Volkswagen - (or any VAG): Self-obscuring number plates

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sat 13 Dec 2008 17:23
(or any VAG): Self-obscuring number plates - Brian Tryzers
You don't need me to tell you that there's a lot of salty muck about on the roads at the moment. The back of our silver Verso was almost black with it when I got home last night; but the number plate was still reasonably clean and entirely legible.

So what's different about Golfs, Polos, Ibizas, A4s, A6s...? Name practically any VAG model - not just the hatches and estates - and I'll have seen one with a rear number plate that could be read only by a telepath. And while I also see the odd bright yellow oblong to indicate that the driver has taken the trouble to walk round the car with a cloth before setting off, most evidently don't worry about it.
It's hardly new either - Golfs have done this since at least the Mk 2 - but it's only recently that it seems to have infected the entire stable.

Am I being unfair to VAG and its customers? Is this to do with conditions unique to the UK that the cars would not encounter in their home markets? And are there Golf drivers here who are aware of the problem and curse their cars for the extra effort they require to keep clean?
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Sat 13 Dec 2008 18:05
(or any VAG): Self-obscuring number plates - Marc
Near vertical rear end, particularly with a low (as opposed to mid) mounted plate?

Our 05 Ford Galaxy (a JV with the VW Sharan) is the same. Filthy tailgate and impossible to keep the rear window clean with a washer jet (integral with the wiper) that squirts UPWARDS - how daft is that?

Edited by Marc on 13/12/2008 at 18:07

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Sat 13 Dec 2008 19:07
(or any VAG): Self-obscuring number plates - Ian (Cape Town)
Two near identical cars, same road, same conditions, a week apart...
700km trip along road from East Cape to Cape Town
318i, no problems, 323i, with silly factory-fitted black hi-density foam spoiler on bootlid, had to wipe huge layer of dust and road crud etc off the rear lights and plate at every stop.
As they say in the USA... Go figure.
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