Magellan

Our California license plates came in the other day for our new IS250, and I proceeded to throw away those cheap, plastic, dealer frames that were on the car when delivered and installed the plates without them. I think the car looks so much better without frames, especially those tacky ones from the dealer.

At least the dealers here don’t do what is done in some states, i.e., putting on a permanent decal or badge on the trunk area, including the drilling of holes in some instances, to spoil the overall appearance of the car for, again, free advertising.

But I do notice that most cars I see on the road keep these cheap looking dealer frames on. Why is that?

SCRUFFDOGG

I don't understand it either, that's the first thing I do when I get home is strip off the plate frames and the plastic plate with the dealerships name on it. I wouldn't take delivery of a car with a dealer decal or emblem put on it permanently. My wife takes our Jeep in for oil changes, bought a booklet of 6 for $99.99, and the first 2 times they put frames front and back and a hitch plug with the dealers name. The third time I took it in and told them to stop putting that crap on my Jeep.

Lexmex

Never mind the license plate frames, down here, they actually stick little stickers on the back of your car.

One of my friends took his G35 into a Nissan dealership (no separate Infiniti dealerships here) and ran into a horror story. Bigger horror story was when he attempted to remove the sticker of the evil dealership off the back and it left those nasty glue/sticky marks. Luckily, my uncle was able to save day and remove it properly.

Davtown

I would never accept delivery of a car with one of those permanent decals on it. I'm surprised anyone does... I hope they at least get a discount on the car on account of being a driving advertisement for the dealership.

np20412

My guess is most people keep them on because they are too lazy to remove them and basically don't care.

When I get my car back from LExus, its always got 2 new ones on. When I get it back from my body shop, same thing. They always come off IMMEDIATELY.

Magellan

I guess if you’re buying a car that’s already on the lot, where the dealer has placed these badges on every car; you would be forced to ask for a special order and wait six weeks, with the proviso that the dealer would not badge your car when it comes in.

Perhaps we Californians should be grateful that we can buy from a dealer’s inventory and just dump the cheapo frames in the trash when we get home.

bruce van

Most people I know keep the dealer frames on because they simply don't car. Those little
details don't bother them.

When I bought my new to me SC400, the previous owner had Beverly Hills Lexus frames
on both the front and back. First thing I did when I got it home was take them off.

mink92890

The cars I got from Hennessy Lexus came with dealer plates, but their plates are absolutely stunning... Great Finish and says hennessy with 2 lexus emblems...

As to the plastic ones... i have no idea why they keep them on... kind of stupid in my opinion

Mink92890

Suneet

My friends bought me a nice custom liceense plate frame as abday present. It looks really nice inperson.. the picture captures weird reflections though..


Sorry for the lame blurring, I'm at work and had to use Paint to do it

(Yeah.. I drink an absurd amount of cherry coca cola .. but have recently quit drinking it to lose weight! )

Leets

I still have the dealer frames on my IS. I agree that they look really tacky, but I also can't stand the way the plate looks frameless. So I decided to leave the frames on until I can find a nice black, metal frame to replace the plastic junk. Plus, Tustin Lexus has always treated me well so I don't mind giving them a little free advertising.

mmarshall

Those El Cheapo plastic dealer frames also rattle annoyingly whenever you shut the trunk or hatchback. I agree with tossing them out inthe trash.

howiedoit

iTrader: (9)

Bruce Van, if you still have those Beverly Hills plates, I'd love to take those off your hands. I've been wanting a pair for a long time, but that dealership changed their plate style...

CVsIS250

Totally agree. I won't even sign for the car until all the advertisements are removed. That is of course it constitutes $ in my pocket. If they are dumb enough to drill holes to put a decal on the back, I am going somewhere else. There is this place in the Columbus area called Ricart. They have a HUGE lot of cars. Their dealer decals are hard plastic that are about 7 inches long and 3 inches tall.

CV

Rx900

i still have the dealer frame on, cuz i think it's look "dull" w/o them. Plus the frame i got isnt a cheapo plastic one. It's not metal but it's hard as one. Don't know what kind of material that is though....