The in basket: Terri Herstad asks about the need to have a
license plate on the front of one’s vehicle.
“My husband purchased his car from a dealer in Tacoma and it had no
license plate on the front of the car,” she said. “This car was a
trade-in from another state where front plates aren’t required.
“When he asked them to install the plate onto the front, the dealer
told him to leave it on the front dash. The dealer said this was
perfectly legal. Since then, both my husband and I have been pulled
over several times for the front plate not being mounted onto the
front of the car.
“Are front plates required to be mounted on the front of the
car?
The in basket: Terri Herstad asks about the need to have a license
plate on the front of one’s vehicle.
“My husband purchased his car from a dealer in Tacoma and it had no
license plate on the front of the car,” she said. “This car was a
trade-in from another state where front plates aren’t required.
“When he asked them to install the plate onto the front, the dealer
told him to leave it on the front dash. The dealer said this was
perfectly legal. Since then, both my husband and I have been pulled
over several times for the front plate not being mounted onto the
front of the car.
“We have inquired with several dealerships (including where the car
came from) and specialty screw shops. We are repeatedly told a
dealer will not install the plate or sell the screws to us if we
didn’t purchase the car there. Specialty screw shops have told us
the screws are proprietary to vehicles and they don’t sell them; we
have to go to a dealer.
“Are front plates required to be mounted on the front of the car?
If they are, why are we receiving such difficulty from dealers
about this and why are we not able to obtain screws?”
The out basket: Brad Benfield of the Department of Licensing says,
“License plates are indeed required to be mounted to the front and
back of cars and trucks. There are exceptions for motorcycles,
trailers, vehicles with collector plates, etc. But leaving the
plate on the dashboard behind the windshield is not legal. State
law requires the plate to be mounted at the front and the
rear.”
Terri says the dealership that sold them the car has refused to put
the front plate on or sell them the screws needed to do it
themselves. I didn’t pursue the reasons for such an odd refusal,
but Terri said she’ll take Brad’s response to the dealer and try to
change their minds.
