California - no front/rear plates 6mo, exception
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From: Napa
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Ya' know, maybe he just thought your car was beautiful and wanted a closer look at it.
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From: Long Island, New York
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Last week I drop a friend off at LAX. As I'm pulling away from the curb I see a bike cop sitting on his bike watching the traffic, as soon as I pass him he pulls out and pulls me over. Now I know I wasn't speeding yet, and I used my signal because I saw him, so I wasn't sure why he stopped me. He comes up to the window and says "here at the airport we do random car stops and checks, and I chose your car because you do not have a front license plate." I responded with my typical reply of, "I'm waiting for the bracket to come in from the dealer, but I do have the plate with me." He said "ok, do you have any bombs, grenades, or weapons of mass destruction?" I said "no." He said "he would be right back." He went back to his bike, came back with his business card and said "you can call this number if you have any questions, remember there is only one of you, and you are precious cargo so please drive safe, and by the way the California highway patrol does not like the dark tint on the front side windows, so they may stop and harass you, just a heads up, and you have a very nice car." I said "thank you" and drove away.
I felt it was a jerk reason to pull me over, since I go to the airport all the time in my VW and never get stopped, but the one time I take the Porsche I get stopped, but at least he was cool about it.
I felt it was a jerk reason to pull me over, since I go to the airport all the time in my VW and never get stopped, but the one time I take the Porsche I get stopped, but at least he was cool about it.
The operative word in this story, "Yet".
Happy Thanksgiving.
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From: Austin
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Last week I drop a friend off at LAX. As I'm pulling away from the curb I see a bike cop sitting on his bike watching the traffic, as soon as I pass him he pulls out and pulls me over. Now I know I wasn't speeding yet, and I used my signal because I saw him, so I wasn't sure why he stopped me. He comes up to the window and says "here at the airport we do random car stops and checks, and I chose your car because you do not have a front license plate." I responded with my typical reply of, "I'm waiting for the bracket to come in from the dealer, but I do have the plate with me." He said "ok, do you have any bombs, grenades, or weapons of mass destruction?" I said "no." He said "he would be right back." He went back to his bike, came back with his business card and said "you can call this number if you have any questions, remember there is only one of you, and you are precious cargo so please drive safe, and by the way the California highway patrol does not like the dark tint on the front side windows, so they may stop and harass you, just a heads up, and you have a very nice car." I said "thank you" and drove away.
I felt it was a jerk reason to pull me over, since I go to the airport all the time in my VW and never get stopped, but the one time I take the Porsche I get stopped, but at least he was cool about it.
I felt it was a jerk reason to pull me over, since I go to the airport all the time in my VW and never get stopped, but the one time I take the Porsche I get stopped, but at least he was cool about it.
Last edited by jhbrennan; Nov 26, 2011 at 07:06 PM.
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Southern Cal plates
A slight diversion on basically the same theme. I also live in SoCal, and I recently (2 weeks) purchased a 997 from a private party. He was a Veteran and had “Veteran” in red on the California issued license plate. After driving the car for 2 days, I was getting an unusual number of people giving me the “thumbs up” sign. At first I thought it might be the car, then I realized it was probably the plate.
As I am not a Veteran, I have taken the plate off, and replaced it with a generic dealers paper plate. I now keep the original plate(s) in the back seat in case I’m stopped, do you think this is the right thing to do until I receive new plates from the DMV?
As I am not a Veteran, I have taken the plate off, and replaced it with a generic dealers paper plate. I now keep the original plate(s) in the back seat in case I’m stopped, do you think this is the right thing to do until I receive new plates from the DMV?
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From: SF Bay Area, CA
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A slight diversion on basically the same theme. I also live in SoCal, and I recently (2 weeks) purchased a 997 from a private party. He was a Veteran and had “Veteran” in red on the California issued license plate. After driving the car for 2 days, I was getting an unusual number of people giving me the “thumbs up” sign. At first I thought it might be the car, then I realized it was probably the plate.
As I am not a Veteran, I have taken the plate off, and replaced it with a generic dealers paper plate. I now keep the original plate(s) in the back seat in case I’m stopped, do you think this is the right thing to do until I receive new plates from the DMV?
As I am not a Veteran, I have taken the plate off, and replaced it with a generic dealers paper plate. I now keep the original plate(s) in the back seat in case I’m stopped, do you think this is the right thing to do until I receive new plates from the DMV?
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As you say, just take it off until you get the new plate from DMV. In the unlikely event of your being stopped, no officer would cite you after you show the original plate and explain why you're not using it.
Just curious, but where did you get a paper plate after a private sale?
Gary
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From: So Cal
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I drove my Spyder for 3 months without getting harassed. Just put the plate on last week.
FWIW, concerning the loophole, since the state does not send your plates via certified mail, they would have absolutely no way of proving you ever received them.
FWIW, concerning the loophole, since the state does not send your plates via certified mail, they would have absolutely no way of proving you ever received them.
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From: Southern California
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If you have gotten the plates and had the ticket signed off, you'll be charged the "fix-a-ticket" fee of $25. If there are still no plates, IIRC the fine for no plates is $290 in California. Some judges will give you a break on the fine if you go to court and appear personally, but there's no guarantee. And if you're reading this forum, your time is probably more valuable to you than that!
DMoore
'11 GTS
'10 Panamera 4S
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From: SoCal
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Lived in SoCal most of my life, except for a few years in Boston. Boston never had front plates, never had an issue.
In SoCal, I've probably had 3 front plate fix it tickets (years ago there was no charge, now I think there is a small charge). I just mount it up, get it fixed, take it off. Every one of those tickets was issued in conjunction with some other offense.
No plates on the pcar, but it's only about 4 weeks old (CPO, dealer ordered new plates) and haven't received the new plates or registration yet. In CA it takes 4-6 weeks typically... I expect them any day.
However, my BMW DD I keep the plate on the front. Why? Central parking at LAX. They patrol that lot at night, and I'm too damn lazy to park off airport, and got sick of slapping the front plate on and off. Just be warned, you park overnight at LAX central parking w/o a front plate, you will get a ticket. I'm probably 10 for 10 (when I forgot about it... I travel a lot). And its about $50. LA City parking cops.
In SoCal, I've probably had 3 front plate fix it tickets (years ago there was no charge, now I think there is a small charge). I just mount it up, get it fixed, take it off. Every one of those tickets was issued in conjunction with some other offense.
No plates on the pcar, but it's only about 4 weeks old (CPO, dealer ordered new plates) and haven't received the new plates or registration yet. In CA it takes 4-6 weeks typically... I expect them any day.
However, my BMW DD I keep the plate on the front. Why? Central parking at LAX. They patrol that lot at night, and I'm too damn lazy to park off airport, and got sick of slapping the front plate on and off. Just be warned, you park overnight at LAX central parking w/o a front plate, you will get a ticket. I'm probably 10 for 10 (when I forgot about it... I travel a lot). And its about $50. LA City parking cops.
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