If I didn’t know better I would say this one is modified
Altered California license plates?
- Thread starter Dave1027
- Start date
I remember when delinquent youths were "cloaking" their license plates with hairspray.
I have lived near the CA desert all my life. It's actually very common. Take a drive out through any desert community. You will see a lot of plates with the paint worn off.
Here in Illinois, the paint (or coating) peels all the time. It is common for older plates to have wide swaths of bare metal and if it weren't for the embossed numbers, there'd be no clue what the number is supposed to be. I assume the problem comes about when a plate designed to last just a few years remains in service for 15-20 years....
Even in NY, you see a ton of the org empire plates - white/blue lettering peeling (beginning letter A-E) and sometimes it looks like a piece of aluminum on your front bumper they get so bad. Even now with the newer style (letter F-J) "older" yellow and blue plates i've seen they look like they are 40 years old, with no reflective coating, no paint, but bare aluminum, or they "flake". We are now up to K with yet another new style plate.
While in the city i noticed more then one car that people sprayed the plates with MORE reflective coating, to the point it almost looks like sand on the plate, if you look for it you can notice it no problem, and i'd assume that to beat the red light cameras and tolls.
Here are a couple letters of my current NY empire white and blue plate from 2009. You can see the peeling, but its not bad... yet. I just am very careful power washing the plates..
While in the city i noticed more then one car that people sprayed the plates with MORE reflective coating, to the point it almost looks like sand on the plate, if you look for it you can notice it no problem, and i'd assume that to beat the red light cameras and tolls.
Here are a couple letters of my current NY empire white and blue plate from 2009. You can see the peeling, but its not bad... yet. I just am very careful power washing the plates..
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Wisconsin has that problem too. My dad still has the original Colorado plate on his 1987 Saab 9000 turbo (he still drives the car).
Texas switched from embossed plates to flat printed plates some time ago. They used to require you to replace them every six or seven years due to what they termed, "loss of reflectivity," but I guess they don't anymore. You would just get new plates in the mail with your sticker and see a notification on the registration renewal form stating that you would be getting new plates. My current ones are nine years old. It seems like the paint is more durable now than in the past.
I'm surprised more states haven't gone to digitally printed plates yet. Although no paint problems, I have had the clear protective film start to peel. My fault, blasting it with a pressure washer too closely to get the bugs off. I ordered a new set...IMO if you like your paint looking pristine why would a license plate be any different.
My car list below has most all the California option color plates. All but my Explorer have personal plates.
None have peeled . I do see some plates on other vehicles that are but it does not look deliberate considering what vehicles I see them on and they are not trying to avoid a ticket.
At least not by plate altering . Besides I have seen some photos from friends in the police department and even if the paint was removed you can still make out the letters. Some cameras you can even clearly read the reg number tag.
None have peeled . I do see some plates on other vehicles that are but it does not look deliberate considering what vehicles I see them on and they are not trying to avoid a ticket.
At least not by plate altering . Besides I have seen some photos from friends in the police department and even if the paint was removed you can still make out the letters. Some cameras you can even clearly read the reg number tag.
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Well actually I think if you look into it the purpose is for night vision. With the reflective paint either on the letters or plate you can read the plates numbers and letters with just head lights, flashlights or a beam light.
I am making my own California plate that will comply with the regulations but wont have all the holes and rattle with my subwoofer. It will also be almost completely flat . It will have the proper reflective capabilities and also the CA font for lettering.
Not the first time I have done this and it is compliant within the wording under CA.V.C.
I am making my own California plate that will comply with the regulations but wont have all the holes and rattle with my subwoofer. It will also be almost completely flat . It will have the proper reflective capabilities and also the CA font for lettering.
Not the first time I have done this and it is compliant within the wording under CA.V.C.
Umm, whut?
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- Sep 11, 2021
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That right, it bounce the signal off your reflectorized license plate. You see, the "RADAR" gun sends out a signal that needs to bounce off and return to the Radar gun. That how a radar gun works to determine speed. Eliminating the reflector part of the plate is simply an attempt to defeat the Radar gun signal. I wonder if it works? I doubt it would work, unless your car is completely painted in some special signal deadening paint.
LASER speed guns work best aimed at the license plate. These aren't used much since the cop has to actively point at each car to clock it, versus RADAR where he can park and turn on the outside RADAR transceiver and wait for the beep that someone in the vicinity may be speeding.
RADAR reflects from the metal not the paint. You'd need to paint the whole car with absorptive stealth aircraft paint to hide it from RADAR.
RADAR reflects from the metal not the paint. You'd need to paint the whole car with absorptive stealth aircraft paint to hide it from RADAR.
Lets not forget about Laser and Radar Jammers. I am not saying I own and use one.....Very illegal in the US but I have herd from some they work very well!
Very expensive..
Very expensive..
In Arizona, you’ll see the paint peeling off or missing entirely from plates so it seems like it’s more of a desert/hot weather thing than anything else. One of my neighbors has a plate that is basically just raw metal with almost no paint on it. It’s on an 8th gen Accord so worst case only 13 years old but paint on the plate is gone, lady is about 7.6 million years old and rarely drives so I doubt she intentionally modified the plate to evade speed cameras.
My dad was born in 1932. ,his very first car when he sold it the plates had to be removed. He kept them and recently gave them to me. One thing I noticed looking at some of my license plates I have kept over the years is the quality of paint used over the decades. Even a couple personal plates that I kept seem to have slightly discolored and they have been in a room displayed on a wall most of there life. Aside from my dads plates I started keeping some plates on vehicles that really meant something dating back to the mid 70's.
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The reflective coating was peeling on my plate here in PA. When I finally traded the car, I asked the dealer for a new plate on the new car instead of transferring the old plate to the new car. They asked why, and explained it was cheaper to transfer than get a new plate. I explained the reflective coating was peeling on the old plate, and to avoid any hassle I just wanted a new plate. They shrugged, and gave me a new plate.
Meanwhile, there are people driving around with brand new cars with plates that are almost completely peeled and faded. One would think a dealer has an obligation at some point to stop transferring that old plate and issue a new plate.
Meanwhile, there are people driving around with brand new cars with plates that are almost completely peeled and faded. One would think a dealer has an obligation at some point to stop transferring that old plate and issue a new plate.
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