I just noticed that my dealer put their decal on the lower left corner of my trunk. It appears to be a raised block letter plastic sticker. My car is silver and the lettering is silver so I didn't notice it until a week later. I'm going to pick up my plates in the next week or so. Can I insist that they remove it? If so, is there anything else I should insist they do if they remove it, i.e. re-wax the area?
I told our dealer explicitly not put any stickers, and got one anyways, very similar to your except right corner. It's individual black letters. I just let it go, mainly because it's pretty subdued. I talked to someone in our office who was applying something similar on glass in our foyer. More or less as I'd guessed, they suggested heat gun applied gently, then nudge it up and off with a plastic spatula. Use a brand new one with a nice clean edge. A bit of WD40 contains solvents that can take off residue as needed (kerosene's also pretty effective), follow up with isopropyl alchohol or glass cleaner, then polish the area. We've still got the logo, I've not touched it so far. I think as long as it holds together / looks good I'll leave it alone. I had to deal with a car coated with tree sap lately (would you believe right after about 1/4 of the car had been re-clearcoated). Starting off with kerosene, and then hitting the cloth with a good shot of polish, did the trick.
Thanks. I just took another look at it, and it appears to be all plastic connected letters with some sort of sticky foam adhesive on the back. I walked around the parking lot where I have my car, and 80% of the newer cars in my lot had dealer stickers on the trunk! I guess this is common unless you tell them not to put one on. Learned somehing new...
Yes and yes. Or you could do it yourself. Try using some dental floss to "cut" it off, then something like Goo Gone to remove the residue, and wash & wax area.
How about the dealer's license plate frames? At least those you can unscrew and drop-kick off the foot of the driveway pretty easy.
It's an East Coast & Mid-West thing. It's not common here. You can try using a hair dryer to warm it or leave it parked in the direct sun and run some dental floss behind it if it won;t easily peal off with a little heat. Don't get it hotter than you can stand to touch with your hand. Once you get the sticker off, clean up the remaining adhesive with Goo-Gone, Goof-Off, WD-40 or kerosene.
I just used my fingernails, and some good gone, and replaced the tag frames with some black ones from Target. Total time, about 20 mins.
If it is the vinyl lettering just pick it off with your fingernail. I was able to powerwash some off my Intrigue. If it is the adhesive "chrome" lettering heat it up with the sun or a hairdryer & work a strand of dental floss between it & the car. Don't use anything with an edge. When the selling dealer chipped my hatch removing the other dealer's vinyl lettering it cost them an emblem, a paint job & a week on their lot.
I removed mine with fishing line and then got the residue off with WD40. Fishing line is strong and you can either do it just by holding the line with 2 bare hands or by wrapping either end of the line around a stick/cylinder and grip that for leverage.
CoolRunner is 100% correct. Fishing line works excellent, but either wear gloves or use a stick or something along those lines so as not to hurt your hands. Use a sawing back-and-forth motion at the base of the foam just at the surface of the paint. I use the orange Goo adhesive remover sold at any auto parts store to get any remaining residue off. Every vehicle I buy I do this to, as it makes waxing so much easier.
I peeled mine off with my finger nails about a year of hating it. As the for the residue from the sticker left behind - Turtle Wax Bug & Tar Remover left no evidence there even was a sticker.
I had my dealer remove it when I took my car back in for the window tint and side molding that were part of my purchase deal. They took it off and I didn't have to worry about being responsible for messing up the paint.
Mine was right above the Prius logo on the left rear. I used dental floss to remove it. However, I was a little too aggressive removing the residue and scratched the paint up a bit. I purchased an American flag decal on eBay and it covered the scratches perfectly. A put a Gadsden flag decal above the HSD emblem on the right side to balance things out!
Twenty years ago I ordered and bought a new VW Passat and when i went to pick up the car I right away saw that a Dealer name plate had been installed on the lower left trunk area.. I told the sales manager how much am I getting paid to be an advertising agency. he laughed and i informed him I'm not taking possession of the car with that on the trunk. (It was put on with drilled holes and pop rivets.) Now they said I could either leave it and they would throw in a few free items extra floor mats etc) or I'd have to wait for a new trunk lid .. I took the free stuff worth a couple of hundred. One of the first things I told the Toyota dealer was no stickers on my new Prius .. salesman ran to the shop to tell them. And I mean ran.. as i was waiting in the showroom for the car to be prepped for delivery to me.. don't be a free Ad Agency with out compensation
EXACTLY! And, I always inspect the car with a careful walk around before going into the dealership to sign the purchase/lease papers.
Just got back from the dealer and they removed it, waxed, and buffed the area. They were very accommodating didn't give me any hassle and knew exactly what to do. I'm guessing dealt with this before.
