David Phillips

We can't live without our wheels

We can't live without it, even though we are choosing to be less mobile and using it less often.

Of all the modern luxuries across Facebook Nation today, the automobile is still the least dispensable -- even in times of hardship and economizing.

The Pew Research Center recently polled 1,003 Americans about modern conveniences and it turns out 88 percent of us can't live without our wheels.

It topped a list of household necessities that includes the landline phone, a cell phone, air conditioning, the television, a home computer and microwave -- even the iPod.

It's been that way since 1973, when the Roper organization first surveyed Americans.

Personalized plates lose pull

But an America humbled by a recession and fatigued with what the Wall Street Journal describes as bland affluence still wants to drive more under the radar these days.

We are picking more conservative car colors such as white and silver. Used is better than new and basic is preferred over luxury.

Even our penchant for vanitized driving may be waning. Since Pennsylvania offered the first personalized license plate in 1931, we've informed the world of our favorite pet, occupation, and alma mater.

After steady growth, demand for specialty and personalized license plates has stalled at about 9.7 million -- or 4 percent of registered vehicles nationwide.

In Michigan, the number of personalized license plates stands at about 232,000 and may have peaked as state residents economize or move out of state.

Michigan has never been a leader in personalized license plates -- just 3 percent of registered vehicles sport personal messages.

In Virginia, where specialty plates are just $10, 16 percent of residents vanitize their plates. Illinois has more than 1 million "prestige" plates -- more than any other state and more than 10 percent of the nation's total.

Vehicle choice is status

For Michiganians, maybe the car or truck we drive represents enough individualism. Or amid bailout fatigue nationwide, we don't want to call more attention to Michigan's troubles.

Michigan officials also cite the recent retirement of the state's venerable blue-and-white standard license plates. More than 5 million of the ubiquitous blue plates were in circulation when it was retired -- and state residents accustomed to it have been slow to get personal.

In California -- where individualism is a rite of passage and your car says more about you than any other possession -- less than 4 percent of plates are personalized.

Stefan Lonce, a New York journalist and author of "LCNS2ROM -- License to Roam: Vanity License Plates and the Story They Tell," says Michigan and other states could be doing more to promote vanity plates as a way to boost revenues.

Many states, he notes, still don't allow residents to check the availability of personalized plates online.

But the car must now share the increasingly crowded super electronic highway with the PDA, smart phone and net book.

And in Twitterland, who wants to be limited to just eight characters when you can blast the world with random personal updates all day?

Is ITXTNSTED taken?

David Phillips is a contributor to AutosInsider and can be reached at dphillips@detnews.com.