Brecht in San Diego told me that they are now no longer allowed to NOT drill holes in the front bumper for the plates due to issues. My MA said they changed the policy and will have to drill! I was a little pissed and there is nothing I can do about it. I know front plates are the law in CA, but I see so many without them....and what if I wanted to get the no-holes plate thingie. Any comments on this.

I am picking up the car in T minus 5 hours!!!

 

Tell them you are not willing to pick up the car with holes and you want to sign a waiver form. Them them you all ready have a bracket coming to you in the mail and it should be in in a few days.

Maybe you can call another dealer to see if it is all Mini dealers or just something yours started, if it is the later of the two, then stand your ground. IMHO

 

Oh, and...... ENJOY YOUR NEW MINI!!!

 

When I picked mine up they made me sign a waiver, just to cover their backsides.

 

i'd also give them the bit about you having the "no holes" plate holder coming in the mail.

 

My thoughts...
Don't be too sad...the front bumper of R56 looks much better w/ a plate then R50/53 did. It may not be exactly what you wanted, but you won't have to look at the bumper seams and drill-dimples will all be neatly hidden by the center plate. Glass half full.

 

If all else fails, you could get bumper plugs.

 

Well, you can't really let two little holes ruin your day.

 

my dealer in NY had no problem with my request not to drill holes, gl, i'd be very insistent that no holes be drilled

 

Same for me, also in SoCal - albeit in 05. Still I doubt I'd accept that especially if you had an agreement already, not cool changing the rules after the fact.

Even if I wanted the holes (which I wouldn't personally) I would not want the dealer prep guys to do it, they don't always do a great job from what I've heard. I'd tell them other CA dealers have the waivers and to do the same.

 

on your way down there, stop and pick up some double sided sticky tape and some goo gone. Tell them to install the plate holder bracket to the car with the tape. drive off the lot with the plate holder and pull into the next lot. remove the bracket and then remove the tape with the goo gone.
They offered to do the tape thing for me back in april but i decided to just let them install it with holes since i was not getting the 'no holes' bracket and i was not going to deal with getting pulled over for not having one.

 

That sucks, my dealer suggested not to drill them.

 

Well apparently USAA has a lock down on all new insurance policies because of the san diego fires. The lady said from Santa Barbara south to San Diego nobody can get an insurance policy! So no car until next week!

The MA told me last night that it is a new policy for drilling all cars at brecht...for all BMWs and MINIs. I think I am just out of luck on this one.

 

If the dealer issues plates they are required by law to install front plates. If you don't have the "no holes" bracket in your possesion I doubt they will not put on the front plate bracket. It is not in a dealerships interest to make exceptions to the rule. Over the past few years police departments have really started cracking down on plate infractions. I know our dealer here in Portland got a letter from the county sherrifs office to "remind" us about front plates. Now cars NEVER leave without some type of mounting for a front plate. They might be ugly....and others might get away with not having one...but its still the law. Dont get upset at the dealer..WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMAN!!

 

What have people in WA state been doing about running or not running front plates? This is making me think to ask to not have mine drilled.....

 

Sorry to hear about the insurance hang up, that stinks. As for the drilling I would remind your MA that your contract for the car precedes any new policy with regards to drilling plates and that you wanted the option to put the front plate on with one of the no-holes method. Really, on principal your agreement with them was before they made any 'policy' about it and should not apply and by logic isn't right to try and force on you IMHO.

jaridp, I don't know about Oregon, but with all the cars we've bought in CA there are no plates at the time of delivery, just a registration sticker in the front window and a paper dealer ad plate in the back. Once the registration is processed through the DMV plates are sent to the dealer or mailed, it can take quite awhile sometimes actually. As long as the dates on the reg paper stuck on the window haven't passed I don't even think they can issue any kind of ticket about license plates.

Fwiw, CA laws do not require the front plate to use a manufacturer mount so the dealer really has no say about how you want to do it - its your new car, you should be able to make the choice on their basically damaging the front bumper.

 

Isn't it wonderful that our government officials have time to worry over the epidemic of front plate scoff laws?

It may be too late if they've already drilled, but check the details of the rule they're trying to satisfy. It probably just requires that they have a front plate bracket mounted prior to leaving the dealer. If you had a no holes bracket that you could provide for them they might be willing to use that instead of drilling the bumper.

Your hands are pretty tied unless you're willing to refuse to accept delivery.

As much as it pains me I'll probably allow the procedure. I've run without front plates on our Miata and Rx8 but they both had plate brackets that left no visible holes and could be installed in 15 minutes (what a novel idea). Since I don't care for the look of the no holes mount for the R56 I'll probably just accept the standard drilled mount. :/

 

R56 owners should chill...the car looks better (imho) with the front plate. Some may disagree, but it's a very fine point. The car is great, having it fully legal is great...mount the plate and start motoring. That's my comment.

 

In Oregon we issue plates at time of delivery. AS LONG AS you arrive with the alternate bracket in hand and the front plate bracket is not already installed we can leave it off. If you show up at time of delivery without the bracket...we install it.

 

Well I wont mind because I will have custom tags to have another excuse to have people check out my ride.

 

hmmm... can someone post pix of r56's with plates and r56's without?

 

Here's some without.





This is the closest I have to one with a plate. Thought it might be of interest to those who haven's seen the "No Holes" License Plate Bracket. It is entirely stainless steel.

 

Isn't that where the tow hook is suppose to go for those who want that...like me

 

Yup. If you wanna tow hook, ya gotta drill.

 

The jerk at Irvine Mini informed me that it was illegal for them to deliver the car without the aforementioned holes and that they could get fined. I told them I was moving to a state without front plates (partially true..I moved, but they require front plates) and that I would sign a waiver. I also told him that he was completely full of s*#t and that there was no way in hell that there was a state agency in California that checks whether or not cars are delivered with two ratty holes drilled into the front bumper. Eventually, they told me taht it was done at the port and there was nothing they could do about it. Slightly more plausible.

Have I posted this picture before?


https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t=86488&page=2


Apparently, I've ranted about this before.

Thanks Irvine. Tools.