You steel me rear plate and not front. My registration and emissions are due this month. Pointless. Feels personal somehow.

Not pointless. Report it ASAP. May use your plates in the commission of a crime. If they were really slick they would have stuck a plate from another car on your vehicle.

Yep, very strange. I have a case # I get to give to dmv. Often the car is reported stolen but the plate has not and matches close enough the car's description. Why not steel a plate with a little time on the clock. I seen cars with 2019 tags still so guess they feel lucky.

Did you file a police report? When this happened to me the DMV would not issue a new plate without a police report. The cost for a substiute plate was about 20 bucks. For the time being put the front plate on the back, so you are less likely to be pulled over.

We had that happen to us. We were in El Paso for the weekend, and on the way back to Carlsbad NM we go through an ICE inspection station. They have all sorts of tech there, including a plate scanner. Well, our plate didn't match the car and we were pulled over. Someone swapped our plates in El Paso, probably to take a car south of the border. We were very polite to ICE, and we had full documentation (registration, insurance, etc.), and they were very professional to us and sent up on our way. We did report it to police, but never heard anything more about it.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Did you file a police report? When this happened to me the DMV would not issue a new plate without a police report. The cost for a substiute plate was about 20 bucks. For the time being put the front plate on the back, so you are less likely to be pulled over.

Yes, reported about half hour after I noticed it. My plate is now reported stolen so my untagged front plate on the rear is not my plan. I will be driving the junker for a few days until i get it sorted. DMV can pull up the PR.

Good. Sounds like you have it covered. I would want the police report in hand when you go to the DMV. You know how they can be down at the DMV. LOL

I had this happen to me a few decades ago. I now use out of the ordinary screws to screw it to the vehicle to lessen the chance. Currently using screws that have a “square allen heads”. Wife’s car too. I also use chrome screw head covers (4 on each plate) to slow down removal further.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

You know how they can be down at the DMV.

quote:

I now use out of the ordinary screws to screw it to the vehicle to lessen the chance.

That is the idea of the week.

I have been using allen screws with a post in the middle of the fitting for years. Advertised as "anti-theft" license plate screws. They come in Allen and Torx fittings.

Yeah, I know they can be defeated, and pretty easily. However, they reduce exposure to casual theft and they don't cost much.

Front plate got swiped a few weeks ago. Cops were helpful. DMV was surprisingly helpful and quick. Bought some “anti theft” screws to slow down the tweakers.

If you're serious about keeping those plates on, some Locktite 271 should do the trick. It shouldn't be an issue until you sell the car...

Have a buddy who had his personalized "ham radio" callsign plate stolen off of his pickup....Haven"t heard if it was ever found and things cleared up yet.. .. Have my call plate in rear back window driverside and military veteran plate displayed.. Actually assigned to wife as she is a active duty veteran US Army 8 1/2 years active service ....................... drill sgt.

Early 70’s I worked in a part of Detroit where it wasn’t too bad but on the edge of a sketchy area.

We had two plates at the time, wasn’t uncommon for someone to steal a front plate and replace it with another, hey, they were the same colors!

One of the new car porters didn’t believe me the one day I told him someone swapped his front plate, it was obvious as his car was always spotless and the front plate that morning was filthy.

I came out one night from work to my back plate missing. Moved the front to the back, good to go until the next day so I thought. Next day I parked again the the alley, no employee parking. Came out to lunch heading to the Secretary of State to file a report, turn in the one plate and get a new set. That was at 8 A.M., by noon that plate was gone too.

Hey, at least the car was still there.

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:

at least the car was still there.

Same car?

In each of the three previous states I lived in, I had plates stolen off my vehicles. These were CA, NV and AZ, all of which have very high ($3-400) license fees. Here they are ~$35 and I haven't had any stolen. I have to think this may have had something to do with it.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:

at least the car was still there.

Same car?

Yeah, it was a four speed!

Seriously though, had my door lock coat hangered, all they took was my H.S. graduation tassel.

Later that year I learned some tricks to make my car “gray”. Found out that the stock,wheel covers for my 66 Pontiac would fit over my Cragar S/S wheels. Had a Sun tachometer mounted that I could remove with one screw and a snap together wire connector. Threw a work jacket over the floor mounted 8 track player mounted on the trans hump behind the console like the 69-70 Grand Prix had.

Sunday night drill was to do all that and Friday night after work reverse all of that. That was in addition to minimal gas in the tank, why give them a full tank to rob gas stations and party stores? And a kill switch on the purple starter wire for good measure.

One year there was enough.

quote:

Originally posted by Unishot:
...
I now use out of the ordinary screws to screw it to the vehicle to lessen the chance. Currently using screws that have a “square allen heads”. Wife’s car too. I also use chrome screw head covers (4 on each plate) to slow down removal further.

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
I have been using allen screws with a post in the middle of the fitting for years. Advertised as "anti-theft" license plate screws. They come in Allen and Torx fittings.

Yeah, I know they can be defeated, and pretty easily. However, they reduce exposure to casual theft and they don't cost much.

Hey now, I think you guys are onto something with these ideas. Now you've got me thinking if I could find the appropriately sized drilled bolts I could maybe safety wire them in place.

It might be a little more work, but I figure it might be worth it as I currently live in the state with the highest number of car thefts and had my vehicle broken into a couple years ago, although they didn't take anything.

Thanks for the tips.

quote:

In each of the three previous states I lived in, I had plates stolen off my vehicles. These were CA, NV and AZ, all of which have very high ($3-400) license fees. Here they are ~$35 and I haven't had any stolen. I have to think this may have had something to do with it.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Doubt it. You take plates to commit crimes. This is not about getting around the plate fee.