Tips for NOT having a front license plate???

chops

Nissan - GoMiniGo-Home of Innovative Products for your car

if you get pulled over you can try saying, "yea, my car never came with one, but i ordered it from the dealership, should be here soon officer, i swear". and if you do get a ticket, buy the tow hook mount, get it written off and remove it again!

Tick64

I just caught on to what you were saying with the tow hook mount. Good idea! I never knew those existed. Where can you get one of those? Through the Nissan dealership?

Tick64

Okay, I just noticed that you already attached the link for the place to buy a tow hook mount. I just went online and ordered one. About $100.00, but well worth it for piece of mind. Thanks again for the great feedback! I love this site for oddball advice!

280z/300zx

I had heard that if your car didn't come from the factory with pre-drilled holes then the law was they could not force you to mount one. Our Z's have dimples where the holes should be but are not pre-drilled. Again, this is what I thought the law was. I mean a car like the corvette doesn't even have a place to mount a plate.

Mecinoid

Not true ... California requires all cars to have front plates. But, so far they are not enforcing it unless you do something that gives them a reason to pull you over. Then if your cool the only thing they will give you is a missing front plate ticket and a warning for whatever you did. It just gives them a reason to pull you over.

I've been pulled over way too many times for no front plate. Therefore, I run front plates:



BTW- Corvette does have a mounting location under the cover that reads corvette for a license plate. I mount a plate under the cover and only put the cover on for pictures or events. So far I haven't been pulled over during corvette events. I mean almost no one runs plates on the front of a Corvette.

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Z-Forum Member since 2001. Multiple Z owner since 1983 ------- Awesome ---------- Z. --------- Enjoy the ride !!!

280z/300zx

Not one to argue but you are refering to the C5 corvette. They have a cover in the front the reads "corvette" that when removed allows for a plate. The newer C6 corvette on the other hand does not have this, nor does it have a place for a front plate. The only way to mount a plate is to drill into the bumper. I've only seen a couple C6 vettes with plates and they had a similar front plate mount as on your Z. The Vette isn't the only car like this. So really, CA police are going to make you change the factory bumper to mount a plate?

Just looked up Nevada state law and it's as I mentioned previously. If a car didn't come with mounting from the factory then it is not required. So I was right, just that apparently it's only for Nevada. I'd just like to see what a CA cop would say when you show him there is no mount for it from the factory.

I mean maybe I'm remembering wrong. When I had a C6 vette it didn't have a front plate and I never saw a place to mount it. Just now I pulled up pics of the C6 (don't have mine anymore) and didn't see anywhere a plate could go.

Mecinoid

Oh, right.... I was thinking C4, C5.... For C6 a lot of guys use the hide a plate. Yeah, C6 would look weird with a plate... I'd use the hide a plate or one of the many quick release ones on the market. Be happy your in Nevada. I'm sure your right about the law in that state. CA requires you to have a front plate. However, your chance in getting a ticket for that alone is really rare. I drove many cars without front plates over my 36 years of driving and only got one not front plate ticket in the 90's over in the SF Bay Area driving my '73 Camaro. I took off pretty quick and a motorcycle cop pulled me over. Gave me the ticket and told me to slow down a bit. He was actually pretty cool considering I spun the tires just a bit trying to get a good hole shot to get over a lane or two. Doh ....

Cool - I found an old picture of the Camaro. See no front plate. I couldn't even imagine putting one on the front of that car:



Man, do I miss that car. However I do like it's replacement:



Back to Z front plates ... I've had the type that screwed into the front tow hook point. Just make sure you use Locktite on the small screw that holds the plate to the larger solid post that attaches it. Mine got loose one day and it was just holdin on by a couple of turns by the time I noticed it. The plate holder was distroyed in my 350Z accident.

Here's what one of those look like on the front of a 350Z:

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Z-Forum Member since 2001. Multiple Z owner since 1983 ------- Awesome ---------- Z. --------- Enjoy the ride !!!

Vaughanabe13

You learn that sentences that start with this tend to not be true.

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2009 Nissan 370Z Touring, w/sport, 6MT, chicane yellow/black.

NBZ34

STILLEN FRONT LICENSE PLATE BRACKET

Very easy to install and remove when you dont want it on the car. I refused to drill into the bumper and so glad I bought this. It looks good on the car too!

Attached Images

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