Curious... As I've now seen two different setups locally at dealerships..
For those of you in places that require front plates... Are your cars arriving at the dealership with the plate bracket pre installed? Or are your dealers installing them?
Are your rivets into the bumper itself, or into the black mesh grille?
Anyone in a front plate location, who's car came without a front bracket attached already?
One dealership had the bracket riveted into the black mesh area, and on had it riveted through the painted bumper area itself.
I have requested nothing to be attached to mine, but.... nobody has been able to tell me if they are coming pre attached from the factory or if it's being done in the dealership.
Curious... As I've now seen two different setups locally at dealerships..
For those of you in places that require front plates... Are your cars arriving at the dealership with the plate bracket pre installed? Or are your dealers installing them?
Are your rivets into the bumper itself, or into the black mesh grille?
Anyone in a front plate location, who's car came without a front bracket attached already?
One dealership had the bracket riveted into the black mesh area, and on had it riveted through the painted bumper area itself.
I have requested nothing to be attached to mine, but.... nobody has been able to tell me if they are coming pre attached from the factory or if it's being done in the dealership.
i work at a ford dealership in mississauga, and when we do our PDI is when WE install the plate bracket... i have never seen a vehicle delivered with it except for like f150s and stuff... but all cars, they are installed by us in the shop.. so im almost 100% sure if you tell the dealer not to have it riveted in during the pdi.... you will have no front plate bracket
on the other site, someone posted the "option" code for installing the front plate. i wish i would have saved it. i'll be mad if they drill holes in my bumper!
Did you see the car arrive that way? Or the dealer told you it did?
Also, did you order from scratch and.... select no plate? Or did they swap options on an existing order for yours? Or pull it in from another dealership?
Sorry for all the questions, lol... I was able to get my Camaro, without the plate on.. Bracket Came in the trunk... (When I selected no front plate option @ order). Fresh factory order.
Not sure how Ford works though, my Raptor was bought off the lot, so it was already PDI'd.
I just took delivery today of mine. It had the bracket installed already. I saw it the day it came off the truck and it already had the bracket on then too. I'm on Ontario just north of Toronto. Front plate is required in Ontario so I didn't really care.
The are riveted on at the Factory. Not at the dealership. I ordered mine without it (not dealer stock) but that didn't matter - if the state it's shipped to requires front plates they won't honor the delete code, or at least that's what FoMoCo customer service said. Too many complaints from law enforcement, apparently.
Part of what made me question whether it was done @ dealer or factory was that they seem to be done in different spots.
Were yours riveted through the mesh grille or through the painted surface of the bumper? I have seen both.. And to make things even more confusing, I have seen both on vehicles at the same dealership.
The off to the side plate is usually more to do with tow hooks than people wanting it off set that way... Some cars come with the tow hook on one side.. So people mount a tow hook bracket for the plate.. FiST doesn't come with that in the US (Does in the UK from what I've seen). So I was going to attach an aftermarket bracket from underneath (still centered) or through the grille but not drilled.
Although I don't mind the off center look... I would like having the UK style tow hook put on the front. And then I'd just use he tow hook bracket too.
Just for clarity sake, here are 3 local vehicles. Note the Orange and Red one, are drilled right into the paint.
The black one is riveted into the mesh grille instead.
I think it would be weird if this is all done at the factory given the different attachment points. I would imagine they would have one procedure to follow and that it would be done the same throughout?
Which way was yours done?
If I am gonna get stuck with the bracket attached either way.. I prefer the mesh attachment.... I am wondering if this is dictated by opting in or out of the front bracket option when ordering.
I'd much much rather the mesh route, because at least the holes won't be noticeable... And a grille is something I might swap out later down the road anyway...
I of course wanted NOT to have the front plate bracket installed as I was to have clear bra applied immediately after delivery.
I even filled out forms to release the dealer of liability for not installing it.
However it did arrive from the factory pre-installed.
So I had to drill the rivets out right there in the dealer's parking lot.
I of course wanted NOT to have the front plate bracket installed as I was to have clear bra applied immediately after delivery.
I even filled out forms to release the dealer of liability for not installing it.
However it did arrive from the factory pre-installed.
So I had to drill the rivets out right there in the dealer's parking lot.
Thanks, I am just trying to figure out what dictates the rivet location at this point... Seems more than likely I'll end up with a bracket either way by the sounds of it...
Quickly put together an image showing the difference between the bracket mounting points.
The top corner shows the seemingly more common... drilled through the paint method..
The one I outlined in green shows the through the mesh grille method... I noticed these ones... the holes are through some kind of plugs? That are paint matched to the grille... so if you take off the bracket, you can hardly see anything.
I would greatly prefer this treatment... so if anyone can verify if you get this from either selecting or unselecting the front plate bracket on the order sheet.... I would really appreciate it.
Also, if anyone has received theirs like the one outlined in green... chime in
You are comparing pics with a licence plate installed vs one without. The pics without are how the licence plate bracket is installed, riveted through the bumper. Once a licence plate is installed it is bolted on at the top of the bracket and is only attached to the bracket.
I don't know if I'm explaining it well.... But the top bolts to not touch the grill at all they are simply attached to the bracket itself. The bracket itself it attached to the bumper at the bottom.
You are comparing pics with a licence plate installed vs one without. The pics without are how the licence plate bracket is installed, riveted through the bumper. Once a licence plate is installed it is bolted on at the top of the bracket and is only attached to the bracket.
I don't know if I'm explaining it well.... But the top bolts to not touch the grill at all they are simply attached to the bracket itself. The bracket itself it attached to the bumper at the bottom.
Ah, yeah I think you are right...My mistake. In that case I don't have a photo handy. I didn't really pay attention to that, but what you described makes sense. I just assumed based on the front bolt location that it was attached through the grille plugs. Wasn't paying attention to the fact that the bracket and plate are attached individually. I have seen the grille attachment bare without any plate on it... but I'm having trouble digging up a photo online.
I'll see if I can snap a photo if I am by the dealership again.
I think some of the Focus's had the grille plugs too, but I think also some of them are just a plate behind the grille that has holes drilled into it, to attach the bracket?
That's reassuring. I like it, I wonder if it's regional? Or just certain dealerships? Definitely seems like a lot of people are of the opinion they come bracketed..
You can bet I'll be camping out when I find out mine is coming in on a truck... just to sneak a peek and make sure mine stay's plate free.. lol
I've been hounding my poor dealer like crazy about it.
Yeah.. Hey Ziggy? Was that bracket-less ST or any bracket-less ST for that matter.. dealer stock? Or.. Customer orders with no plate option selected?
I'm satisfied that not all will come with a bracket installed at the factory... As I've seen it myself, and you've posted a photo... But still at a loss for how to ensure it arrives that way... and what's causing some to show up bracketed.
Yeah.. Hey Ziggy? Was that bracket-less ST or any bracket-less ST for that matter.. dealer stock? Or.. Customer orders with no plate option selected?
I'm satisfied that not all will come with a bracket installed at the factory... As I've seen it myself, and you've posted a photo... But still at a loss for how to ensure it arrives that way... and what's causing some to show up bracketed.
thats the second one we got and both came from factory bracket less... like i said before every vehicle we have got delivered, we have installed the brackets during pdi, even ford escapes, lincolns, the few focus st's we've had... im not sure if its a regional thing or not and my manager doesn't seem to know either.. we just get them that way? lol and a front plate is mandatory here so i dont see how it would be factory installed for just certain regions
Front plate brackets are all dealer installed, they never come from Ford that way.
If you order a car and don't want the plate bracket installed be sure you have it in writing on your paperwork that way so they don't install it during dealer prep.
Actually it does appear that at least the Fiesta does come that way, I've worked n Ford dealerships for 20+ years and used to do PDIs and the plate brackets always came in the trunk but I just went back and found a pic I took of the first Fiesta ST we got while it was still on the truck and it did have the plate bracket on it.
The old saying holds true, you learn something new every day.
Drilled out the rivets last night on the plate bracket. 1/4 drill through the center will do it. Becareful though as the bracket is also clipped into the upper grill. I just took a hacksaw blade (just the blade) and sawed through the little tabs that stick into the grill. then used needle nose pliers to remove the remaining plactic tab that was stuck in the grill. I felt that was safer that just pulling them out.
I'll use 1/4" plastic plugs that I'll paint match to conceal the little holes.
It comes on the car when delivered - check out the introduction section, you can see it on there in my post. You dont need to hacksaw the top clips off, it just pulls off the grille after you drill out the rivets. I tried removing the radiator diffuser panel hoping to gain access behind the grill but the diffuser, black, is part of the bumper. Go figure.
Yeah, I saw yours with the bracket attached on the truck. Excellent color choice
I don't know why it seems to be different for some people. But some cars are definitely arriving without brackets attached prior to PDI. Someone who works for a dealer has already gone through the trouble to post up photo's showing as much.
Can't seem to get any definitive answers as to why, or what dictates this difference.
The photo's Ziggy posted with no bracket installed, were from a front plate requiring province. I'm in BC and have seen a car with no front plate, and my dealer says that theirs was put on during PDI.
However, even people who claim to have deselected the front plate option, are still getting them with brackets installed as they arrive on trucks.... (I am wondering if this is an issue, where... dealers are mistakenly putting the order through with the front plate option selected?. and just telling the customers they ordered without? ) I know I personally sat there to enter my order in the system.. and personally made sure the front plate option was not selected for my car.. I'll definitely try and get to the dealer when it arrives on the truck and snap up some photo's.. To verify whether or not my car shows up pre drilled or not.
Remains a mystery for the time being. It seems weird that it would be completely "random" so I am betting there must definitely be something that dictates whether this happens during PDI or prior. I can't imagine some guy sitting around flipping a coin as every car passes by deciding whether to slap a bracket on or not.
I am wondering... if you do intentionally select the bracket option upon ordering... Would it get installed @ factory, or is it put in the trunk?
If everyone who's had one installed, has ordered without... Maybe for legal reasons, those opting OUT of the bracket are ironically the ones getting it installed @ the factory. Rather than put in the trunk.
I know when I ordered my Camaro, (GM product so perhaps not relevant.) I did the same thing and deselected the front bracket.. This got my bracket put in the trunk upon delivery... I zip tied it to the grille upon delivery so that the dealer wasn't responsible, as they wouldn't let me drive off without one attached.... so that I could sort it out with an alternative solution.
Mine came with the plate installed from the factory, it even shows up on the window sticker. We drilled out the rivets and now there are two tiny holes in the bumper.
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