gascant said:
But today my dealer said that he'd have to register my new LEAF anyway and I could just trade the "sequential" plates for the vanity plates when the former arrive.
Not true. You can walk in the DMV (I just did this on a new Infiniti car) with a DMV bill of sale from the dealer, your plates that you want to assign to the LEAF, and a check (or not... if you don't pay, your registration will say "incomplete" until your dealer sends them the money).
Anyway, it can be done, and I'll do it when I get my LEAF shortly. I'll have the plates on it by the end of day one.