I spent some time looking for the best way to mount a front license plate to my 2009 Jetta. Since my dealer did not drill holes for the front plate holder, I wanted to find a way to mount the front plate easily without needing to drill holes. There wasn't much on the Internet, and paying $60 for a plate holder seemed pointless. Here's the solution that I came up with:

(Disclaimer: any damage caused to any part of your vehicle, or yourself, or anyone around you, is your own fault.)

Requirements

(2) 3/16" U-bolts. These can be found at any local hardware store.
(1) Front license plate holder. There's several models, choose one you like.
(4) locking washers
(1) tube of Blue Loctite
Tools necessary to tighten down any bolts, etc.

Procedure

1. Take the U-bolt and wrap it around the back of one of the lower grill panels. The following photograph shows how the bolt wraps around the back of one of the lower grill panels.



2. Attach the bracket that comes with the U-bolt to the bolt, and then place the plate holder onto the bolt. Putting the bracket in back of the plate holder gives it more strength when you tighten the nuts up.

3. Slide the locking washer down and then place the nut on the upper threads. Repeat with the lower washer/nut. Do not tighten yet.

4. Add the second U-bolt following the same procedure as in Steps #1-#3.

5. Next, add Loctite to each set of threads.

6. Carefully tighten down each nut evenly while making sure to center the plate holder properly. Do not overtighten, the plate holder will probably break if you do.

7. Once everything is tight, I added a bit more Loctite, and then a single zip tie, just in case both U-bolts break. So far, things should look like this:



Add your license plate. When finished, the final product should look like this:



Hope this helps!

In the end, this cost me about $10.

You can see the full size photographs here.

 

vxla,
I have the same prob as you. The dealer did not mount the license bracket and I was considering mounting it without having to drill into the bumper. Do you notice if the car is running hotter? I'm afraid that the bracket might prevent the engine bay from getting the proper ventilation or cooling. Which engine are you running by the way?

 

I have a 2.5, manual transmission and just drove about 1200 miles and noticed no difference in temperature at all. I highly doubt the plate affects air intake all that much in it's position.

 

Thanks for the input will give try it the way you have it. Was that plate bracket from a local auto parts store by the way?

 

Yes, you can get it from any local auto parts store. Any bracket should work.