Replacing stolen license plates is a Royal PITA, so bought a kit of theft resistant screws:
https://a.co/d/efCpOkM

I should’ve bought a cheaper set; I only used two bolts (rear plate) and two screws (front plate) out of the whole kit.

They have a unique socket, not torx or Allen key, with a center post that will prevent any such tool being inserted. Their heads are shallow domes with no edge for pliers to grab. The set included a special tool for the screws. It has a center hole to accommodate the center post.

They won’t stop a professional thief, but they’ll deter a casual thief. And I suspect that most license plate thefts are done by casual thieves looking for easy pickings.

I used ‘em for my new Genesis G70. I’m really liking this agile sports sedan.

The best I found were what Chrysler used as anti-theft screws for the factory radio.

They had three ridges connected in the center (like a Mercedes badge) and required a special socket.

Have you had license plates stolen in the past? Is that common where you are?

quote:

They won’t stop a professional thief, but they’ll deter a casual thief. And I suspect that most license plate thefts are done by casual thieves looking for easy pickings.

Professional Thieves aren't looking to steal plates, they'll snatch your whole car.

Much like locking wheel lugs, in most areas this would be more likely to be a hassle for the owner than a useful deterrent.

Though the wheel lugs are worse, as unlike tires, folks aren't regularly needing to remove their license plates.

Around here, someone looking to mask their car plates will either use fake paper temp tags or just straight up steal a whole different car, rather than stealing just the license plates. While in most cases (Kia/Hyundai excluded) the days of punching/hotwiring an ignition are over, stealing a car is still simple, due to human laziness and stupidity. You'd be surprised at the number of people who simply leave their keys in their unlocked parked cars because "they live in a good area..." Also common in the summer/winter months is people leaving their cars unlocked and running to stay cool/warm while they run inside the grocery store or convenience store "just for a quick second".

But plate thefts could be more common in your area. And if it brings you better peace of mind, then it's probably worth the low $13 investment.

Those are security torx screws. You can buy a set of drivers or bits at any hardware store.(In case you lose the one that came with it). Not that uncommon but most thieves don't casually carry them around.

^^^ I have a 40pc Klein set, comes in super handy.

So which screw drive is it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives

posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

But plate thefts could be more common in your area.

When I lived in CA and NV, where license fees are also a property tax, my plates were $300-plus (and that was 15 years ago, God knows what they are now, especially with the OP's newer and more expensive car), I had plates stolen once each. Was that cost a factor? I can't help thinking it was.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Have you had license plates stolen in the past? Is that common where you are?

I don't know how common license plates theft are but they do occur. My buddy had his plate stolen a few weeks ago off his car. Apparently the thief had the same model car and was driving reckless racking up several red light and speed camera violations. The thief did get caught but other than confiscating the tag he was let go with a citation. Another friend of mine had his motorcycle tag stolen in Colorado.

It's a good idea and cheap deterrent, nothing is perfect but seems like this would go a long way for not much money.
You never know now days with the flood of illegals and legal criminals?

Seems like a drop of solder in a regular phillips head screw would be as effective (or more so) than a security torx screw. Easy enough to melt out should plate removal be required, but I doubt that most would be thieves carry an iron or torch. I remove plates when I change year stickers so as to clean them more conveniently than on the car, but have no other real need to pull them.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
Seems like a drop of solder in a regular phillips head screw would be as effective (or more so) than a security torx screw. <snip>

A “regular phillips head screw” could be grabbed with pliers and twisted out. My theft-resistant screws can’t be gripped with pliers.

We had our NM plates stolen (swapped) in El Paso. Border Patrol station stopped us as the station and told us the plates are from a reported stolen car which was likely driven across the border to Juarez. It was kind of scary how quickly Border Patrol was able to identify the stolen plates.

A front plate is criminal on that car.

I prefer my trunk monkey

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:
A front plate is criminal on that car.

I'll pay the ticket before I mount a front plate on my car.

Years ago in the 70’s Michigan required a front and rear license plate. During the years that the state didn’t use renewal stickers on the rear plate it was not uncommon especially in urban areas to take the front plate off of a parked car and put a stolen plate on in its place.

I worked in a car dealership once and one of the lot men there always kept his car spotless despite the weather. One day I noticed his front plate was dirty, went to the back plate and saw a clean plate with a different number. I tracked the man down and told him “You better check your plates, something funny is going on.”

Called the P.D., yep, stolen plate.

quote:

Originally posted by Alyron:
Those are security torx screws. You can buy a set of drivers or bits at any hardware store.(In case you lose the one that came with it). Not that uncommon but most thieves don't casually carry them around.

Yup - I have a set in my laptop bag and one on my work desk at home. Picked them up locally at Home Depot.

Universally called a security bit set. Mine came from Harbor Freight for about $8.00. The right bit in a drill/driver, and the security screws are out in a second or two. Ironically a flathead screw is usually harder and slower to get out than a security bit.

Reminds me of the key to my John Deere lawn tractor. To my knowledge, all the keys are the same, $5.00 at Lowe’s or Home Depot.

I have a set of the security set torx in my plate, it is a much better alternative to factory phillips screws. We used the same thing when I worked industrial maintenance to keep the operators from fucking around with the adjustments we made. Called them tamper proof torx then.