OMG. WHY DOES THE DEALER DRILL HOLES FOR THE FRONT LICENSE PLATE?

kinda dumb. totally messes up the aesthetics. i'd be pissed if the dealer drilled holes on my aventador bumper (if i had one). at least they should give us the option to do it or not.

 

DEALERS SUCK!

 

A quick question...is there a state law that says that new vehicles must have a front plate mounting location in your state? Just curious...
Some states have 2 plates, some just one.

 

I'd assume that they drill holes for the license plate. Personally I don't think it's that big of a deal, it's got to go somewhere in some states.

 

Luckily my dealer didn't - but front plates aren't required in my state. If you are in a state that requires front plates they may do it for liability reasons.

 

Only the rear plate is required here in the mitten, but having purchased cars that were transferred in from other states like Ohio, they always have plate mounts on the front if they have been through dealer prep. At least these days most cars have some sort of bracket that can be removed and leave behind only some small screw holes, which can be filled with color matched trim plugs. I got one VW (Passat) that had the front plate bracket mounted with drywall screws, and a Jetta that had broomstick diameter holes drilled through the front bumper for the matching bracket mount

 

When I ordered my car I gave specific instructions for no holes (we're a 2 plate state but I never run a front plate). My salesman did a good job keeping them from putting the front plate on. But the day I picked it up he was off, and one of the techs put it on after he did the state inspection. I was pissed, but I got the filler caps. Not ideal, especially since the holes weren't exactly lined up, but not horrible

 

Yes, in california, a front plate is required. is it enforced? not really. You see all these lambos, bimmers, rarris, nissan GTR etc. at the cars and coffee without a front plate. Why does my toyota gotta have one?

I wish they could've engineered a more elegant way to mount the front plate without butchering the front bumper. Example, on euro cars they make a bracket that can be attached on the front tow hook.


Here's an aventador. where would you even mount a front plate? lol

 

Just toss it on the hood.

 

Didn't your truck come with a front plate mount?? Mine did - since my state is a rear plate only the dealer was kind enough to leave the plate mount in the back seat.

I had a dealer drill holes to mount an advertisement for the dealership in a front bumper of a VW I bought a few years ago.... Ummmm I want a new bumper and that dealer was kind enough to back into a pole in the garage right after mounting the plate on front bumper.. I got 2 new bumpers out of that deal.

 

I'll laugh if you try to trade it in to the same dealer and they try to low ball you because it was in an accident haha

 

I think they are required to put the front plate on if the law requires one. Sometimes you can catch them before they drill the holes but it's probably done as soon as it gets unloaded.

 

I bought my truck in Indiana which is a rear plate state. I live in Illinois which is a 2 plate state. I had to damn near beg the salesman to put the plate bracket on my truck. They finally gave in but it was required I stand and watch the tech screw it on. No big deal. No drilling. Just 2 screws screwed through the plastic bumper.

 

It's required by law, they must do it. However on a high end sports car if your really nice they may wait to put it on and ask you if you want the plate bracket left off. A lot of vehicles are PDI as soon as they come in so the brackets are out on then, then the dealer puts in their plate logo in place of the plate.

 

Haven't seen it here in FL. = My 2006 Accord & my 2016 Tacoma both have tiny "dimples" where the front plate would go. None of the several cars & trucks I've owned here, have had holes drilled for a front tag. + I doubt if it's a law in any state to have front bracket if that state does not use / have a front tag. Why should those law makers care? = I lived in MD most of my life, I would take off my front tag and bracket ( looks better) I only got stopped once (for a tag), the cop gave me a verbal warning.

 

A better question would be - if someone cared enough not to have holes in the bumper, why would you drive away in it without them fixing it?

 

My dealer did it before I could tell them not to. I just about flipped, but then realized it was just fuel for the fire that'll drive me to a plate bumper...

 

Perhaps I misunderstand your question. If there's no holes, what's there to fix? Two holes in a plastic bumper cover are a easy drill, if you need them. If you have them and don't need / what them, they're there forever.

 

For what it's worth, here is my experience.

I live in IL, a two-plate state, but I specifically asked that they NOT mount the front plate. I had plans to mount it myself, below the bumper.

The dealership had no problem with my request, and the salesman was very vigilant about keeping the prep people from mounting the plate.

In spite of his efforts, they mounted the plate during prep, as that is what they ‘normally’ do.

Everyone was very apologetic, and they simply had me come back and they swapped my drilled bumper cover for an undrilled one from another stocked Tacoma. 99.9% of people in IL couldn’t care less about having the front bumper drilled, so there was no harm done and it cost the dealership only the time involved in making the swap.

Frank

 

I bought a slightly used 2015 that already had holes drilled and brought it back to my rear-plate-only state. I ended up plugging them with plastic button plugs I found at Lowes. Before installing I painted them with Duplicolor touch up paint which I'd bought to fix a couple of small scratches. It came out pretty good. From 20' away you really have to look to see the plugs and from 10' they're barely noticeable. If you're not looking for them you don't notice them at all.

I agree, though, my last truck didn't have these holes and I appreciated the clean look. Those dang holes were driving me to distraction.