Front license plate vs. no front license plate

bxpretzel · May 7, 2015

We are moving at the end of the month to West Virginia, where front license plates are not required. However, coming from Virginia, both my boyfriend's car and my car have holes physically drilled into the front to support the front license plates. My boyfriend doesn't really care (2004 Honda CR-V), but I really do. It would really bother me to have holes in the front with no license plate there, and I think it would be a bit odd to have a front license plate in a state where they are very uncommon.

Other than paying extra to have a second (front) license plate, what could I do to avoid the ugly gaping holes that will result if I go without a front plate in WV? Any way I could possibly plug them? Maybe some plug and then cover with Dr. Colorchip paint? Or even buy an OEM touch-up bottle of paint from Mazda and just paint whatever I use to fill the holes?

Does anyone have experience with this? I've read some threads on the opposite problem, where someone bought from a dealer where front license plates are not required and they had to drill the holes themselves.

rmmazda · May 7, 2015

Use something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

DG_1234 · May 7, 2015

If WV provides two plates, use both of them.

paris1 · May 7, 2015

First off, the holes that were drilled in the front facia to secure your DC plate should not be of the "gaping" variety. They should simply be small holes on the order of 3/16" that can be easily plugged with a 1/4" ABS (black plastic) plug available at any decent hardware store. If you don't already have a bottle of OE Mazda touchup paint, buy one and, after lightly sanding the head of the plug to give the paint purchase, paint the plug head with two or three coats. If that's too much work, there is a company out there that sells pre-painted plugs for this purpose, but as I recall they're about $25/pr, which seems ridiculous.

bxpretzel · May 7, 2015

paris1 said:
First off, the holes that were drilled in the front facia to secure your DC plate should not be of the "gaping" variety. They should simply be small holes on the order of 3/16" that can be easily plugged with a 1/4" ABS (black plastic) plug available at any decent hardware store. If you don't already have a bottle of OE Mazda touchup paint, buy one and, after lightly sanding the head of the plug to give the paint purchase, paint the plug head with two or three coats. If that's too much work, there is a company out there that sells pre-painted plugs for this purpose, but as I recall they're about $25/pr, which seems ridiculous.

Thanks!! This is really helpful. I think I can definitely swing the DIY. My only problem now is how to find the appropriate plug. Should I specifically be looking for 1/4" plugs? What exactly are they called? The link that rmmazda posted is a little flashy for me but searching with the same kind of terminology isn't turning up much for me.

doopie · May 7, 2015

I wish my state didn't make front plates mandatory. They somewhat kill the look of the front of cars.

bxpretzel · May 7, 2015

doopie said:
I wish my state didn't make front plates mandatory. They somewhat kill the look of the front of cars.

I actually think it's silly for states to NOT make them mandatory. It must make it more difficult for cops and even good Samaritans to identify cars when they don't have front plates. Alas, I'll be happy to go naked on the front as long as I can plug the holes sufficiently enough to not be too noticeable. paris1's picture is exactly what I'm looking for!

bxpretzel · May 7, 2015

DG_1234 said:
If WV provides two plates, use both of them.

They will give me two plates but I'd have to pay extra for the second plate. Not sure how much, but I'd rather not have to. I also think it will look cleaner without a front plate as long as the holes can be plugged.

Ride92 · May 7, 2015

Time vs. money! Do you have more time then you do money or do you have more money then you do time?

Option 1:
If you have more time then money then do like someone else said and got to hardware store and get two automotive trim fasteners. They are readily available and come in various sizes. Get some touch up paint to match your car, sand the fastener head, spray primer, apply paint and then a good quality Clear coat. I recommend SprayMaxx 2k clear. Spraymax is a 2 part paint system in the same can. You have to activate the car by pressing a button on the bottom of the can to activate it. It's basically the same clear coat a professional would use to spray a car with a paint gun just in an easy to use spray can. I repainted my motorcycle and used spraymax for my clear and had great results. This would give you the best gloss and durability but all the supplies may be a bit expensive, you might actually spend more then option 2. (I guess you could leave the plugs black as most of the plugs are black, and if you have a black car wouldn't be to noticeable)

Option 2:

Bumperplugs.com sells automotive trim plugs that they have done all the work on and sprayed and cleared them to match the factory paint already. Yes they are spendy but the good thing is all you have to do is order and install and not worry about painting yourself. Painting your own plugs will take a few hours since you have to let the paint flash a bit between coats and then have to wait for the paint to fully cure before clear coat. I'm ordering bumper plugs for my front end. Here's the link to their site. http://www.bumperplugs.com/

Option 3:

Have the holes sanded down to remove any edges pulled up from the screws and fill the holes with some spot putty or body filler, sand, prime, paint, clear. Again, this is labor intensive and costly as you'll have to either get a body shop to match the paint and spray or buy a premixed aerosol touch up spray can online and do the work yourself. This option looks the best but it costs the most and is the most labor intensive.

Conclusion:
Bumperplugs.com is the most economical choice as far as time vs money goes and the easiest to complete. And no I have no affiliation with bumperplugs.com. I'm just going thru the same ordeal myself and have come to the conclusion that the bumper plugs is the best option for me. I hope this info helps you out.

The other

paris1 · May 7, 2015

bxpretzel said:
Thanks!! This is really helpful. I think I can definitely swing the DIY. My only problem now is how to find the appropriate plug. Should I specifically be looking for 1/4" plugs? What exactly are they called? The link that rmmazda posted is a little flashy for me but searching with the same kind of terminology isn't turning up much for me.

Remove your front plate and check the size of the existing hole. I think what I did was find a plug that was as close to that size as possible and then drill out the existing hold to match the plug size. I think I used a 1/4" plug. As for the name of the plug, I can't help you there. I just did a cursory check on line and couldn't find anything, but a good hardware store will have them in the bulk or packaged fastener area. They're just little mushroom-shaped plugs that are intended to fill holes where holes are not desired! The part that you paint is the "head" of the mushroom. The "shank" of the plug is what gets pushed into the hole.

Edit: So as Ride92 said above, "automotive trim plugs" is what you're looking for. Here's a screen shot of one offered by Autozone:http://contentinfo.autozone.com/znetcs/product-info/en/US/drm/963-014/image/2/

bxpretzel · May 7, 2015

Ride92 said:
Time vs. money! Do you have more time then you do money or do you have more money then you do time?

Option 1:
If you have more time then money then do like someone else said and got to hardware store and get two automotive trim fasteners. They are readily available and come in various sizes. Get some touch up paint to match your car, sand the fastener head, spray primer, apply paint and then a good quality Clear coat. I recommend SprayMaxx 2k clear. Spraymax is a 2 part paint system in the same can. You have to activate the car by pressing a button on the bottom of the can to activate it. It's basically the same clear coat a professional would use to spray a car with a paint gun just in an easy to use spray can. I repainted my motorcycle and used spraymax for my clear and had great results. This would give you the best gloss and durability but all the supplies may be a bit expensive, you might actually spend more then option 2. (I guess you could leave the plugs black as most of the plugs are black, and if you have a black car wouldn't be to noticeable)

Option 2:

Bumperplugs.com sells automotive trim plugs that they have done all the work on and sprayed and cleared them to match the factory paint already. Yes they are spendy but the good thing is all you have to do is order and install and not worry about painting yourself. Painting your own plugs will take a few hours since you have to let the paint flash a bit between coats and then have to wait for the paint to fully cure before clear coat. I'm ordering bumper plugs for my front end. Here's the link to their site. http://www.bumperplugs.com/

Option 3:

Have the holes sanded down to remove any edges pulled up from the screws and fill the holes with some spot putty or body filler, sand, prime, paint, clear. Again, this is labor intensive and costly as you'll have to either get a body shop to match the paint and spray or buy a premixed aerosol touch up spray can online and do the work yourself. This option looks the best but it costs the most and is the most labor intensive.

Conclusion:
Bumperplugs.com is the most economical choice as far as time vs money goes and the easiest to complete. And no I have no affiliation with bumperplugs.com. I'm just going thru the same ordeal myself and have come to the conclusion that the bumper plugs is the best option for me. I hope this info helps you out.

The other

I actually tried bumperplugs.com prior to posting this and they don't have the Blue Reflex Mica (my color) in stock. They offered to do a custom job for $149 and that would give me 3 sets of plugs. But I only need one and am NOT trying to spend $150 to fill two holes in my bumper! They did say they'd let me know if they had increased demand for that color and if they began to make it, but that's not currently an option. So, the easy way is out.

DIY it is!! Automotive trim plugs/fasteners, eh? I've already called my local dealer and made sure they had a pen of touch-up paint in my color in stock and will pick that up on my way home from work today or tomorrow. Now for a secondary trip to Advance Auto Parts on my way home from the dealer. Thanks all! Really helpful.

paris1 · May 7, 2015

bxpretzel said:
DIY it is!! Automotive trim plugs/fasteners, eh? I've already called my local dealer and made sure they had a pen of touch-up paint in my color in stock and will pick that up on my way home from work today or tomorrow. Now for a secondary trip to Advance Auto Parts on my way home from the dealer. Thanks all! Really helpful.

Look at it this way, you're going to need that touch up paint for other things (unfortunately) down the road anyway. So you're killing two birds...etc.

bxpretzel · May 7, 2015

paris1 said:
Look at it this way, you're going to need that touch up paint for other things (unfortunately) down the road anyway. So you're killing two birds...etc.

Yes, definitely. I had already planned on getting one at some point but this just gave me a reason to do so

It's only $12 for the small pen-sized bottle, so not exactly breaking the bank!

Front license plate vs. no front license plate

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