[gengkev]

I tried this but the DMV doesn't let you request it ;-( Alas, probably for the better...

At each DMV there are a stack of license plates that they hand out on-site. So requesting a vanity plate of the same format would probably require them to search those stacks (across all DMVs) to pick out the plate.

[madcaptenor]

Do they give out any vanity plates that are in 0AAA000 format? I could imagine they just don't allow that to keep things simpler.

[toast0]

Current California DMV rules prohibit issuing a vanity plate that matches patterns from sequential plates. When new sequences are used, there's potential for overlap, but I suspect not many people would have picked vanity 'numbers' that match the patterns. Initial zero is unused, but probably still reserved.

You can get an 'environmental plate' issued with a sequential number though, which I believe is less than the vanity plate fee.

And there's some rules around using historic plates on historic vehicles.