amongst you proceed...

Where did you happen to buy these?

Got them on EBay from a seller called Norfolk Plates

Norfolk Plates

There's a long thread on one of the Mercedes forums where an Indie driving a customer's car got done for having pressed metal plates.

He got stopped as they came up as "unreadable" on the police car's ANPR.

He took pretty heavy duty legal advice and the result (as in all things legal) wasn't 100% black and white but it was that they were probably illegal as they're not constructed of retro-reflective material.

IIRC this applies after a certain date - 2002?

Pressed plates are 100% legal, if the font, spacing, makers mark and BS number all all conformed to.

In regards to the retro-reflective side of things, it is the white or yellow film which is retro reflective and required to conform to BS AU 145D. In regard of both styles of plate, the retro-reflective material is adhered to a substrate, either plastic (film on the back) or metal (film on the front), so in terms of 'construction' they are identical. There is no mention in either BS AU 145D or The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001 of what material the substrate is required to be.

[Sheepshanks]

shakotan said:

In regard of both styles of plate, the retro-reflective material is adhered to a substrate, either plastic (film on the back) or metal (film on the front), so in terms of 'construction' they are identical.

I have no wish to get into an argument about the plates as I couldn't care less, but that sentence highlights where legal things can be a nightmare - to describe them as of "identical" construction is clearly wrong.

You could claim they're functionally the same, but the way they're constructed in completely different.

[Qwert1e]

Stoofa said:

As said above - it's a certain "type" of driver who has these stupid, unappealing plates on their car. You know the type....
Not legal and an easy pull for the police.

Are you sure you're right about that? Or is it a situation where something that's legal ANYWHERE in EU is legal EVERYWHERE in EU?

See also - if your UK MOT expires while you're abroad (in EU) I think you may be able to get a local one. Although how that would work with DVLA computerised records I have no idea.

[eccles]

Qwert1e said:

Stoofa said:

As said above - it's a certain "type" of driver who has these stupid, unappealing plates on their car. You know the type....
Not legal and an easy pull for the police.

Are you sure you're right about that? Or is it a situation where something that's legal ANYWHERE in EU is legal EVERYWHERE in EU?

See also - if your UK MOT expires while you're abroad (in EU) I think you may be able to get a local one. Although how that would work with DVLA computerised records I have no idea.

So you're saying that a black and white, pressed tin, German fonted plate is legal in the uk on a uk registered car that's , say, 10 years old?