# Front license plate bracket!



## fastdriver (Jan 7, 2011)

*To ALL dealers/service personnel-*

*PLEASE do NOT automatically put on the front license plate bracket even if you are in a state that requires two plates! Let the customer decide if they want holes in their bumper and an ugly bracket!*

My LTZ RS came from another dealer and not the one I bought it from, so they already made holes in the front bumper to attach that ugly bracket! I do live in a two plate state, but have NOT had a front plate/bracket on my car in YEARS!

WHY would a dealer automatically do that? It ruins the beautiful front end of the LTZ RS and the other Cruze models as well. Luckily my plate is a little fancier one and not a plain Jane model, so it doesn't look too bad, but I would have preferred NO plate!


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## INTIMIDAT3R (Jan 22, 2011)

fastdriver said:


> *To ALL dealers/service personnel-*
> 
> *PLEASE do NOT automatically put on the front license plate bracket even if you are in a state that requires two plates! Let the customer decide if they want holes in their bumper and an ugly bracket!*
> 
> ...


...And all the people said, "AMEN!!!" Too late for my '11 Cruze LT/RS, but...

My '11 Camaro 2SS/RS is part of the "No Holes" Club. No front plate is just a fix-it ticket, not a moving violation. Better than holes and that ugly bracket.


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## fastdriver (Jan 7, 2011)

INTIMIDAT3R said:


> ...And all the people said, "AMEN!!!" Too late for my '11 Cruze LT/RS, but...
> 
> My '11 Camaro 2SS/RS is part of the "No Holes" Club. No front plate is just a fix-it ticket, not a moving violation. Better than holes and that ugly bracket.


EXACTLY! Some dealers just see a car as a car and nothing else. There are SOME of us who do care what our cars look like and how they are treated when we bring them in for service.


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## LARRY01Z28 (Dec 4, 2010)

i know i hate those things. it just looks so bad. and the are pop-riveted on there. so def will leave a hole if you remove it.


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## SilverCruzer (Nov 30, 2010)

I also don't care for the dealer logo's that get affixed to cars. Its like they assume you don't mind the permanent free advertising of their dealership on your car.


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## Diretoy (Feb 4, 2011)

SilverCruzer said:


> I also don't care for the dealer logo's that get affixed to cars. Its like they assume you don't mind the permanent free advertising of their dealership on your car.


Tennessee is a one plate state, thank goodness! I removed the dealer sticker the day after I bought it. They will get no free advertising from me. If someone asks where I got my car, I'll tell them.


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## fastdriver (Jan 7, 2011)

SilverCruzer said:


> I also don't care for the dealer logo's that get affixed to cars. Its like they assume you don't mind the permanent free advertising of their dealership on your car.


That's *ANOTHER* thing I NEVER have on my cars! I don't care if it's a sticker or those even uglier license plate frames! I understand that my Cruze DID have a dealer sticker on it that the other dealer put on. It was taken off BEFORE I saw it because I did inquire about that too once MY dealer had the car. It was too late for the license bracket!

There has been only ONE logo that I kept on my car, in recent years, because it was a sailboat, chrome colored, that matched the car logos on the trunk of my "award winning" 1999 Chrysler 300Mmad

HOW do these dealers know that the car on their lot isn't going to be swapped with another dealer like my car was? So, again, dealers- *NO LICENSE PLATE BRACKETS AND NO ADVERTISING!*

It could be said a million times, but it will never change. The dealers will do as they please because most customers won't complain. I guess we're in the minority.


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## fastdriver (Jan 7, 2011)

Diretoy said:


> Tennessee is a one plate state, thank goodness! I removed the dealer sticker the day after I bought it. They will get no free advertising from me. If someone asks where I got my car, I'll tell them.


EXACTLY! Same here!


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## brewer (Feb 15, 2011)

has anyone taken off the front bracket?
I wouldn't mind finding some rubber plugs to put in place of the holes, but I was wondering how large the holes were.
When I bought my car (valentines day), I got home and took off the plastic dealership plate in the front to find out that the bracket was riveted in but I'm leery about drilling the plastic rivets out.
any suggestions??


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## countrycarguy (Feb 19, 2011)

*Another Bad plate experience.*



brewer said:


> has anyone taken off the front bracket?
> I wouldn't mind finding some rubber plugs to put in place of the holes, but I was wondering how large the holes were.
> When I bought my car (valentines day), I got home and took off the plastic dealership plate in the front to find out that the bracket was riveted in but I'm leery about drilling the plastic rivets out.
> any suggestions??


First, I'm happy to see a well put together forum on these cars.
I hardly ever post, even with lurking for information on ls1 and f-body forums for years, but my blood is still a boiling over this license plate thing too. 
As per the chevy app on my iphone my local dealership was supposed to be getting a new Eco. After being told it was on it's way a few weeks ago and not hearing back I went to check on it again thinking they lost my number or something. ($yeah right). Well I hadn't stepped 2 feet from my door when I looked over and saw a transport truck with the little white eco hanging out back. Very cool, I love when that happens like a sign ya know lol. Well they wouldn't work with me on a trade so I called back the next day to ask for a cash price. They certainly didn't do me any favors there either only coming down a few $100 but the eco manuals are few and far between around here so far so I bit. (also had owner loyalty GM card and 2.9apr that helps too) 

Well since I had been there the day before they had put it through pdi, and yes mine was sporting that hideous black thing with an equally appaling dealership adplate. We are also a one plate state so there is simply no excuse. If I had known they were such a PITA to remove I probably would have went elswhere. But honestly my father has sold used cars for years and I have taken plenty off before. But good gracious those rivets! Pulling a stupid impatient move in less than ideal light I broke one off trying to get it off. No turing back now. I twisted the heads off the rivets and removed that hulking black waste of $15 bucks for which I was charged only to find four black holes on my brand new car! I was just sick, this is the kind of crap you deal with on used cars not a new one. 

Well what I did after I cooled down was found these little wood binding screws I had left over from a dog house I built that had a white baked on finish on the heads. They are actually used to attatch sheet metal to the decking on a house. They have a hex head, so a pan head screw would be better, but for my white car they looked much better than holes and to me, a heck of a lot better than that stupid plate bracket.

Obviouisly if I had it to do over I might have skipped out and looked elsewhere. Plus more than anything I would have taken my time and probably tried to drill them out from the start. (I did use a drill to clear the hole just a bit so there was room for screw.


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## Cruzzer (Dec 13, 2010)

Go to your local Home Depot or Lowes and get the small push in plastic plugs, paint them with touchup paint to match the bumper and your good to go


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

Cruzzer said:


> Go to your local Home Depot or Lowes and get the small push in plastic plugs, paint them with touchup paint to match the bumper and your good to go


this looks tacky but many cobalt owners used to do this (some still do)


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## Aeroscout977 (Nov 25, 2010)

I hate how GM does their front plates. It's always a hole drilled into the bumper. My Pontiac will never have front plates. Luckily Honda has a hidden plate holder that don't require holes to be drilled. I did the relocation however to the left side so it's all JDM yo. lol


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## CRUISE-CRUZE (Nov 8, 2010)

I just got my ECO yesterday. Completely forgot to ask the dealer not to add any front plate. Lucky me they didn’t touch my car! He told me that they respect the customers so none of the cars from this dealer doesn’t have a frond plate nor even the dealer name on the rear bumper. Just the plastic frame for the rear plate has the dealer name on it, easy to replace. I was so happy to see that!


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## fastdriver (Jan 7, 2011)

CRUISE-CRUZE said:


> I just got my ECO yesterday. Completely forgot to ask the dealer not to add any front plate. Lucky me they didn’t touch my car! He told me that they respect the customers so none of the cars from this dealer doesn’t have a frond plate nor even the dealer name on the rear bumper. Just the plastic frame for the rear plate has the dealer name on it, easy to replace. I was so happy to see that!


CONGRATULATIONS on the new car and congratulations on finding a GOOD dealer who doesn't act like a robot and drill holes where they're NOT needed! I'm jealous!


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## robertbick (Jan 1, 2011)

I am required to have a front plate in NY. I forgot to ask the dealer to not add their vinyl sticker to the car. It is small and easily removed by warming it up a bit with a hair dryer and peeling off the letters. I did it the day after I brought it home. I also removed the dealer plate frames and installed my own plain black frames.


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## fastdriver (Jan 7, 2011)

robertbick said:


> I am required to have a front plate in NY. I forgot to ask the dealer to not add their vinyl sticker to the car. It is small and easily removed by warming it up a bit with a hair dryer and peeling off the letters. I did it the day after I brought it home. I also removed the dealer plate frames and installed my own plain black frames.


I have those nice WeatherTech plate holders. They're really nice. NOT cheap looking or feeling.


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## CRUISE-CRUZE (Nov 8, 2010)

fastdriver said:


> CONGRATULATIONS on the new car and congratulations on finding a GOOD dealer who doesn't act like a robot and drill holes where they're NOT needed! I'm jealous!


 Thank you!
Here is a picture, like I said, just the rear plate frame.....


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## fastdriver (Jan 7, 2011)

CRUISE-CRUZE said:


> Thank you!
> Here is a picture, like I said, just the rear plate frame.....


Nice color! I never saw one that color. Keeps us informed as to the gas mileage. Break her in easy for the first 500-1500 miles. I think that's the secret to good gas mileage. Good luck.

Here are the frames that I have on the Cruze-
http://www.weathertech.com/store/mvproduct.aspx?ItemGroupId=25&VehId=138&Year=2011


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## CRUISE-CRUZE (Nov 8, 2010)

fastdriver said:


> Nice color! I never saw one that color. Keeps us informed as to the gas mileage. Break her in easy for the first 500-1500 miles. I think that's the secret to good gas mileage. Good luck.
> 
> Here are the frames that I have on the Cruze-
> WeatherTech Automotive Accessories - ClearCover ® - 2011 Chevrolet Malibu - ClearCover License Plate Frames by WeatherTech


 Thank you! Your red car looks good too! I like the clear covers! Here is something else that I’m looking to add on the rear bumper:
WeatherTech Automotive Accessories - ClearCover ® - 2011 Chevrolet Malibu - ClearCover License Plate Frames by WeatherTech 
Talking about the gas mileage, I’m from Europe and I drove a lot with MT. Here is my first impression:
Driving at 60-65MPH n the highway I got the average consumption at *47.2MPG*! Combined with city, for a total approx 100 miles, the average was 42.2 MPG. With my experience with MT I got easy familiar with the stick so I could use it maybe better than they are estimating to be used. The second speed is tricky, if you just rolling slow and pick the 2-nd speed, you may end stopping the engine. My other car has 5 speeds and the 2-nd it's playing different.
I really like this car!


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## brewer (Feb 15, 2011)

countrycarguy said:


> Well what I did after I cooled down was found these little wood binding screws I had left over from a dog house I built that had a white baked on finish on the heads. They are actually used to attatch sheet metal to the decking on a house. They have a hex head, so a pan head screw would be better, but for my white car they looked much better than holes and to me, a heck of a lot better than that stupid plate bracket.


Can you post pics of how this looks?
thanks!!


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## Cruzzer (Dec 13, 2010)

These are the plastic plugs I used on my Malibu LTZ, after drilling out the rivets I painted the heads white and pressed them in 

Uploaded with ImageShack.us


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## brewer (Feb 15, 2011)

oh wow!!
that doesn't look too bad at all... decisions decisions...

100x better than the stock ugly bracket.

I live in ohio and I am supposed to have a front plate but on most of my cars I put it in the front windshield.


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## trixiee03 (Mar 5, 2011)

Do you guys knows how to take off that black bracket behind the license plate?
Without ruining the screw holes ? because I might want to put it back if there will be holes on my front bumper after taking it off =/ OR where can you get those plugs?


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## CHEVYCRUZE RS (Mar 29, 2011)

is it possible if i remove the big plastic front liscence plate bracket (on the front of the cruze) and move it to another location?


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## SkyBlue (Sep 1, 2011)

So glad I'm not the only one frustrated with this bracket nonsense! It's absolutely ridiculous for the dealer to decide if you should have a license plate bracket.

Did anyone else try to remove it? I read that the rivets can be drilled out but I don't want to damage my bumper in the process.


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## The Duck (Jun 27, 2011)

Yeah just drill out the rivets. It's not too bad to be honest with you. I just put simple black pop rivets in the holes. Looks 1000x better. Can hardly even tell there are four tiny pop rivets in the bumper.


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## SkyBlue (Sep 1, 2011)

Okay thanks! When I get up the nerve I'll attempt it. It's going to be tricky to find light blue pop rivets to match my car.


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