I had the dealer install the all weather mats so I haven't even seen the floor yet. They gave me the carpet mats in a bag and I honestly haven't even looked at them. Do you have a pic of the plate? I think carpet quality overall has gotten thinner over the years.

 

My 2015 Accord has that same "frame number" plastic plate under the passenger mat. (no sticker on mine.)

 

I remember seeing that frame number thing, but didn't check it out at the time. I assumed it was a hatch so you could see a frame number on the metal frame under the plastic. I was thinking like a VIN that was a permanent part of the frame. After I bought the car I forgot about it.

 

Well, now I'm curious and want to peek under the mats!

 

Back in the "good old days" frames had confidential serial numbers in case a car was stolen and the visable serial number was changed. In theory, only the police knew where they were and they could identify stolen cars with the secret numbers. Also, the confidential serial numbers were located on the frames where they were hard to change. The early Accords (at least) became theft targets because they didn't have confidential numbers to prevent easy serial number changes. Than along came the government and major body parts now have serial numbers on them as well as unibodies. The "frame number" stamped in the floor pan if for theft identification and they are now easy to find and my last 2 cars of different brands had a similar hole in the carpet that exposed the number.

 

The owner's Manual, page 638, indicates what you are seeing is a cover that needs to be lifted up from the door jam side to see the frame number.

 

I was vacuuming out the car today and underneath the passenger mat was a large plastic plate set into the floor (about 2.5" x 8") that had "FRAME NUMBER" embossed in it. I'm guessing this is supposed to have a big sticker or something, maybe with the option codes? I dunno. Anybody else have any idea what this is for?

I'm not too thrilled about it, because it looks really out of place when there's not a mat there; I might occasionally not have a mat on the floor.

In other news, has anybody else noticed how pathetic the factory mats are? I'm pretty sure that those mats are thinner than the cheapest carpet at Bob's House of Discount Floors; I give 'em two years before my heel wears a hole in it or at least strips off the pile.

Funny you should mention this, because just last night I was handling the Passenger side mat and said out loud, "what a piece of crap this is!"

 

I believe the factory floor mats are just for show. I mean, who really leaves those on the floor and expect them to last longer than a couple of weeks? I rolled mine up in the original plastic and stored them away for when I trade it in someday. In real life we need plastic/vinyl floor mats that collect the debris our shoes bring in and then can be washed at the car wash and vacuumed clean in between. Same with the rear storage area, I immediately put in the vinyl mat. The best I can say for the carpeting is it will absorb some of the road noise.

 

Well, yep, there it is. (The manual says it's also supposed to have the Engine and Transmission number, but unless those numbers are identical to the VIN, it does not.)

I wonder why they chose to stamp the VIN there... why not on the firewall like every other car I've ever owned?

 

It's a theft prevention thing and since this is my 3rd "late model" car that has had the same thing and they were all different brands and all were made in different countries, I suspect it was at the direction of Uncle Sam.