I recently took delivery of a XK8. When I was installing the license plate on the trunk lid, I noticed a lot of holes. There aren't any covers over them. Should they be covered with a plug or some sort of tape?

 

I wouldn't worry about it, they are probably there to accommodate a variety of different license plate sizes.

 

Don't cover the keyhole between the X and K !

 

Guess it depends on who made the holes. If they're factory, they will be sealed with self-adhesive tape circles (mine are). Often, whoever fits the plate takes the lazy route and just drills new holes so you can end up with quite an assortment.

I had a new Ford delivered some years back. It came with appropriate holes for a plate, with plastic inserts fitted ready for the fixing screws. The dealer just drilled two holes through the plate and rear panel, finished off with a pair of self tappers, ffs.

 

The holes are for the various plate carriers across World markets. They are originally covered with matt black self adhesive discs. This is my 2005 XK8. The lid was repainted so the black discs are body colour:





My 2001 XK8 with the discs in original matt black:





The vertical strips are the residue from double sided tape used to fix the plate instead of drilling the lid.

Graham