My salesman said it is the law that they mount the front bracket.

Pretty ballsy as they were sued a year ago by a customer for drilling holes in the front bumper of their Mercedes. The dealer tried to fill it in with a compound which only set into motion a nasty trial in which the customer won.

Has anyone looked to see if there is a beam that runs across the front bumper that an L-shaped plate bracket could get bolted onto thus not requiring holes in the front bumper? There has to be another way to hang a plate holder on the front without drilling into obviously seen parts of the exterior.

If possible, could someone find out the next time they see a 350Z by looking behind the front grill?

Thanks and I am sure a lot of TX Z'ers will appreciate it.

 

my step dad recently got a TL-S and it had what i think you're refering to so it goes under the grill or something. I forgot how he explained it; im just glad there were no holes drilled.

 

I was also wondering about this. Take a look at this pic that christurismohk put up a link to a while back:



This is the pre-production Z that was going around the bay area a while ago. There is a piece of the grille that is cut out, and there is small piece of metal in there that is threaded, like something is supposed to screw into it. Anyone have any idea what it is, and if it will show up in the production model?

 

That cut-out is interesting. It wasn't there on the pre-production chrome silver I saw in May. It would probably be wishing too much to think that Nissan modified the license plate mount, from bumber, to grill.

 

Yeah, I would be pretty happy if that was the case, though I think people in states that dont require a front place wouldn't be happy to have a hole in the grille, but, as I live in california, I would much rather have a hole in the grille than the bumper.

 

but there does appear to be provisions for a cut-out in this pre-production silverstone pic.

 

Scaf, your pic is what I was using to determine whether the Z was going to have holes in the bumper or not. Yours definitely shows it and I remember someone saying that there were identations where the holes would go for those states requiring front plates.

I am going to have to have the front plate and can't play the "it fell off and I am holding onto it in the car" game with guards at the base gates checking it each day.

The pic of the blue Z does seem to show a cutout in the grill that would allow an L-shaped mount if there is something there to drill a hole in vertically allowing a nut and bolt mount. That will allow keeping the bumper clean and any mounts hidden if the plate does come off. The 300ZX had this I believe.

If someone does see the car again soon, please take a look at the front plate mount possibilities other than through the bumper.

 

I'm in TX as well and bought a lexus a little over a year ago. When I bought it, the dealer said "Do you want us to drill and attach the front license plate, or just put it in the trunk for you?"

I said to put it in the trunk. Was my dealer being nice, or is it really not TX law? I dunno. But I'll try and research right now.

 

wooglin,

I even went and read the motor vehicle statutes last night (absolutely boring). I couldn't find anything there that said that the dealer has to be the one to install the front mount especially when they are only allowed to distribute one (state law) new car tag when you buy it.

I may have to have the dealer show me where this law is but I want to be prepared for it as I am expecting him to know about this little stuff more than me.

 

States that require front/back license plates:

Alaska, American Samoa, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, British Columbia, Manitoba (newly issue plates), New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
States that require only a rear license plate :

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virgin Islands, West Virginia, Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba (New plates are front/back in 1997), Northwest Territories, Prince Edward Island, Yukon Territory

Hope my dealer doesn't really care about this!

 

I know you did not ask to see this but after reading this post, I wanted to see how the front lisence plate would like since, I live in NY and will have to have a lisence plate in the front. If anyone else is interested in how it looks, check out this page: http://freshalloy.com/site/cars/niss...y/home06.shtml to see some shots of how the lisence plate bracket looks.

 

I've mentioned this before, but I have a friend that designs and manufactures Harley parts that is going to design a bracket that will place the plate in the center of the grill area...as soon as I get my car...I'll keep you all posted on this as it developes..

 

I'd be in for that, definitely. I'll try to keep you in mind. I don't think this engine is going to mind that little bit of blocked airflow. Heck, do you think he will even be able to customize and make it a holder that the plates slides into or just a backing that you screw the plate onto?

 

AudioPat, I'm interested. Pls keep us posted.
A while ago I asked my dealer to NOT install the front bracket, and he said fine, just sign a piece of paper. Shoot, last new car I bought I signed like 50 pieces of paper, SOOOOOOOOo, I'm preped.

Been driving 4 years without a front plate, and I've never been pulled over............well, not for that!

 

Don't know exactly what it will be yet...am going to see if we can incorporate the original bracket in the design...will know better when the car gets here...my dealer is not installing any front brackets without permission of the owners

 

I live in NY and the first few times this topic came up and I didn't pay much attention - figuring I had to install it on front.
During the past couple months - I have looked around and seen tons of cars (both NY and out of state) without the front plate. Reading many posts - it seems like just this alone will not get you pulled over. Try this yourself on the road with oncoming vehicles - as the ones w/o front plates pass - try to turn head or look in rear view to verify the state- try this 5 - 10 times and it gets old real fast. A police car passing on the highway is a different story I guess.

I doubt it will affect the aerodynamics much - but a flat rectangular object isn't helping any up there. Probably reduces gas mileage also - maybe 1/10 gallon per 15,000 miles!

So - I recently asked my dealer not to install any front bracket. My reasoning will be - I ain't drilling holes in my front bumper, I can't afford the wind drag at speeds in excess of 135 mph, everyone else ignores this silly law - I joined the club, and the car wasn't designed for one. Write me a ticket for just no front plate? OK- if you must. I'll just keep paying the fines if I get pulled over - while the real criminals are robbing a bank a couple blocks away.

 

How about it ZISME...

I currently drive an Acura 3.2TL (No Zs when I needed a new car!) and it has a bracket that bolts in under the bumper and bends up in front of the bumper with rubber to protect the finish. You can take it off in states that don't reuire the front plate and you would never know.

How does Nissan plan on attaching the front plate? Like the Acura I hope!

 

Just as per the pictures that Scaf posted, they will drill holes through the bumper.

I would keep the plates off the front if all I had to deal with was the civilian world but on base, things get tight and there are no fines- just lots of walking if you don't like the rules, while your car sits outside the fence on the bad part of town (why can't we just buy some expensive land and put bases there?!)