Number Plates on the Mk7

[Mountainman]

The rear is to hide ugly holes, and provide a good solid base for the plate protector to mount to over the top of the plate. Also so if you use Euro size rear plays, the mount can go into slimline hole separation so you don't have to have holes at the outer extremity of a Euro plate and no way to hide if you go slimline later.

Why would anyone ever need a protector for a rear plate? I can understand stone protection for the front but the rear???

[tonymy01]

The protector is not for protection but for style.

[Mountainman]

The protector is not for protection but for style.

Ah, I see. I'm for the clean, uncluttered no frame, no protector naked plate look myself. And on the base model I don"t have to worry about that ugly & seemingly unnecessary front base on the GTI / R.

[ziggyboy]

+1 on having no frame/protector. Plates look really nice without them. The number plate borders gets hidden with frames so it's not as nice.

[CT69]

It depends a lot on what style of plate you have, which varies from state to state. I agree many look better when you can see the border (especially if it is a colored).
My plates are identical to my Avatar seen here, and the black and white looks good in a black framed protector against the white paint of the car (and black front grill of the GTI, which I don't have yet)

[n0d3]

Also with covers, you can get security screws to secure it against the plate if you're afraid of people stealing your plates.

[CT69]

A quick update on Lakin baseplates and covers I ordered from Philip Reeve. They arrived on 17th as promised. The workmanship of the base plates is great, and they look fabulous. The covers will suit my plates quite well.
Instructions provided are very clear, and the couple of small queries I had were very promptly answered via email by Philip.
Now all I need is a car to put them on! (ETA 28-30th April). Will post more pics then.

[Dutch77]

+1 on Philip's service and workmanship. He pushed my order through and it also arrived last week as promised and looks great. There's a small VWW discount as well for those that don't know.

Understand what people are saying re: uncluttered look, but I've ordered covers for the front and rear. Not a big expense and figured I'd try it out. If it looks bad then I'll just take them off. I'll post up some pics of the finished look.. I just need a car first.

[CT69]

Dutch77: what option did you go for on the front? VWs wide OEM plastic bumper is much wider than my slimline non-Euro plate. I got Philip to make a baseplate to fit the existing holes, which is 7cm wider each side than my plates. In black and white (baseplate, number plates, white car) this will look good, and is much neater than the VW bumper.
The other option was to get perfectly matched white filler plugs for the existing holes, then fit a smaller baseplate to match the number plate. I didn't want to drill any extra holes, so avoided this.

[Dutch77]

Dutch77: what option did you go for on the front? VWs wide OEM plastic bumper is much wider than my slimline non-Euro plate. I got Philip to make a baseplate to fit the existing holes, which is 7cm wider each side than my plates. In black and white (baseplate, number plates, white car) this will look good, and is much neater than the VW bumper.
The other option was to get perfectly matched white filler plugs for the existing holes, then fit a smaller baseplate to match the number plate. I didn't want to drill any extra holes, so avoided this.

That was easy for me - in SA we only have full sized Euros so it mounts straight on.

They are a total rip off but I like the look.. always chuckle when I see them fitted to Australian/Japanese cars, they just don't look right.

There is a chance that at some point during my ownership of this vehicle I will end up interstate, so I was particularly keen to avoid wide drill holes in the rear bumper. Ideally I'd shift to a slimline Euro look but who knows. Good to know I can check your out for my Queensland option.