What is a good way to remove that plastic badge that dealers stick on the back of your car? I heard somewhere that using a hair dryer and then gently prying it off works. I don't see any reason to adverise for the dealer, they already got my money. Any advice?

Fishing line and Goo Gone. Tie a loop on each end of the fishing line then use it to saw through the foam adhesive backing. The remaining gunk can either be removed by rubbing your finger across it (and "balling" it up) or using a commercial product like Goo Gone. I've debadged many vehicles this way. And I agree with you. Unless the dealership wants to pay me an advertising fee, they can keep their name off of my vehicle.

a hair dryer is a good idea, gets the adhesive nice and soft. after getting it warm, i use about a foot of fishing line with some make shift handles on the ends and i slide the line between the emblem and the body. works slick.

edit- monkeyman you beat me to it

[This message has been edited by 85sliverGT (edited 09-06-2008).]

Yep. as above stated... I removed all the ding pad from around my yukon this way! I have to look out for cars parked too close now as I have no protection, but it looks ALOT better! And that's what matters!

Ohh and I sawed their plate off and removed their license plate surrounds and handed it back to them as I took possession and drove off.. LOL

cool thx, +'s to both. sort of surprised i haven't given you one before monkeyman, guess i need to go through my ratings again..

Yup! Hair dryer as well. Shoot, thats the first thing that has always come off of my cars. Being as cheap as I am, to some of you it may raise an eyebrow, WD-40 on the remaining glue. I wash and wax the area after I'm done.

I can second the WD40 its decent for removing the sticky residue. It's how I got the dealer stickers off of my Fiero

Must be a midwest/east coast thing. The dealers out here do not put those plates on their cars. I have seen them on out of state vehicles, but the closest thing we have out here is Carmax sticks a decal on the back of their cars.

[This message has been edited by DeLorean00 (edited 09-06-2008).]

Other than a '75 Ford Gran Torino, I don't think I've ever owned a vehicle without at least the remains of a dealer sticker or plate. My '96 Jimmy had the remains of an old dealer sticker, a new sticker from the place I purchased it from and (2) plates from other previous dealers. Those (along with all of the other factory plates) were removed approximately 27 seconds after I got it home.

How about Bumper stickers?
I'fn you go to some informational political events?
Some folks have put on some stickers, on my fiero, that I'm embarrased about?
I still see Al Gore stickers that haven't fallen off yet? But, 'W' stickers seem to be long gone?
Please people, if you go to a political rally, please drive a car that won't outlast 6 months!
Maybe a Yugo, Kia, or Hundai?
But on a Caddy, Lincon, or a Buick , some bumper stickers, just will not seem OK in a few months?
I still see some Dukakis stickers around, a few Mondale stickers on some garge queen VW's etc.
I've even seen a 'Truman' bumper sticker on a 1950 Ford show car if that makes any sense?

------------------
Ol' Paint, 88 Base coupe auto.
Turning white on top, like owner.
Leaks a little, like owner.
Doesn't smoke....... OK, we're trying to quit.

quote Originally posted by DtheC: How about Bumper stickers? I'fn you go to some informational political events? Some folks have put on some stickers, on my fiero, that I'm embarrased about? I still see Al Gore stickers that haven't fallen off yet? But, 'W' stickers seem to be long gone? Please people, if you go to a political rally, please drive a car that won't outlast 6 months! Maybe a Yugo, Kia, or Hundai? But on a Caddy, Lincon, or a Buick , some bumper stickers, just will not seem OK in a few months? I still see some Dukakis stickers around, a few Mondale stickers on some garge queen VW's etc. I've even seen a 'Truman' bumper sticker on a 1950 Ford show car if that makes any sense?

LOL! I think you are either a bumper sticker person or not. I have never bought or put on a bumper sticker. I see a cute one every now and then but the majority of them are people expressing their opinions. And...well..if I wanted your opinion I would ask you!

quote Originally posted by sostock: LOL! I think you are either a bumper sticker person or not. I have never bought or put on a bumper sticker. I see a cute one every now and then but the majority of them are people expressing their opinions. And...well..if I wanted your opinion I would ask you!

I changed out a busted up rear facia, with a newish one about a year ago.
I miss my old bumper sticker, and I haven't found a good replacement yet. Maybe I should put a holler out?

It's Still Not Wierd Enough for Me.

Debate my position? Or try to get me aligned? Pishaw !

When you buy a car just tell the dealer not to put a sticker on the car, I do that all the time.

quote Originally posted by Phil: When you buy a car just tell the dealer not to put a sticker on the car, I do that all the time.

Yep the last dealer car I bought told them I didn't want their logo on my car, so they better take it off before I sign anything.

quote Originally posted by Phil: When you buy a car just tell the dealer not to put a sticker on the car, I do that all the time.

its usually the first thing they do when they get the car in....

There are multiple sticker lifter products on the market. Some are really hard on plastic and paint. I have a couple that will really screw up plastics and some paints. I'll try to find them later as I can't remember which ones they are.

Car paints are tougher but these may still damage them. Starting/contributing the kind of damage to clear coats that most here should be familiar with.

De-Solv-It is one I've had good luck with that won't eat plastic and some finishes that some of the others will damage. This one doesn't stink up the house either. I use this one to get labels off plastic and painted computer cases that were being damaged by some other products.

Heating the thick plastic ones? Never tried it. Works good for bumper stickers and even the screaming chicken on the Trans Am.

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top of every forum page...)

quote Originally posted by Phil: When you buy a car just tell the dealer not to put a sticker on the car, I do that all the time.

Unless you order the car new from the factory, the second the car hits the lot it gets a sticker.

That said, my dad always made them take the logo off when he bought a new car. I dont think they ever charged.

Tell them if there's a logo on the car, you'll take your business elsewhere.

A Ford dealer here used to drill two holes into the car then anchor the logo they had using screws.

When the dealer puts the sticker on the car is different in every case. Sometimes its upon their delivery, sometimes the techs do it with a PDI, sometimes the salesmen put their own on the car after making the sale.

I actually went to my local Chevy dealer 2 years ago, (I used to work for them and knew EVERYONE there, left on good terms) told them I wanted to buy a new work truck and they only had one that met all my requirements. Of course it already had the sticker on it. After going through the whole process, getting a pretty good deal on the truck (hey I said I knew everyone) and doing everything but signing the papers, I asked if there was a dealer applied logo on it (I already knew it was there) The salesman bumbled around a little bit and said the truck was being cleaned for delivery and we could see after everything was signed. I told him no way, I said if there is a sticker on there then they can take off $500 for advertising fees, otherwise they can get me a new truck without the sticker already applied. He went and talked to the sales manager for a little, and low and behold, came back and told me they would give me $500 cash back if I was willing to keep the sticker on as long as I owned the truck.

I ended up keeping the truck for a grand total of 2 years and it was a work truck anyways so I really didnt care if there was a sticker on it at all. I didnt really expect it to work out that way, I figured they would just take it off right there and pretend it was never on there before I saw it again. Never did I imagine they would actually give me $500 considering I didnt put anything down.

-Joe

LOL you should have said $1000!

The emblem was from the dealership where it was sold new. I got if from a small dealer so it was already on there.

Thanks for all the replies.

i worked at a dealer for 2years (chevy) and they had these pos foil like stickers that they put on the backs of every car as soon as they came in... (except the vette's, they said GM wouldnt allow them to tag them or something?) but these things were near impossible to remove after being put on, they were so f'ing thin, and would rip if u tried to peal it, and being a foil, no solvents realy worked on the little bastards....

and to top it off.... all the stickers were in the shape of a crown...

i bought my 97saturn from them, i kinda acidently forgot to tag it when we got it in
my mom got her 04 cavy from the same dealer, she made them remove it before we left, they asked us to come back the next day, noone could get the thing off, they ordered in a new trunk panel that wasnt already taged lol.

If you just let it set in the hot sun for an hour or so, they usually come right off. I use a thin putty knife with masking tape on one side to push under a corner. Keep an even pressure on it and it will start to pull up, coming off faster as you go. 90% of the time, it takes off all the glue with it. Any little bit left on comes off with cleaner polish. I dont like the string method because it cuts thru the adhesive, leaving quite a bit on the job most of the time. I do the same thing with emblems and most of the time I can reuse them because the adhesive is still good. I just stick them on a piece of wax paper till needed.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 09-06-2008).]

My dad would never let the dealer put them on, so he would end up with a license plate frame instead. The dealers that trade cars with other dealers never put the stickers on until a car is sold.
Sean