Black Adder

What is the state law for license tags, front and rear are required or only rear?

Moviela

Positioning of Plates

5201. License plates shall at all times be securely fastened to the vehicle for which they are issued so as to prevent the plates from swinging, shall be mounted in a position so as to be clearly visible, and shall be maintained in a condition so as to be clearly legible. The rear license plate shall be mounted not less than 12 inches nor more than 60 inches from the ground, and the front license plate shall be mounted not more than 60 inches from the ground.

zergcerebrates

Well I know that you have to mount front and back license plate in Cali, but I only mounted on the back and left the front without a plate or frame for 3 years already but I do keep the temporary sticker at the windshield though perhaps because of that cops think I just got the car? Hmm dunno. My friend who drives an X5 doesnt have a license plate front and back for 4.5 yrs and never got pulled over. My other friend was not as lucky though, he drives a ML and got stop by a traffic at the airport while dropping his friend off because of no front license plate.

Dogshine

the temp tag trick doesn't work when parked and the meter person notices you don't have a plate, the will give you a citation anyway, however, its a $10 fix-it ticket.

i have a few friends that just leave the dealer plates on the car for their lenth of ownership. if they get a citation, they just fix it and return to the dealerplates.

Dogshine

also, many cars are sold in california with the front plate already drilled into the bumper, so if you remove it, you will need bodywork to clean up the holes.

bltserv

I dont have fronts on either car.
The SL is drilled for them but the CL is not.
I keep the front plates in the trunk.

Beware:
The LAX Airport cops will ticket you real quick for no
front plate. I had a friend with expired tags get his car towed
from the airport for just the bad tags.
There are too many bored cops at LAX.

I would say %20 of the MBZ`s I see here is South County
have no front plate.

As far as keeping the dealer plates on forever.
I got a friend named Brian that has done that with every car he owns.
He has only got rousted a couple times. I think he does it so he can
screw the toll road. Someday they are going really screw him up back.
Bad Karma IMHO.

socrate

moviela is right.

yeuchau

both front and rear are required

iBkickinit

Not sure if this is what he meant, but License TAGS (Reg tags) Must be on the rear only. Not required up front. Hell, Only once have I ever seen someone with the tags up front, but they weren't on the back... LOL I couldn't believe it!.

whoover

I have not had a front plate on my car or my wife's for over 10 years. A C36, S500 and S55 have come and gone unmarred by a front plate. The current cars don't have them either. I have never been cited, even when stopped for -- ahem -- other infractions that did get written up.

The dealer has always asked me if they should even mount the front plate support. When I picked up the S65 in September there was a new form to sign, certifying that you'd been offered a front plate mount and declined -- the result of a nuisance class-action lawsuit. There's more paperwork buying a car today than a house.

Of course, it's all about spotty enforcement. If they want an excuse to hassle you, a missing front plate is ready-made. But unless you're a kid or someone else they consider a good candidate for a stop, it's very unlikely they'll bother you.

http://herbach.dnsalias.com/drz/images/p1010038.jpg

mbbodytech

I told my wife when we got her ML that I wasn't going to put the front plate on and that was fine till she took a friend to the airport (LAX) and got a ticket. She changed her tune right there.....so now that we moved back home to Michigan her car has two nice holes and marks from the frame. Oh well, after driving in the Inland Empire for 4 years, the whole front end of that car needs to be painted anyway.

I did find it funny that the law states the plate is supposed to be bolted to the car, but when I took it to the CHP to get inspected the guy only looked through the window at it and signed off on the ticket! I guess a lot depends on the individual and the car.

Which is another thought. In my experience the California cops were more likley to let a nice car go and pull over a crappy one, however here in MI it's totally the opposite.

bltserv

Here in Cali they pick on the banged up cars way more than a Benz.
Especially here is South County. Some of the cities now have the
camera in the intersections so they can issue a ticket if you run a red.
Noticed some of those city cops will pull you over more often for the missing plate. It seems at LAX they just have way too many cops hanging around.
But at SNA. John Wayne. No problem. Have parked my CL there lots of times
for 4-5 days. No problems at all.

topdaytrader

Yup, you need both front and rear are required. But I never put front plate.