I had a similar experience with my wife's Honda Accord coupe. She wanted a loaded black-on-black EX V6 with Nav, and these were very hard to come by in March of last year. We live in Michigan (a no-front-plate-state), and ended up finding one in the Chicago area. It came with the front license plate frame installed, but it isn't terribly ugly. It is contoured to fit the shape of the bumper, and fortunately it isn't that noticeable on a black car (we don't have any plate in it). I tried to remove it, but this would have left ugly holes in the bumper.

 

I had a Lincoln Mark VII with the bracket on the front and tried for weeks to get it off and couldn't. Ran it in a ditch on night in the rain and thought I tore the car up. When I got out and looked at it the next morning all I did was tear off the front bracket

 

Gary (vioarc), thanks for the suction cup idea. I called some local parts stores, and found they're available just about everywhere. (Update) I just installed them, and now my Toyota trunk sounds like a Lexus trunk when I close the lid. Major victory.

Also, bgoodman, thanks for the info on the bracket. I wonder (and hope) that it's the larger full-size front bracket like the one I'd seen on a Canadian Camry.

 

I had the same issue with rattling everytime I closed the liftgate (rear door) on my FEH; to prevent jangled nerves and paint scuffs/scratches, I hit it with the velcro bits to dampen the rattle. It works. My 'method' is discussed in the following thread.

 

My TCH had two bumper pads, each about 1/2" wide by about 2" long, approximately 3/16" thick, stuck to the lower plate area just above where the lower screws would go. They are symetrical and well placed, so I thought Toyota put 'em there. Must have been the dealer. They seem to work very well since there is no rattle when I close the trunk.

 

The rattle is mostly from the license plate frame hitting the license plate. The suction cups work so nicely because they firmly secure both items (1) the frame to the plate, and (2) cushioned solid against the trunk lid.

 

I asked the same question in another thread WVGasGuy. Unfortunately the front plate is just screwed to the front bumper, no bracket.