Front license plate - on or off?

[imaohw2]

I just got my 2003 NSX and am in NJ which requires a front license plate.

How many of you in states that require front license plates have one on the car?

If you don't - whats your excuse when you get stopped?

 

[Eric5273]

I'm in NY and I put the plate on. The front license plate bracket does not require any drilling or holes in the bumper, so I figured I might as well use it. The car does look a little nicer without it, but I don't need to give the police another excuse to pull me over. The car still looks beautiful even with the front plate on.

 

[brahtw8]

I am in Wisconsin, which requires a front plate. I can't recall seeing a front plate on an NSX ever (in the flesh, I have seen pictures and they are hideous!), and I see more than you would expect with Acura of Brookfield just down the road.

I don't run a front plate on my car and have not had a problem in 5k plus miles of driving.

If I got pulled over, it is hard to say what I would do. As with any traffic stop, being polite is very important. If I thought the officer would let me go without a fix-it-ticket, I would probably try to convince him/her to do so. If they were hell-bent on giving me a ticket, I would say very little and get a temporary front plate holder to satisfy the ticket.

 

[MAJOR STONER]

I went for a few months without it, but I got pulled over at a checkpoint. No ticket, just asked me if I had it and then "Look, I know this is a nice car, but you gotta put the front plate on."

 

[Zishan]

In Houston, it's required. Not a serious offense, but a fix-it-ticket. But, since my car didn't come with a front plate bracket, I have yet to put one on. The one time my NSX has been pulled over and the officer was making his round he stopped and looked with his flash light at the front. He didn't say anything. So it's the luck of the draw!

 

[Vytas]

It's required in California but I've never sported a front plate on any of my cars since I started driving over 20 years ago. Living in southern and now northern California, I've never been hassled for it. Perhaps I've been lucky.

Both my cars have personalized plates so I carry the extra plate in the trunk as proof that I do indeed have it. Should I get pulled over for no front plate, I'd use a story that I'm tired of my personalized front plates getting ripped off and tired of going through the process of getting a replacement or having to change it to something else.

 

[RPM217]

front plate

I too live in a front plate mandatory plate (NY) and didn't run one on my C5, and don't run one on my NSX. IMHO it ruins the beautiful lines of the car. I have the plate in the trunk, and the bracket in my garage. In 39 months with the C5 I received a ticket ($15) from a meter maid (who apologized but said her supervisor told her to write it up) when the car was parked, and once at a road block for seat belt/NYS inspection sticker checkpoint, the trooper asked me where the front plate was, I responded that I had it behind the seat, that it had come off in a "parking incident", the trooper responded that "all Vette owners say that", and let me go.

I've got 6,000 miles on the NSX, and as of yet, no problems. If I get stopped, I'll try to handle it the same way as in the vette, if I get a ticket, I'll pay it, and decide whether or not to trash the look of the car, and hang the plate, or not!!!

 

[Spencer]

If you do elect to mount it, take a look at the Dali license plate bracket. It is a much more subtle way to go than stock.

 

[GQ NSX]

yeh

These look cool, any prime user have pics?
Here is the dali link


Here is a pic courtesy of Daliracing:

thanks,

ravi

 

[Eric5273]

That does look a bit nicer, but does it work on a 2003 bumper?

 

[BostonNSX]

OFF

 

[Nimbus]

Re: yeh

These look cool, any prime user have pics?
Here is the dali link


Here is a pic courtesy of Daliracing:

thanks,

ravi

The problem with mounting the front plate like that is the restricted air passage to the radiator.

 

[91 X]

NOOOO!!!!

It's the law here in cali, but I've only had one fix it ticket in ten years driving without one..$10 bucks is worth it

Sports cars should be allowed not to require front plates....


I don't care how "cool" your plates are, any front plate is NOT cool...

 

[reinhart]

Required in WA

Front plates are required in Washington and I have mine on because I do not like being pulled over for any reason. Sure, it would look better without, but it looks better than most other cars even with it on. Also, I like my car for how it drives much more than how it looks (which I cannot see from inside the car). If you are risk-adverse, you will put it on. If it is not much of ticket where you are, then you probably will not. Your car will look great either way.

 

[NoClgDeg]

OFF

 

[CDub]

No front plate is always better looking, but after F&F, my friend with a Supra got pull over twice in a couple of weeks. So I was looking for an alternative.

Dali's probably the best solution out there. I still think that it is too straight down and doesn't flow with the front angle angle of the bumper. So I went to work

I bent across the top 1 inch towards the front at a ~120 degree angle. I then drilled 2 holes matching the moounting position on the bumper. I then glued a 2"x6" high density foam on the plate positioned between the plate and the cross beam. That keeps the plate from scratching the paint on the cross beam. 15mins and I'm done.

Some people may say that it is still not legal. Looking at the picture, do you see any problem with this approach? If a police checks, he can clearly see "California" on the top of the plate. With so many donuts in his tummy, he probably don't bother to bend down to see how it was mounted.

My 2 cents ... literally the cost of the mod.

 

[ChrisK]

If you can run without the plates, I would do so as it does look better that way. If you are required and don't want to get a ticket than the under bumper mount like the Dali or similar is the way to go. I didn't use the Dali mount kit as I just made my own. It took a couple if minutes and the cost was free. I think it serves virtually the same function as the one you can buy from Dali if you choose. As for bloking the radiator from free flowing air, it probably does retrict it a bit, but my temp needle has never varied any higher than the normal position so I don't think it really matters one bit unless you are tracking the car.

 

[CDub]

wow! I like what you did ChrisK. Could you share with us how you did that?

 

[chumch]

I put mine in the right hand side of the front dash with some card board as a backer to prop it up against the window. I've heard of the suggestion to put velcro on the back of the plate and on the outside facing part of the passenger sun visor and flip it down so visible from outside the vehicle. THat seemed like a pretty good idea.

-Chumch

 

[nsxtasy]

I have been driving with no front plates in Illinois, which requires them, for the past twenty years. I was only pulled over once, when the NSX was new - and I think the cop just wanted to check the car out, because he had never seen one up close before.

I do keep the extra plate inside the car, in case I am pulled over. (It's possible the cops might be worried that you're using the two plates on two different cars, and that would alleviate that concern.)

If I were pulled over, I think I would probably be honest and politely say that it spoils the looks and many other states don't require them. And even if I got a ticket, it wouldn't be a moving violation anyway.

I would not want to place my plate where it blocks the radiator flow, though - so if I were forced to use it, I would do so with the stock bracket.

 

[ChopsJazz]

In past discussions of this topic many spoke of the legality of the front plate. I was on a drive (Vytas were you on that one?) where a cop stopped about 6 of us at the top of a mountain and threatened to cite us all for no front plates! Somehow we sweet-talked our way out of it!

 

[hondaholic]

I'm in NJ too and have never been pulled over, and have never gotten a ticket for no front plate. I use a nose mask and when I have to go through NJ inspection, i stop down the street from the station and actually tape my plate onto my nose mask. It's kinda funny. After I pass, a block away from the station I pull over and tear off yhe plate.

Cops rarely notice the absense of the plate, mostly they notice the car.

 

[Shotkaller]

Probably the only person who likes front plates

If you have personalized plates then I think a license plate on the front looks just fine. Even if my state didnt require them, I'd still have it on. A license plate is a normal part of the car, just like the windshield wipers, that people expect to see on a car, and because of that expectation it does not make the car look worse in any way.

Todd

 

[nsxbuilder]

In Minnesota, the land where absolutely NOTHING is allowed, no front plate is a $65 ticket and shows up as a moving violation on your record. Nice. For my NSX and Talon I've paid 6 of those little beauties over the last 10 years, only one from a traffic stop and the rest from meter maids (Oh I hate that!). I'll continue to run without as my protest against a silly law, and I don't like the look.

-ed
www.nsxbuilder.com

 

[Tom Larkins]

No plates on any of my cars ever. Have been pulled over twice in about 5-6 years, never one time in the X. My record is clean as I never speed (not) and i've never been ticketed for lack of plate when pulled over. If so its an non-moving violation in Missouri. In short, front plates bite!!!!