hyperion667

gotta hate the two plate state!!!

venchka

Oh contrer. I'll take Texas with two plates over Louisiana with only one. Curious about California. Our GLK was delivered with the front plate gizmo installed.
Funny front plate story: Stone Age. First trip road trip to Colorado from Louisiana. VW Beetle. Stopped on I-25 by a State Trooper. "Where's your front plate?" "Don't get one in Lousiana." "We'll see about that." Walks back to his car. Calls somebody. Returns to Beetle. "You're right." Walks to back to car. No apology.
A friend at work has never installed his front plate on two Corvettes. Never hassled. Go figure.

Wayne

El Cid

Cars come standard with a front license plate holder. If needed, dealer is supposed to mount it to the bumper. No front tags in SC, so my holder is hanging on garage wall. It was in trunk when I purchased the car.
Some car dealers used to put their tag on front of cars, but I think most have quit because customers made them patch/repaint the front bumpers. I know I would or not got the car at all.

davidbijan

I dont like the front plate but its not worth the hassle of not having one on. I got ticketed a few times while the car was parked in LA without one on

K-A

A good way to get out of it without drilling your bumper if you have to get it checked off is to just zip-tie it to the plastic grille in the lower bumper opening. I'm sure it's big enough to fit a plate?

drawde

I've gotten a ticket for tints and no front plate at the same time (and a speeding ticket too, cop didn't like me I guess).. but aside from that I've never had a problem with it, been about 3 years.

Another time I was actually pulled over for speeding and a cop let me go with just a tint ticket, so the tints actually saved me that time.

newyorktoLA

I've had my S550 since 2009 with no plate...I've never gotten a ticket...
Same with my E class
the GL had a front license plate bracket, but I removed it. I rather have 3 holes and 2 dents caused by the screws harming my skid plate than have that ugly POS license plate there...

CorvetteOJ

I live in Alabama, a "one plate state." However, I was born and raised in Virginia until I went in the USAF in '66. In those days, we didn't know any difference, the car had two ends, I guess we assumed you had to have one tag on each end.

Not until I bought my first Vette in '97 and became a regular fixture on the Corvette forum did I become familiar with the "one plate" versus "two plate" issue. Corvette guys definitely don't like to put plates on the front. By design, the car doesn't look as though it was meant to have a front plate. However, there were a few states who took exception to that type of understanding.

According to the numerous threads on the Corvette forum, the two states that enforce the "two plate" law the strongest, is Ohio and Texas. The guys would complain about those two states constantly. I'm sure there were other states who attempted to enforce it, but none were ever mentioned as much as Texas and Ohio.

If I were in a two plate state, I would have one of those remote operated, disappearing brackets, depicted in this thread earlier. I have seen them on several Vettes and numerous street rods. They look good and work like a champ. Street rods, in two plate states, have been using them for years.

El Cid

Bit of history. Most every state required two plates, but then some (most now) figured they could save money by giving you one plate and leaving registration fee the same. Then they figured they could charge same registration each year, but send you a 50 cent sticky instead of a new plate. Think I had one SC plate that had about 8 years of stickies on it before the state finally issued new plates.
Father once told me that during WW II, SC made you exchange your tags (2) each year and they would re-press them and issue them to someone else. State insisted on issuing two tags every year despite metal shortage during the war.
I'm surprised that two tag states don't heavily enforce the law, especially bankrupt CA. When SC required annual inspections, law enforcement was pretty sharp at spotting the dinky out of date stickers in windshields.

t0ast

From my experience, front plate tickets also depend on if the city has red light cameras. For example, I lived in Berkeley, CA for ten years, and I got hit with two tickets right after they installed their red light cameras. I even got a ticket parked on an empty street without any meter or time restriction, so they were actively looking for the front plates rather than it being a tacked on additional ticket.

Personally in the Bay Area, I've only gotten front plate tickets in Berkeley and SF when parked, so that's usually the only times when I think about it.

listerone

You don't know much about government it would seem.Yes,it stinks to be required to drill the holes but my time is *far* too valuable to invite any cop in town to pull me over for 20 minutes and then to write me a ticket for $50...$100...or more.And to top it off in states where that's a "moving violation" you get 5 or more years of insurance surcharges on top of the ticket.

BM2BZ

well, i don't know much about the gov't as the more i know, the more i'm pissed.

blackbullit

Glad we do not have to mount front plates here in Florida. Most dealers here have finally stopped drilling the front bumpers of their cars. Guess they thought the cars were going out of state.

The only benefit I saw when I lived in a state requiring front plate is that it affords a little extra protection against parking lot damage at low speeds.

ktmarshall

Just got stopped today by a cop in the median. Gave me a warning. Have been driving without a front tag for only 4 months... They will get you, so be careful.

johnc510

Wow, this is an old thread that you re-hashed. I guess I'll throw in my 2 cents. My CPO E350 came with the front plate holder installed. I removed it and was going to plug it with some rubber plugs (or whatever else I can MacGyver up). Unforunately, the hole where the plates are mounted are sticking outwards (like the person who installed it drilled the holes inwards, and then simply pulled the drill bit out without carefully "undrilling" to get it out).

I'd take warnings and tickets over having the front plate on any day, everyday. That said, I've only ever had one fix-it ticket for not having a front license plate (about 5 years ago when the car was parked). It's totally worth not having a front plate.

JackDaRippa

A week after I got my w212 I was at a house party in Burbank, cops came to shut it down they put a no license plate ticket on my car. Last week I had forgot to move my c class which was parked on the street cleaning side, gave me a ticket for that and a no front plate.. What a headache.

K-A

That's another issue with no front plate. If you get another type of parking ticket, chances are they'll tack on a license plate ticket as well (or if you're REALLY unlucky, tints, but I haven't gotten that one in a loooong time).

Point being, if you have no front plate, make extra damn sure to not get a parking ticket for any other reason.

johnc510

That's just sheer bad luck, Jack. I didn't know they were that strict about front license plates in SoCal. I know in San Franicsco, it's pretty bad -- SF will give you a ticket whenever and wherever they can. I don't have to worry though cuz my car is stuck with an ugly front license plate.

listerone

Just look on the bright side.Contributing "your fair share" to the People's Republic of Kalifornia helps so many of "the most vulnerable among us",some of whom,amazingly,have never even been in violation of this country's immigration laws.Kalifornia needs your $$$...take it like a man.

Michael Khan

you can zip tie it to the front, theres a guy on my block who did that.

mleskovar

I install the front plat now after a cop told me it's a good excuse to hassle you so they generally let it ride until they want to play that card. They consider it an easy excuse to pull you over. My wife received two tickets about a year apart on two different cars after they started installing red light cameras in a neighboring city. Since then the cameras have been taken down.

mitviet

I want to chime in as well... curious how much is the ticket in Cali for not having the front plate? I can tell you that I had the stealer put on my front bracket for $190 bucks (160 + 30 labor).. So if the ticket is around 50 bucks, I say take a chance and ride in style , counting on getting 1 ticket/year and 3 years later, you still ahead of the stealer :-)

mleskovar

It's a minor equipment violation that has to be fixed/corrected then checked and written off by any officer. I think there's a $10 administrative charge though. ?? Or am I dating myself

K-A

Wow they actually CHARGED you for that?!

BTW, do you guys know if putting the plate where its sitting on the passenger side dash, but upright so it's right AGAINST the windshield when you park is considered legal? I would never drive with it like that of course, but with my W212 when parked in high-ticket areas I sometimes would pull the plate out of the trunk, and just stick it in that small gap between the dashboard and windshield, which would make it totally visible facing out of the passenger side windshield when parked.

JackDaRippa

It wasn't this strict before. I can say every car I have owned didn't have the front plate on it. I think its time to put one on the w212. Wont drill holes on the bumper, if anyone knows where I can order a tow bar plate holder I would greatly appreciate it if you could message it to me.