Debadging debaucle

D

danix

Member
:
06 Mazda5 Touring MT
Well, sort of. I decided to go for the euro stealth look and remove the "Mazda" and "5" emblems on the back.

No problems in the removal itself - I used dental floss and then an adhesive remove to remove the gunk. When I was done, I discovered that Mazda uses two small prongs that go into holes in the hatch. Great idea for clueless body shops who can't align badges, not so great for me cause now I have holes in the hatch.

I guess my options are:
1) Fill, sand, prime, repaint the whole hatch. Not going to happen.
2) Find a small plug to fill the hole and touch it up with touchup paint. Might work, but a bit ghetto.
3) Reinstall the Mazda badge, or perhaps the Premacy badge has the tabs?

Advice welcome, but this is mainly a warning so you don't do the same :(
 
danix said:
Well, sort of. I decided to go for the euro stealth look and remove the "Mazda" and "5" emblems on the back.

No problems in the removal itself - I used dental floss and then an adhesive remove to remove the gunk. When I was done, I discovered that Mazda uses two small prongs that go into holes in the hatch. Great idea for clueless body shops who can't align badges, not so great for me cause now I have holes in the hatch.

I guess my options are:
1) Fill, sand, prime, repaint the whole hatch. Not going to happen.
2) Find a small plug to fill the hole and touch it up with touchup paint. Might work, but a bit ghetto.
3) Reinstall the Mazda badge, or perhaps the Premacy badge has the tabs?

Advice welcome, but this is mainly a warning so you don't do the same :(
Click to expand...


Ouch...You should have pre-read some posts on this issue before taking off the badges. I'm pretty sure there were some posts about this and the holes some time back.
The 'Premacy' badge does not have any tabs, it's a straight adhesive back.
My suggestion is to put back the Mazda badge, or else source the Premacy badge and apply to the hatch.
No matter how good you are the touch-up paint will show
Anthony
 
I know a MZ3 owner that added her own custom lettering which covered the holes. I'd put your own custom badge in it's place. Cover them until you get something for the spot.
 
Thread Hijack

Sorry to hijack your thread Danix, but I had a similar type question.

How easy/hard is it to remove the Dealership logo's from the bodywork (you know the ones - "Thomasville Mazda - Your #1 Mazda Dealer" type appendages) without leaving a glue-y residue or damaging the paint?
 
paint the badges the color of your car. It will be a similar look to the stealth that you wanted. I did it with my 3 and it looked great, black on black.
 
SparkyBhoy said:
Sorry to hijack your thread Danix, but I had a similar type question.

How easy/hard is it to remove the Dealership logo's from the bodywork (you know the ones - "Thomasville Mazda - Your #1 Mazda Dealer" type appendages) without leaving a glue-y residue or damaging the paint?
Click to expand...

I was very clear with my dealership, if you guys put stupid stickers on my car, I will walk. They were smart and listened. Unfortunately, I didn't get to them in time to save them drilling the front bumper for the license plate. :(
 
perfecto said:
I was very clear with my dealership, if you guys put stupid stickers on my car, I will walk. They were smart and listened. Unfortunately, I didn't get to them in time to save them drilling the front bumper for the license plate. :(
Click to expand...

Yeah, they drilled a plate in front of our 5 too when they know we don't need to have one in the front in Quebec. (screwy) Whatever, I'll take the plate frame off and keep the screws in the holes.
 
perfecto said:
Unfortunately, I didn't get to them in time to save them drilling the front bumper for the license plate.
Click to expand...

My dealer had preinstalled license plates on all their cars (and alarms but that's another issue).

And while you are required to have a front plate in CA, they should allow the customer to decide if they want to put holes in their brand new bumper or not.

But really it's Mazda's fault for designing them this way.
 
I got very lucky with mine. I bought in Maryland , which is a two-plate state, and live in West Va., which is a one-plate . By some miracle my 5 didn't get drilled for a front plate and boy am I glad! Sparkybhoy to answer your question, use a little Goof-off on the dealer emblem before you remove it and a little more on the residue after, you should have no problems. I can't stand those retarded dealer badges, the idea of free advertising for the dealer chafes me big time.
 
perfecto said:
I was very clear with my dealership, if you guys put stupid stickers on my car, I will walk.:(
Click to expand...

That is going to be my line as well....

slvrsleeper said:
I got very lucky with mine. I bought in Sparkybhoy to answer your question, use a little Goof-off on the dealer emblem before you remove it and a little more on the residue after, you should have no problems. I can't stand those retarded dealer badges, the idea of free advertising for the dealer chafes me big time.
Click to expand...

....and this helps incase they are already on the cars before they wheel them onto the lot.

The license plate doesn't bother me, although, if they try to stick some 'Ad' fee on the purchase agreement, I might suggest that I will back-charge them in advance for 5 years of advertising (thumb)
 
andrew.savage said:
paint the badges the color of your car. It will be a similar look to the stealth that you wanted. I did it with my 3 and it looked great, black on black.
Click to expand...

What did you use to paint them black? I saw a spray call VHT or something that you could use on your tail lights or emblems. Has anyone tried it? Does it work?
 
tillyspeed81 said:
What did you use to paint them black? I saw a spray call VHT or something that you could use on your tail lights or emblems. Has anyone tried it? Does it work?
Click to expand...

I used Krylon matte black spray paint and then a gloss clear coat. I got the idea from the VW Vortex forum, because a lot of guys there used it on there V dubs. I got it at walmart. It worked excellent and looks professional if you use like three or four coats. Just make sure you let it dry properly before recoating it.
 
HotRodSaint said:
My dealer had preinstalled license plates on all their cars (and alarms but that's another issue).

And while you are required to have a front plate in CA, they should allow the customer to decide if they want to put holes in their brand new bumper or not.

But really it's Mazda's fault for designing them this way.
Click to expand...

unfortunately for us california guys its illegal for a dealorship to even sell the car without the front plate....and they can get in a lot of trouble...just cause there are people out there that if they get a ticket for it would just blame the dealorship and get them involved in lawsuits and such =(

personally if I got a ticket for it I wouldnt blame the dealorship....its a shame =(

lol, I really hate the traffic laws in cali
 
I guess I lucked out, I bought my 5 in Cali and the dealership never installed a front plate...yay!!! knock on wood.....(yippy)
 
SparkyBhoy said:
The license plate doesn't bother me, although, if they try to stick some 'Ad' fee on the purchase agreement, I might suggest that I will back-charge them in advance for 5 years of advertising (thumb)
Click to expand...

I'm OK with selling ad space on my car, but I get editorial rejection privileges. I'll offer to let them put a sticker of a defined size in a defined place for $500 in cash separate from the paper transaction. For $500 it's only a year's worth of advertizing, though.
 
Yeah I woulda put a front plate ON, but not drilled through my bumper. Anyway, what's done is done. One of these days I might get them primed/filled and attach the plate to the grill as I was planning to do. Like this :

plate-change.jpg
 
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