Europlates: The Plates Under Your Plates
We spend almost two thousand pesos for these plates just to be covered.
What purpose do these plates serve on our cars?
I first saw these plates on a Hyundai Elantra, way back in 1998, I was on my second year in high school. And then more and more cars are having them under their Philippine license plates. Then my curiosity about these plates became unstoppable.
Many questions in my mind rose:
�ano kaya yung nasa ilalim na �yon?�
�ano kayang silbi �non?�
�bakit kaya tinatakpan lang? sayang naman.�
Then someone informed me that they are called �EUROPLATES�.
Oooohh� yuroplates. Anong silbi �non?
Wala. Para magmukhang galing sa Germany ang auto mo. At para na rin maiba ka sa karamihan ng mga kotse.
E niloloko lang pala �nung may-ari sarili n�ya e! Hyundai tapos meron ganung plaka� alam naman nating Koreano mga Hyundai.
Ayos lang �yun! Maganda naman tingnan, �di ba?
I renounced this automotive fad (partly), until I saw a group of cars cruising our school grounds. All of them are, as I saw them, very clean, no window tints, sunroofs open (during midday), riding on 17s and 18s, driving lamps turned on, and all of them have no Philippine license plates, just their so-called europlates.
At first I didn�t like their style (or maybe I just envy them because I don�t have a car), but now I also end up like them�and to the most of us� who have plates under our plates.
The EUROPLATE
This is a little information I would like to share about Europlates, particularly German license plates (eto lang ata kasi meron dito sa atin).
*Nasanay na tayo na Europlate ang tawag sa plaka ng Germany, pero applicable din ata 'to sa plaka ng ibang bansang kasapi sa European Union (Austria, Great Britain, Norway, etc..)
PLATE TYPES (that we have here in the Philippines)
There are four types of plates that we put under our plates.
STANDARD EUROPLATE (normal series)
The first one is the most common here in the Philippines. This is the one having the blue band on the left side, with 12 stars representing the first twelve member countries of the European Union, and a white �D� for Deutschland. Authentic plates have a "DIN" stamp at the middle of the twelve stars, as well as watermarks all around. They are reflectorized as per EEC regulations. These plates are issued on all vehicles with regular registration.
The first block of letters stand for the county where the car was registered. It is called the county code. The next letters and numbers (letters first before numbers) come in randomly.
EXPORT/ZOLL/TOURIST PLATE
Another type is the export/zoll/tourist plate. This one is the plate having a red band on the right side with little numbers appearing like a fraction, but it is actually a date stating on how long the plate should be on the vehicle (DD-MM-YY format). These plates are issued on vehicles that would run on roads outside Germany.
The first block is also the county code where the plate was issued. The next block of letters and numbers come in randomly (numbers first then a single letter).
OLD STYLE WITH YY-MM DATE FORMAT
PROVISIONAL PLATES
These are plates with a yellow band on the right side with little numbers once again indicating how long the plate should be on the vehicle. These plates are issued on vehicles that would be transferred to another county (e.g. car is purchased in Munich but the owner wants to have his car registered in Hessen). The plate stays with the vehicle for a maximum of four days, and after that, the plates are just thrown away (tapos sasaluhin naman nating mga Pinoy at bibilhin ng ubod ng mahal - mas astig daw kasi bihira yung may "yellow" europlates).
The first block is also the county code where the plate was issued. The next block of numbers come in randomly, always preceded by �04� for �dealer series � single use�. Car dealers issue these plates to new cars but they no longer take them back unlike the trade plates.
SEASONAL PLATES
These are plates that look similar to the normal series plates but they have little numbers on the right side like the provisional and trade plates. People save on taxes by registering their vehicles only in summer. These plates are usually found on campers and motorcycles. The numbers indicate when will the plates expire. Once expired, the vehicle can only run in private areas and should not be found running around public roads. The following year, these plates will once again be valid on the months represented by the numbers.
THIS ONE IS VALID FROM MARCH UP TO NOVEMBER ONLY.
THIS ONE, FROM MAY TO OCTOBER.
OTHER PLATE FORMATS (plates that we don�t have here in the Philippines)
TRADE PLATES
They look like standard europlates, but they are presented with red lettering on a white background. The first block is the county code, but the succeeding numbers are always preceded by �06� for �permanent dealer series�. There are also plates that have "07" instead of "06". They are issued permanently for historic cars and they can be transferred on any historic car that an owner may wish. Car dealers use these plates for various cars they release, for the purpose of having an identification of that car. Once the car is issued with the standard europlates, the dealer takes them back, or if the owner would like to keep it, he would pay for the complete registration of that particular plate.
TAX-FREE PLATES
There are special vehicles that are not required to pay road tax, like tractors, vehicles from special organizations (like Red Cross), and trailers (the tax was only paid for the towing vehicle). They are issued with plates similar to normal series plates, but they are presented with green lettering on white background, still with the blue band on the left side.
It has been brought to my attention recently that we also have this kind of plate in the Philippines. Bihira kasi ako lumabas ng bahay hehe..
OFFICIAL PLATES
These are plates issued on government vehicles. They look like the normal series plates, but right after the county code, no letter follows; just numbers.
HISTORICAL PLATES
These are plates issued on vehicles that are older than 30 years and are mainly in original condition. They have the same format as the normal series plates (county code + random alpha-numerics) but after the random alpha-numerics, there is an additional �H� for �historisch�.
PLATE SEALS
COUNTY SEALS
These are self-adhesive seals 4.5cm in diameter. Before plates with the euro-band, there were some thick plastic seals that snap on holders on the plate itself, as well as thin self-adhesive seals for use in the old black-and-white series. They indicate the state and county where the car was registered, showing the state coat-of-arms where the county is within. The old decals were plain black-and-white. The new euro-series are now in full colour, still showing the state coat-of-arms with the county name below it.
There are special county seals used for export and provisional plates. Red-coloured versions of the county seals are used for export plates, and blue-coloured ones for the provisional plates.
TECHNICAL INSPECTION (T�V) and EXHAUST FUMES TEST (ASU) SEALS
TECHNICAL INSPECTION (T�V)
These are seals put on the rear plate indicating that the car passed the technical inspection (more like the road-worthiness test on our PUVs). The first technical inspection on a new car is after three years. After that, the owner should return after two years for the next test. The seal indicates when the next inspection will be. It shows the month and year of the next inspection, which is turned on top. For example, the seal below indicates that the next test will be on September 1997. The same goes for the ASU.
EXHAUST FUMES TEST (ASU)
These are seals put on the front plate indicating that the car passed the exhaust fumes test. The first exhaust fumes test on a new car is also after three years. The next test is scheduled after two years, same as the technical inspection.
T�V and ASU tests are usually done together and these seals always have the same colour. In that way, authorities will be able to know right away if a car hasn�t passed the inspections yet just by checking the seal colours.
These seals are not used in export, trade, and provisional plates.
PLATE SIZES
The plates come in different sizes, the standard one with 52.5cm x 13cm dimensions. There are other sizes which are issued on certain types of vehicles (Pajeros for example, are issued with square-type, two-line plates for the rear; American cars have smaller plate mounts so they are issued with special-sized plates).
PLATE FONT DESIGN
Plates with the new font design were only released after 1990. Its special and eye-catching design made Europlates world-famous. Even our new vanity plates come with this font.
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 � � �
PLATE HOLDERS/FRAMES
These are available separately. They not only secure the plates in place, but they also provide a feature that prevents plate swapping and theft. Without these kind of holders, the plates are drilled with holes and that exposes the screw heads. But with these, the screw heads are hidden under the plates, adding a nice security feature. Take a closer look at the second picture and you'll notice that there are no screws exposed, thanks to these plate holders.
But why bother pay attention to all these details?? Tatakpan lang naman natin, 'diba? :)
