Front License Plate Holder Woes

ourbbycar said:

Hello, Thought I'd see what others thought. My car came without the front license plate holder installed, the sales person just stuck the holder and hardware in the trunk. Now that our plates have come, I went to the dealer to see if they'd attach the holder for us. They can't tell me until I take the car in for an appointment if they will charge me to attach this or not. My question is, did your Bolt come from the dealer with the front license plate holder attached? Should I expect it to, or for the dealer to cover the cost to attach it? To me it seems silly that I'd have to pay for this. I'd do it myself but don't have a riveter at home. Also, how many out there are deciding to drive without the front plate? In CA we need it by law, but it sure looks ugly on the Bolt, in my opinion. A casual look at traffic in my neighborhood reveals a surprising number of drivers without front plates, so how likely is not having a front plate to be an issue, do you think? Thanks.

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Packard V8 said:

I lived in SF years ago and it was bad then, but impossible now. The city and their contractors generate chicken-shite tickets by the bale. The nasty little secret is the impetus for all this comes from the third-party collection agency to whom the city sells your data if/when you don't pay promptly. They'll hound you to the ends of the earth.

FWIW, my wife feels vulnerable to police attention when the required front plate is not installed, so on her cars, I give in. When a parallel-parker-bandit crunched the plastic front fascia, we had it replaced for $400, but I kept the front plate and bracket under the floor in the trunk. So far, so good.

Same but different, she bought a new used Audi. The rear license plate bracket is flimsy plastic crap with four captive steel nuts to receive the license plate screws. The nuts are only good for the initial installation. If the plates come on and off and the screws are tightened at all, the nuts pull out of the plastic. Dealer-Service-Department installed, a new bracket is $250. Across the counter from the Parts Department, it's $160. Even more ridiculous, the front bracket only has two captive nuts; however, they don't align with standard US license plate holes. The dealers run self-tapping screws through the plastic.

jack vines

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