Originally Posted by qs933

If EAN sources it from a local dealer, it looks like those are the ones that may get a bracket (if that’s the dealer’s normal thing they do). BMW of Honolulu uses the brackets on their new cars. The BMWs EAN gets via fleet either don’t go through the dealership, or maybe they don’t want to spring the extra bucks on a bracket for fleet purchases, so they get a sticker slapped on the bumper instead.

It's interesting about the X3 I had. Maybe EAN leases vehicles for dealership service loaner programs? I've had other higher-end vehicles that, now that I think about it, could have been service loaners as well -- like the TLX and the Genesis G70 I recently rented. Both had dealer installed options like all weather mats or after-market tinted windows that you usually don't find on a fleet vehicle. Makes sense that once the dealer no longer needs it, it either goes to auction or goes into EAN's daily fleet.

My understanding is that Servco used to put the safety check bracket on all RAV4s and Highlanders because they wouldn’t stick to the unpainted plastic surface. They stopped doing that for RAV4 a few months ago, so now you see retail and fleet RAV4s without a bracket.

Even the RAV4 is something new in the Hawaii fleet. For some reason, EAN has never ordered RAV4s or Highlanders (or 4Runners), though you find them in the mainland fleet.