Boozehound

I know we're all legally supposed to have the front plate, but I talked to my dealer and he indicated there was a law that had passed that was repealing the front plate requirement sometime around Sept. Why September, I don't know, but I wanted to see if anyone else had heard of this, or to just put this in File 13 with all his other BS.

eccles

I haven't heard about that one. Unfortunately, even if it does pass, it'll be too late to save me from the chickensh1t ticket I picked up in Hutto yesterday.

I was in the wife's yellow Miata, and the Hutto cop pulled out from a side street and followed me for about a mile, sitting off my RL corner were he thought he was in my blind spot. When the little yellow sports car didn't oblige him by speeding though or out of his two-bit town, he pulled me over and handed me an $86 citation for no front plate. A$$hole.

Boozehound

What a jerk. Both of my parents got pulled over last weekend for the same thing (they were driving two different cars too) - but they did better, they only got warnings. I guess the small towns have to make money somehow... like LaGrange, or Ellinger.....

takahashi j

iTrader: (2)

I asked a car dealer and he said that the Dept of Transportation requires that you have a plate on the front and back.

However the Dept of Public Safety only requires the plate on the back....go figure...(I havent found evidence about the DPS yet so correct me if im wrong)

DrKillJoY

Texas Legislature Online -

§ 502.404. Operation of Vehicle Without License Plate or Registration Insignia

(a) A person commits an offense if the person operates on a public highway during a registration period a passenger car or commercial motor vehicle that does not display two license plates, at the front and rear of the vehicle, that have been:

(1) assigned by the department for the period; or

(2) validated by a registration insignia issued by the department that establishes that the vehicle is registered for the period.

(b) A person commits an offense if the person operates on a public highway during a registration period a passenger car or commercial motor vehicle, other than a vehicle assigned license plates for the registration period, that does not properly display the registration insignia issued by the department that establishes that the license plates have been validated for the period.

(c) A person commits an offense if the person operates on a public highway during a registration period a road tractor, motorcycle, trailer, or semitrailer that does not display a license plate, attached to the rear of the vehicle, that has been:

(1) assigned by the department for the period; or

(2) validated by a registration insignia issued by the department that establishes that the vehicle is registered for the period.

(d) Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply to a dealer operating a vehicle as provided by law.

(e) An offense under this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $200.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Boozehound

So KillJoy, you're saying.... totally legal, go for it?

At least thats what I heard....

khoney

Uhh, it says you must have front and rear plates (unless you consider the RX-8 a farm tractor). And now that you actually have yours, I'm sure that's not the case :D

spoon805

My friends and I have been getting state inspections approved with out front license plates for some time. Does that say anything? Or is it totally irrelevant?

DrKillJoY

well .. consider that I have been getting my RX-7 inspected without a cat for about 3 years.. i'd say the relevance factor to the cops is 'null' :D

khoney

I had been planning on going without the front plate, but damn - this car attracts so much attention that I might just leave iton for a couple months until the heads quit turning.

Boozehound

Bah! front plate nothin'... My plate holder was off in less than 12 hrs, and it wont make a reappearance unless johnny law decides to intervene with more than a warning.

nash

Boozehound, when you removed your front plate was there anything left behind - ugly drill holes for instance, or some mounting hardware? Or does it return exactly to the way it should be?

Just worried that if my dealer installs one, I'll end up with some nasty remnant after removing it... (such as what happens on an S4, you have to buy a new bumper insert).

plasmar

I removed my front plate holder and there doesn't appear to be anything left behind. It seemed to be held on with a single screw.

I noticed that the plate bracket sits against the paint and looks like it would leave a mark if left on for a long time. The paint on my Miata was rubbed a little funny by the front plate bracket.

I plan to keep the front plate in the trunk. If I ever get pulled over I'll say it fell off and I haven't had a chance to put it back on yet. That'll work, right?

Boozehound

my plate frame was screwed into the grille with 2 bolts and a screw. If you get down level with it, and you know what you're looking for, you can see a hint of brass from the nuts on the other side of the grille. Other than that, you'll never know. I guess that the dealer picks the spot for installation, so I asked repeatedly for them to NOT install it.

What did they do? Installed it. Claimed some liability BS - it was more of my salesman being a jerk and not letting anyone know what was up for the PDI. He also had it in the showroom too, which I specifically requested NOT to happen, but that's just a dealer for you.

If it were me, I'd breathe down my salesman's neck about it. Worst case senario would be two big ugly bumper holes that wont go away without a body shop.

DrKillJoY

what dealer?

Boozehound

Roger Beasley NORTH in Austin. So along with my previous complaints... to anyone looking to buy in Austin - GO TO ROGER BEASLEY SOUTH they are by far and away better with customer service and overall treatment during the process.

Ok, I'm done.

evoandy

You should never drive through Hutto in a sports car. When I bought my 300zx last summer, I opened the glove box and about 6 speeding tickets fell out. All of them were from hutto, and all of them were for between 3 and 8 mph over the speed limit. My uncle has told me stories about getting pulled over there every time he drove through back when he had his c3 vette, but never encountering any trouble when he traded it in on an f150. Lagrange should be off limits as well, but its kinda hard to do that considering 71 runs right through it. Cops pull people over there and blatantly LIE about their speed when they give them a ticket. I was doing 70 through there, with my cruise control on, and got a ticket for doing 85. one of my friends here in austin had it happen to him in his BMW, and a couple of my friends from houston had it happen to them as well. It never happened to me during any of the 213094820394820394823 times I drove through in my saturn, but the 2nd time I drive through in my Z, I get pulled. Rural Texas highway patrol officers suck donkey *******.

eccles

Actually, I don't have any issues with Highway Patrol officers. It's the revenue collection arms of the 2-bit city councils that I find to be the biggest a$$holes.

Boozehound

Come on guys, local economies *need* the most up to date radar and laser speed detection equipment to protect their precious speed limits....

sukispeed

i see a lot of corvettes in texas with out the front plate. what's up with that?

DrKillJoY

I think it's called respect for the classic American sportscar.

I dunno.. (it sounded like a good asnwer at the time)

twifosp

I've been riding around in my rx7 without a front plate for a pretty long time now. Its still illegal, and will likely never be repealed.

The reason is stop light cameras rely on a front plate to get you. Front plates are required.

Also, with laser, the user needs to bounce it off a flat surface. The 2 choice spots are you license plates or your light glass. If they are aiming from the front, and you have flip up headlights, they can't really get you from the front during the day.

So, basically it'll always be a law to have a front plate, but its easy to get around without it. To me, the fine is worth the risk of not being laser tagged from the front. Not that I speed a lot, but a red rx7 is going to be singled out in a pack of cars. And 2, its UGLY

RX8 Seller

I can tell you that at Jeff Haas Mazda we are not putting the front plate on. It just doesn't look good, but being the law, we will put it on at customer request. Other than that, were just turning our heads :D

GreatGraySkwid

Do what my buddy did with his Miata. Intentionally strip the screw holes for the bracket, then keep it in the trunk. He's been pulled over for it at least once, but a simple demonstration to the officer avoided the ticket...

takahashi j

iTrader: (2)

i was gonna either break the bracket or strip the screws and throw it in my truck too...haha