There is nothing I hate more than dealerships who love putting free advertisement on the back of your new car in the form of a decal or emblem with their business name one it. It looks tacky, clutters the back of the car, and simply takes away from the overall appearance of the vehicle.
If you were lucky enough to only get the decal or the sticker kind, they can usually be removed very easily. Simply take a heat gun (or hair dryer if you don’t have one) and warm up the decal which will soften up the adhesive. Next you want to slowly peel off the decal (this step is definitely easier if you have finger nails). Most of the time you will find that the decals will peel off cleanly, not leaving any glue or adhesive behind. However, if they do happen to leave a little glue behind, simply take some 3M adhesive remover on a clean soft rag and gently wipe the surface until the glue/adhesive dissolves.
Now if you are one of the unfortunate people who got stuck with one of the hard plastic emblems held on with two sided foam tape, you will need a slightly different method and a little more patience. First you will need to take some fishing line or even dental floss and cut through the foam tape by sliding it between the emblem and the paint. Use the fishing line or dental floss in a seesaw type method to cut through the foam. This is a much safer method then just prying the emblem off with your hand, as that can result in the corner of the emblem gouging into the paint. Next you will want to use the 3M adhesive remover to soften the remaining foam tape left behind. The takes a little time and you will want to keep the foam tape wet with the 3M adhesive remover for it to work. Once it has had enough time to dwell it should easily be removed with your finger nail or with the gentle use of a plastic razor blade. Being to aggressive or impatient can result in marring or scratching of the finish…let the adhesive remover do the work.
Note: If the decals or emblems have been on the vehicle for an extended period of time, you may see an outline of where they were prior to removal. This outline will require some measure of polishing to be removed, and in extreme cases even wet sanding. Also note that if you are attempting to remove the make/model emblems from a vehicle that some of them have alignment pins in them, (especially the larger ones) and you will be left with holes in the panel if you remove them. I’d suggest checking with your local dealer before removing these emblems.
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