Front License Plate Bracket Install PCD Questino

Hello,

I would like to confirm if the Performance Center installs the front license plate bracket prior to delivery. I'm scheduled for PCD in August, and do not want the installation despite living in a state with front plates (prefer to go with a different solution and don't want holes drilled in my front bumper).

Who should I contact to make sure that the bracket is not installed on my car at the PCD delivery?

Many thanks!

When I did my PCD last September the PCD staff asked me how I wanted to handle the front bumper installation. In my experience they were sensitive to this issue.

I'm sure Jonathan Stribble will chime in, but I don't think they will drill the holes without your prior approval. When we got to PCD, I handed them my license plates right off and asked them if they would put them on the vehicle. They preceded to tell me that if they drilled the holes, it was a done deal.

Originally Posted by mjud

Hello,

I would like to confirm if the Performance Center installs the front license plate bracket prior to delivery. I'm scheduled for PCD in August, and do not want the installation despite living in a state with front plates (prefer to go with a different solution and don't want holes drilled in my front bumper).

Who should I contact to make sure that the bracket is not installed on my car at the PCD delivery?

Many thanks!

We won't install any front brackets here unless the customer is here and asks us to do so

Excellent--thank you all for the replies! Looking forward to the PCD experience.

Jonathon, mind if I hijack this thread?

I will be there Sept. 14. In some things, I am quite compulsive. I just can't stand when a car dealership uses two screws rather than four to install a license plate. It may sound crazy, but I can't stand the noise a car with two screws makes. I usually bitch, then go pay 0.65$ for two screws from the service department, but for some reason those screws rust.

Will your guys use 4 screws to install the plates, or should I start shopping for galvanized screws ?

Sorry for the OCD.

Originally Posted by christianfahey

Jonathon, mind if I hijack this thread?

I will be there Sept. 14. In some things, I am quite compulsive. I just can't stand when a car dealership uses two screws rather than four to install a license plate. It may sound crazy, but I can't stand the noise a car with two screws makes. I usually bitch, then go pay 0.65$ for two screws from the service department, but for some reason those screws rust.

Will your guys use 4 screws to install the plates, or should I start shopping for galvanized screws ?

Sorry for the OCD.

No worries...

We use 4 screws when installing the plates. For those that have a window temp tag, the 4 screws are in the plate bracket for you to use when you receive your plates.

I'm the same way. If there is a place for 4 screws, I want to use 4 screws.

Look forward to seeing you soon

OCD, and you are talking about galvanized??

I mount plates with stainless steel fasteners.



But only on the rear, no front plates for me

Glad the PCD guys have this issue dialed in- sounds better than most dealerships!

Originally Posted by ard

PCD guys have this issue dialed in- sounds better than most dealerships!

This would possibly be the understatement of the decade

I'm in Munich now Jonathan, and I'm really glad to hear this.

No front bracket, ever.

How to people get around a state law if front plates are required? I would assume if your dealer gives you a front and back plate it's because it's the law in your state (It is in Maryland unless myself and every other Maryland driver has been tooling around with an "extra" plate).

Some people do not follow all laws. You might have noticed an occasional driver exceeding the speed limit on a highway near you. Or a few people with heavily tinted mirrors that exceed limits. They are willing to deal with the occasional ticket.

Originally Posted by BenF12400

How to people get around a state law if front plates are required? I would assume if your dealer gives you a front and back plate it's because it's the law in your state (It is in Maryland unless myself and every other Maryland driver has been tooling around with an "extra" plate).

Pretty common topic if you have cars with nice fronts...

On my M5 and P car I dont have a front plate. Probably 150k miles over a combined 10+ years. A few tickets for speeding, other stuff (beat all but one), never for a plate.

I do keep a folded up "temporary tag" sticker on the front window of both cars, lower right- like every car sold in CA does...I've been eyed by LEOs, but my theory is they see the temp tag and never think to look at the plate on the rear.

I've resigned myself to paying a fine some day.

A

Do not recall seeing a car registered in Maryland without front tags - that includes Bentleys, Ferraris, , diplomat cars. The situation in this part of Maryland is that we are located adjacent to DC. The gendarmes here include troopers, county police, park police, and who knows what else in unmarked vehicles. DC is very aggressive in ticketing for anything, with reciprocity with local MVAs. The DC police have a scanning system in patrol cars that automatically scans tags looking for unpaid tickets - they scan front and back. We have redlight cameras, speed cameras, and soon "rolling stop cameras". Also cameras that check if you speed up to get through a yellow light. They do not take kindly for us locals to be missing a tag. Unfortunately I had to have the front tags put on at the PCD. I guess MD-DC-VA doesn't care about out-of-towners' tags.

In the cities here in CA the laws are more aggressively enforced. Even parking meter maids can give plate tickets. Also, going into major airports (SFO, LAX) can increase the risk.

Oh, the 'tag law' only applies to you registered state. (ie if your state only requires rear plates, you cannot be guilty of violating a law in another state if they have a front plate law)

Having said all that I've prolly jinxed myself.

A

PS How can a system scan 'front and back'? Like to see how that works... All the other stuff I am aware of. I'd submit that you could have different plates front and rear and a scanning system would never figure it out....

I don't know how they do it but it was "featured on the news" a year or so ago. They don't even have to stop - just something the DC patrol cars have mostly to look for people with unpaid tickets. Maybe the system really doesn't exist and it's just a "scare tactic" - who knows. This is a tristate area so things can get weird. Apropos of nothing, there is a really unusual situation with speeding tickets here. A DC licensed driver gets a speeding ticket in Maryland or Virginia for driving 80 in a 70 MPH zone - in those states is a 10mph over the limit ticket (maybe a point). However, these jurisdictions report to the DC DMV/MVA that the individual was driving 80 MPH; 80 mph in DC is considered reckless driving and the way the law in DC is written they don't care where the ticket was given it's reckless driving and you lose your license! This makes no sense even to the DC council and they are trying to change it - making news in the Washington Post. I know this has nothing to do with license plates - sorry. Maryland MVA - "Maryland vehicle law requires every vehicle to display two registration plates...except motorcycles".

Originally Posted by BenF12400

I don't know how they do it but it was "featured on the news" a year or so ago. They don't even have to stop - just something the DC patrol cars have mostly to look for people with unpaid tickets. Maybe the system really doesn't exist and it's just a "scare tactic" - who knows. This is a tristate area so things can get weird. Apropos of nothing, there is a really unusual situation with speeding tickets here. A DC licensed driver gets a speeding ticket in Maryland or Virginia for driving 80 in a 70 MPH zone - in those states is a 10mph over the limit ticket (maybe a point). However, these jurisdictions report to the DC DMV/MVA that the individual was driving 80 MPH; 80 mph in DC is considered reckless driving and the way the law in DC is written they don't care where the ticket was given it's reckless driving and you lose your license! This makes no sense even to the DC council and they are trying to change it - making news in the Washington Post. I know this has nothing to do with license plates - sorry. Maryland MVA - "Maryland vehicle law requires every vehicle to display two registration plates...except motorcycles".

1. News reporter might have got it wrong (ie the 'scanning and comparing front and rear plates'). I am pretty familiar with the systems that find, track, recognize, (OCR) the plate and then run it...and flag it to the driver if the plate has a problem.

2. Some of the traffic law stuff is really very disturbing. Almost un-American in many ways. Pretty soon we will be getting speeding tickets if we refuse to testify as to who was driving the license plate (presumptive guilty, coerced testimony)

3. Glad radar detectors and aircraft detection are legal where I drive. When I am there, it is in a rental and I just behave....

A

Many agencies have the Motorola "ALPR" automated license plate readers installed on patrol cars. You can spot them by looking for small infrared camera modules near the light bars. The system can run over 5000 license plates in a standard patrol shift. Both the patrol car and offender vehicle can be moving or stopped. Scary stuff.