Malaysia's Most Expensive Licence Plates

The recent controversy surrounding the proposed auction of 'Patriot' licence plates where the number PATRIOT 1 is rumoured to have starting bids from RM1 million highlights the high value many Malaysians still hold for personalized number plates.

The scandal surfaced when Yayasan Patriot Negara Malaysia (YPN) was reported to be planning an auction of personalized 'Patriot' number plates from Patriot 1 to Patriot 9999 that could generate as much as RM10 million in earnings.

This provoked allegations of abuse of power over how the NGO got hold of such a lucrative contract. Perak DAP has since lodged a report with MACC and the JPJ has issued a statement in early July that there was nothing irregular about special number plate programmes which are not new.

This is not the first time pricey number plates has caught the headlines.

Last October, MyWatch chairman R. Sri Sanjeevan came under scrutiny from the media when he reportedly paid over RM340,000 for two coveted BMV number plates. Questions were asked how a chairman of an anti-crime NGO could afford to come up with RM174,776 and RM165,000 for BMW8 and BMW11 plates respectively.

While the upcoming YPN auction could see new records being set, the record of the highest price paid in a vehicle number plate auction in Malaysia is held by Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, whose bid of RM520,000 in 2012 helped him top 9,999 others in the auction for the car number plate WWW 1.

Following is a list of some of the most expensive number plates in Malaysia on record, according to information sourced from the JPJ website and compiled by tallypress.com in June 2015.

WWW 1 -      RM 520,000.00 (Sultan of Johor)
WWW 3 -      RM 360,000.00
WWW 9 -      RM350,000
MCA 1 -        RM 300,100.00
RM 8 -           RM 297,000.00
WWW 5 -      RM 220,000
TAY 1 -         RM 242,000.00
BMW 5 -       RM 188,100.00
BMW 8 -       RM 174,776.00
BMW 11 -     RM 165,000.00
WWW 888 - RM 165,000.00
WWW 99 -   RM 145,000
BMW 3 -       RM 132,000.00
WWW 333 - RM 110,036
BMW 6 -RM 97,777.00 (Dato' Lee Chong Wei)