How to remove dealer sticker?

D

Daryl Morse

New member
I would like to remove the dealer sticker from the tailgate of my car. The car was built in May 2018, so the sticker is more than a year old.

What is the best way to remove it without damaging the paint?

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Welcome to the Forum, Daryl Morse -

Perhaps you can heat it up with a hair dryer, heat gun (be careful with a heat gun), and see if you can start peeling it from an edge..

They make plastic, single-edge -razor type blades (they are NOT sharp), and that might help also, once its hot and the glue is starting to release, but that could mar the paintwork..

Sometimes, soaking it in mineral spirits might help get the glue to release..

I had a huge vinyl signage on my Grand Cherokee doors for years and took it all off with a heat gun. The glue clean up afterwards was much more work than pulling off that big Dan `s Auto Detailing Sign with the pic of a beautiful 1967 Ford GT-40 Mk5..
Dan F
 
I removed mine using a hair dryer but that was when it was brand new. Probably the longer it has been on there the more time it will take to remove.
 
I`m with stokdgs. I removed the neighbors on his truck this way. It was several years old. I used the heat, plastic razor, mineral spirits, then a final wipe with IPA.
 
Daryl Morse- Welcome to Autopia!

Besides the great advice regarding a hair dryer/heatgun and plastic razor blades (which will indeed mar autopaint something awful if you`re not really careful), I`ll also mention 3M Adhesive Remover, which I firmly believe *everybody* oughta have on the shelf. Sturate a Viva paper towel with that, prop it against the decal, and let it dwell for a while (but not so long that it all evaporates). That oughta soften it up so it`ll come off nice and easy.

We`re not discussing "ghost images" from the decal having covered the paint for so long, but maybe that won`t be an issue.
 
Betting that a hair dryer and a fingernail will take that right off. A little adhesive remover, even WD40 will take the remaining residue off.
 
Even though the sticker is a year old, you might be able to soften it by simply parking in the sun and not head a hair dryer.

The last time I removed one, I simply let the car sit in the sun and then gently removed it using a plastic razor blade. I followed up with Tarminator to remove the left over adhesive.
 
Dans method is the one I use and use on a regular basis. I have a Porter Cable heat gun (a hair dryer will work just as well) and then scrape with a plastic razor blade. 9 times out of 10 no adhesive remover is necessary since most of these are of the vinyl stick on variety and leave no residue.

I usually tell the salesman to remove it theirselves unless they want to pay me to advertise their cars. Same goes with the cheap license frame plate holders.
 
rlmccarty2000 said:
I usually tell the salesman to remove it theirselves unless they want to pay me to advertise their cars. Same goes with the cheap license frame plate holders.
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That’s what I did too. They usually act quickly when you tell them that.
 
rlmccarty2000 said:
I usually tell the salesman to remove it theirselves unless they want to pay me to advertise their cars. Same goes with the cheap license frame plate holders.
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I`d rather DIY it lest some [individual] mar up the paint.

On New Cars, I make it clear that I`ll literally *WALK* over such stuff should it happen ;) Heh heh, New Care Salesmen everywhere probably rejoiced when I decided I no longer liked today`s new cars :o

BUT...we`re still running an "Isringhausen Imports" license plate frame on my wife`s A8, she`s had one of those on her car`s rear plate since her first Audi from them back in `94. Hey, she likes it.

And even though I`m the guy who debadges his cars (and has since the `70s, often having mounting holes welded shut), I kept the original owner`s "River City Motors" logo decal on the rear door of the Tahoe. Maybe it`s the "hey, it`s an older truck from from WY!" factor or something, but whatever it is, I just kinda like having it there even though it`s lost a letter or two over the last 20 years. Weird, huh? :o
 
Accumulator-But did you remove dealer decals on your other vehicles? The ‘93 in particular?
 
Bill D said:
Accumulator-But did you remove dealer decals on your other vehicles? The ‘93 in particular?
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No dealer stickers/etc. on the `93 :D That would`ve ghosted something awful what with all the oxidation damage it had (has?).

The only stickers I`ve ever had to remove were on new-to-me used cars, I would *NEVER* buy a new vehicle with something like that having been done to it; I`ve refused delivery over much less.

But yeah, I`ve removed countless dealer stickers on the used ones, and we always did it to the inventory when we had the (used car) dealership. Sometimes they ghosted, most of the time they didn`t..at least not too badly.

The decals were never nearly as troublesome as actual (glued-on) emblems, some of which had "sunk down into" the paint (especially common before b/c paint). I can`t remove the "Z71" on the Tahoe`s "C" pillars because I can see how deeply they`re into the clear..bugs me, but oh well..

EDIT: That TBSS I had (very briefly, utterly *HATED* it) had all sorts of decals on it from the original owner :rolleyes: I removed the ones on the glass with a Hot Blade, but used the 3M Adhesive Remover on all the others. No problems, no ghosting or anything. Just thought of that...now I`ll try to forget about that vehicle for the rest of this lifetime.
 
Accumulator said:
I`d rather DIY it lest some [individual] mar up the paint.

On New Cars, I make it clear that I`ll literally *WALK* over such stuff should it happen...
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I’ve done that on all the vehicles I’ve ordered over the last 15 years. I tell them I won’t take it if they don’t deliver it in the plastic with no detail and no dealer stickers applied.
 
I made them put it in writing when I took delivery of my Audi and my mother’s car. Both dealers followed through fine.
 
GearHead_1 and Bill D do it the way I did. A *NEW* car oughta be exactly what *I* consider "new", which includes "not [messed] with by anybody".
 
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I got a plastic razor blade like the photo. I washed the area of the sticker with hot soapy water and held the rag on the sticker. (The portion of the tailgate where the sticker is located is a plastic panel.) After letting the sticker warm up, I used the razor to lift the edge of the sticker, then I peeled it off. It came off in pieces. Most of the adhesive came off with the sticker, but I used some adhesive remover for the areas where the adhesive remained on the panel. It looks really good with no damage at all to the paint. Thanks again.

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I like that razor blade holder. I gotta try to find one like that. I’m glad you got the sticker off successfully.
 
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