enodreven Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Hi, I was wondering if it would be legal to use a set of number plates that were made in the country you were visiting e.g. France or Spain, my reason for asking is that using UK plates on your vehicle makes it very conspicuous especially in car parks etc. and there have been cases of theft taking place from vehicle that have been identified by this method Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 The quick answer is no, as is the long answer come to that. You'd need to actually register the vehicle in the EU country of choice to bear their plates. There may be some wrinkle for government and military vehicles given their vulnerability, but for your average Joe, 'fraid not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enodreven Posted June 27, 2007 Author Share Posted June 27, 2007 Hi, Sorry I don't think I made myself very clear, what I am asking is could you get your own registration number made up in plates made in the country you are visiting, as the plates themselves in both France and Spain carry a similar?? sequence of letters and numbers but their plates are a completely different design and may help to confuse the would be thief ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A W Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Hello,I think I now understand the logic behind this posting. It may just about be possible to have a set of plates made but I wouldn't like to put money on it.You would at least need the V5 and a passport. As far as a deterent to crime is concerned in my view a plate made abroad but still bearing the UK number would have absolutely no effect. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enodreven Posted June 27, 2007 Author Share Posted June 27, 2007 Hi, We always carry our V5 and passports when in Europe, A W - 2007-06-27 7:02 PM Hello,I think I now understand the logic behind this posting. It may just about be possible to have a set of plates made but I wouldn't like to put money on it.You would at least need the V5 and a passport. As far as a deterent to crime is concerned in my view a plate made abroad but still bearing the UK number would have absolutely no effect. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred grant Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 my god eno, afraid to show your nationality, whatever next. Alices and me's motorhome is covered in union flags. we like to show em waps ow hard we is. if we gert a bit of a whiff of toerags we leys our bulldog off the leesh. sends em scuttlin for cover it does. barkin mad fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enodreven Posted June 27, 2007 Author Share Posted June 27, 2007 Good luck Fred, perhaps i'm becoming a coward in my old age ? LoL Sorry I Have become a Coward ?? LoL fred grant - 2007-06-27 7:28 PM my god eno, afraid to show your nationality, whatever next. Alices and me's motorhome is covered in union flags. we like to show em waps ow hard we is. if we gert a bit of a whiff of toerags we leys our bulldog off the leesh. sends em scuttlin for cover it does. barkin mad fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peejay Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 I can see your point, when you're abroad it can be difficult to 'blend in' with the locals with UK plates displayed. When you have the blinds drawn it's not apparent that you have a RHD Brit vehcile but the plates do give it away (as does driving an Autosleeper or other British makes that aren't exported *-)) Not sure on the legalities but in France i'm sure it would be easy to get a set of plates made up, I stand to be corrected here but I don't think log books etc need to be shown here for plates to be made up like in the UK. Theres a stall at Auchan Calais that could do it for you. pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 I thought JUst a thought that you had to show your log book to prove that you owned the vehicle or had correctly come by it . Really so as not to be in the ringing game or stolen cars ? just a thought 8-) Brian you could always ask Sylvia& Martin I'm sure that they could give you some sound advice..But just another thought if in France their letters are tiny so even if you got yours done tiny it would still stand out as there's are mostly numbers as apposed to ours which are starting with letters .. FN55 FOK fn55fok ???? stands out to me? *-)I don't know about spain have not been for years but the thing I know I look for is the last two numbers then I roughly know what part of France as ours as said ends in letters I'm not sure they would be fooled ?????Just a thought !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 But surely your GB sticker will give the game away? D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peejay Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 michele - 2007-06-27 8:29 PM I thought JUst a thought that you had to show your log book to prove that you owned the vehicle or had correctly come by it . Really so as not to be in the ringing game or stolen cars ? just a thought 8-) FN55 FOK fn55fok ???? stands out to me? *-)I don't know about spain have not been for years but the thing I know I look for is the last two numbers then I roughly know what part of France as ours as said ends in letters I'm not sure they would be fooled ?????Just a thought !!!! Michele; Thats a requirement for UK, as I said, I stand corrected but I don't think its needed for the continent. If you had plates made up in France for instance, the fonts are different to UK so might not be as distinguisable as UK ones. davenewell@home - 2007-06-27 8:39 PM But surely your GB sticker will give the game away? D. Dave, A GB sticker is not req'd as long as you have the blue UK or GB logo at the end of your plate and from a distance this is not easily distinguishable from say a FR or E on a no plate, especially if the plate has a theme/colour/font similar to the country you are in. pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enodreven Posted June 27, 2007 Author Share Posted June 27, 2007 Hi, Dave That I suppose was one of the points on legality, my number plate at the moment has the GB on the end and I wonder if i really need it or probably more importantly what would be the penalty for not having while in France or Spain and would that outway the reduced risk ? davenewell@home - 2007-06-27 8:39 PM But surely your GB sticker will give the game away? D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 peejay , I stand corrected .....Brian sorry to put a dampner on your brilliant idea BUT i'm gonna anyway I still don't think it will work because Frenchies look at the last two digits so if I was knicking one from calais I would know lets say it was a 61 its easier to knick from the one thats not from your region say 79 soon as they spot yours they will know its english because it ends in letters.....maybe its me plus it has no FR Brian , i know i'm crap at explaining but you don't want to do that turn it round the other way .If a french man took away his FR in London how in the hell would daft people like me know where it was from ????I think slightly illegal not worth it what happens if you need the gendame oh Copper Up to you probably a SOTBO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Sorry enodreven, I misinterpreted your original query. In any event, I'm afraid I'm with michele, I don't suppose the locals would in any way be fooled, even if this were legal. The various Dutch, German, Italian plates that are often seen in France / Spain are more similar in typeface and sequence to French / Spanish ones than are ours, but still stand out as being foreign. Also, as stated, you have to legally display nationality in some form so you'd still be easily identifiable to those who sought to identify you. It's probably not worth the hassle of risking running into over-zealous on-the-spot law enforcers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 Then of course, we are assuming that a motorhome from another country is less likely to be broken into/stolen than a UK one. This is a supposition that I doubt is true simply because many of the posters who have previously said they've been done also said there were campers from other countries done as well. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A W Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 In France you need a Carte Griste to have plates made which is the equivilant to a V5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 Some years ago hire cars in the USA displayed that they were on hire, and anyone getting lost out of main citys were sitting ducks to robbers and gangs, I believe the hire companys have now corrected this problem there. It is asummed that anyone trying to rob a British motorhome in say France or Spain are simple idiots, who cant count up to 5, nothing can be further from the truth, a foriegn vehicle stands out like a sore thumb to these orgainised gangs. It is also as mentioned a legal requirement to display a nationality plate. You just have to park in a safe a place as much as possible with as much security equipement you feel happy with. chas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enodreven Posted June 28, 2007 Author Share Posted June 28, 2007 Hi, Peejay Next time I'm over there i will have a look in Auchan Calais and get a pair made up if they aren't to expensive just to get a feel for exactly what they will look like ? Brian peejay - 2007-06-27 8:24 PM I can see your point, when you're abroad it can be difficult to 'blend in' with the locals with UK plates displayed. When you have the blinds drawn it's not apparent that you have a RHD Brit vehcile but the plates do give it away (as does driving an Autosleeper or other British makes that aren't exported *-)) Not sure on the legalities but in France i'm sure it would be easy to get a set of plates made up, I stand to be corrected here but I don't think log books etc need to be shown here for plates to be made up like in the UK. Theres a stall at Auchan Calais that could do it for you. pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 But surely the GB or F on the number plate blue section is to identify the country of registration, just like the old GB sticker. Therefore if you have plates made in France with a UK reg No but bearing the F for france they would be just as illegal as having wrong plates? Nobody seems to have responded to my point about UK 'vans being a preferred target (or not) though. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 davenewell@home - 2007-06-28 2:33 PM But surely the GB or F on the number plate blue section is to identify the country of registration, just like the old GB sticker. Therefore if you have plates made in France with a UK reg No but bearing the F for france they would be just as illegal as having wrong plates? Nobody seems to have responded to my point about UK 'vans being a preferred target (or not) though. D. Each Department in France has its own number as the last bit of the number plate, the first section is a number either 2/3/4 digits then 2/3 letters then the Department number. When you take your registration document either UK or French you pick your own plates some have F on them others have the EEC symbol, its up to you which you pick. I can't remember how much ours were, I think about 20 pounds for the two fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 Randonneur - 2007-06-28 2:08 PM davenewell@home - 2007-06-28 2:33 PM But surely the GB or F on the number plate blue section is to identify the country of registration, just like the old GB sticker. Therefore if you have plates made in France with a UK reg No but bearing the F for france they would be just as illegal as having wrong plates? Nobody seems to have responded to my point about UK 'vans being a preferred target (or not) though. D. Each Department in France has its own number as the last bit of the number plate, the first section is a number either 2/3/4 digits then 2/3 letters then the Department number. When you take your registration document either UK or French you pick your own plates some have F on them others have the EEC symbol, its up to you which you pick. I can't remember how much ours were, I think about 20 pounds for the two fitted. Yes but is it legal to have plates bearing the French "F" on a UK registered 'van? I was under the impression you were supposed to display something that identified your country of registration, i.e. the old GB sticker or the newer plates with "GB" "F" "E" or whatever the correct letter(s) for your country. Are UK registered 'vans a more likely target than 'vans registered in any other country? D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 davenewell@home - 2007-06-28 2:33 PM Nobody seems to have responded to my point about UK 'vans being a preferred target (or not) though. D. I will Dave. Taken today from a Spanish motorhome forum on the subject of security, which shows that Spanish motorhomers are just as wary as other nationalities:- 'Por seguridad, en todo el arco mediterraneo no pernoctar nunca en las autopistas. En Francia y tambien en España siempre busco sitio en los pueblos pequeños. Hasta hora nunca he tenedo problemas'. 'For security along the mediterranean coast, never stay overnight on the motorways. In France and also Spain always look for somewhere to park in small towns. Up to now I have never had problems'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 Thanks Derek, I was beginning to think i tryped that bit in invisible ink! 8-) So, from what you say I would guess that having number plates that suggest you are from the country you are in will not give you any greater security than your normal standard plates rendering this a completely pointless and possibly illegal exercise. Does anyone agree or disagree with this? D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 Dave , I saw it but I wouldn't have a clue sorry for ignoring you ;-) Oops I agree and Brian I fear would be wasting his money also still ,each to his own and who am I to say don't do it ..So its 118118 I got your number :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigal55 Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 davenewell@home - 2007-06-28 6:48 PM Thanks Derek, I was beginning to think i tryped that bit in invisible ink! 8-) So, from what you say I would guess that having number plates that suggest you are from the country you are in will not give you any greater security than your normal standard plates rendering this a completely pointless and possibly illegal exercise. Does anyone agree or disagree with this? D.i agree most thieves are opportunists who look for the easiest victim, my son works for BAE systems (bungs accepted) iv,e asked him if can get any surplus anti-personnel mines, just enough to scatter round the door,will this be legal in france/spain, mace is, orders accepted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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