Just bought an '08 XK convertible and I'm bummed about the thought of putting a plate on the front. Registered in Wisconsin, will be driving a lot in Minnesota, Illinois this summer.

Thinking about trying to get away with not doing it. Anyone have any luck with that? Or any tips for attaching without drilling holes?

 

Front license plate just ruins the beauty of the car! There is a bill that has not been passed yet to not have front plates for IL cars.

Illinois General Assembly - Bill Status for HB4888

 

I've been registered and driving in Minnesota for 2+ years with no front plate without any incidents. I say run without until you have problems, then go from there.

 

Or, If you have some extra time and money to blow. Check out this for $150!

YouTube - Swift Motorsports Motorized Hide a Plate on the New Nissan GTR

 

I've been running in Illinois going on three years without any problems. I keep the plate in the trunk because it just fell off.

 

Over the years I have driven a couple of my cars with no front number plate. I have been pulled twice by the boys in blue and simply said:
'If I catch the b.....d who stole it he's a dead man'.

Worked for me.

 

Sad to say, I got a warning ticket in my wife's Lexus SC450 for no front plate, and I got 2 warnings on 2 different corvettes for it. The Lexus was rounded up in one of those seatbelt/DUI spot checks late one Saturday night, so you do run a risk if channelled thru one of those lanes. Another cop told me in one of the Vettes that it just gives bored and zealous jerkwater, IL cops a reason to roust somebody with a car they wish they could have. My solution, a trick we used back in the radical chopper days - fold the plate around the numbers/letters to leave only the "meat" - still obtrusive, but less so. I will try to add the photo to my pix.

 

At least they moron dealer did not drill holes in the bumperettes and mount one like they did on my 2002 XKR. I now have to have the holes filled and the bumperettes repainted. Although, I am looking at the grill that removes the bumperettes, so we will see.

 

Been driving my XK8 in Ohio since 06 with no front plate. My story is the front plate is behind my seat, but the dealer told me he wanted $120 to mount it (my real reason is the same as yours!). Course it's been 5 years, so I'm not sure how well that would hold up at this point if I got stopped. I've driven past many speed traps at low speed, and no one has come after me with a ticket for missing the plate. I think in Ohio unless they catch you doing something else, they don't make a point of pulling you over for just that. I've heard folks say Illinois is a bad state for stuff like that, but I don't know from experience. Ticket in Ohio for that is about $50 if they do write one, so if I were you I'd be tempted to take the chance, and try and talk your self out of the ticket if it happens - and only then get the bumper drilled.

Good luck!

 

My friend's G8 doesn't have one on front (WI). Been trouble free for 2 years. Got pulled over for tinted windows only though. Lame.

 

I live in NY and the cops look for any excuse to give you a ticket, I didn't want to ruin my car with unnecessary holes so I took someone's advice on here I have the license plate bracket from Jag, I doubled up zip ties put them through the holes and wrapped it around the very bottom of the grill pulled really tight, it sometimes slopes down but not a problem as long as it's on they can't say anything. It works.

 

I've been driving mine since November 2011 without a front plate and no problem. I even wave at the State Patrol and local law enforcement. Maybe being friendly and proactive takes their minds off of the front of the car.

 

i just bought a 2002 xkr last week, live in wisconsin and have not put on the front plate. i see a lot of sports cars without front plates when i cruise around . have not been stopped yet.

 

First time being pulled over... and got a $95 ticket... THANKS MARIEMONT! SOMEONE has to pay for all the new POLICE cars!!!

 

Sorry about your bad luck with the Law Enforcement.

 

I parked downtown (Erie/State) this morning for the first time since I bought my XKR... paid $4.00 for 1hr on the meter... and came out to a bright orange ticket on my windshield, stating that I owe $60.00 for no front plate.

The best part is that I've been driving around for a month with my front plate and Skene Design license plate bracket sitting on the passenger floor....

 

The same thing happened to my friend who has two SAABs. He parked in Downtown Columbus (no front plate) and got a no license plate ticket.

 

In Chicago, driving w/o a front plate will cost you $75. I agree with the group that a front plate on the Jag is an abomination, but after getting hit twice in one month ( the city needs the revenue ) I finally got the message. I took two long cable ties and threaded them behind the bumperettes and then attached them to the license plate bracket. "Officially" not legal, but their was no way I was going to drill any holes in the front bumper.

 

Well, after getting my 2nd ticket for no front plate I finally installed the Skene bracket. The install took about 30 minutes, of which 20 minutes was to make sure I had it positioned where I wanted it before drilling the 2 small holes under the front bumper. It was an easy job and I'm happy (so far) with it. I drove approx. 75 miles (mostly highway speeds) with it installed, and so far so good.

I tried to upload a picture but for some reason it failed to upload, though it was within the acceptable file-size....

 

I just took delivery of my new Jaguar XF model Year 2012, the car was delivered to me in Egypt from England. In the car trunk I found a holder for the front number plates (which are obligatory to install here. The only problem is that it did not come with any screw or instructions for installation, I also found a little plastic ouch with a few black plastic small brackets but with no instructions I do not know if they are related to the front number holder. Anybody has any ideas or pointers on this.