Painting License Plate

[chzdhippt]

Anyone know if it is legal to paint your license plate or does this vary from state to state? I live in MI and our plates are all blue or orang/white, neither of which matches my black/red car. I want to know if it might be legal to paint the background part of the license plate a different color.

[91hybridDX]

if i were u i'd check with my loacal tag offie and ask them or staop a po po and ask them.

[amy@af]

ask your dmv. well, depends on your dmv. in this small town...i spend less than 30 mins there. when i lived in L.A. it was a different story. you could pic a number, go run some errands, come back, and still have to wait in line! i can't help but have words of Primus in the back of my head when i go there...

"I've been to hell. I spell it...I spell it DMV
Anyone that's been there knows precisely what I mean
Stood there and I've waited and choked back the urge to scream
And if I had my druthers I'd screw a chimpanzee- call it pointless"...

"Barbecues, tea kettles, gobs of axle grease
There comes a time for every man to sail the seas of cheese
Now, life's a bowl of bagel dogs, but there are unpleasantries
Cold toilet seats, dentist chairs and trips to DMV- call it pointless
I've been to hell. I spell it...I spell it DMV"

[ci5ic]

I HIGHLY doubt that any local law enforcement will let you paint your license plate unless it's a show-only car and not used on public roads. This is for two reasons just off the top of my head (I'm sure there's more though)...

They need to be able to read the plate, and painting it will destroy it's reflective properties.

Even if they could read it, it will look like a fake license plate and they'll be on you like white on rice.

You're asking for trouble.

[mightytexn]

Here in PA our plates are blue yellow and white, so all the guys with black cars just pay an extra $15 and get a DARE plate. It's black and red with white letters, so it should match your car, if you can get them in MI. Plus that $15 goes to help support the states DARE program, so some cops will go easy on you if you have the DARE plate.

[ci5ic]

Yeah, I'd just shell out a little dough for some personalized plates which are usually a different color combination. I'm getting Yellow with Green lettering to go with my green paint-job and yellow accents.

[chzdhippt]

Originally posted by mightytexn
Here in PA our plates are blue yellow and white, so all the guys with black cars just pay an extra $15 and get a DARE plate. It's black and red with white letters, so it should match your car, if you can get them in MI. Plus that $15 goes to help support the states DARE program, so some cops will go easy on you if you have the DARE plate.

I'll investigate.. Thanks for the heads up.

[darolh]

Painting your plate is illegal as hell. License plates have reflective high contrast paint to make them easier to see at night and photograph (yes photograph...photo radar and cameras at intersections busting red light runners). They are also the prime target cops use to zap with LIDAR. In fact you're not even supposed to have covers over them but most cops don't worry about it.

[civicHBsi91]

I live in MD and this guy down the street from me used to have a white crx si and he cut his front plate he cut around the numbers and letters so it was just the numbers and letters and i never heard of him getting in trouble for it, i dunno just an idea

[amy@af]

Originally posted by civicHBsi91
I live in MD and this guy down the street from me used to have a white crx si and he cut his front plate he cut around the numbers and letters so it was just the numbers and letters and i never heard of him getting in trouble for it, i dunno just an idea

curious...where did he stick his tags? that is a huge pull me over

[civicHBsi91]

sorry he just did that to his front one he drilled custom holes and did it i think it was just his numbers, it was hard to see if you werent looking for it