Help covering front bumper license plate holes
 

So i bought a 500 mi. brz and the dealer i bought it from had drilled holes for the license plate in the front bumper for the previous owner. It was from nebraska. Now swapping the bumpers seems to be out of the question in my case. The car will be here monday but below is a picture that the dealer sent me of the holes. I was wondering what could be used to cover them up? i was thinking some matte black vinyl but the heat would force the vinyl to show the holes and plugs might just look ugly. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Typical dealership. A photo is a two man job. Haha

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I don't know exactly how the mustache on the BRZ works, but is it possible to just get that part replaced? If not, maybe you can just fill the holes with some sort of black plastic filler and blend it in and leave it at that if it comes out nicely, if not, then still fill the holes and then get a vinyl wrap. There won't be any holes under it for the vinyl to shrink into.

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yea the mustache is sadly part of the bumper

I would suggest get the full bumper replaced nothing will really help cover those holes.

there are plugs you can buy at craft stores to cover up those holes

I had holes in my bumper before I picked up my car and I hated it....I asked for the fill plugs to be put in...I think they grabbed them from another BRZ they had in stock. I don't understand something though...my BRZ has the two tag holes on the bumper but I've also seen BRZs with nothing at all. It seemed like the holes on my car came like that and dealer didn't do anything. The non-holed BRZs I've seen have nothing at all and everything looks smooth without any indication or markings as to where the holes should be drilled.

s-craft makes BRZ moustache covers in carbon fiber and FRP, but they're not cheap and shipping's going to be expensive. wish there was a domestic manufacturer for something like this.
https://www.japanparts.com/db/parts_...=&SEARCH_page=

Good opportunity for someone to try to cut that part out and find a way to hide the bumper beam. ;)

My '08 Civic SI had a single hole drilled in the painted portion as part of the plate mount. I went to Home Depot and found a plastic ribbed plug...as you pushed it in, the ribs expand back out and its extremely difficult to pull back out.

I lightly sanded and rattle canned it. $.48 and some white Krylon I already had on hand solved it for me. YMMV.

It's going to be very difficult to make anything fill the holes and look like it's part of the bumper. The body shop guy I spoke with said he could try to fill it and paint it to somewhat match the pattern on the mustache, but it wouldn't look 100% factory and he would really recommend replacing the bumper. Replacement of the bumper would have cost $800.

I've been using these small rubber plugs I picked up at Home Depot (I think?) for <$3.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-b...o/IMG_1304.jpg

Dealerships who drill bumpers suck. Who in the world ever thought that was an acceptable solution for mounting a front plate?

Personally I don't understand why all states don't require front plates, in which case it would be a moot point.

Yeah, I do understand why.. it's cheaper. But if it makes sense to require a plate on the back it makes just as much sense to require one on the front.

Mine has the four holes too. I heard Subaru told dealerships to stop installing the brackets prior to delivery.

I had to ask my dealership (Toyota) to not drill mine when I placed the order, it's part of the PDI up here so if you don't explicitly tell them not to you'll get holes.

Is it possible to remove the moustache ?

sure, with a saw or other cutting tool. what would you do about the gaping hole it leaves behind, though?

My dealer spouted off something about requiring a front plate mount in the state of Iowa before I even prompted them about it. I'm running a front plate and don't like the tow hook relocation anyway so it didn't really matter for me.

I did get to them before they stuck their dealer sticker on though.

Right! hahaha Like what is this guy in yellow there for? moral support? "Yeah, yeah, right there Jim." LOL

My dealer almost did the same thing to me, but before I signed the dotted line I told them I'd walk if they drilled anything for a front plate.

My salesman told me he'd kill me if I out one on.. Hahah

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ughh i feel like calling subaru north america and demanding a new bumper haha

Oh, also, it was already done. If it hadn't been I would have told them not to. But like I said, I'd have a license plate there one way or another so the holes don't bother me.

would something like this look good?
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...37325_ORIG.jpg

It wouldn't look bad, if ultimately you end up not finding a way to plug the holes. But I'd at least demand a new bumper. What's the worst that could happen? They say no? You'll still have holes in your bumper if you don't try, but there's chance you might not, if you do try.

already tried lol.

From plates are required here, but I drove off the dealer lot with my front plate in the trunk.

Mine is now mounted using the factory mount, but installed lower on the grille using long bolts and big washers. No holes in the bumper, and no complaints from cops.

does anybody know who makes a bracket like the lakin slimline front plate bracket from Australia in the states?

I had those on my frs but can barely notice it because of all the holes of the frs lol

u had the lakin plate on your frs?

Im not sure you are gonna like it, but check it out.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...33&postcount=4
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...1&postcount=76

Ouch, I feel your pain. I almost had this happen on my car but got to them before they had the chance.

The only ways that won't look cheap, or as if you poorly hiding something are sadly are:

1. Replace the OEM bumper or bodykit it.

2. An after-market carbon/frp cover (personally I think matched with a carbon lip and diffuser on a black car would look sic.)

3. Have the body shop fix the holes and smooth out the entire textured piece. Then have them paint it to match the paint. (they could probably do it without having to repaint the whole bumper. (This would look custom and hide it very well.) If they did it without repaint the whole bumper you should have more than the paint edge you already have...

Tried to photoshop it gloss black... :iono: Picture used is of Swift's sexy SC'd beast.
http://i44.tinypic.com/2igdqxg.jpg

i love the lakin front plate but i dont know which size to order or if they ship to the states?

If it were mine I would put some black silicone in the holes, smooth it over as well as I could, and call it a day. Did this on another car (which was black) and you can't tell the bumper was drilled from more than 15-20 feet away. Not a terribly elegant or perfect solution, but it was cheap, and looked better than a couple of bare holes.

On my BRZ that I ordered from my Subaru dealer, I did tell them that if they drilled holes in the bumper, I wouldn't take possession of the car. They had drilled the bumper on our Forester, but that was purchased off the lot, so I didn't have any say in the matter. Front plates are required here, but I take my chances on several of my cars, which have never had front plates.

So I got to go an adventure this weekend trying to take off the license plate mount, by adventure I mean I had to take the whole bumper off forever ruining my perfect factory fitment…
When I finally got the mount off I got the answer to "what is worse than two holes in my bumper"… Four
Are you kidding me?

[IMG]http://i1364.photobucket.com/albums/...pscd409383.jpg[/IMG]

Not sure if visible through the picture, but yes those holes are not centred on the bumper
Needless to say I am not impressed

Holy crap that is horrible...

Which Subaru dealership did that come from? I got mine from Heartland Subaru and they did not mount the license plate properly as well but it was definitely not as bad as four holes.

Not sure if any got back to you on this but most if not all of the people without holes on their bumper asked/requested the dealer ahead of time to not drill holes for the license plate. I did and no holes ^_^

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I got it from Subaru of Mississauga, on Mavis, I'm guessing its the same one :lol:

Anyway I find it funny because this whole process has been one disappointment after another. The other day when I bought the license plate relocation kit I figured it would be no problem and a nice 20 minute modification! However once I attached the relocated plate I didn't realize I would be up against these two hell-spawns
[IMG]http://i1364.photobucket.com/albums/...psa7945f77.jpg[/IMG]

I honestly expected there to be a nice 12mm bolt on the back to remove and that would be that… These things, I swear to god, took 45 minutes to cut off before i could pull it through the mustache…
And now it seems my car is just trying to make me cry because after reinstallation my driver's side marker is loose :cry:

Back on to the topic of the covering of the holes, I'm thinking of going with the S-Craft CF nose but I want to make sure that it has the hole for the tow hook similar to OEM. Anyone care to share?

Just get the bumper cover you really wanted.


http://toyotaparts4less.com/?i=&mode...imagecallout=1

That would be the same dealership. In my experience, that dealership has always messed something up for me.

I have researched the S-Craft Nose Cover in the past and I know when you are buying it from JapanParts it comes with two options for the license plate (Centered and Offset) and before purchasing you will need to select which option you prefer. There does not seem to be a hole for the tow hook which is probably why they offer different options for mounting the plates. Here is a link to it:

http://www.japanparts.com/db/parts_d...1&SEARCH_page=


Update: The one I linked you is an unpainted version. The "carbon fiber" version they offer does not seem to have an option for choosing what style you want for the license plate mount. Either way I am pretty sure it does not come with the ability to mount using the two hook. This is the link for the carbon fiber version:

http://www.japanparts.com/db/parts_d...&SEARCH_page=4