What's funny is I live in NJ, which requires front plates. However...

I am a licensed used car dealer, so all my vehicles except my Range Rover are operated with my dealer plates. Which are perfectly legal for personal use of the owners, their spouses and children.

Dealers do not have a front plate. I.e. the dealer plate goes on the back. We are also not required to have any sort of emissions inspection etc.

Three times now I've been pulled over (including one where the cop did an illegal u turn across a double yellow line - i guess they are allowed to do that?) for not having a front license plate.

One guy walked up to the car apologizing because he didnt realize it was a dealer plate.

The second guy asked about the dealer registration and insurance, and sent me on my way.

The third guy had me on the side of the road for 35 mins while he ran a NCIS check on the vin of my Arden, to determine if it had been reported stolen - Dealer plates come back to the company but are valid on any vehicle. And then gave me a stern lecture about how dealer plates are only valid for business use - I explained to him how the law had changed 4 years ago and that they were now legal for personal use...

http://www.state.nj.us/mvcbiz/pdf/Bu...alerplates.pdf

This is the PDF from the DMV stating so.

He grumbled and said that that wasn't true and that I wasn't going to teach him the law, and that if he catches me again he's going to write me.

Care to guess which one made the illegal u turn?

I have since printed out a copy of the PDF and keep it in my wallet, just in case I run into another super trooper...

I actually talked to a cop buddy of mine about this, and he said to keep a xerox copy of the title or the actual title reciept in the car if it's going to be driven regularly, because they apparently do have a lot of issues with stolen vehicles driven on dealer plates....

Take care,

George

 

To bring the license ticket to a close (for me)...

I zip-tied the plate to the vertical bars in the grill, paid a $10 process fee and the ticket went away. No insurance impact and no holes drilled in my car. Easy removal if I decide to tempt fate again.

 

On holiday In Florida, I was stopped for speeding by the highway patrol, as he approach I thought I was in for a heavy fine, we chatted for a while as he was writing down, as I thought, a summons, but It was an address!!, it was his sisters motor cafe, he told me to go there and we would get a good breakfast, my 5 year old got his autograph !, he did tell me to slow down, then "have a nice day" then moved off, we went to the motor cafe and had a great breakfast, FREE!!. aren't your police wonderful. !!!

 

Interesting topic which doesn't apply over here as number (lisense) plates are obligatory. Interestingly we have two US airbases near us and I often see US service people driving their cars with no front plate. I wonder what our police make of it.

I discovered one small advantage of front plates last week on a short hop to the continent. When I arrived at the port a number recognition camera identified my booking and when I got to the barrier the guy had all my details ready for boarding with no delay. On the other hand, it could be that Big Brother is watching!

 

Got one a couple of weeks ago in Newburgh NY. I'm from the Finger lakes area of western NY and they don't bother anyone. The Newburgh cop did a nice U turn in traffic to get to me.Oh well, the fine was an even $100. I still like my XKR without the plate.

 

In the future keep the license plate in the trunk attached to a holder and let the officer know the bracket broke and you will be reattaching asap...worth a try.

 

Yes .. but at least your number plates are attractive.

 

That's exactly what I did Faninc. Didn't make a bit of difference in my case.

 

I doubt the Border Patrol needing to see front plates is the reason Texas requires them.

Arizona, like Texas is a border state but has no requirement for front plates.

The Border Patrol is part of a Federal agency and has no control over what the State (and former Republic) of Texas does.

Not only that, but if the Border Patrol did attempt to influence Texas' law, I suspect those independent Texans would probably go ahead and change the law to eliminate front plates! One can only hope.