Front license plate bracket holes

[StoneCrab]

I picked up my 2013 SEL and it had the front license plate mount already installed by the dealer (I'm sure it was on their PDI checklist). However, I live in a state that does not require a front plate and I prefer the look of the car without the front plate bracket. No problem I thought, I'll just remove it. But come to find out the plate bracket is mounted by drilling two large (.5 inch) holes in the front bumper cover. So that doesn't look good with the bracket removed.

I ended up removing the front bracket, and reinstalled the black plastic pushpin inserts back into the holes (sans bracket) just to fill the holes. This looks better but still a little odd.

Has anybody encounterd this? Possible solutions I've thought of;

1. Have dealer repair/replace the holes in the front bumper cover. Ya right, I'm sure they will gladly do this... not. Expensive fix.

2. Get some tungsten silver touchup paint and paint the black plastic pushpin inserts to try and get a color match. But I bet this would end up looking not much different, and possibly worse if the paint looked ugly (metallic paint hard to match).

3. Reinstall the front plate bracket and put a nice fancy VW or TDI logo or vanity plate on the front.

4. Get a euro plate mount and somehow affix it so it covers the holes on the front of the bumper, with an interesting euro vanity plate.

5. Juts keep it as is, it isn't that bad, but I know it will eat at me over time..

Any other ideas or has somebody dealt with this problem before? I have to say the front plate mount is a poor design when it requires drilling large holes in the front bumper cover.

Tx

 

[DruzTdiCup]

Try these-I used them on my last 2 vehicles since I was in the same situation having an '06 Trailblazer SS(had to removed plate holder!) and '08 Hyundai Santa Fe.

http://bumperplugs.com/BPindex.html

 

[StoneCrab]

Try these-I used them on my last 2 vehicles since I was in the same situation having an '06 Trailblazer SS(had to removed plate holder!) and '08 Hyundai Santa Fe.

http://bumperplugs.com/BPindex.html

Thanks, that looks perfect! I should have guessed something like that existed and they even have the VW tungsten silver paint code.

I did a google search ad well as a site search here, but I didn't think to use the keywords 'bumper plug'!

 

[Blue_Hen_TDI]

How in the heck do I get the two screws out of the front license bracket? I don't see a phillips or hex or any sort of pattern in there. Just a circle.

Pardon my stupidity.

 

[big_ole_truck]

Use a crow bar. Wax and buff afterwards to remove unsightly scratches.and other damage.

 

[Blue_Hen_TDI]

Use a crow bar. Wax and buff afterwards to remove unsightly scratches.and other damage.

Hey thanks.

 

[big_ole_truck]

My pleasure. Your most certainly welcomed.

 

[kjake]

Had this same issue...stuck the screws back in so far, but planning to talk with the dealer about it next Weds when I'm there to have my headliner looked at.

 

[StoneCrab]

Try these-I used them on my last 2 vehicles since I was in the same situation having an '06 Trailblazer SS(had to removed plate holder!) and '08 Hyundai Santa Fe.

http://bumperplugs.com/BPindex.html

I highly recommend these bumper plugs. I received mine and they are a perfect color match. Only issue I had was that the holes in the bumper are about 3/8" and the plugs are made for a 1/4" hole. I wrapped them with electrical tape as a sleeve and they are snug now. They look much better than the stock black plastic plugs from the front frame, which were loose anyway (they are designed to have the frame as backing, not be installed by themselves).

 

[Blue_Hen_TDI]

I contacted Bumper Plugs. They do not stock VW Glacier Blue Metallic. They can paint a custom order at a minimum of six plugs for $149 plus shipping.

No thanks.

 

[kjake]

I contacted Bumper Plugs. They do not stock VW Glacier Blue Metallic. They can paint a custom order at a minimum of six plugs for $149 plus shipping.

No thanks.

I think it's called Emotion Blue now (http://www.vwfansclub.com/viewtopic.php?p=1064#p1064) and http://www.paintscratch.com has it. You could make your own plugs (Lowes sells plastic ones) and probably have paint left over for chip repair later.

 

[kjake]

Just found this: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?t=5601532

 

[Blue_Hen_TDI]

Just found this: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?t=5601532

Post #15 in that thread had the same question I had earlier in this thread: how in the hell do you get the OEM bracket off? The fasteners have no Phillips, hex, torx, or any sort of pattern. It's just a circle, similar to a rivet.

Nobody answered his question either. How the heck do they come out? I can take a pic if it helps.

 

[kjake]

Mine just had regular phillips screws...sorry.

 

[Softrockrenegade]

Post #15 in that thread had the same question I had earlier in this thread: how in the hell do you get the OEM bracket off? The fasteners have no Phillips, hex, torx, or any sort of pattern. It's just a circle, similar to a rivet.

Nobody answered his question either. How the heck do they come out? I can take a pic if it helps.

It was answered in post 5 in this thread. If they are rivets they can most likely be drilled out with less damage to the bumper .

 

[Blue_Hen_TDI]

Kjake, thanks for all the links. I guess I'll attempt the DIY route. MF'ing dealer.

 

[kjake]

Kjake, thanks for all the links. I guess I'll attempt the DIY route. MF'ing dealer.

No prob. I'm hoping my dealer will take care of it, but figured that I should do research if they don't. I'm not terribly handy, so I wanted a good level of detail going into it, if I had to, and that last link was pretty darn decent from a DIY stand-point.

Post some pics of your finished product and any lessons learned!

 

[gotsoot]

if your window sheet says that the tag bracket was listed then you probably wont have a leg to stand on with the dealer.BUT! if it was NOT, then I would make them give me a new bumper.You did not ask for this bracketand should not have it.kind of like when they put their DAmn advertiement dealer sticker on the paint-OH nO you didn`t!! ticks me off, I asked the salesman how much was he going to pay every month for the ad going down the road.he had the detail guy remove.

 

[Blue_Hen_TDI]

if your window sheet says that the tag bracket was listed then you probably wont have a leg to stand on with the dealer.BUT! if it was NOT, then I would make them give me a new bumper.You did not ask for this bracketand should not have it.kind of like when they put their DAmn advertiement dealer sticker on the paint-OH nO you didn`t!! ticks me off, I asked the salesman how much was he going to pay every month for the ad going down the road.he had the detail guy remove.

The dealer decal was removed by me as soon as I got home. It was a bugger. Took three or four applications of goo gone to get off all the residue. Rinsed and put some wax over the area and all good, but that front bracket pisses me off.

I'm going to ask the dealer to make it right, as my survey response will be filled according to how well they satisfy me. I'd be content with a credit to order bumper plugs.

On a side note, the salesman also destroyed my U of Delaware personalized plate while I was signing the order with the finance guy. I mentioned I was transferring the plate, and the genius still used it as a lever to pry the Surf Fishing plate that I had affixed to the front bumper of my trade-in Jeep with 3M double sided auto trim tape. He also destroyed the painted Sahara bumper in the process. I'm sure the dealership loved that. I'll be asking for the dealership to pay for my replacement plate.

 

[kjake]

...my survey response will be filled according to how well they satisfy me.

This is my current leverage point right now too. They really stressed to me that if I was unhappy with anything and couldn't answer 'Completely Satisfied' on the survey, they wanted to know so they could fix it.

 

[Foxfan]

Just removed my front plate on the Golf and also noticed the plate holder is held by rivets!

Why didn't they just use screws?

Good thing I got a europlate for the front.

 

[IRISHpride]

I picked up my 2013 SEL and it had the front license plate mount already installed by the dealer (I'm sure it was on their PDI checklist). However, I live in a state that does not require a front plate and I prefer the look of the car without the front plate bracket. No problem I thought, I'll just remove it. But come to find out the plate bracket is mounted by drilling two large (.5 inch) holes in the front bumper cover. So that doesn't look good with the bracket removed.

I ended up removing the front bracket, and reinstalled the black plastic pushpin inserts back into the holes (sans bracket) just to fill the holes. This looks better but still a little odd.

Has anybody encounterd this? Possible solutions I've thought of;

1. Have dealer repair/replace the holes in the front bumper cover. Ya right, I'm sure they will gladly do this... not. Expensive fix.

2. Get some tungsten silver touchup paint and paint the black plastic pushpin inserts to try and get a color match. But I bet this would end up looking not much different, and possibly worse if the paint looked ugly (metallic paint hard to match).

3. Reinstall the front plate bracket and put a nice fancy VW or TDI logo or vanity plate on the front.

4. Get a euro plate mount and somehow affix it so it covers the holes on the front of the bumper, with an interesting euro vanity plate.

5. Juts keep it as is, it isn't that bad, but I know it will eat at me over time..

Any other ideas or has somebody dealt with this problem before? I have to say the front plate mount is a poor design when it requires drilling large holes in the front bumper cover.

Tx

i did #4 with a mk6 gti euro plate holder( you have to trim the little feet of the back of the holder.). just drill holes in the holder to match the bumper and insert the plastic rivets, best pic i have of it.. sorry

 

[Blue_Hen_TDI]

^
You're Tupac's mom?

 

[Dozenspeed]

How in the heck do I get the two screws out of the front license bracket? I don't see a phillips or hex or any sort of pattern in there. Just a circle.

Pardon my stupidity.

If I remember they are push-pin rivets, you push the one-way center through (and retrive) and then you can work the outer part of the rivet out, then install in reverse but push center in through the front in the same direction you pushed it out.

Use a crow bar. Wax and buff afterwards to remove unsightly scratches.and other damage.

I hope you're kidding...

I picked up my 2013 SEL and it had the front license plate mount already installed by the dealer ...........Tx

On mine they jammed two big screws that were 4 times too long straight through the bracket and on through the bumper.

 

[IRISHpride]

^
You're Tupac's mom?

no, "two in the goo 1 in the poo mom"

 

[FormerOwner]

buy your touch-up paint at VW, your bumper plugs, and perhaps... get pluggin ?

 

[Mike 01Hawk]

Specifically asked the dealer to find a no holes car. He had to goto Arkansas to find one. Boo YAH!

 

[Blue_Hen_TDI]

After my travails with bumper plugs, now I'm moving to VA and will be putting a front license plate back on. At least I already have the holes!

 

[Jim_NM]

I contacted Bumper Plugs. They do not stock VW Glacier Blue Metallic. They can paint a custom order at a minimum of six plugs for $149 plus shipping.

No thanks.

Go buy glacier blue touch-up pain at your dealer ($15). Paint the bumper plugs.

 

[Blue_Hen_TDI]

Go buy glacier blue touch-up pain at your dealer ($15). Paint the bumper plugs.

I did five months ago. I posted about it somewhere here. You can click on my Fuelly link and see a pic below.