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Comment by radoslawc | Hacker News Reader

I don't know if Ferraris sold here have this, but many cars sold in Poland have licence plate frame with dealer's name and contact even though you have no agreement with them to advertise their company when you're buying new car. For some (Mitsubishi iirc) they put some kind of semi translucent sticker on your trunk with dealer's name about 2 x 3 inches.

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I never understood those. Why almost everyone has an ad on their license plate frames?

One explanation I heard is that companies give them for free, so most people are happy to take them and don't bother with removing the ad.

Don't you pay for license plates in the US? It was 30 euros last I did that.

OP means the license plate frame.

People generally let the dealer sock them with an additional $500 to cover car registration for them (so they don't have to go to the DMV themselves). When this happens, the dealer gets to install the plate for the customer, and they'll throw on the dealer frame at the same time.

After this point, customers don't have much reason to remove the plate or frame unless they really hate the ad, happen to be self-installing a rearview camera or are selling the car.

Funny thing is I removed mine when I got my new car home. When I took my car in for a service it came back with new plate surround.

That is incredibly obnoxious. Wouldn't they need your permission to make that modification?

My car was from a dealer that went bust "Ward Subaru", after a service at a non-dealer service centre it came back with "Doncaster Subaru" frames on it!

Mine was a Subaru too. It must be some policy world wide.

Most dealers in the US do this via the license plate frame or stickers on the back. I think most people don't realize that you can remove them (and should). There should be some kind of rent payment for having it on your car.

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