I took the advice and blacked out the bottom two holes on the plates. Small difference, but looks pretty good. I took off the oversized front mounting bracket installed by the dealer and mounted my front plate in a small holder. The device on the top that hides "California" is a toll road transponder. Nice that is came in black to match the monochromatic scheme. With the hood open, you can see that I blacked-out the large silver cover in the engine complartment also.
Looks great. I see that style transponder out here (MA) on passenger cars on occasion, but when I researched that some years ago the style was only an option for commercial vehicles. I tried putting jut the plate in its frame on front, but it was too "floppy" without the (too wide) bracket. I am going to keep an eye out for a new black frame with more heft. I bought one that I thought was of high quality, but the black is already flaking off on the front. Do you have any recommendations on where to source?
