I Installed A Ridiculous Vanity Plate On My New Jeep And The Internet Is (Maybe Rightfully) Not Thrilled

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I recently bought a second-gen Jeep Cherokee (not that anyone really calls it that; it’s the XJ!), something I’ve wanted since I was in middle school. That’s my new-to-me machine below, and as you can see, it’s a fine example of “the SUV that changed the world.”  I haven’t driven it much, as I’ve been awaiting a new crankshaft position sensor from Mopar. Despite that setback, because I am an insane person, I immediately ordered vanity plates. I couldn’t help myself. My personalized plates finally arrived last Monday, and boy was I thrilled. The Internet? Not so much. Here’s a look at my $5000 Jeep and also at a little fun that I had with my new plates.

[Note: Welcome back Rob Spiteri, our 20 year-old occasional weekend writer, who took a bit of a break due to a health scare. He’s all better now! Or maybe not; you may read this post and decide he’s far from well. -DT]

I’ve been designated the license-plate wizard here at The Autopian (I gave myself the title) due to my obsession with plates, or “tags” as you Southerners call them. My coworker, everyone’s favorite salvage-yard scavenger Stephen Walter Gossin, nicknamed me “Plates” and hasn’t called me anything else since, which is awesome.

Anyway, ready for the big reveal? Here it is:

Yj Plate Gasp

I just know you’re scratching your head right now, “Wait a second…” Perhaps you’re thinking, “But David has a YJ Wrangler, and Rob you just said you have an XJ–did you switch cars?” No, but I like that idea.

[Editor’s Note: I’ve consulted with the Jeep oracle, and can now officially designate these tags as 100% blasphemy. -DT]. 

Why Y?

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Why does my plate say “YJ” and not “XJ,” like the model it is? Perhaps it was a DMV clerical error. I mean, X and Y are only four inches away from each other on a QWERTY keyboard, right? Alas, no. Did I transfer this plate from a YJ to my new-to-me XJ? Incorrect. “Ah ha!” you say aloud, startling your cat. “Perhaps the Y and J are not even Jeep-related, but are the initials of a beloved someone–maybe an uncle Yves Jolicoeur, of whom you have fond memories from childhood visits to Quebec!” Also a no, but Uncle Yves sounds wonderful. I chose this plate. That’s right, I spent my hard-earned moola on expensive, wrong vanity plates simply to entertain the Jeep community. And not even one day after having my YJ plates did I receive, uh, spirited reactions.

[Editor’s Note: That’s my YJ above. If I were a huge YJ nut (and I’m not not one, but it’s not my true love like the XJ and ZJ) then maybe I’d be a little disappointed that I couldn’t get a YJ plate just so Rob can troll, but it’s all fair. -DT]. 

The XJ Community Reacts

My first devious plan in assessing the reactions of the interweb’s 4×4 aficionados was to enter the wonderful world of Jeep Facebook Groups. The Jeep groups of Zuckerland are full of people posting their 7-bar-grille’d shitboxes for triple what they’re worth because a pristine example of the same model sold for ridiculous dollars on Bring a Trailer. “Find another!” they say. My man, I can find ten.

As soon as I had the plates mounted, I sent a picture of them to my friend Julian, a fellow Jeep nut and admin of the “XJ Preservation Society” Cherokee Facebook group. I’m sure I made him laugh, but when I shared my new plates in the group, the other admins of the group had other opinions.

I attempted to post this:

New Yj Fb

The post was declined almost instantly. Soon after, Julian sent me a screenshot of the admin’s reactions:

Yep Big Time 2

My apologies admins of XJ Preservation Society, I was merely joking–not trolling at all, let alone big-time trolling. Sorry, XJ people. [Ed note: You were 100% trolling. Why are we even publishing this post? – MH]

Meanwhile, In The YJ Community…

Posting in the XJ group was a failure, so naturally I took the action to the YJ group–which is public, to my advantage.

I copy-pasted the same post into the YJ group and received quite a mixed bag of reactions from the members, not only in terms of positive versus negative, but intensity. Keith here was really unhappy with me. I mean, for real:

For Real 2

Connie used her considerable observational skills to point out that my “YJ” was not, in fact, a YJ:

No Yj 2

Man, I bet Connie can absolutely crush a Where’s Waldo book.

Derek gave me a fantastic tip on how to remedy the plate’s offending “Y.”

Sharpie Fix 2

I’m sure the Sharpie correction would be totally convincing, and I definitely wouldn’t get booked for felony license plate obstruction.

Allena–who I’m sure is just a delightful pleasure in real life–was absolutely not having my shenanigans:

Man You Suck 2

I’m always working on myself, but come on, Allena–harsh.

The action wasn’t all negative, of course. Many got a kick out of my plates, as the sea of “Haha” Facebook reactions and many of laughing-crying-face Emoji comments prove:

397

Y Though

I’m keeping the yj plates. These plates are staying on as long as my Jeep is running, which might be a long, long, long time. No disrespect fellow Jeep owners, they’re just for “if you know, you know” laughs and I hope those who do know will get a kick out of them–though I’m sure wherever I meet other 4X4 fans, a few will enjoy informing me that I’m akshully driving an XJ. Fine by me! If these plates help me meet more Jeep drivers and car people, that’s a win!

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143 thoughts on “I Installed A Ridiculous Vanity Plate On My New Jeep And The Internet Is (Maybe Rightfully) Not Thrilled

  1. People are humorless and not too bright. Sadly, the quite obvious vanity plate of GDDYUP on a Mustang confuses the hell out of people and a few strangers have even accused me of slipping a profanity by the BMV.

  2. If Jeep Overlord David Tracy is not demanding you repent for this blasphemy, then I think you’re in the clear.

    Always nice to see some too-serious-car-owner-guys lose it over absolutely nothing.

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