I polished liscense plates. Should I be worried?

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Desertnate

Active member
Last weekend I took specialty plates off a car I handed over to a family member living out of state, and before mounting them on my daily driver I gave them a good hand polish. What does that say about my mental state?

In all fairness they had some rust streaks around the screw holes and looked a little dingy from 8~9 years on the other vehicle. The good news is a little Hyper Polish and a small, yellow, Meguiars foam pad made them look almost as good as new. Interestingly, there might be a clear coat on the plates as I didn`t notice any color transfer. Just a black pad from years of exposure to the elements.
 
Whatever I`m using on the rest of the car gets used on the license plates, and behind it too. Seems normal to me, it reflects on how the car looks.
 
Desertnate said:
Last weekend I took specialty plates off a car I handed over to a family member living out of state, and before mounting them on my daily driver I gave them a good hand polish. What does that say about my mental state?
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We`d be more worried if you`ve been hanging out here and did not polish your license plate. B)
 
Yup I polish em too! Usually same polish as on the paint or an AIO.

Sizzle - I have never coated them though. That is awesome. I will have to start doing that for my clients and call it out as a little extra service lol
 
nope,,I do it to so either we are all nutz or it`s normal for people like us,,,I`ll go with the latter. :)

edit:,,I even polish up our dealer plates,,lol
 
Wait--you didn`t machine polish them?!?!

Truth be told I don`t usually do that anymore...since I found out the hard way they stopped painting the plates here in NJ and went to a vinyl applique.
 
I would be more worried if you had to start doing licens plates LOL.

I LSP them but have not polished anyone yet. Here in Sweden it`s law to have 1 front and 1 back licens plates. And where we get copies of the legal ownership papers on the cars. We can also tick a box when ordering new of these document. And they send new licens plates out for around 20$ for 2. So the maintance has never been a big thing on them. As it`s so easy to ordering new ones. And when I think of it maybe I should ordering new ones. Have not done that to this car since I bought it. It`s something I normaly do.
 
Coleroad said:
Whatever I`m using on the rest of the car gets used on the license plates, and behind it too. Seems normal to me, it reflects on how the car looks.
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Same opinion here.

I haven`t had to correct them much, but I keep them as nice as the rest of the vehicle. What am I missing here...why wouldn`t somebody do that?

I have about 6-8 coats of KSG on ours, and even the oldest ones are in decent shape...well, except for scars from accident damage, and to me that`s patina that reminds me of some interesting experiences.

Besides the vinyl appliqué ones, IIRC you need to be gentle to avoid trashing the reflective finish too.
 
I wash the plate, but never thought to polish or LSP them. I’m now ready to move up to the next level.

Thank you.
 
Billy Jack said:
We`d be more worried if you`ve been hanging out here and did not polish your license plate. B)
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Thanks for the positive affirmation everyone! My family simply laughed and shook their heads...

Setec Astronomy said:
Wait--you didn`t machine polish them?!?!
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I don`t have any clamps or a good place to hold it down. It was also far easier to grab the polish, pad, and just go to work than dig out my DA. I also wasn`t sure how durable/thick the paint would be. I guess I have a ways to go before becoming a true Autopian.

Accumulator said:
Same opinion here.

I haven`t had to correct them much, but I keep them as nice as the rest of the vehicle. What am I missing here...why wouldn`t somebody do that? ....you need to be gentle to avoid trashing the reflective finish too.
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I have always cleaned them and when grimy, I`d clean them up with a strong APC. I was always afraid of issues with the reflective finish so I didn`t take a polish to one until now. These Illinois plates are grayish-white with black numbers, so I never really noticed how the color had changed over time until I polished them up. The are much brighter now!
 
As one of the LEO`s on this forum, I appreciate everyone`s effort in keeping their license plates readable. Makes my job easier. B) I`m with the others - we`d be worried if you didn`t.

Gordon
 
even with waxing these Michigan plates start corroding flaking after a couple of years,,after 5 years(I think) they makes buy new ones.

I have seen them flaked so bad they are just the metal and you cannot read the #s,
 
gordonjuan said:
As one of the LEO`s on this forum, I appreciate everyone`s effort in keeping their license plates readable...
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Oh man, I bet! And for a few reasons, not just "tough to fill out the ticket". When I see illegible plates I wonder whether it`s deliberate, and what the motivation might be.
 
Accumulator said:
Oh man, I bet! And for a few reasons, not just "tough to fill out the ticket". When I see illegible plates I wonder whether it`s deliberate, and what the motivation might be.
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Worse yet is the rust bucket with no plates at all. At that point I don`t even think about motivation. All I can think of is, "uninsured, unsafe vehicle on the road...avoid at all costs."
 
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