From Auto Letters by Jim Mateja in the Chicago Tribune: Q I purchased a new 2009 Chrysler 300 SRT8 a few weeks ago from dealer stock. The rear license plate was on, but the front wasn’t. The plate bracket was in the trunk, but I was told that nobody was available to install the front plate. I was told not to worry because I wouldn’t get pulled over and it looks better without the plate. If I wanted, I could bring the car back to get the plate installed. When I got home, I looked at the bracket to see whether I could install it and found that Chrysler changed the grille on the 2009 300 SRT8. The directions show the bracket is made to attach to the old grille. The parts department said the bracket is the correct one for my vehicle. I took the car back to dealer, and they agreed it couldn’t be installed, but there was nothing they could do. They said I should display the license plate on my dashboard. How can Chrysler produce a car that doesn’t and can’t conform to the state law, which requires a front plate? A How could a dealer tell you not to worry and that you wouldn’t get stopped for driving without a front plate that’s required by law in Illinois? And how could a dealer tell you to display the plate on your dash when all it takes to attach the bracket is cutting it to fit the mesh grille that replaced the egg-crate grille for 2009? ‘It just takes a little initiative by the dealer,’ Al Wagener, a salesman at Knauz Chrysler in Lake Bluff, told us when we called to ask how Chrysler could have goofed.”
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Unless you have to routinely traverse some podunk municipality that relies on traffic tickets for some outrageous percentage of the city budget…
Why the hell would you want a front plate on your new car?
On the hugely off chance that you get stopped, it’s at worst, a fine. Non-moving, no points.
Sure, if it’s some transportation appliance, who cares. But you just spent decent change for an SRT8 and now you’re gonna put that wart on the front?
He should have that 300 taken away and be given a Sebring.
Where, oh where, have the car people gone?
No, really, sir… and using your SRT’s gob-smacking (well… butt-smacking, anyway) barrel-load of torque to lay black stripes down your driveway every morning won’t void your powertrain warranty, either.
Why is this not a surprising thing?
It sounds like the dealership experience at this particular Chrysler dealer rivals that one would expect from a KIA franchise. It doesn’t say much about Chrysler’s quality control either, since a multitude of states require a front mounted license plate.
A $40,000 vehicle should come with a license plate bracket that conforms to state laws. Out of curiosity, would this problem occur at a Lexus dealer?
I know it could happen at a Mitsubishi dealer, and again at Chevy, (Corvette). Both have brackets, both are add-on and look bad, but that is the car design…you would think someone buying the car would be awake enough to ask such things.
They (Chrysler) probably couldn’t afford to make the correct one.
@porschespeed:
You’d be amazed how anal the Illinois cops are about the front license plate. Former boss of mine purposely left his front license plate off, and he got pulled over weekly until he got it attached. We need to raise money to bail our governors out of jail.
Plus, our governors want to see their handiwork. “Welcome to Illinois, where the governor personally makes your license plate.”
dover
I wouldn’t take the car AND report the dealer to the DMV.
Considering these are actually built in a jurisdiction (Ontario) that uses front plates, that’s impressive. I’ve seen 300s at dealers with the plate mount. Of course, they could be 2008s.
If too few Mopar engineers and designers have survived the Cerberus pogroms to design a front license plate bracket, one fears for its engines and transmissions.
Here in Michigan, for awhile, the actual LICENSE PLATES designed, engineered and made by the state itself, had the holes in the wrong place.
Now, what does that say about Michigan? One could even stretch it to ask – what does that say about Michigan’s education, and therefore, Michigan’s auto industry?
Equally awful (and a daily reminder of how stupid the bureaucrats are in my home state) are the new Michigan license plates (that you have to pay extra for). They show THE (Mackinac) Bridge, yes; but did you know that the sky is green and the ground is blue here in Michigan? You’d think so if you have the misfortune to gaze upon one of these tags.
I’ll keep renewing the 1996 Centennary of the Automobile Michigan tags for my wife’s car and mine as long as they let me, thanks…
Excepting anal-retentive cops, not having a front plate in a jurisdiction that requires them can be a bargaining chip when stopped for a moving violation, i.e., “Can’t you just give me a ticket for not having a front plate?”. The cop doesn’t feel like he’s wasted his time in pulling you over, and you don’t get any points assessed on your license.
Of course, there’s always the possibility that you’ll not only get a speeding ticket, but a speeding ticket and a citation for not having a front plate…
Motorists! Remove your front-mounted RADAR Reflecting Device!
Shameless plug: http://www.bumperplugs.com/
Actually, this story is an example of the reason that the domestic automakers are dying – they don’t care. And the fish stinks from the head to the tail!
When I come across a car that doesn’t have a front license plate bracket and I need to put a plate on for delivery, I take the plate out to the car with a sharpie, put 2 dots on the bumper through the plate holes, poke holes in the bumper and attach the plate directly to the bumper, hiding my handiwork with the dealer plate surround. No one has ever noticed..
Where there’s a will there’s a way.
We are supposed to have 2 plates in CT, but many of my customers come in with only 1 plate, so I guess they are on their own.
Plastech probably has all the tooling required to make the plate frame. Why doesn’t Chrysler ask them to make one?
Oh wait…
Here’s a novel idea…..how about the remaining states drop the front license plate requirement. Wouldn’t this save money for the states and enable all of us to enjoy our vehicles to have clean styling without some ugly plate on the front? Sure, some will argue that it would hinder safety/police effectiveness. Let’s challenge ourselves to fire up our little digits and submit this request to our elected officials to resolve.
Besides, think of the benefit for Detroit companies like “Cry”sler to overcome this huge engineering and customer service obstacle.
No front plate in NYC on a parked car (registered in NY) = guaranteed ticket. Putting the plate in the windshield is also a violation.
how about the remaining states drop the front license plate requirement. Wouldn’t this save money for the states and enable all of us to enjoy our vehicles to have clean styling without some ugly plate on the front?
Red light cameras rely upon the front plate to identify and cite the vehicle owner. Where cameras become more common, enforcement of the plate laws is sure to follow.
If anything, maybe we’ll get even more plates. A few for the side windows, a couple on the roof, maybe even one for our foreheads…
[sarcasm mode on] Lexus, Porsche, and Ferrari dealers are perfect. Their service departments are empty, and their parts departments never sell anything accept accessories because nothing ever breaks. Ever! Not even in collisions. They don’t even do oil changes, because PORSCHE OIL NEVER GETS DIRTY! Lexus and Porsche sales people are supernaturally perfect life forms, dispensing wisdom (sent from Germany and Japan to ignorant Americans) from hallowed halls that make Ivy League universities look like back-woods roadhouses. Heck, all the best websites and MSM know this. [sarcasm mode off]
Oh, and the Chrysler dealership people have horns. (This part is actually true.)
Thank you, thank you very much…
@porschespeed
Try Virginia. You won’t get around the block. My friend lived in CO and had his windows tinted there. When he moved to VA he got a ticket the day after he changed his plates because the tint was too dark.
Why don’t auto designers/makers incorporate a space for front plates that at least attempts to integrate the overall visual effect?
I know people who have gone out to their car in the morning and had a ticket on their window for “no front plate”
Chicago is pretty desperate for revenue. It is a reasonable assumption that dealers sell vehicles that comply with local ordinances.
Many years ago when I worked in final car assembly one of the last jobs was wheel discs
and front licence hardware.The operator had to lift the deck lid had place wheel discs and frt lic hdw in the trunk.The broadcast sheet would have a code for the correct hubcap/lic hdw.
When you trained somebody you told em get the right hub cap.But throw a licence package in every car.I would suspect that the bean counters have put a stop to that practice.But if a car moved from a rear only to a front state you had the right stuff.
Detroit-Iron yeah, i live in VA. last time i got a speeding ticket and went to court, i watched as half the tickets given by the same cop were for illegal tint. and they will get you for no front tag in a heart beat
I just got a ticket for no fron license plate on my new car. I did not put it on because I did not like the look and it interfered with air induction.
The reason why there is not a slot provided is because not all license plates are the same size. Have you ever seen a foreign license plate? Not the same.
Not riding with a front license plate also gives the police an excuse to stop you. For a law abiding citizen, this may not be a problem but I say, why risk fate. I would rather not have to deal with the hassle.
Yes, Texas and Houston is putting up more and more cameras. They are in need of more and more revenue. So, our police officers spend all their time raising funds for the state and less and less time protecting the citizens of this state. Then they wonder why they get any respect.
I’m from a state with no front plates or toll expressways, so getting used to them took some time. Yes, Ohio and Illinois are obnoxious about front plates.
Texas requires front plates too, and I had a Scion (well, toyota…) dealership *not even say anything about it at all*. They just put the front plate with the other paperwork after putting on the rear plate.
When I asked about it, they said “don’t worry about it, the car looks better without it…and noone gets pulled over for that.”
I have no idea *if* noone gets ticketed for that, but that’s because I went home and put the front plate on. However, having to drill holes in the front bumper was a little disconcerting.
When I was a kid, I lived down the street from the original Karl Knauz dealership in Lake Forest, a suburb on the North Shore of Chicago. Their new dealership complex in Lake Bluff is an enormous place that is 10 times the size of the original one. I am amazed that they still sell Chrysler products, as they mainly sell BMW, Mercedes, Land Rover and Mini.
As I recall, they sold a lot of wood-paneled Chrysler minivans when those were all the rage. I can’t imagine Chrysler is making them any money these days. Maybe they just don’t care about these customers anymore.
Wouldn’t the easiest way to handle the situation be to get in writing that the dealer stands for all the fines until the problem is solved? Just send them the bills as they keep comming in, until they move their lazy asses and do something about it? That shouldn’t be the customers problem…
Never mind that last comment, as it doesn’t seem to imply that Knauz was the dealership where the car was purchased. I guess I was just excited to have something to add to the discussion…my bad.
Front license plates tend to run contrary to good aerodynamics. I thought all the “experts” deemed that we should be saving gas and aerodynamics is a contributor to saving gas. Since there is no national “standard” for front plates – we end up with a kludge. And I won’t even get into the hassle of cleaning and maintaing the front plate.
Move into the 21st century, adopt a RF tag on each automobile and eliminate the ugly license plate altogether. Law enforcement folks should be writing tickets with electronic readers/printers – not pens and paper.
@tced2
Law enforcement folks should be writing tickets with electronic readers/printers – not pens and paper.
I hope not. I actually got out of an out of state ticket in the 21st century because the cop misspelled my name.
porschespeed :
Unless you have to routinely traverse some podunk municipality that relies on traffic tickets for some outrageous percentage of the city budget…
Why the hell would you want a front plate on your new car?
Ha! That’s cute. Not from around here, are you? ;)
What do you think is the case in Illinois, Land of $0.80 Tolls That Should Have Been Decommissioned In The Late Seventies.
I’m surprised he got all the way home without receiving his first ticket.
The plate is just the beginning of his troubles….
Do car designers not know that someone, somewhere out there will need to mount a front plate? If you were a designer and there was something that was required on ~70% of the cars, wouldn’t you consider it in the design? The bumper should have little dimpled inserts in bumper color that can be used for this purpose.
Wait! – maybe the dealer should have installed this already. Uh – maybe it should have been on the checklist of items to take care of before the car was sold to the customer…
I live in a one plate state thankfully but I always thought it would be interesting if someone engineered a front plate bracket that mounted under the bumper and would hide away when the car was off. (wouldn’t help where they give tickets to parked cars though)
It would also be cool to make a bracket that would flip the rear license place down while running through electronic toll lanes or through intersections with cameras during a “late yellow” run.
Perhaps in an earlier era, the letter writer would have seen an opportunity and started making aftermarket license plate brackets that actually fit the ‘09 300s.
My guess is that once Chrysler finds out about this, the mold for the bracket will be changed so the same part can be used for both old and new models.
In the world of automaker screwups, it kind of pales next to having to remove strut tower braces to change a battery (GM) or needing to disassemble the rear suspension to change an oil filter (Ferrari).
BTW, when cops give you tickets for improperly displayed license plates, there’s a good chance they don’t know the law. Same with other things you must display like handicapped placards. Municipalities ticket drivers based on revenue, not necessarily the black letter of the law.
I think the non-front plate states should be forced to have front plates.
I agree with Chrysler. The dealership should be creative, plenty of crap at the Home Depot would help them with this.
Plates arrived for the new car in the mail.
I did not have the proper screws to attach them so drove to the dealership (40 mi) to get them. Pulled in early on a Saturday morning and found a guy with a clipboard (always look for someone carrying a clipboard when you want something done.) I explained I had received the license plates and needed the screws to mount them.
He looked at me and stated he does something else but would get the screws for me.
Shortly he arrived with the correct eight screws (two of the eight are odd) and sparkling-clean Snap-On ratchet with the correct socket attached. Handing them to me, he states, “When you’re finished, look for me in the back row of the used cars. If I don’t return the wrench, I’m dead meat.”
Quiz: Did this happen at one of the Detroit automaker’s dealerships or a Honda dealership?
As skeptical as I am about Chrysler management, I would not presume that the bracket doesn’t exist. The issue is probably with the dealer.
If it were me, I’d call Chrysler corporate and get a part number for the frame, then contact the dealer with the part number. I certainly wouldn’t pay for it.
There is probably a state law that mandates that new cars be sold with the appropriate plate holder. If the customer doesn’t get his problem resolved, he should file a complaint with the state.
I was the traffic judge at a community college many years ago. If the school’s traffic enforcement person was writing a ticket for a parking violation and the car did not have a front plate, they were REQUIRED to also write a citation for that.
Some things in life are not an elective…
tced2:
Move into the 21st century, adopt a RF tag on each automobile and eliminate the ugly license plate altogether. Law enforcement folks should be writing tickets with electronic readers/printers – not pens and paper.
That wouldn’t work. Too many jerks would microwave their plates. I nuke RFID credit cards.
Besides, they’ve already got optical plate readers for police cars that can pick up slow moving or parked car plates (I think the NYPD perfected the system). The officer doesn’t even deal with plate numbers until one ‘hits’(i.e. a summons/warrant/suspension associated with that plate.)
As cameras get better, this will vastly improve. However, if this gets too good, state motor vehicle departments will have to tweak their software so cops focus on People Who Enhance Revenue (PWER’s).
In other words, the six-time DWI convict with a suspended license is a revenue minus – so ignore him. The working stiff PWER with an outstanding seat belt violation that his sister got (while driving his car) gets jacked with for a $200 fine.
I refuse to mount a front plate on my BMW. It is a ghastly act upon the aesthetics of any car. Officer Law: That is one chicken S*** ticket. Of course, I’m a little less candid if I’m pulled over.
Porschespeed:
In some states a vehicle will not pass inspection without a properly affixed front plate. It’s not just about avoiding tickets. And, large cities depend largely on the ticket revenue stream, too, not just small towns.
Don’t try this in Ohio. It is, as I have repeatedly said, a cop ridden hellhole. They can and will ticket you for for anything they can find. They spend the first day of the month going around looking for expired plate stickers.
You are telling me either the owner or dealership can’t make a license plate holder fit? Doesn’t anyone own a drill?
Anyway, front plates are just ugly bug catchers and thankfully my state doesn’t require one. I wonder if someday I’m going to get pulled over out of state and asked why I don’t have one?
On a related note (at least for Chrysler), the apology blog has crossed the 200 comment milestone. I think its time to launch a Chrysler comments deathwatch…presumably there will be “technical” difficulties on Monday am, but who can say?
http://blog.chryslerllc.com/blog.do?id=564&p=entry
What a bunch of clowns.
What is this world coming to? I thought everyone knew that anything can be attached with baling wire or duct tape…
Detroit-Iron: Try Virginia. .. My friend lived in CO and had his windows tinted there. When he moved to VA he got a ticket the day after he changed his plates because the tint was too dark.
Yeah, Virginia is pretty anal about speed limits too. But I’m glad at least one state is serious about cracking down on mafiamobiles. Overly dark tints are unsafe for both the people inside a car and those outside.
Finally, I would have thought the federal law that standardized plate size would also require provision for attaching them. Even a FMVSS might address this.
I live in Ohio and don’t run a front plate on six of my seven cars.
I get ticketed five or six times a year. Usually the cop picks at random between ticketing me for the tag or for the 20% tint.
This is the same state where they sent a bunch of child-molesting daycare workers home with probation.
A front plate looks lousy on my Miata but so what? I think it’s more a matter of the dealer knowing and hiding it. The plate would have been mounted otherwise. How hard could it be to figure it out?
Handing you a racket wrench and screws? I’d attach the plate and drive off with the wrench and return it the next time I took it in for service. No lot kid on Saturday? How about the salespeople drinking coffee?
A fraudulent state vehicle inspection complaint would probably have gotten this taken care of pretty quickly.