[twospirits]

Most of my previous vehicles have had dealership ads solely on the license plate, which is fine and can be replaced/taken off. But in searching some of the Subaru dealerships I've noticed that quite a few of them in the NY Metro area have the dealership ad/decal/badge on the rear of the vehicle. In one dealership it seems that it is painted on. Therefore I ask, is it rude to ask the dealership to remove them or not put them on on the vehicle I am ordering? Should I ask them to put the request in the contract/order?

TS out

 

[RobertD]

It is not rude to ask them to not affix their advertising to your car. I would request to put it on the order unless you are willing to live with it if they “accidentally” put their name on it.

I have done this several times and now must confess this is the first time I forgot. I can take off their sticker later if I ever have free time.

 

[Dandy]

I have never had an issue with it. I actually go so far as to put it in the purchase agreement. Most dealership contracts have an area in the agreement such as “Work to be performed”. This could list things such as full tank of fuel (used), install hitch... I always include no dealership decals/stickers to be applied to the car. If I like the dealership I will allow for the license plate frames but if I have not had experience I will have them left off too. I have never had a complaint. There are a few times they were installed and I noticed them on the walk around. I don’t sign paperwork until it is removed. This way if there is a scratch removing it, I am not responsible.

I honestly don’t think they care that much. If they sponsor my vehicle they can put what they want on it. I am not being paid to advertise. I also do not allow for any stickers to be applied to the paint, my daughter is not in love with this rule. She gets windows, corners only

 

[Jim_in_PA]

No, it's not rude at all. I ask for that when I order the vehicle as well as put it in writing that there will be no front plate mount/holes drilled in the bumper. If one is buying off the lot, just ask for the sticker to be removed...it takes them moments to do so.

 

[SeaRay310DA]

I'm friends with a Volvo salesman and he says he's had a couple of long term, repeat customers that ask for the *manufacturer* lettering be removed from the car. Some of them can't be because they're totally integrated into the part (like the grill for example), but some of them are raised letters basically glued onto the car. My guess is this level of removal requires some body touch-up which the customer paid for.

I see cars where people have done this themselves, most commonly rat-rod Audi A4s their owners are probably trying to pass off as S4s.

I'd say requesting no dealer badges, especially raised logo lettering or decals, is totally legitimate. The challenge might be the dealer pushing back and saying it's already on the car and that they will assess a fee to remove it. I'd guess if the car was ordered or obtained through a dealer transfer your odds of getting it without dealer badges are much better because the car won't have them. A car taken from dealer inventory may legitimately already have them installed, and I'd guess dealers like to get them on early so they can use fee-for-removal to resist not turning your vehicle into an advertisement.

 

[packduckrock1]

I asked when i ordered my Ascent. Dealer had no problem with it. I guess they forgot when it came in two months later (i probably should of reminded them).

No big deal, i removed it myself.

Side Note: my favorite is when you have a dealers licence plate bracket and you go somewhere else for an oil change and they swap it out with theirs!

 

[Sigmonster]

I asked when i ordered my Ascent. Dealer had no problem with it. I guess they forgot when it came in two months later (i probably should of reminded them).

No big deal, i removed it myself.

Side Note: my favorite is when you have a dealers licence plate bracket and you go somewhere else for an oil change and they swap it out with theirs!

If some oil change place ever removes my plate frame to put on one of their own, I'd freak the heck out. I'd also never return to that place and counsel everyone I know to avoid it as well. Just sayin...

 

[xydadx3]

Most of my previous vehicles have had dealership ads solely on the license plate, which is fine and can be replaced/taken off. But in searching some of the Subaru dealerships I've noticed that quite a few of them in the NY Metro area have the dealership ad/decal/badge on the rear of the vehicle. In one dealership it seems that it is painted on. Therefore I ask, is it rude to ask the dealership to remove them or not put them on on the vehicle I am ordering? Should I ask them to put the request in the contract/order?
TS out

If you do end up taking delivery with the ad/badge on the back, they're generally not hard to remove if you do it early on. If you wait, the adhesive will give you a run for your money to come off without marring the paint. That is of course if they use decals like most places I've seen. If they do use paint, that would be another story entirely.
They're not getting any free advertising from me!

 

[rlb81]

I forgot about it until I got home, but literally the first thing I did when pulling into the driveway was remove the dealer emblem. Came right off since it was fresh. Next time I will (hopefully) remember to get it in my contract

 

[Sigmonster]

I always remove the dealer advertising as well. It's not rude at all to ask the dealership to either remove or refrain from placing their advertising. They are getting paid for the car already. Using it as a vehicle (pun intended) for their advertising is not part of the bargain. If anyone has the right to advertise on the vehicle, it'd be the bank supplying the funding and who actually owns the vehicle, until the loan is paid off anyway. If the dealership folks were to be offended by a request to remove advertising, it'd be clear sign to me that I'd need to find a different dealership. My dealership has no problem with it.

 

[packout]

If there is anything that you want done that is important to you, then you need to have it in writing, otherwise it doesn't exist other than in your mind. If a dealer demands they have their advertising on your vehicle I would take my business elsewhere, although I can not imagine that would be a dealer's stance.

 

[other.guy]

Not at all. I did asked my dealer and they seemed to happy to do that. They had a line item for that in their paperwork, which means it quite common practice.

 

[SeaRay310DA]

If you do end up taking delivery with the ad/badge on the back, they're generally not hard to remove if you do it early on. If you wait, the adhesive will give you a run for your money to come off without marring the paint. That is of course if they use decals like most places I've seen. If they do use paint, that would be another story entirely.
They're not getting any free advertising from me!

I'm told physical badges/lettering (raised metal/plastic, as opposed to decals) can be removed by sawing through the adhesive from behind using gore tex-based dental floss or fishing line. It's time consuming, but it doesn't damage the paint like pulling/prying could, and then the remaining adhesive can be removed using some kind of paint-safe (or -safer..) solvent.

Decals seem worse, though maybe very careful application of a heat gun might melt the adhesive enough to make it easier to remove.

 

[xydadx3]

I'm told physical badges/lettering (raised metal/plastic, as opposed to decals) can be removed by sawing through the adhesive from behind using gore tex-based dental floss or fishing line. It's time consuming, but it doesn't damage the paint like pulling/prying could, and then the remaining adhesive can be removed using some kind of paint-safe (or -safer..) solvent.

Decals seem worse, though maybe very careful application of a heat gun might melt the adhesive enough to make it easier to remove.

I can vouch for that. I took the dealer logo off on day 1 with no tools and removed the remaining lettering within a few months. It was a chilly day but I used a hair dryer and fishing line. They came right off and the remaining adhesive rubbed off with my finger

 

[Trey T]

I was very resentful when I saw the dealer's decal on the car I ordered (w/o the decal). If you have a legitimate intent, specify it before you complete the deal. I don't think salesman have control over corporate policies, putting on dealer decals on every car they sell, but salesman do believe that customers are always right.

FYI... I found out that the metallic stickers were very difficult to remove, and I tried it with heat. However, when I brought to the dealer and ask them to remove it, they have some sort of trick.

 

[mr.paul]

I had to look to see if the OP was from Minnesota (nice). Rude to ask them to leave it off? It is rude of them to presume that they could put it on without my permission! I’ve heard tales from the past that some dealerships would knock some off the price if you would allow them to advertise on YOUR car. That sounds more reasonable to me. You absolutely should tell them what is acceptable to you. On my Ascent, they only placed a chrome license plate frame that I can easily replace. And since I planned on putting Subaru ones on anyway, it was no big deal. Had there been a decal, they would have been removing that before I took delivery. Or they could pay me to advertise.

 

[nathan]

Side Note: my favorite is when you have a dealers licence plate bracket and you go somewhere else for an oil change and they swap it out with theirs!

Um... that is theft. Unless they swapped it and gave you your old one back (in which case you can immediately have them put it back on).

Wow. That's some balls, though.

I never allow a dealer to put anything on my car and I say so up front when purchasing. Now, that's been 3 vehicles purchased new from dealers and none of them had issue with it. It is a common request. For the Ascent, the additional lettering (in my case "ASCENT", "SUBARU", "TOURING", "SymetricalAWD") badges are pretty easy to remove yourself. Note on some cars they put holes in the metal and the lettering is attached that way (*sigh*, my honda) but the Ascent just has them attached with two-sided foam tape. I started out with a hair dryer, but found it was inadequate. I put some goo-gone on it and went at it with dental floss. I broke a lot of dental floss strips, but eventually sawed through the adhesive and removed the badges. Then I used gentle persuasion, goof-off, and patience to slowly remove the adhesive with my fingers and fingernails, very gently. Not a scratch! It took maybe 30-40 minutes, approximately a 2-beer job. I've had two people come ask me what kind of subaru it was. I do have some covers to install over the subaru logo when I have some time to tinker, but for now those are the only indications of anything on the vehicle. Personally I don't buy a vehicle so that I can serve as a driving advertisement for a manufacturer, dealer, etc. I remove logos, decals, tags, etc., from everything I own. I also avoid buying things with integrated branding/advertising, other than cars. For cars they mold-in some of the emblems so you don't have much choice. If I could buy a "clean" blank grill and rear trim piece without any subaru emblem, I would do so. I like Subaru, but it's my car, not their billboard. But I understand that I am weird and not everyone will spend an hour with a new backpack and a stitch-ripper carefully removing every tag and emblem. And some people probably even like showing off brands and such. It's just not for me.

 

[Robert.Mauro]

Most of my previous vehicles have had dealership ads solely on the license plate, which is fine and can be replaced/taken off. But in searching some of the Subaru dealerships I've noticed that quite a few of them in the NY Metro area have the dealership ad/decal/badge on the rear of the vehicle. In one dealership it seems that it is painted on. Therefore I ask, is it rude to ask the dealership to remove them or not put them on on the vehicle I am ordering? Should I ask them to put the request in the contract/order?

TS out

You won't have a problem, either way. The dealership you're using uses ones that are ridiculously easy to hand remove (but will stay forever if you don't). :tango_face_wink:

 

[twospirits]

Thanks for all the responses members. It was very helpful.

TS out

 

[SeaRay310DA]

FYI... I found out that the metallic stickers were very difficult to remove, and I tried it with heat. However, when I brought to the dealer and ask them to remove it, they have some sort of trick.

3M makes an adhesive eraser wheel that can remove adhesives and decals. I found out about it when I bought my boat and was interested in removing the old owner's vinyl lettering for the boat name. It's considered an automotive product, but I'd trust it more on marine gel coat since I think it's tougher than paint.

A heat gun and a little patience is cheaper and easier, though.