How to get stickers off of paint?

ponygirl74 · 03-28-2005

I want to get rid of the dealer "stickers" on the back of my pony. They are just white letters spelling out the name of the dealership where I bought it. What can I use to get these off without damaging the paint?

Anybody else done this? Any info is appreciated!

PHATTZZ STANG · 03-28-2005

Take it to the dealer. Have them do it. If not go to Autozone where the touch up paint is there are some products to remove the stickers.

newstangownr · 03-29-2005

Right. Adhesive remover is what you're looking for. How long have the stickers been on there? Once you remove them, you might have some "ghosting" on the paint. Use a clay bar (also found at the parts store) to remove any residue in the clearcoat, then follow up with some polish and wax.
I did the same thing to mine, and removed the blue oval at the same time. Nice and clean.

I just went over my entire car with the clay bar over the weekend. The next step for me is to apply a polish to remove scratches and swirl marks and then apply a wax. Black paint shows every defect.

Langod · 03-29-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by ponygirl74

I want to get rid of the dealer "stickers" on the back of my pony. They are just white letters spelling out the name of the dealership where I bought it. What can I use to get these off without damaging the paint?

Anybody else done this? Any info is appreciated!

Use a hair dryer to heat up the sticker and make it softer. Saturate the sticker as much as possible with Goo-Gone, WD40, or other oil-based cleaner or lube. Then - carefully and S L O W L Y - peel the sticker off.

If it's been on there a while (especially through a summer), there may be a color difference, so consider whether the cure is worse than the disease before taking it off.

If the sticker is fresh, it should come off with no problem. (I took mine off about 3 weeks after buying my used 2002. The sticker came off with no need for heat or cleaner.)

quickponysgirl · 03-30-2005

I had no trouble just pealing off the little letters from the dealership I bought mine from. I had no ghosting. I also pealed dealer stickers off my previous vehicle the same way. I just let mine warm up in the sun, wash it and wax it. You can warm them up with a blow dryer. ...I certainly recomend the clay bar. I just did my whole car this weekend it feels like glass, definatly a must!!

Fiat Freak · 04-01-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Langod

Use a hair dryer to heat up the sticker and make it softer.

Please be careful when using this method. It is possible to apply TOO much heat and bubble the finish underneath the sticker.

killamuh50 · 12-30-2005

yea you can heat those dealer stickers up with a heat gun and get them off just watch not to heat the paint up hold it for a couple seconds and you can probably peel it off with your fingers if not sometimes you can wet it down alot with water and it will come off then just compound the spot where you took it off and wax it and it should come off with no problem

gears4554 · 01-12-2006

I would avoid a heat gun unless you keep it on low and pretty far from the paint. the hair dryer on hi will usually work ok. peel the sticker back at a severe angle meaning pulled back almost onto the part still on the car. A good orange cleaner has worked better for me than wd-40 but use soap and water immediately after to get the orange cleaner off. If you notice some paint fade around where the sticker came off. you may be able to hand buff the area to blend the color . If that isnt enough use a hi speed buffer and work a circle around the area until it is blended.

MCPG · 01-13-2006

I always just take my fingernail and lift the corner of the sticker, then pull. The dealership where I bought my last two cars uses a sticker comprised of individual vinyl letters. They come off leaving a small amount of residue from the adhesive. I just use a little Meguire's cleaner wax to remove that. I hit that with some paste wax and have never seen any evidence of the decals again. It never even occured to me to use a product not designed for use on automotive finishes. I had a '97 coupe that had been on the lot for about 6 months before I bought it and I wondered if that would make it tougher but I had no trouble.