FronT plate HOLES!!! AHHH!!!
02-18-07, 06:47 PM
#16
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02-18-07, 10:34 PM
#19
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Hey Lewis, me too bought mine from Kristina!!
If it makes you feel better, she was not able to stop the hole from being drilled although she promised me that she would do all she could to stop it.
The holes do look horrible with the plastic from the surrounding bulging out....
Did she give you any freebies?
If it makes you feel better, she was not able to stop the hole from being drilled although she promised me that she would do all she could to stop it.
The holes do look horrible with the plastic from the surrounding bulging out....
Did she give you any freebies?
words to live by!!
yeah i bought mine from kristina from stevens creek .. you know the email salewomen.. that sends her pic in every email to make sure you recognize here when you go there so she has a fighting chance over the other salesmen. . . but again with the plate i for some moranic reason believed that there we're magnets of some sort or somthing other than 2 huge drilled holes .. i mean these holes arn't clean drilled.. you can see how they forced there entrance! i guess im just going to have to put the front plates on ... when they come in haha.. anyways thankx for helping me cope
yeah i bought mine from kristina from stevens creek .. you know the email salewomen.. that sends her pic in every email to make sure you recognize here when you go there so she has a fighting chance over the other salesmen. . . but again with the plate i for some moranic reason believed that there we're magnets of some sort or somthing other than 2 huge drilled holes .. i mean these holes arn't clean drilled.. you can see how they forced there entrance! i guess im just going to have to put the front plates on ... when they come in haha.. anyways thankx for helping me cope
02-18-07, 10:37 PM
#20
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Actually my brother's TSX has a very nice way to mount the front plate that does not require any drilling.
The license plate bracket has two arms that are latched onto the lower grill and then you put screws behind the grill to secure the arms. Lexus should definitely do something like this.
The license plate bracket has two arms that are latched onto the lower grill and then you put screws behind the grill to secure the arms. Lexus should definitely do something like this.
You'd think Lexus (and all car makers) could come up with a better way to attach front plates than to screw them to a place in the front bumper that is likely, at some point, to come in contact with the rear bumper of another car.
Just last week a Grand Am (severely handicapped driver) hit my rear bumper pretty hard (neck hurt!) when I was stopped at a traffic light. The two front license plate screws on the Grand Am did a surprising amount of scarring on my rear bumper. There was more damage than just that ... car to body shop next week ...
My rear bumper was hit almost as hard last year by a Jeep Liberty (woman applying make-up) while I was stopped at a traffic light, but there was no front license plate or screws, the bumpers matched up perfectly and there was no damage.
The rear bumper of my previous Lexus was hit in 2002 by a Ford Taurus (woman talking on phone) while I was stopped at a traffic light and a front license plate screw, sticking out about 1/2 inch, put a hole right through my rear bumper cover.
If you have to have a front plate, be sure to use screws with very low profile heads.
Just last week a Grand Am (severely handicapped driver) hit my rear bumper pretty hard (neck hurt!) when I was stopped at a traffic light. The two front license plate screws on the Grand Am did a surprising amount of scarring on my rear bumper. There was more damage than just that ... car to body shop next week ...
My rear bumper was hit almost as hard last year by a Jeep Liberty (woman applying make-up) while I was stopped at a traffic light, but there was no front license plate or screws, the bumpers matched up perfectly and there was no damage.
The rear bumper of my previous Lexus was hit in 2002 by a Ford Taurus (woman talking on phone) while I was stopped at a traffic light and a front license plate screw, sticking out about 1/2 inch, put a hole right through my rear bumper cover.
If you have to have a front plate, be sure to use screws with very low profile heads.
02-18-07, 10:40 PM
#21
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Sorry I have one more thing to vent.
To add insult to injury, the Lexus front license plate bracket is somehow WIDER than the license plate itself. So with a starfire pearl IS, I ended up have these two pieces of black plastic sticking out from each side of the license plate
To add insult to injury, the Lexus front license plate bracket is somehow WIDER than the license plate itself. So with a starfire pearl IS, I ended up have these two pieces of black plastic sticking out from each side of the license plate
02-18-07, 10:46 PM
#22
Actually my brother's TSX has a very nice way to mount the front plate that does not require any drilling.
The license plate bracket has two arms that are latched onto the lower grill and then you put screws behind the grill to secure the arms. Lexus should definitely do something like this.
The license plate bracket has two arms that are latched onto the lower grill and then you put screws behind the grill to secure the arms. Lexus should definitely do something like this.
02-18-07, 11:01 PM
#23
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I would say that my brother's is flush and reasonably sturdy. The original bracket that came with the car actually conforms to the V-shape of the TSX's bumper so there isn't any gap......
The thing is, does the front plate lie flush with the bumper? My sister's Odessey has that set up, but they didn't drill the front, so now this front plate is serving essentially as a front airdam, which can't be good for mileage. My neighbor, with the same van, has it flush, and I think it's because it's drilled...
why do they require it, it just looks ugly lol
02-19-07, 05:38 AM
#25
Lexus Champion
Sorry I have one more thing to vent.
To add insult to injury, the Lexus front license plate bracket is somehow WIDER than the license plate itself. So with a starfire pearl IS, I ended up have these two pieces of black plastic sticking out from each side of the license plate
To add insult to injury, the Lexus front license plate bracket is somehow WIDER than the license plate itself. So with a starfire pearl IS, I ended up have these two pieces of black plastic sticking out from each side of the license plate
02-19-07, 09:47 AM
#26
Liquid Bra Champion
The one, and only, plus to Putnam Lexus is that they do not put front plates on the car until they get an OK from the customer. At Stevens Creek, I've seen tech out on the car carrier installing front plates before the car is even unloaded. If the sales person at Stevens Creek says they'll "watch" for your vehicle so no plates are installed, they're lying.
02-19-07, 10:24 AM
#27
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My experience with front plates started on my previous car, a GMC Denali in Oregon, a state requiring two plates. I asked my body shop if anything could be done to patch the front plate holes because the plate is just tacked to the front bumper (much like the IS350).
He said that his experience with exotic cars (Ferarris, etc), there is an exempt from the plate law. If there is no fastener for the plate (holes, tabs, etc), it is not required to have a plate. The exemption is in place for rare foreign cars where having a front plate is impossible.
That being said, I had him fill and paint the holes, and it SO improved the look of the car. In the four years that I owned the car, I was never hassled by cops, even when I was pulled over for other things like the tinting and my LCD screen. Keep in mind using plugs won't work because they are still considered a fastening point.
He said that his experience with exotic cars (Ferarris, etc), there is an exempt from the plate law. If there is no fastener for the plate (holes, tabs, etc), it is not required to have a plate. The exemption is in place for rare foreign cars where having a front plate is impossible.
That being said, I had him fill and paint the holes, and it SO improved the look of the car. In the four years that I owned the car, I was never hassled by cops, even when I was pulled over for other things like the tinting and my LCD screen. Keep in mind using plugs won't work because they are still considered a fastening point.
02-19-07, 12:10 PM
#28
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My experience with front plates started on my previous car, a GMC Denali in Oregon, a state requiring two plates. I asked my body shop if anything could be done to patch the front plate holes because the plate is just tacked to the front bumper (much like the IS350).
He said that his experience with exotic cars (Ferarris, etc), there is an exempt from the plate law. If there is no fastener for the plate (holes, tabs, etc), it is not required to have a plate. The exemption is in place for rare foreign cars where having a front plate is impossible.
That being said, I had him fill and paint the holes, and it SO improved the look of the car. In the four years that I owned the car, I was never hassled by cops, even when I was pulled over for other things like the tinting and my LCD screen. Keep in mind using plugs won't work because they are still considered a fastening point.
He said that his experience with exotic cars (Ferarris, etc), there is an exempt from the plate law. If there is no fastener for the plate (holes, tabs, etc), it is not required to have a plate. The exemption is in place for rare foreign cars where having a front plate is impossible.
That being said, I had him fill and paint the holes, and it SO improved the look of the car. In the four years that I owned the car, I was never hassled by cops, even when I was pulled over for other things like the tinting and my LCD screen. Keep in mind using plugs won't work because they are still considered a fastening point.
If so, I kind of find that hard to believe. It is not "impossible" to attach the front plate on an IS.
02-19-07, 12:47 PM
#29
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Yes, that is the idea. And though I am not sure on the specifics of the law exemption, it seems to have worked. It may be enough to ward off cop trouble, where as gaping holes or brackets is obviously not.
02-19-07, 02:35 PM
#30
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I'm surprise any dealer would let a customer leave the dealership without front plates in a state that REQUIRES one.
Sure, some people would like to break the law just to look good, but the dealer could be liable for letting a vehcile leave their showroom that has an equipment violation (missing front plate) if you get caught by the CHP. No dealer in their right mind should even entertain such requests unless the local juridiction does not require front plates.
Sure, some people would like to break the law just to look good, but the dealer could be liable for letting a vehcile leave their showroom that has an equipment violation (missing front plate) if you get caught by the CHP. No dealer in their right mind should even entertain such requests unless the local juridiction does not require front plates.