Front liscence Plates

[Motorsportman 3]

Just wondering how many of you put liscence plates on the front of your minis? I don't plan on putting any on mine, but then there's the possibility of a citation.

[vegasmini]

I didn't put any on mine.
Nevada is kind of wierd on their requirements. It is the law, but nobody enforces it (unless you get pulled over and the police officer wants to give you a bad time).

There are some states that requrire it, and are strict on enforcing it.

[d2create]

No plate here either. My dealer won't put them on unless you tell them to. And it is required here in houston, they're just not that strict about it.

[ruthie]

Not required in Pennsylvania.

[flatsix02]

They're required here in St. Louis, Missouri. Its not enforced very well because i dont have mine on and ive had my car for 5 weeks. I WILL NOT RUIN THAT BUMPER because of some damn license plate holder. Hopes this helps.

-Scott

[gtshnzr]

Required in Illinois, but I don't have one on the MINI (or on the Expedition, or on the TR6, etc... front plates are basically UGLY). If I get stopped, my "excuse" will be that I bought the car in Wisconsin, where they don't require front plates (as far as I can tell from their absence) and the dealer thus didn't install a front mounting bracket. Too bad, so sad. But I agree, it definitely depends on if the local gendarme wants to be a dic4.

[Bilbo Baggins]

Just celebrated my one year anniversary and still no front plate. "The dealer didn't have the proper bracket when I picked up my car and I am waiting for them to get it in." That is my story and I'm sticking to it!

[happysean10]

Here in Los Angeles California they stictly enforce it. I once had my car parked in my own damm driveway and it was parked so the front of the car was facing the street and a cop was driving through my neighborhood and he saw I didnt have on and he ticketed me!!! I mean damm!!! But whatever I learned my lesson after that..

[needMINI]

i really dont understand the point of a front license plate? here in canada, quebec is the only province that doesnt require cars to have front plates. which imho is smart.

[NEMINI]

The point of it is so a cop can get your plate which ever way your running away from them.

[mczinn]

Also so the red light cameras can get you.

[stryder]

Don't forget when you hit a pedestrian, they can read the plate #'s from their bruise. Ok a bit morbid (and commical), but really its all about visibility. If you can only see the only identifying part of a car from 1/4 (counting front and sides) of the possible angles, its not entirely safe.

Its perfectly logical why front plates are required, with that said, they are ugly, and they do poke holes in bumpers.

[RickB]

I am driving in sin, without a front plate, in front plate-required state. I am also prepared with a new-car-don't-you-know excuse, but I expect to put the plate on, some day. I REALLY hate the mounting bracket, that appears to place the plate over the lower (well, middle) grille. I saw a Cooper S with the plate mounted lower, below the grille, and the owner said he just put it on, and that's the way it turned out. I looked at my bracket, and discovered an extra set of holes (apparently for the Japanese market?), that locate the plate below the grille. If/when I put the plate on, it will be in the lower location.

[plugot]

Here in Los Angeles county many local PDs - particularly West Hollywood and Beverly Hills -- are rigorously enforcing the front tag requirements. They'll ticket a car parked legally on the street (though I never heard of a car being ticketed in a private driveway) because they want the money. Stop light cameras depend on seeing the front tags. No tag, no way to rip off the cash. Because that's what it is, a cash ripoff sponsored by private companies that share part of the money with the city. That said, I'm not mounting my front tag. Looks bad, though not as bad as my former 99 Vette. Never put a tag on that one either. However, it's no longer a "fixit" ticket but a "fixit" + $35 fine. At least it doesn't go on the driving record. Hate the idea of punching holes in the bumper.

[ryGuyMCS]

When I picked up my Cooper S a week ago, the dealer had already installed my front bracket as a courtesy and had their big logo-plate to advertise the dealership. When I pulled it off is when I discovered that they have to put screws through the bumper cover. I was not impressed. To top that off... they didn't pre-drill the little dimples on the cover, and instead just powered the screws through leaving big nasty plastic threads. PLUS, they didn't even hit the dimples, the were North-East of them by about 1/8th of an inch.

I'm still waiting for a repsonse from the dealer as to how they plan on rectifying this situation with me.

-ryGuyMCS