What is the Difference Between Custom License Plates & Vanity Plates?

On average, cars and houses are people's most valuable assets. It is not uncommon to express yourself through them. However, most vehicles are not as customizable as homes. They don't have yards to landscape or walls to paint.

Vehicle owners want to avoid anything that might devalue or permanently damage the car. So, one of the safest places they can personalize their assets is via the license plate. This aspect can be altered in two significant ways: focusing on the design or the content.

What Are Custom License Plates?

There isn't a hard line for what constitutes a custom license plate. For some people, custom plates include any license plate that was deliberately changed from the Department of Motor Vehicle's issued version.

However, there is a general consensus in the realm of "I know it when I see it" when it comes to differentiating between custom and vanity plates.

A custom plate focuses on changing the plate's design elements, such as background color, unique graphics, or declarative symbolism. This method does not alter the content, font, or readability of the plate number, meaning a custom plate won't affect vehicle identification processes.

Specialty plates are also manufactured to represent a cause or personal belief. For example, several states, like Texas and California, offer conservation-themed plates with state slogans and depictions of local flora and fauna.

Other Examples of Custom License Plates

Many organizations create custom license plates. Individuals use them to show their pride or status or potentially avoid a license plate lookup. For businesses, custom plates are an efficient product that serves marketing processes and encourages client loyalty.

While you can find a custom license plate for just about anything, the most common categories include:

• Charity plates
• Occupation-related plates
• Military branch plates
• University alum plates
• Sports team plates

What Are Vanity Plates?

The famous license plates we see in movies like Ghostbusters "ECTO-1" are clearly not government-issued plate numbers. Vehicle owners separately apply for these personalized plates. The process is different from getting a custom plate, as it is done through the state's DMV rather than a third-party institution.

In many ways, vanity plates allow for more creativity and expression than their custom counterparts. The latter is restricted by the distributing organization's (sports teams, charities, military, etc.) design choices.

However, vanity plates allow owners to carefully craft and submit precisely what they want to appear on their plates. There are some restrictions against length or offensive speech, but owners can express most ideas within those confines.

Not all specially requested plates are considered vanity. There are practical reasons to change your license plate number. Changing a license plate from "045682" to "068714" is different from spelling out a word with meaning. Many people try to maintain the same plate numbers when replacing vehicles to avoid updating other institutions about a new license plate.

What Can I Not Put on a Vanity Plate?

States have varying rules and restrictions on what a license plate can say. Many states maintain different plate number formats for different vehicle types, such as passenger cars, trucks, motorcycles, and trailers. Even vanity plates must comply with these formatting requirements.

Only a small number of acceptable symbols are also available. In most states, symbols can include periods, dashes, and blank spaces. However, further additions like hearts, state silhouettes, and stars are only available in certain areas.

Additionally, all states have some language prohibiting hate speech or vulgarity on license plates. However, what breaches these rules depends on the location. Some areas prohibit suggestive number combinations such as "69", while others have no problem with it.

Other causes of a denied vanity plate application include:

• References to gangs or illegal activity
• Threats to other drivers
• Positive references to DUI-related activity
• Difficult to read patterns

Pros and Cons Between Custom and Vanity Plates

At the end of the day, it comes down to what you want out of the change. Vehicle owners who want a more interesting or amusing way to express themselves to other drivers should choose a vanity plate. Brad Pitt has the plate number "B PITT", so everybody knows who is driving.

If you want to express an opinion or support an idea, choose a custom plate. These plates reveal more about your personality and interests. They also financially support the manufacturing institution through sales.

Also, remember that you are not restricted to one option. Custom and vanity plates are not mutually exclusive, and most associated services bundle them together. This means you can change the plate's aesthetic and number at the same time.

How you change your license plate is up to your personal tastes. Custom plates are generally more convenient, while vanity plates provide more control over the end result.

Custom Plate Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Access to various colors and physical design changes
• Directly representative of organizations and businesses
• More easily seen and understood on the road
• Up-front payment and no recurring fee
• No interaction with the state's DMV

Cons:

• Third-party services cannot alter the plate number
• Limited design choices dependent on the issuing organization

Vanity Plate Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Not restricted by the available manufacturers
• Increased customizability to express ideas
• More memorable plate number
• Conversation starter

Cons:

• Required to update relevant places (landlords, toll tag services, etc.)
• Applications must go through the state's DMV
• Yearly renewal fee to maintain the plater number
• Various restrictions based on content, vehicle type, and location

Which Should You Choose?

Custom and vanity plates offer unique ways for vehicle owners to communicate their ideas, humor, and beliefs. They can show support for a sports team or political ideology or make other drivers chuckle at a long red light.

Custom plates focus on the plate's aesthetics, distinguishing a vehicle through specialty backgrounds, colors, and graphics. Vanity plates grant more leeway to the message by allowing owners to choose unique letter and number combinations.

Each method has pros and cons, such as dealing with a nightmare DMV or waiting weeks for a new plate to arrive. In most cases, altering a license plate isn't a necessary process, but it is an important real estate for self-expression on a beloved asset.