[Mayhem]

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.

 

[Mayhem]

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

I hope that's the case!

When I ordered.. There was an option on the order sheet to include a Front Plate...
I had them leave that unchecked so... hopefully that helps.

 

[Mayhem]

I ordered mine without the front plate, and it still came with one. Riveted on at the factory.

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.

 

[Mayhem]

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.

Thanks,
Did you factory order without one? Or not specify?

Congrats on picking up the car

 

[Mayhem]

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.

 

[Mayhem]

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...

 

[Mayhem]

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.

Dave

Bumper, or grille?

 

[Mayhem]

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...

 

[Mayhem]

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

 

[Mayhem]

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?

 

[Mayhem]

new delivery at my work... we will be installing the plate bracket during pdi, same as my sales managers st.....

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.

 

[Mayhem]

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.

 

[Mayhem]

My dealer confirmed that front plate bracket was installed during PDI for their Fiesta ST. And mine is flagged to be left off.

 

[Mayhem]

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.

 

[Mayhem]

Wonder if its the non-required states that are the ones getting them installed at PDI

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.

 

[Mayhem]

You may be falling victim to the same mistake I made. As someone else pointed out, the screws appearing on the top there, are probably attached from the plate to the bracket..
But underneath the bottom portion, the plate is possibly covering the two screws that attach the bracket to the bumper. (This is how my truck's bumper was done).

I made that error in posting up the wrong comparison photo's and unfortunately didn't have any photo's of that car I seen without the bracket drilled.

Definitely check and verify though

I know the Focus ST forums have lots of photos posted of Focus ST's with rivets in the grille, or with a black plate behind the grille that is drilled to hold the plate instead of the bumper. But I don't really see Fiesta's arriving that way. They seem to be either arriving, with or without a front plate.

The first one I seen was done with black rivets in the honey comb grille.. but I never took photo's.. and am beginning to think that may have done by the dealership? As everyone's photo's thus far imply either a bracket drilled to the bumper, or no bracket at all.

Thanks for clarifying that your order sheet does show the front plate listed though ! Useful to know these things in trying to figure out the plate situation.

 

[Mayhem]

Don't think I chimed in here yet,
My car was custom ordered without front plate.
Car arrived @ dealer with front plate pre-installed.

Thumbs down @ ford for that one.

 

[Mayhem]

I "WAS" richports first order, but they screwed me around. So I went elsewhere. Lucky that you have a friend there. Hopefully that ensures you are treated better. My sales guy was good until his boss screwed me over on my innitial order, and then when I placed a new order, his boss screwed the deal up, and everything went south so I split.

Richports ST came front plated... Brown bros came front plated, Coastal came front plated... Key wests have all come front plated....
Doesn't look good or the no plate situation...

One of my prior vehicles, I ordered no front plate and it came in the trunk..

My ST unloaded off the delivery truck plated already.... Pissed me off too... Intend to write ford about it since it's in my order paperwork not to have one... But they hole punched anyways.. Can't fault the dealership, but I don't understand why other laces are getting no front plate installed while locally it seems to be done regardless.

I've not seen any local cars without a plate.


To be fair, I don't think it ruins the car at all, as far as looks go...and I strongly dislike front plates...... And if you custom plate+frame it.. even better. So I wouldn't worry about it too much... But I REALLY am dissatisfied that they went ahead and took a drill to my damn car AGAINST my request... All in paper... Not even the dealer.. But Ford. I would have put a front plate on.. but I had aftermarket solutions in place that did not involve putting holes in my bumper. So... thanks for that. I consider that vandalism!

My options were, take it as is, or leave it as is.... I wasn't about to go through the wait again and give up on having the first Green Envy around here..... Waited long enough already... And I certainly haven't smiled any less with the plate up front. But it's the "details" that make or brake good customer relations.. And that show a company actually cares about the "individuals" rather than just numbers.

Next time Ford brings me a plate, it better come with dinner... Usually my minimum requirement before I get screwed! I like to think I have a little class.