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Some people have their amateur radio license call sign as their license plate number. It takes someone about 30 seconds to go online and get their home address from the ham radio sites.
Displaying a plate while driving gives someone usually a very quick window to be able to write it down if that's what they wanted to do. It also doesn't give them any other information. If you were posting a car on CL for example, and you posted your car with plate, then someone would also see that your listing is for Dallas, and the map coordinates that you can enter narrow down where that car and person can be found, even if the actual address isn't listed.
Driving by a car, in my case, it may have TX plates, but without anything else to go on, I could store that car in a completely different city than where I am spotting driving.
That being said, it's not a huge concern of mine, but I take my family's privacy seriously, so why give someone out there any more information than they need about me?
Wouldn't it be easier just to drive down Anystreet USA and see cars parked in driveway. BAM you have car, license plate, and physical location of owner. Whats the difference between this and an online listing?
If everyone behaved like you we would hide our cars in our garages every night for fear of someone driving by and taking the license plate number (since they have your address already and your name from public records) and doing some nefarious things with it.
Are you that paranoid. Heck, I give out my VIN on my listings. No reason not to.
Even if everything you say is correct, why would you WANT to show your plate? I don't bother to edit the pictures. I just don't take pictures with the license plate in them! How hard is that?
Interesting topic. I've always wondered why people blur plates in photos. I still don't see why it matters. I've only sold a few vehicles online over the years but I couldn't tell you if the plate was visible in the picture or not.
Even if everything you say is correct, why would you WANT to show your plate? I don't bother to edit the pictures. I just don't take pictures with the license plate in them! How hard is that?
So you don't take pictures of the front or rear? Just side profiles
The trend now is to use a fingertip to block the license plate in the pictures. Never understand why, it's not like the seller was some kind of a celebrity. I display my license plate normally on my ads; never have any problem stemming from it.
Wouldn't it be easier just to drive down Anystreet USA and see cars parked in driveway. BAM you have car, license plate, and physical location of owner. Whats the difference between this and an online listing?
If everyone behaved like you we would hide our cars in our garages every night for fear of someone driving by and taking the license plate number (since they have your address already and your name from public records) and doing some nefarious things with it.
Are you that paranoid. Heck, I give out my VIN on my listings. No reason not to.
Um, I DO "hide" my cars in my garage at night. It's a garage, and it has a door on it that closes. So do most people.
As far as driving down any street, do you just happen to know what street you can drive down to find a classic or high end car sitting in someone's garage, with the garage door closed? No, you don't.
Giving the VIN out has nothing to do with your personal information. That will only pull information about the car itself, not the owner or owners address. I give the VIN out as well. That lets anyone know anything they want about the car... except for where it's located and who I am.
I don't have a front plate, and my rear plate is a custom one, I don't mind it being seen by the public, but I'm not going to post a pic online of it for anyone to find.
Um, I DO "hide" my cars in my garage at night. It's a garage, and it has a door on it that closes. So do most people.
As far as driving down any street, do you just happen to know what street you can drive down to find a classic or high end car sitting in someone's garage, with the garage door closed? No, you don't.
Giving the VIN out has nothing to do with your personal information. That will only pull information about the car itself, not the owner or owners address. I give the VIN out as well. That lets anyone know anything they want about the car... except for where it's located and who I am.
I don't have a front plate, and my rear plate is a custom one, I don't mind it being seen by the public, but I'm not going to post a pic online of it for anyone to find.
I guess you forgot to read my part regarding high end exotics vs run of the mill Hondas and Fords and Toyotas.
I certainly understand people looking out for a Viper or Corvette just to steal the car. But no one is going to scour online ads looking for a 2010 Camry to steal. They can easily accomplish that by driving down any street in america.
If I'm selling a 2000 Honda Civic, I'm not going to worry about covering up the license plate.
I guess you forgot to read my part regarding high end exotics vs run of the mill Hondas and Fords and Toyotas.
I certainly understand people looking out for a Viper or Corvette just to steal the car. But no one is going to scour online ads looking for a 2010 Camry to steal. They can easily accomplish that by driving down any street in america.
If I'm selling a 2000 Honda Civic, I'm not going to worry about covering up the license plate.
You DO know that the most stolen vehicles aren't high end vehicles right?
"
Honda Accord, 53,995
Honda Civic, 45,001
Chevrolet Silverado, 27,809
Ford F-150, 26,494
Toyota Camry, 14,420
Dodge/Ram Pickup, 11,347
Dodge Caravan, 10,911
Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee, 9,272
Toyota Corolla, 9,010
Nissan Altima, 8,892
And here’s the top 10 list of new vehicles (from the 2013 model year) stolen last year, also based on NICB data:
Look at that list. Most of those vehicles don't really stand out. Why NOT take an extra two seconds and block off a piece of information that could help thieves locate a car? On the highway you're in it. Thieves are looking for the easiest route. If your car is for sale, it could be sitting somewhere beside the road for sale. They may take that opportunity to ride around looking for it and if they find it, it's gone.
Not to mention, they can also scour the CL ads to find license plates to steal your personal information.
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