so much cooler without the front license plate

[slimjim]

won't you guys agree that the 4runners look so much cooler without the front license plate? my girlfriend keeps telling me to put it on because she thinks i'll get a ticket for not having it. i really don't think a cop will take the time to pull me over to give me a "no front license plate" fix-it ticket, right?

heres my argument about why i should keep it off:
1. makes my 4runner look cooler, therefore i become cooler.
2. i get more air into the radiator, so i'm less likely to over heat.
3. i save gas because i'm more aerodynamic.
4. i am less likely to get a ticket from traffic light camera for running a "yellow."
5. there is less weight in the front of the car with it off.
6. i already have a license plate, it's on the back.
7. my truck is unique, she has a name and should be called by her name and not some government agency given number. fight the power!
8. it was the fastest most inexpensive mod i could think of.

 

[BC4Runner]

They're no longer required in Michigan but leaving it off is probably not worth the cost and hassle of a ticket.

 

[Jeff Kleb]

Re: Front License Plate

Originally posted by slimjim
won't you guys agree that the 4runners look so much cooler without the front license plate?


Well, yeah........but you would then run afoul of a state law. I don't know about CA, but you will be stopped here in VA for not having a front tag. It is a small infraction and you do not get any points on your license. However, it is still going to set you back at least $45 or $50 for each time you get caught.....and may lead to the officer "finding" other things (DUI? no seat belt? other equipment violations?) which he may not otherwise have found because he never would have stopped you if your front tag was mounted properly in the first place.


My girlfriend keeps telling me to put it on because she thinks i'll get a ticket for not having it. i really don't think a cop will take the time to pull me over to give me a "no front license plate" fix-it ticket, right?


In VA, it is not a "fix it" ticket. Sure, some judges will drop it if you had a very good explanation as to why it was not there or that you can prove it was mounted properly after you arrived home; but it is like an inspection sticker: it's either there properly or it is not. Oh, and setting the plate on top of the dashboard is not considered "mounted and visible" in the eyes of our law.

I am a former deputy sheriff and can tell you that lack of a front tag is definite PC for a traffic stop - except for vehicles with a dealer tag mounted on the rear of the car. Also, one cop could write you a ticket for no tag and another one a mile down the road could (technically) ticket you a second time since you were "continuing the offense" by driving without it after getting stopped the first time. That would be piling on, I guess, but there are some anal retentive types out there who would love to add your name to their court docket. I reckon it is the same in the People's Republik of Kalifornia.
:bash:


Heres my argument about why i should keep it off:
1. makes my 4runner look cooler, therefore i become cooler.


That's a stretch, but I'll agree at least 50% with that. I would rather not have a front tag on mine - although I might put a tag with the Toyota symbol if VA did not require a license plate.


2. i get more air into the radiator, so i'm less likely to over heat.

Lame. Miniscule difference in air flow - not enough to matter to the engine. Besides, the 4Runner's cooling system is more than adequate for all climatic conditions you may encounter.

3. i save gas because i'm more aerodynamic.


Yeah, a 4Runner is almost like a Prius without the front tag in the way!
:biggrin2:

4. i am less likely to get a ticket from traffic light camera for running a "yellow."


You won't get a ticket for running a "yellow" light -- only if it is red. Besides, at least in VA, the camera snaps a shot of the rear bumper and the tag that is mounted there.
FYI: We got rid of red-light cameras in VA last July, but the Nazis in our state are doing everything humanly possible to bring them back. Washington, DC still has them (red light & photo radar cameras) and they made something close to $100 million with them!!
:bash:


5. there is less weight in the front of the car with it off.

Yeah, okay.

6. i already have a license plate, it's on the back.

You make sense there!

7. my truck is unique, she has a name and should be called by her name and not some government agency given number. fight the power!


Right on, my brother! Can I get an Amen! in the house?


8. it was the fastest most inexpensive mod i could think of.


No argument there.

 

[Thai]

If it's required in your state, then i would put it on. I was stopped several times for lack of front license plate on my BMW M3. No ticket resulted from it...just warnings. However, it does give the police a reason to stop you.

 

[teotwaki]

I really hope that no one here takes this thread seriously! :awais:

It is a joke aimed right at all of the mod-a-holics, techno-weenies and people with too much vanity wrapped up in their 4Runners. Hell knows that I am in a couple of those categories :biggrin2: and I still took this as an Off-Topic prank....

 

[Fourty-four]

Actually, I think the 4Runner is one of the few vehicles that look better with a front plate---especially the '03-'05 models. Did you ever see where Dodge put the front plate on some of their vehicles? Ridiculous.

 

[RonMAIDEN]

That Dodge looks goofy from the front but no plate or plate on a 4Runner doesn't really make a noticeable diff so I vote to follow the law and not give the police an invite to intrude on your life.

 

[nated05]

My friend just got a "compliance ticket" for not having a front plate. He has a Mini and the dealer told him he didnt need a front plate for some reason. Well he went to the dealer and got the plate put on and got it inspected. I think he did still have to pay $80 or so in court costs though. He said he was going try and get the dealer to pay him back, but I dont know if he ever did.

 

[drake3]

It is required here in OH. However, I have lived here for 11 years with 5 different cars and have never placed the tag on the front. Never ticketed either.

I started to think about it when I purchased my 2nd 300ZX, a 94 and thought I would have to put a tag on the front of it. The sales manager walked over and basically said - You know I would never put a front tag on a car that beautiful. I said, but it is the law here, how can I get around it? He then proceeded to tell me he was an ex-police officer for the county and if I kept my front tag in the car with me (not displayed in the dash like some stupid teens do) that usually the officer would allow some slack in that area.

Now granted, that was a Nissan sales manager. I have come to despise all Nissan sales people lately. Bad experience with my 350Z which never had a tag even though the Daytona Blue was reason enough to get stopped.

I don't have a front tag on my '93 4runner because when I put it on the Toyota brush guard it makes a sound at speed since you can mount it only at the 2 top holes. However, I do always keep my front tags in the car me with usually behind the driver seat.

 

[broncosi]

its not required here in NC either, but i bet its like your inspection: when a cop pulls you he automatically checks your inspection sticker and for states who require a front liscence plate, i bet theyll do the same thing.

 

[Mark86]

NJ requires it and I am sure you would get pulled over if your vehicle does not have one. I don't like the front plate law either, but I leave it on to avoid the aggravation. The NJ State Troopers and township cops are strict and more than likely wouldn't cut you any slack. Now if I lived in PA where a front plate is not required, I would have a Toyota plate up front instead! As for the traffic light cameras, I used to live in NY and those cameras only took a picture of your rear plate.

 

[sketch1]

We don't have front plates in Oklahoma, we also no longer have inspections...they did away with those a few years ago, all the gas and service stations were griping about the fact that they lost money on performing them (5 bucks per inspection for a 5 minute inspection, 60 bucks an hour sounds good to me) so they did away with them...which sucks in my opinion because now there are more people on the road with cars missing lights, spewing nasty exaust, etc...they can still get pulled over for the problems, but now they don't have to worry about an extra ticket for not having an inspection up to date. But I do like not having an sticker on my windshield.

 

[broncosi]

we also no longer have inspections...they did away with those a few years ago

whoa, what? can they do that? isnt that like Oklahoma just pooping on the ozone?

 

[sketch1]

Actually we are all pooping on the ozone for driving gas guzzling SUV's, if you want to get picky... All that Oklahoma inspections did regarding exhaust was check to make sure you had Catalytic convertors and mufflers, the rest of it was just to check your blinkers, brake lights, gas cap seal...the basic stuff, they didn't do any sort of emissions test.

 

[Fourty-four]

Actually we are all pooping on the ozone for driving gas guzzling SUV's.

Not at all. Today's vehicles put out amazingly clean exhaust emissions. You'd have a hard time killing yourself by breathing your tailpipe emissions.

Try that on an older car and you'll see who is "pooping on the ozone"

Today's vehicles are so good that many states are simply checking the MIL (check engine lamp) to see if it is on or if it is off. If it's off, then they figure that the engine is burning clean enough to pass any tailpipe emissions test.

 

[sketch1]

I just meant in comparison to high mileage cars and hybrids..

 

[bonedoctor]

I had recently asked about the front plate mounting. Don't know if CO requires a front plate....I just wanted to mount my tacky "I'd rather be riding my Norton motorcycle" plate!

 

[nauticalniremor]

hmmm

don't you know by now that women are always right? : and they only give you one tag here in FL so i guess that is all i need! by the way, it looks good w/o it!:awais:

 

[Falls]

Slim jim , changing the subject , do you have any pic of the Scion HU that you were going to put in ? I want to do this so bad. What model # did you get ? T1806 or T1807 , is it single disk or 6 disk ???

Back to the orig. subject , I like the look's of the front plate deleted , but here in Wi. it's illegal and don't want to give the cops anymore reason to pull me over.....I used to be one of them too.....lol

 

[slimjim]

i got the T1804, single cd/mp3. i think it came out of a 2004-05 scion. i got it on ebay for $55 + $15 to ship. do an ebay search for "scion radio" because scion hu, scion head unit, and scion cd player won't work as well. sorry for the bad photo, i took it at night. i'll take a better one tomorrow and post again.