Are these German plates legal?

E92

I know that the normal German plates aren't, you know the ones that have the D underneath the EU logo and no county name in Irish, but the other day when I was in town I saw a 99-D reg Merc SL with German plates.

Nothing terribly extraordinary about that, but instead of the usual 'D' where the europlate is, this car had IRL like a normal Irish plate and even had "Baile Átha Cliath" in the usual position.

So basically it had German font with the county name in Irish and the IRL sign underneath the EU star.

My question is: are they legal?

KTRIC

It was either a German plate or it wasn't. If it was an Irish plate with a different font then its illegal, simple as that.

And where in God's name did you get the idea that having a German plate on your car in Ireland is illegal ? ?

E92

KTRIC wrote: »

And where in God's name did you get the idea that having a German plate on your car in Ireland is illegal ? ?

I meant having the German style font, with an Irish reg, and D for Deutschland underneath the EU logo. It is a legal requirement for any Irish car registered after 1990 to have Euro plates with IRL underneasth the EU logo and also to have the county name in Irish(though not having it in Irish is no longer an NCT failure).

Tails142

If it was an Irish plate with a different font then its illegal

...


where in God's name did you get the idea that having a German plate on your car in Ireland is illegal ?

peasant

Now ...to be absolutely pernickety ...

A real German plate would not only have the typical font, but also the stickers (two on the back, one on the front). The stickers are official seals and indicate that a) your car is taxed and insured and b) when your NCT is due.

A "fake" German plate on an Irish car would probably get you arrested for forgery if you ever took it to Germany on those plates.

E92

peasant wrote: »

Now ...to be absolutely pernickety ...

A real German plate would not only have the typical font, but also the stickers (two on the back, one on the front). The stickers are official seals and indicate that a) your car is taxed and insured and b) when your NCT is due.

A "fake" German plate on an Irish car would probably get you arrested for forgery if you ever took it to Germany on those plates.

Not forgetting the Bundesland too!

I thought there were 2 on both front and back, the State was the bottom one on both, and then the top ones were what you said. At least that's what it was like when I was in Germany last year and the year before anyway.

alexmcred

You can buy those plates online some where. There is trouble about them in the Uk as it helps people to avoid speed cameras i.e. the camera thinks the car is foregin so when it takes the picture it dumps it again due to it been foregin

Alun

KTRIC wrote: »

If it was an Irish plate with a different font then its illegal, simple as that.

Are you sure? In the NCT Testers Handbook, there's no mention of fonts made at all, only references to the size of the letters, gaps between them etc. I'd always assumed there was, but can't find any reference to it.

KTRIC

Alun wrote: »

Are you sure? In the NCT Testers Handbook, there's no mention of fonts made at all, only references to the size of the letters, gaps between them etc. I'd always assumed there was, but can't find any reference to it.

Definitely sure, I'll have to have a look for it. I'll post a link later when I have the time if someone doesn't find it before then.

TomMc

They are illegal but if you have the IRL (in white) the EU flag (in blue) white background and black text, you will not have any probs with the Gardai.

Reg plates are suppose to have the right font, the two dashes between the year county & no, and the county name as Gaeilge. They have relaxed this I think now, giving out a sticker at NCT centres where missing.

These do replica ones http://www.autosystems.ie/products/irl-german-style-plates although to me while the font is authentic the enlarged version of digits/numbers taking up all the white space, just does not look right.

EU Tags in England do better quality ones.

peasant

E92 wrote: »

Not forgetting the Bundesland too!

I thought there were 2 on both front and back, the State was the bottom one on both, and then the top ones were what you said. At least that's what it was like when I was in Germany last year and the year before anyway.

You're probably right that there are two on both ends.

The bundesland isn't always mentioned. One of the seals is issued by the equivalent of the VRO of the Landkreis (= county) where the vehicle is registered. This is only issued on proof of tax and insurance paid. Each Landkreis has their own flag and name in it and may or may not mention the Bundesland (mostly depending on available space)

the other one

indicates when the next NCT eqiuvalent is due.

The number in the centre indicates the year of expiry. The seal is the nmounted in such a way theat the month (1 - 12) of expiry sits in the 12 o clock position.



The seal is a different colour for every year.
By the colour and the black marks on the 12 police can see from a distance (i.e when driving behind you) if your car still has a valid NCT or not. (this one expired in June 03)


Somewhere there is another seal similar to this, indicating when the next emmissions test is due ...but I can't remember where that was/is

TomMc

http://www.revenue.ie/index.htm?/leaflets/carplate.htm

galwaytt

"14. The identification mark shall appear in black characters and each letter or figure shall have a height of 70 millimetres and a stroke width of 10 millimetres. The total width of the space taken by each letter or figure (other than the letter "I" or the number "1") shall be 36 millimetres. The distances between adjoining letters and adjoining figures shall be uniform and shall be not less than 8 millimetres."

So, no font specified, just character height and brush stroke (!)

All taken from S.I. 318/92

btw, from VRT manual 6.4.1 page 195 is interesting......... 6.5.4 page 193 also very interesting.......... ditto 6.6.1. page 205

drdre

I have them on my car, I have to say they look good but i think they are illegal...

antodeco

drdre wrote: »

I have them on my car, I have to say they look good but i think they are illegal...

lol! Is that an oxymoron?

Esel

KTRIC wrote: »

Definitely sure, I'll have to have a look for it. I'll post a link later when I have the time if someone doesn't find it before then.

You won't find any specification for the font, because there isn't one.

Run_to_da_hills

Those "Easter Egg" plates used in the 1980ies were cool!!

ciarsd

If you take a look lately, at a lot of VAG cars driving about are sporting these - particularly VAG enthusiasts.
It's just a style thing, and although the font is slightly more straight and bold - they are just as easy to read so dont attract much attention from the Gardai - still illegal however.

Terrontress

I have been thinking of getting them for my car for a long while as it is an Audi.

I think they look really cool. You can even get the stickers for Ingolstadt or for Neckarsulm (where mine was built) if you have an Audi or Wolfsburg, Munich etc.

I love the figures like the 0 with the diagonal line in them.

In saying they look cool though, I mean on German cars. An Almera with German plates would look pretty stupid.

Traumadoc

The government sells them in Australia

http://www.vplates.com.au/


Try this , put in irl, in the blue bit and they offer you the option of county in Irish. Including NI if you have deathwish

http://www.german-number-plates.com/platemaker/

Henry Ford III

What's so wrong with legal plates? I don't get it.

Alun

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Those "Easter Egg" plates used in the 1980ies were cool!!

Those aren't normal plates, but "Zollkennzeichen", or Customs plates ... temporary plates used when you bought a car in Germany for export. They're now called Ausfuhrkennzeichen and are rectangular in shape. Don't know when they changed exactly.

Alun

ciarsd wrote: »

If you take a look lately, at a lot of VAG cars driving about are sporting these - particularly VAG enthusiasts.
It's just a style thing, and although the font is slightly more straight and bold - they are just as easy to read so dont attract much attention from the Gardai - still illegal however.

That's the whole point of the thread, are they actually illegal, since there's no actual mention anywhere in the legislation as to the exact details of the font used?

As long as the letters are of the regulation height and stroke width, and are spaced correctly they're OK. Note though that silly calligraphic or italic fonts wouldn't fit those requirements and would indeed be illegal.

At least the German font is standardised and has been specifically developed to be both human readable and machine readable by cameras, hence the seemingly odd little cutouts in certain letters.

Traumadoc

Henry Ford III wrote: »

What's so wrong with legal plates? I don't get it.

People trying to establish an individual identity, as for many people the car is an expression of the image.
Its like saying whats wrong with school uniforms, kids will always try to individualise them.

Henry Ford III

Fair enough. I still don't get it though. You can personalise your car in many other ways.

Loolaa08

I have them on my car - AFAIK they are legal - certainly the penalty points made it to me in the post ok with a photo of it.

Guards have never commented on them ever.

I think people with German cars like to make small and subtle tweaks here and there - I think they look good and they have IRL so - well I dunno - judge for yourself

http://s275.photobucket.com/albums/jj316/loujordan05/?action=view&current=reg.jpg

Traumadoc

There is no irish for Dublin on it - How will any native only speaking guard know where the original owner lived when he/she bought it- Automtic NCT fail in the past!!

TomMc

Terrontress wrote: »

I have been thinking of getting them for my car for a long while as it is an Audi.

I think they look really cool. You can even get the stickers for Ingolstadt or for Neckarsulm (where mine was built) if you have an Audi or Wolfsburg, Munich etc.

I love the figures like the 0 with the diagonal line in them.

In saying they look cool though, I mean on German cars. An Almera with German plates would look pretty stupid.

But if you think about it, these are number plates for German owned and registered cars (of all makes), not plates which are exclusive to only German manufacturers ones. Subtle difference, but then many a VAG or BMW fanboy would be the type who cannot see the distinction.

G Luxel

Traumadoc wrote: »

Try this , put in irl, in the blue bit and they offer you the option of county in Irish. Including NI if you have deathwish

http://www.german-number-plates.com/platemaker/

yes, this was an interesting site, considering that all 32 counties were listed so i was able to create 08 AN 45 with the county in irish..... but there was a limit on digits, only 3 at max:(