132 Reg

boreder

People who snob over other people being reg plate snobs are also snobs, in my book.

Needing an indication if a car is an import? What? Advanced warning the car is of better spec? Fair enough. Or are we actually listening to Simi and believing every import is written off? They would love you to believe that.

The number plate system is fine as it is, as far as im concerned. Anyone comparing to the UK, saying it's better.... it's exactly the same, except they choose september and march, we choose january and july.

CiniO

boreder wrote: »

The number plate system is fine as it is, as far as im concerned. Anyone comparing to the UK, saying it's better.... it's exactly the same, except they choose september and march, we choose january and july.

It's not the same.
UK number plates consist of 7 characters, while Irish can be between 4 and 9, with plenty of number plates being at 8. Soon we will probably see 10 character plates, and then they will have to amend legislation as that many numbers and letters just won't fit into legal size plates with legal size fonts required at the moment.

Chance of being able to read a reg number on a car which is running away, it way more likely to succeed for UK plate than Irish one, as font is bigger and amount of characters is smaller.
And being able to read the plate quickly from running away car is the main reason we have those plates on the cars.
Otherwise even an extra disc with reg number behind a windscreen would suffice.

MuppetCheck

Really? So CS13 PXR is easier to remember than 131 D 4345? I'd have thought it was similar enough. You'd want to be a complete ****tard not to be able to read number tbh. At least if you got a bit of either system you'd have a good chance of getting the car.

MuppetCheck

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Really? So CS13 PXR is easier to remember than 131 D 4345? I'd have thought it was similar enough. You'd want to be a complete ****tard not to be able to read number tbh. At least if you got a bit of either system you'd have a good chance of getting the car.

Well, CS13 is a Welsh car and 131D is Dublin car, and both were registered in 2013 but what else does it say? The police/gardaí don't really give a fúck about the year it was registered as long as the number plate can be read and remembered.

CiniO

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Really? So CS13 PXR is easier to remember than 131 D 4345? I'd have thought it was similar enough. You'd want to be a complete ****tard not to be able to read number tbh. At least if you got a bit of either system you'd have a good chance of getting the car.

Yes it is easier to read - because it's shorter.
Remembering is another thing, as for people it might be easier to remember number which they are used to.
So for Irish people it will be easier to remember 131-D-4345 and for Welsh people it will be easier to remember CS13 PXR

But without being able to read the plate, there's no point in talking about remembering.


It's like most of numberplates all over the world tent to try to be as short as possible.
Ireland is an exception.
So who is right? Ireland or rest of the world?

CiniO

CiniO wrote: »

Yes it is easier to read - because it's shorter.
Remembering is another thing, as for people it might be easier to remember number which they are used to.
So for Irish people it will be easier to remember 131-D-4345 and for Welsh people it will be easier to remember CS13 PXR

But without being able to read the plate, there's no point in talking about remembering.


It's like most of numberplates all over the world tent to try to be as short as possible.
Ireland is an exception.
So who is right? Ireland or rest of the world?

Ireland.

MuppetCheck

Sylvia Putrid Moth-eaten wrote: »

Ireland.

I'd agree. With letters there's a higher chance they will be mixed up.

galwaytt

CiniO wrote: »

Yes it is easier to read - because it's shorter.
Remembering is another thing, as for people it might be easier to remember number which they are used to.
So for Irish people it will be easier to remember 131-D-4345 and for Welsh peoples it will be easier to remember CS13 PXR

But without being able to read the plate, there's no point in talking about remembering.


It's like most of numberplates all over the world tent to try to be as short as possible.
Ireland is an exception.
So who is right? Ireland or rest of the world?

Sorry Cinio, but you're wrong.

That Dublin number is infinitely easier to remember. That UK plate us a disaster.

Irish system is the best.

galwaytt

galwaytt wrote: »

Sorry Cinio, but you're wrong.

That Dublin number is infinitely easier to remember. That UK plate us a disaster.

Irish system is the best.

Having the year on it is a waste of space, just have the county followed by incrementing letters & numbers.

eg RN-AA123 easy to remember and doesn’t proudly (or shamefully) display the age!

The NI system is like that, except that the region letter pair is obscure and are the second & third letters on the plate.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Having the year on it is a waste of space, just have the county followed by incrementing letters & numbers.

eg RN-AA123 easy to remember and doesn’t proudly (or shamefully) display the age!

The NI system is like that, except that the region letter pair is obscure and are the second & third letters on the plate.

I really struggle to understand how you think a much more random plate is easier to remember than one which follows a very logical pattern from one year to the next.

Using the year as a unique identifier means plates are all the same from one year to the next, except the first number. I don't think you understand how much easier it makes this in quickly remembering a number plate.

The more I read the posts by the few people suggesting its changed and looking at what they propose is the more I'm seeing how much better our current system is than the alternatives.

YbFocus

CiniO wrote: »

Yes it is easier to read - because it's shorter.
Remembering is another thing, as for people it might be easier to remember number which they are used to.
So for Irish people it will be easier to remember 131-D-4345 and for Welsh people it will be easier to remember CS13 PXR

But without being able to read the plate, there's no point in talking about remembering.


It's like most of numberplates all over the world tent to try to be as short as possible.
Ireland is an exception.
So who is right? Ireland or rest of the world?

I'm siding with cinio here, if you forget what you've learned and look at the two from the outside, then the English one is easier I think.

Max Power1

YbFocus wrote: »

I'm siding with cinio here, if you forget what you've learned and look at the two from the outside, then the English one is easier I think.

I dont agree with you. The only advantage that I can see to the british/ni way is that the numbers are generally shorter.
But the irish format is easier to remember because of the simple clear logic used. Year/county/number

rather than letter letter letter number etc

Saying that, I would like to be able to buy custom plates here like they can over in GB

CiniO

The drawbacks of Irish system is waste of space.

Most cars on our roads are up to 15 years old, with really small minority above 20 years old.
So first two numbers which can accomodate 100 combination is pretty much used only for 15 - 20 combinations. Anything other is very rare.
Current 131 and 132 system makes things even worse, as it adds one number with 10 possible combinations to accomodate only 2 combinations.

Then county description - usually two letters - is used to describe 26 counties with tipperary split into TS and TN and Limerick split into L and LK. So 28 combinations if I'm not mistaken. Two letters give 676 combinations, but only 28 are used.

And the third part is the consecutive number which is never reused. They are long because f.e. because D county covers half of countrys population, so most cars are registered there. Also import long numbers make it even worse.
No space for reusage of number plates once car is scrapped or exported.

So here's my idea.

1. As we use only recent 20 years mostly, why don't we substitute two (or current 131 three) numbers with one letter.
A for 2014, B for 2015, C for 2016 .... Z for 2039.
In 2040 we can start from the beginning with A, as most cars from 2014 with A plate will be gone by then. Those which are still around, can stay, and theirs numbers won't be issued to new cars.

Then we can substitute counties with something more equal.
F.e. split country into 100 districts of approx equal population, and issue two digits number to each district.
Surely Dublin area would get nearly half, while rest of the country remaining.
F.e. numbers 00 to 49 would be for Dublin and surroundings, while f.e. 67 and 68 would be for North Mayo and South Mayo, and so on. Goal is to issue each number for area with approx equal population.

And consecutive number - instead of making it a number we can mix it with letters. F.e two letters and one number. That gives 6760 combination. Multiplied by 100 area codes, we get 676,000 combinations for each year, which is more than enough. So far we were never close to registering more cars in one year.


So f.e. plate could look like that.

67-B-8GH

That would mean area code 67 (f.e. North Mayo), B for 2015 years, and 8GH as consecutive number.

We could also get rid of letters in consecutive number, and put number but that would mean having 7 characters plate instead of 6.

F.e.
68-F-3245

That would be South Mayo reg, from 2019, with consecutive number of 3245.


Can anyone tell me that those number would be hard to remember?

How can 67-B-8GH or 68-F-3245 be harder to remember than 09-D-124873?

Even if someone remembered 67-B-8 that gives only 676 combinations to search in for a car.
if you remember only 09-D then you have tens of thousands of combinations to remember.

MuppetCheck

So they read the same as the current system but most people won't be able to decipher them? That's not better than what is currently in place, the only benefit is to hide the year.

CiniO

MuppetCheck wrote: »

So they read the same as the current system but most people won't be able to decipher them?

Once people learn the system they will be able to decipher it easily the same as they do with current one.

That's not better than what is currently in place,

Advantage is way shorter number plates, and that's the most important thing.

the only benefit is to hide the year.

No one is hiding the year. It's still there.

CiniO

CiniO wrote: »

Once people learn the system they will be able to decipher it easily the same as they do with current one.



Advantage is way shorter number plates, and that's the most important thing.


No one is hiding the year. It's still there.

There is absolutely no reason for people to learn a new system when we already have a much more logical and straight forward system in place. I think replacing the year with letters and county's with some random made up area codes is pointless and adds a needless step in deciphering a plate. There would be so many areas you would never know where was where and would really have to remember the number while now its easy to just remember it was a Dublin car or a Galway car etc.

I don't see making the plates shorter as any big deal at all to be honest. I stand by that regardless of your opinion on it I think our current system even with longer numbers is easier to remember than more random number and letter combinations.

CiniO

Sylvia Putrid Moth-eaten wrote: »

There is absolutely no reason for people to learn a new system when we already have a much more logical and straight forward system in place. I think replacing the year with letters and county's with some random made up area codes is pointless and adds a needless step in deciphering a plate. There would be so many areas you would never know where was where and would really have to remember the number while now its easy to just remember it was a Dublin car or a Galway car etc.

I don't see making the plates shorter as any big deal at all to be honest. I stand by that regardless of your opinion on it I think our current system even with longer numbers is easier to remember than more random number and letter combinations.

It would be even easier if we had plates like - 2013-July-Dublin-12345
Wouldn't it be great and so clear to undestand and remember?

jca

CiniO wrote: »

It would be even easier if we had plates like - 2013-July-Dublin-12345
Wouldn't it be great and so clear to undestand and remember?

And huge:eek: How would you fit the plate on a Motorbike?

CiniO

jca wrote: »

And huge:eek: How would you fit the plate on a Motorbike?

How will you fit 142-KE-32734 ?

Saab Ed

Max Power1 wrote: »

Saying that, I would like to be able to buy custom plates here like they can over in GB

The irony being that all the best UK plates were once infact Irish. VIP1 for example was infact a Kilkenny plate. Our reg system was in effect the same as the old UK one up until 1963. Now they changed their system but you were still able to transfer an original Irish reg to a UK car until fairly recently.

YbFocus

Max Power1 wrote: »

Saying that, I would like to be able to buy custom plates here like they can over in GB

MAX PWR

Actually should your name not be max torque?

K.Flyer

Why do people find the need to try and re-invent the wheel.
Pre-1987 registration plates were a combination of numbers and letters and anyone who was bothered could tell county and years from them, but they did cause some confusion with imports.
e.g 1##4 IK is a 1970 Dublin reg IZV 1#3 is an 80s reg. We had a combination of 4 numbers 2 letters or 3 of each. But a 1970s vehicle imported in the 80s would be given an 80s reg. creating the confusion.
So the 87 D ### system came to be for a number of reasons, 1 because the were running out of number / letter options and were getting close to looking like N.I. regs and the other reason was to give more clarification to the year of a cars manufacture no matter when it was imported.
Obviously there would be the odd hiccup as the (then) new system caught up on older imports, but it was not going to be a big deal.
The new 131 system gets around that hiccup, but that is not the reason for its introduction as we all know. But its here now and in theory good for a 100 years, its easy to see the year, early or late, the county and by its digits roughly how far along. Now that its here, can some people please stop going on about other cryptic style systems. The system is clear and simple to read and understand, what more do you need.

/phew, R.O.

CiniO

K.Flyer wrote: »

So the 87 D ### system came to be for a number of reasons, 1 because the were running out of number / letter options and were getting close to looking like N.I. regs and the other reason was to give more clarification to the year of a cars manufacture no matter when it was imported.

Number on reg plate doesn't show the year of vehicle manufacture.
It shows the year of vehicle first registration, which might be completely different than manufacture year.
So in other words number on reg plate, doesn't really tell you how old is the car.

Obviously there would be the odd hiccup as the (then) new system caught up on older imports, but it was not going to be a big deal.
The new 131 system gets around that hiccup, but that is not the reason for its introduction as we all know. But its here now and in theory good for a 100 years, its easy to see the year, early or late, the county and by its digits roughly how far along. Now that its here, can some people please stop going on about other cryptic style systems. The system is clear and simple to read and understand, what more do you need.

/phew, R.O.

We need something which is quick to read, as that's why cars display reg plates.
With big amount of characters, plates become quite useless, as it impossible to read them when car is running away.

K.Flyer

CiniO wrote: »

Number on reg plate doesn't show the year of vehicle manufacture.
It shows the year of vehicle first registration, which might be completely different than manufacture year.
So in other words number on reg plate, doesn't really tell you how old is the car.

Well I have imported and plated several vehicles in my time and they have ALWAYS been given a plate with the year of manufacture.
So you are saying if I bring in a 2005 car I will get a 132 plate?! I think not.
You have it wrong there.

CiniO

CiniO wrote: »

Number on reg plate doesn't show the year of vehicle manufacture.
It shows the year of vehicle first registration, which might be completely different than manufacture year.
So in other words number on reg plate, doesn't really tell you how old is the car.




We need something which is quick to read, as that's why cars display reg plates.
With big amount of characters, plates become quite useless, as it impossible to read them when car is running away.

You must be a very slow reader and very slow and processing what's written on a plate too.

K.Flyer wrote: »

Well I have imported and plated several vehicles in my time and they have ALWAYS been given a plate with the year of manufacture.
So you are saying if I bring in a 2005 car I will get a 132 plate?! I think not.
You have it wrong there.

It's not the year of manufacture its the year it was first registered it its original country. A new car registered in January would have been manufactured the previous year for instance.

CiniO

K.Flyer wrote: »

Well I have imported and plated several vehicles in my time and they have ALWAYS been given a plate with the year of manufacture.
So you are saying if I bring in a 2005 car I will get a 132 plate?! I think not.
You have it wrong there.

We had a thread about it not long time ago.

You will get a plate with number when vehicle was first registered (no matter which country it was).

So if vehicle was manufactures in 2005, but was first sold by dealer in 2007, then it will have 07 plate

YbFocus

Seen a 2007 older type almera the other day, reminds me of this!

K.Flyer

Sylvia Putrid Moth-eaten wrote: »

It's not the year of manufacture its the year it was first registered it its original country. A new car registered in January would have been manufactured the previous year for instance.

This is quite possible and acceptable as obviously stock from late the previous year will roll over to be sold early the following year. But for the most part a date of first registration is a close representation of the year of manufacture.
It was one of the reasons that the new system was brought in.

K.Flyer

CiniO wrote: »

We had a thread about it not long time ago.

You will get a plate with number when vehicle was first registered (no matter which country it was).

So if vehicle was manufactures in 2005, but was first sold by dealer in 2007, then it will have 07 plate

Not saying that it cannot happen that a dealer has a brand new 05 sitting for two years and sells it in 07 and the new owner gets an 07 plate, but I am sure it does not happen very often and in my opinion he should get an 05 plate.

CiniO

K.Flyer wrote: »

Not saying that it cannot happen that a dealer has a brand new 05 sitting for two years and sells it in 07 and the new owner gets an 07 plate, but I am sure it does not happen very often and in my opinion he should get an 05 plate.

I agree.
Number on a plate should represent date of manufacture - not date of first reg.

Bigger problem is that it might be actually hard to find out what real manufacture year is.

I had 02 plate Mondeo, which was first registered on 2nd Januray 2002.
Logbook said it's manufacture date was 2002.
As 1st January is public holiday pretty much all over EU, it would have to be assembled in Belgium, transported to Ireland and sold on one day which was 2nd January. I doubt that was possible.
So this confirms that date of manufacture indicated on logbook can be misleading.

jca

This thread is becoming ridiculous. ..

galwaytt

CiniO wrote: »

How will you fit 142-KE-32734 ?

Simple: you won't.

galwaytt

K.Flyer wrote: »

Not saying that it cannot happen that a dealer has a brand new 05 sitting for two years and sells it in 07 and the new owner gets an 07 plate, but I am sure it does not happen very often and in my opinion he should get an 05 plate.

...you say that because you're only thinking of cars. Many other vehicles need reg plates and are not made-to-order like all cars are.

Motorcycles, scooters, vans, trucks, plant, buses. Most are standard mass produced in bulk, to a common spec, and many lie around for, yes, sometimes years.

We put new bodies on 'new' 4 yr old Isuzu's not long ago...

L-M

If you look at the corner of any of the windows at the very bottom of the text theres a "...x" number. That will give you a fairly accurate yearof manufacture.

galwaytt

galwaytt wrote: »

...you say that because you're only thinking of cars. Many other vehicles need reg plates and are not made-to-order like all cars are.

Motorcycles, scooters, vans, trucks, plant, buses. Most are standard mass produced in bulk, to a common spec, and many lie around for, yes, sometimes years.

We put new bodies on 'new' 4 yr old Isuzu's not long ago...

I remember that during the recession in the 80s, cars were stored in fields, airports and the like, some stayed for as long as four years before the motor trade were able to shift them (at a huge discount).