Was going to put my rear state plate on and there screws which just keep going around and don't come out....there is a round hard plastic washer behind them. The front ones were easy but can't figure out the back....is there a secret? My next step will be to go back to the dealer, but I'd feel silly if it was something I was doing wrong.....a newbie with no back license

I would go to the dealer and ask them to install the back license plate. This is really a small thing that the Hyundai dealer should be happy to do. No charge, or course, If not......You've got a really bad dealer.

sounds like something funny is going on - but any time with plastic threads you might suspect stripped threads. It doesn't take much to strip plastic threads. They may need to replace the anchors in the trunk and/or the screws to get it to work properly.

It's probably a speed nut or plastic insert that the screw goes into that has come out of place. I looked for the part number but the diagrams don't show it. If I had to guess I would say it's the same plastic insert the Sonata uses. They come loose all the time, we keep them in stock.

Your dealer should be more than happy to fix this for you.

Your car probably had its license plates put on by someone using an electric drill. They likely did not use a tool that had a torque limit set to prevent stripping the plastic inserts in the trunk lid. New plastic inserts will cure stripped ones. I always put license plate screws on by hand to avoid stripping the captive nuts on the vehicle. Some "grease monkeys" try to mechanically weld things together. :o

Joe

Yeah, we call them "hammer mechanics"... lol. As in, everything can be fixed with brute force.