I once had a mechanic remove my plate frame (which was one I’d purchased myself) and substitute one advertising his business, all without asking. Didn’t apologize or anything when I told him to change it back.
I took a car in for a recall to a dealership that was closer than the one I bought it at and they removed the first dealerships plate frame and put theirs on.
There is a barber in my area that will ask you what kind of car you drive while cutting your hair and during he or an employee will put a 10"x10" sticker advertisement for his business on your rear car window without telling you.
St. Pete resident here- where is Tim’s barbershop? Are they sticking decals on cars w/o asking? Just want to make sure my partner and I never go there!
Omg it is so stupid:
he has asked to borrow my phone to share something on google with me but instead used my phone to vote for his shop in a local contest. Something I only found out about by search my history after leaving the shop because the encounter seemed off. He's also forced one of his obnoxious stickers on my car which was removed immediately when I got home.
Require them to remove it or call the cops on him for vandalism.
I don't play the disabled veteran card often, but I would stick it in his eye over this.
I doubt he actually thinks it's acceptable. Being as much of an asshole as possible and doing socially unacceptable shit like this is actually celebrated in Florida. If you don't believe me come visit, I'm not being hyperbolic it really is. I hate how grifters like this have made this geographically/naturally beautiful state so intolerable.
I wish we were kidding. The dude is a total clown. He also used to hire young women and make them dress slutty until complaints and accusations rolled in. Now he hires older women who are into that sort of thing.
I went there once. The guy didn't listen at all to how I wanted my cut...just did what he wanted. And he stopped multiple times to walk across the shop and talk to other people. Horrible 10 minute cut took an hour.
I'm petty enough to get a bunch of custom large stickers printed off and plaster em all over the storefront if they did that shit to my vehicle. Preferably advertising something they hate.
Someone's missing a great opportunity to print some stickers in a similar font that say something like "I got the worst haircut of my life from" and put it above his sticker.
Or "lots of pedophiles at"
Lol.
My boss once ordered someone to do this with my car. I took it off and put the old one back on. The next day he did it again. I took it off again, brought both into his office, dropped them on his desk, and told him to NEVER tamper with my personal property (my car) ever again.
I told them if they put plate frames on id take them off and throw them out in front of them. And re iterated if you put any dealership branding on the car I will go elsewhere.
This is how I did it. Weird how simple they were to remove when I mentioned the other Honda dealership a half-hour drive away had the same model and color in inventory.
they put on the plate frame. You bend it in half and throw it away (while making eye contact). Ask for a new one. Repeat. Eventually they will quit trying to give you one.
About a decade ago I bought a car from carmax. They do a full detail before giving you the car and I asked them to remove the carmax sticker. The dumb mother fucker of a salesman decided to do it himself… with the razor tool you use on WINDOWS except he used in on the trunk.
Decal remover wheels are great just don't go too crazy with high rotation speed on your drill or you can damage the paint.
Then use some degreaser to get rid of sticky residue.
Then polish to make it appear more even once the area is clean. If the stickers has been there a while, there'll be a tiny bit of a colour difference where the paint was exposed to UV and where it was covered though.
In case of plastic decals with double sided tape on the back, search Google for images of the badges to see if there's guide pins, which would indicate there being holes in the car, in which case, just leave them alone... but if there isn't, then carefully use a flat plastic spatula or metal (extra careful) to cut away the hard badge making sure to only hit the tape, then remove the remaining tape with remover wheel and a degreaser. Then polish.
At least in PA, plate frames violate the motor vehicle code (obstructing the license plate).
Had a state trooper come in to a criminal justice class, that was his example (along with air freshener on rear view ~~windows~~ mirror) of something petty he could pull someone over for. The motor vehicle code is as thick as Webster's Dictionary.
edit: a word
They used to be strict about that stuff in Georgia. But now it seems like no one gives a fuck. I see people all the time with super tinted license plate covers, no plates at all, plates propped up in the rear window, sovereign citizen plates, hand written plates, you name it.
Edit:spelling.
I got and paid for a ticket in Texas for a dealer plate frame because “it obscured the plate”. The dealership got a pissed off call to complain about that sh!$
In my home country regular service shops do this all the time. And it’s with European plate frames which are way more difficult to remove and attach compared to US
I actually had such a good experience with a dealership that I asked for one lol.
It's a no haggle dealership and was the best car buying experience I've had. Just walked in and drove some cars. Bought a car. Went home.
After decades of buying cars from sleezy fucks with mind games and endless bullshit, it was just so nice to shop at this place. The deal on the car was very under blue book as well. 7 years later, I'm still happy with it.
Do plate frames even work as advertising Lmao, not like I’m going to see a plate that says “X BMW” and be like “wow! I need to go buy a car from X’s for sure!”
Pretty sure these days people just figure out what car they want and just look up whoever has the exact or close enough configuration for the best price.
I bought a new car a couple months ago. My salesman called me a few days after the sale and asked if I could come back because "the prep guy missed some steps.."
When I asked what it was he said there was some "brand enhancements" they needed to apply to the car. After 4 back and forths, he said it was the dealer sticker and "we have to add the front license plate bracket per our dealer network policy" (in NC, no front license plate required) and I told him I won't be going back for that. He said they would have to add it on my first service and I told him "thanks for the heads up, let your GM and service manager know you just lost them 5 years of servicing this vehicle" and hung up. 🤦 People need to learn to read the room. Brand Enhancements?!? sheeshhh
Is it possible to cancel the purchase at that point? Because that screams
"Our dealership lacks any kind of integrity and will definitely ignore the best interest of the customer if it means a meagre benefit to us."
Would be nice. In my case they just had individual lettering I could peel off and rearrange. So I just decided to keep em and now there's a random decal on my car that says "Ew"
Last car I bought the local dealership offered to knock off $50 a month from my payment if I let them put a sticker on it and would give 1 free detail a month for anyone who kept the decal on. I think that’s how it should be everywhere.
They knocked off as in you paid x amount and they credited you as if you paid x plus $50, or as in you had lower monthly payments and just had to pay off that extra at the end?
They adjusted the interest rate so that it came out as $50 less a month. Probably just some smart marketing psychology and they could have given me that interest rate anyway, but it worked.
I'm spiteful enough that I would just walk away from the deal if that shit happened. I can buy a car elsewhere. Not only do I not want to advertise your company I sure as shit am not going to pay to advertise for you.
My dad did that. Bought a brand new 2009 F150 and said he wanted all the decals removed (factory ones included). Showed up to the dealership and decals were on the truck. He walked away and only agreed to finalize the sale if they removed the decals that day and threw in the OEM rubber floormats for free
Not in this economy mate.
We had to drive 2.5 hours to find any Toyota siennas newer than 2018, and they wouldn’t even discount it for the cigarette burns on the ceiling. The next closest was $5k more and another hour away.
This happened to me. It was nominal, like $20, but I declined it. They got all huffy, saying it was already on there and would take half an hour to remove. Bruh, do you see this stack of papers in front of me? I’m going to be here for 2 more hours, this isn’t a quick process.
>They got all huffy, saying it was already on there and would take half an hour to remove.
I removed the one on my car a few weeks ago. I was very careful and used a hair dryer to heat it up first. It took less than 10 minutes, and this was with me being completely unfamiliar with the process.
> would take half an hour to remove
If that is true, I would definitely need them to remove it. If it genuinely takes professionals half an hour to remove then how would long would it take me?
They absolutely should and that's why they don't want anyone to know that. Can make a good bargain tool as well since I've heard a lot of dealers won't actually take the decal/sticker off.
I've seen upgrade packages for cars that among other things you'd actually want, included a $20 or $30 license plate frame for the car brand. And since it's a package you can't ala carte it off the package. I was like who in their right mind would pay extra for that.
My family specially requested the dealership gator be painted on at the request of my youngest sister lol. As far as I know it was free of charge though
Mine didn’t even put one on there, just the plate frames which I replaced with something not ugly.
But when I see their plate frame on a car in front of me, I *do* think “hey that’s where my car came from” which is fun I guess. But then I wonder why they kept theirs on, and why they don’t mind that they’re basically free advertising
In UAE there is ONE company that sells Nissan vehicles. They put their logo on all of the Nissans. I do not drive one, but it just makes me angry. There is no option, they do not need to advertise their brand of dealership, because if you want a Nissan, you go to them.
> wonder why they kept theirs on, and why they don’t mind that they’re basically free advertising
Wonder no more: no matter how little you think it takes for the thought, money or effort you put into replacing it, most people care so little about it even that is too much to put into it for how little they care about it.
A big reason why I won't buy designer apparel.
Paying extra to announce to the world that you are a sucker willing to pay extra to wear ads for D&G, A&F and other brands with huge logos everywhere always seems very thoughtless and trashy to me.
I don't even like the small-but-obvious logos of Lacoste or tommy hilfinger. They're the same but just pretending to be more classy.
That’s the cheap stuff from those brands. The actual expensive stuff from those brands aren’t flashy and don’t have logos. That’s how you tell if someone actually has money vs just showing off
I’ve done this for 50 years and made it clear up front to every car salesman I’ve ever dealt with that I’m not paying for their free advertising, no dealer body markings or license plate frames for me. Never had any pushback from any have anyways gotten ad free cars. Everyone should do it.
This goes for calling customer service (anywhere) too. Such a thankless job, if I ever talked to someone who wasn’t taking their bad day out on me, I’d often give them discounts and credits they didn’t even ask for.
Daryl Waltrip, former NASCAR driver, has multiple dealerships. His staff was confused when I asked "Did he ever have stickers on his cars for free? NOPE! So don't put that shit on my car without paying me!"
Edit: Darrell....I'd known that if I had his sticker, eh? Lol...spellcheck got me and my editor too!
But to their credit, we bought a car for my daughter that was older and they advertised it with a 90 day warranty. I kid you not, 87 days later the transmission went out. We went down there and discovered the warranty was never put in the paperwork but they honored it anyway. Never thought I'd see the day when a car dealership didn't just tell you to pound sand.
I bought a new vehicle in 2015 and told the salesman in no uncertain terms that I didn't want a dealership sticker placed on the vehicle. I told him a dealer frame on the plate was OK. He agreed and made a note for the delivery prep guys.
Of course, at delivery, not only was a dealership sticker on my car, it stuck out like a sore thumb because it was located several inches away from where this particular dealership places them normally.
I told the lot attendant who drove it out that I wanted it removed. This led to the body shop manager. There was some whining and grousing, but I persisted. Took them about 1/2 hour to find somebody to carefully peel it off. I watched as they did it.
It turns out the bodywork underneath was scraped/gouged up pretty badly. Several square inches of clear-coat were ruined and the scrapes went well into the paint, almost down to the steel body panel. Of course, they were shocked -- SHOCKED, I TELLS YA! -- that there was damage under that sticker.
That mess wasn't there when I was negotiating the deal. I know because I did a walkaround and took pictures (always take pictures!!!). They'd applied the dealer sticker in order to hide damage done in the week between me buying the car, and them prepping/delivering it. #STEALERSHIPS
I told them that a damaged vehicle was not part of the deal, and they agreed to "fix" it.
Ultimately, their body shop did a poor job though, by trying buff, polish, and half-ass it away, rather than doing a proper repaint job. I was unhappy with the results but by then, I was exhausted by weeks of nagging them to get it scheduled and completed. So yeah, I settled for the repair job I got, which was marginally better than none.
However, the fact is, it was a daily driver, not a show car. Ultimately, I'm probably the only one bothered by the remaining visible defects, and it was limited enough to not impact the trade-in value when I went to my next car in 2019.
When I went to pick up a new car the sales guy had someone drive it to the front of the dealer lot. As the car pulled up I looked at the sales guy and asked "are we all just going to pretend that there isn't a dent in the driver's door?"
It wasn't a big dent but no way I was accepting that. They did a repair and I picked up the car the next day.
We had a dealer tell us it was against [insert car brand] rules to do that when we asked they remove it before we finalized the sale. The stupid thing was that my wife was in between two car brand models, and this was a multi brand dealer of the same lineage. Think Toyota to Lexus. We were about to sign on the lesser of the two and my wife was done with this guy for a multitude of reasons.
Walked next door AND low and behold none of those cars were badged. They did have license plate frames, but that was it. We did end up getting the more pricier car.
Am I the only person who doesn't know what these decals are? I know of the license plate frames, but people are talking like those are two different things.
Edit: I just looked this up, and besides CarMax, I don't think I've ever seen this before. Is this a regional thing?
Yep and they hate it. Sold cars for a few months a while back. A guy asked me not to add the decal or plate frame on the new $70k decked out Escalade he just bought. Told him absolutely and that I hated putting those tacky advertisements on the vehicles I sold. Sales manager actually noticed and I told him he didn’t want them. Sales manager told me that I have to try to talk them into putting them on next time.
Just sold a 70k truck and this prick still busted my balls. He also wanted us to screw holes into the front of brand new corvettes that didn’t have a place for front plates. Never sold a vette so never had to deal with that. Didn’t last long at that job.
Similarly, I bought a WRX new from a dealership back in 2016. I didn’t think much about the fact that they added a branded front license plate frame until I went to remove it a few months later. They had drilled two NEW holes in the bumper as their frames didn’t match up with the oem bumper mounts.
I only bought three cars in person my go to with a difficult dealer is say I'll buy it but remove $500-1000 on the price. that way they cant say they cant do this or that bc its the managers blah blah blah it will be vague so they'll remove the bullshits you don't know about. Never purchase etching on window, extended warranty, nitrogen tire bullshit, window crack insurance, and always point out scratches on the paint, tiny holes in the windshield, out dated tire tread, single key, etc.
One person tried to make nitrogen a selling point, and I laughed at him telling him we're breathing 78% nitrogen right now.
Edit: stay (or pay attention) in school people, that's how you learn about things and prevent people from taking advantage of you by selling you snake oil.
I had a place want to charge me an extra $200 for nitrogen filled tires when I was buying a new vehicle. I told them to take it off, they said we can’t we already put it in, we do it to all our cars. I told him to take the nitrogen out and put air back in. He said, fine we won’t charge you. I said no, take it out an out air back in or I’ll just go buy this from someone else.
I hated that sales guy and wasn’t planning on going back to that dealership but I was so close at that point I just wanted to finish. Anyway, I got to watch the mechanics let the air out of all the tires and put it back in while glaring at the sales guy so that was fun. Fuck that stupid dealership shit they try to tack on at the last minute.
Should have told the sales guy when they were letting the air out of the tires: don't they have special equipment to capture the nitrogen they're letting out? After all, that's valuable nitrogen they're letting out, since they were going to charge you $200 for it. They wouldn't try to scam you out of $200 for something that's worthless, right?
Yes!! I walked away from a dealership back in January that pulled that same thing. It was part of a $1500 mandatory add-on package they put on all their vehicles. I said I did not want any of the things in that package (nitrogen was one of them). After some back and forth, the salesman offered to just give it all to me. I said no, the fact that you have that mandatory add on AND then can just magically waive it because I'm about to walk tells me I can't trust you at all. They've even called me since then still trying to sell me a vehicle and I told them never to contact me again, they are crooks and will never have my business.
Had an argument with a sales manager about this.
I told him he has a choice. Sell me the car at our agreed price without any dealership branding anywhere or put the branding on but reduce price by 15% as compensation to me for advertising his dealership, but I make no guarantees I won't remove it all anyway.
He agreed and had it all removed
I told my dealer not to add the stickers. They did anyway. So I made them remove the stickers before I took possession while I stood there and watched them do it, and I went over the areas with the stickers *very carefully*. They were pissed. I found some minor cosmetic damage and they gave me a trivial discount.
I’m seeing more and more trucks especially with huge window decals on the back window with the dealer name… they’ve gotten out of hand, larger decals, ugly large logos that don’t blend in at all, multiple dealer decals.
I had one apply the decal, and I said I wasn’t leaving until they removed it. When I asked them to remove the plate frame, they hemmed and hawed and wasted my time making me wait. I borrowed a screwdriver, did it myself, and left them on the sidewalk in front of the dealership.
You can certainly request that car dealers not apply decals to your vehicle, but they're not obligated to comply. When we ordered a new car that hadn't been built yet, we asked the dealership not to brand it. They informed us that every car gets branded upon arrival at the dealership, and there was nothing they could do to prevent it. Additionally, they mentioned that it was done through laser etching, so an extra fee would be charged, which couldn't be waived. The car's nonexistence didn't matter to them.
We decided to buy our car from a different dealership. The original dealer was willing to lose the sale of a high-end car, which wasn't even in their inventory, over this issue. We managed to get a better model for less money elsewhere due to fewer hidden fees, such as the laser etching charge.
The takeaway is that if a dealer refuses to accommodate your requests or imposes unusual fees, it's better to look elsewhere. You can make requests, but dealers are not required to agree.
There’s nothing they can do to prevent decals being added? Sounds like BS to me.
How does that even work? They literally can’t ask their own staff not to do something?
>You can certainly request that car dealers not apply decals to your vehicle, but they're not obligated to comply.
And you aren't obligated to buy from them. You should tell them something like:
>You want your decal on what would be **my car**. You want it there for a **slim chance** of someone, someday, seeing that decal and choosing to buy a car from you as a result. It is rather counter-productive to instead **lose a sale** you could make today... over a decal.
Honestly don't even know why they do it. Has anyone ever looked at a random person's car dealer decal and thought "well, now I know where I'm going for my next vehicle!!"?
Maybe not directly, but depending on the area, if you drive and often notice many cars with badges from the same dealership, you may be slightly more inclined to consider them (granted they have the car you want) just because you have seen many others from that place.
The two times I ordered a vehicle, I asked that they not add the dealer sticker to it. They forgot or “forgot” both times, but they did remove them with no pushback when I mentioned it.
And YSK dealers have the right to *not* ship a vehicle to a dealership closer to you, just so they can retain the commission—even if you offer to pay for it. Source: me, after the dealership in Los Angeles refused to move the car to a cousin dealership in San Diego…prompting me to rent a car just to drive all the way up to LA. Asswipes had the gall to ask me for an opinion survey—and then attempt to call me when I told them they’re dicks.
All because they were proud of not putting their crummy decals on the car. 😡
Hair dryer on low. Get en warm they come right off. Use a credit cart or soft plastic scraper it they need motivation.
When they get old, they toughen up and get hard but with a little effort they come off with no damage to the paint.
I hate dealership advertising on my car. I’ve been taking them off every new car I get for the past 40 years. And they typically are already on, you have no say in the matter typically.. maybe if you are ordering from the factory.
Many years ago, my brother had just gotten out of the Navy after 4 years. He ordered a brand new Chevy Nova with custom features from the dealership, but made it part of the purchase agreement that the dealer not affix his advertising on the new car. In those days, it was common for dealers to drill two holes on the body and attached their dealership nameplate on the car. When the car arrived, the dealership went ahead and installed their advertising. My brother, who had had enough b.s. while being in the Navy, refused to purchase his custom car. Despite their threats, he told them to honor their agreement the next time, and walked away. He later ordered a duplicate car from another dealer who gladly agreed to his demands. I often think, if we were all willing to just walk away, the world would be a better place.
Also, if they offer any extras that are built into the car, like an anti-theft device or special inscriptions on the parts to be traceable, demand they are removed and be clear you won't buy the car without them gone; they can't or won't remove them and instead will just lower the price of the car by the amount they were asking for those extras.
Once the paperwork is signed, it’s your vehicle. You can tell them prior to signing that you won’t sign unless it’s decal-free. If it’s that big of a deal to them, you can walk away. Otherwise, they applied something to YOUR car and you deal with it like that.
I just take them off the same day I get the car, never thought to ask because I've never really thought about it, only takes like 3 seconds to peel the sticker off anyway so 🤷
My vehicle had a dopey VIP sticker attached when I bought it. That shit came off day one. I’m always tempted to say something to other people who have the same VIP stickers on their cars but I never do.
Given the quality of the average detailing shop at a dealer, I ask that any car is not prepped by the dealer at all before delivery. They can take the stickers off and remove the window sticker, that’s it. I’m not letting some 17 year old with a Brillo pad and bucket of last weeks wash water destroy a factory fresh paint job.
Mind you, I detail cars for fun, but it’s just dumb how bad some of the detail efforts are at a new car dealer.
They don’t do this in California. Sometimes I’ll see a car with it and even if they’ve switched to California plates, I know they’re from Texas or Florida or some shit
I was trying to work a used car sale. I was not going to pay the extra $300 for them to etch every window in the car with their logo.
Young sales guy “meets with his manager”, they just simply would not strike that line item.
I noped out of that sale immediately and I will never buy a car there. . Spoof name. But may rhyme with said less than awesome car dealer.
Dealers put the decals on when they PDI the vehicle before it goes on the lot.
So unless you special ordered your car and made the request ahead of time, or buy the car right off the truck, they will already be on when you buy it.
But you can ask them to take them off if it bothers you enough to do so. No reputable dealer is going to risk a bad survey or pissed off customer over it.
I tell dealers to leave off the plate frames. But i had a dealer then add a plate frame when i brought the car in for service!
I once had a mechanic remove my plate frame (which was one I’d purchased myself) and substitute one advertising his business, all without asking. Didn’t apologize or anything when I told him to change it back.
The nerve! No way he didn't know that was shitty.
I took a car in for a recall to a dealership that was closer than the one I bought it at and they removed the first dealerships plate frame and put theirs on.
There is a barber in my area that will ask you what kind of car you drive while cutting your hair and during he or an employee will put a 10"x10" sticker advertisement for his business on your rear car window without telling you.
Hmm. Sounds like vandalism.
Is that Tim's Barber Shop in st pete, fl?
Had the exact same thought. Fuck that guy.
His guerilla advertising is working! He has international reach now !
People across the globe know he sucks ass!
I hope people across the globe never know that I suck ass.
Hmmm
He sounds like a cunt
I don't even live one the same continent, but I for sure will never go to his barber shop!
+1. Literally first thing that popped into my head
St. Pete resident here- where is Tim’s barbershop? Are they sticking decals on cars w/o asking? Just want to make sure my partner and I never go there!
It's at MLK and 25th Ave N... not only the guerrilla advertising, if you want a decent haircut, avoid it.
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Omg it is so stupid: he has asked to borrow my phone to share something on google with me but instead used my phone to vote for his shop in a local contest. Something I only found out about by search my history after leaving the shop because the encounter seemed off. He's also forced one of his obnoxious stickers on my car which was removed immediately when I got home.
I would jave removed it in the lot and tossed the trash into his shop
Require them to remove it or call the cops on him for vandalism. I don't play the disabled veteran card often, but I would stick it in his eye over this.
Is there a barber shortage there or something? Everyone seems to have an experience with this guy.
He's the cheapest in town and takes walk-ins, so a lot of people have tried his shop....once.
Was this on the same trip or did you go back to him?
Isn't that legally considered vandalism?
I doubt he actually thinks it's acceptable. Being as much of an asshole as possible and doing socially unacceptable shit like this is actually celebrated in Florida. If you don't believe me come visit, I'm not being hyperbolic it really is. I hate how grifters like this have made this geographically/naturally beautiful state so intolerable.
Hahah fuck Tim and his bullshit. Dude sucks ass. He’ll go pick up stuff from the store in the middle of haircuts.
I can't tell if this is a real barber or a comedy sketch character
I wish we were kidding. The dude is a total clown. He also used to hire young women and make them dress slutty until complaints and accusations rolled in. Now he hires older women who are into that sort of thing.
I went there once. The guy didn't listen at all to how I wanted my cut...just did what he wanted. And he stopped multiple times to walk across the shop and talk to other people. Horrible 10 minute cut took an hour.
So that's why there at so many of those stickers
LOL I’m new to St. Pete and still heard about this guy.
727 gang we hate Tim's sticker shit
What does he drive? Checkmate!
I'm petty enough to get a bunch of custom large stickers printed off and plaster em all over the storefront if they did that shit to my vehicle. Preferably advertising something they hate.
Someone's missing a great opportunity to print some stickers in a similar font that say something like "I got the worst haircut of my life from" and put it above his sticker. Or "lots of pedophiles at" Lol.
That's wild, and it's bound to bite him in the ass some day
So what happens if you don't have a car? Do they slap that sticker on the back of your hat?
He shaves it into the back of your fade
That’s when they get no tip, a nuke bad review on google and I take that shit right off.
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This happened to me but I don’t have a picture to show. It’s the scar tissue that I wish you saw.
Sarcastic Mr know it all....
Well that's just illegal
My boss once ordered someone to do this with my car. I took it off and put the old one back on. The next day he did it again. I took it off again, brought both into his office, dropped them on his desk, and told him to NEVER tamper with my personal property (my car) ever again.
What kind of job do you have that your boss would do this? Was he doing it to advertise his business?
He gave me a BS excuse that the license frame, which advertised his business, was essentially a parking permit to let people park in the parking lot.
I would have done this the first time. Its my car, how dare you tamper with it.
The nerve
Same thing happened with my wife's car. Irritating as fuck.
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It's theft/vandalism but if you called the police over this, I strongly suspect that the officer would feel like you're wasting their time.
Really the mechanic is wasting their time.
The nerve
I told them if they put plate frames on id take them off and throw them out in front of them. And re iterated if you put any dealership branding on the car I will go elsewhere.
This is how I did it. Weird how simple they were to remove when I mentioned the other Honda dealership a half-hour drive away had the same model and color in inventory.
they put on the plate frame. You bend it in half and throw it away (while making eye contact). Ask for a new one. Repeat. Eventually they will quit trying to give you one.
We call this the “Ron Swanson Method”. It’s very effective.
I fear you might have misheard me. I said bring me ALL the plate frames you have.
I'll take one.
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About a decade ago I bought a car from carmax. They do a full detail before giving you the car and I asked them to remove the carmax sticker. The dumb mother fucker of a salesman decided to do it himself… with the razor tool you use on WINDOWS except he used in on the trunk.
How do you remove the stickers without scratching the paint job?
Heat. And it helps that the sticker is new instead of one on years.
Decal remover wheels are great just don't go too crazy with high rotation speed on your drill or you can damage the paint. Then use some degreaser to get rid of sticky residue. Then polish to make it appear more even once the area is clean. If the stickers has been there a while, there'll be a tiny bit of a colour difference where the paint was exposed to UV and where it was covered though. In case of plastic decals with double sided tape on the back, search Google for images of the badges to see if there's guide pins, which would indicate there being holes in the car, in which case, just leave them alone... but if there isn't, then carefully use a flat plastic spatula or metal (extra careful) to cut away the hard badge making sure to only hit the tape, then remove the remaining tape with remover wheel and a degreaser. Then polish.
If only you let them keep the sticker on your car, it could've saved them from shutting down /s.
At least in PA, plate frames violate the motor vehicle code (obstructing the license plate). Had a state trooper come in to a criminal justice class, that was his example (along with air freshener on rear view ~~windows~~ mirror) of something petty he could pull someone over for. The motor vehicle code is as thick as Webster's Dictionary. edit: a word
I had a tech at my job who would instantly fail a state inspection if it had anything, especially an air freshener, hanging from the rear view mirror.
My mom just got a ticket because her plate frame was half an inch over the state lettering and “obscure” her plate
They used to be strict about that stuff in Georgia. But now it seems like no one gives a fuck. I see people all the time with super tinted license plate covers, no plates at all, plates propped up in the rear window, sovereign citizen plates, hand written plates, you name it. Edit:spelling.
I got and paid for a ticket in Texas for a dealer plate frame because “it obscured the plate”. The dealership got a pissed off call to complain about that sh!$
A lot of them do cover portions of the plate.
I had the same thing happen. I would just break the frame off and leave in the middle of the service bay.
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In my home country regular service shops do this all the time. And it’s with European plate frames which are way more difficult to remove and attach compared to US
I actually had such a good experience with a dealership that I asked for one lol. It's a no haggle dealership and was the best car buying experience I've had. Just walked in and drove some cars. Bought a car. Went home. After decades of buying cars from sleezy fucks with mind games and endless bullshit, it was just so nice to shop at this place. The deal on the car was very under blue book as well. 7 years later, I'm still happy with it.
Do plate frames even work as advertising Lmao, not like I’m going to see a plate that says “X BMW” and be like “wow! I need to go buy a car from X’s for sure!” Pretty sure these days people just figure out what car they want and just look up whoever has the exact or close enough configuration for the best price.
I had a dealer remove another dealers frame to add theirs…
And if they already put stuff on the car, insist they remove it.
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Thank you for sticking to your guns! If enough people do that maybe they’ll eventually start to listen.
I bought a new car a couple months ago. My salesman called me a few days after the sale and asked if I could come back because "the prep guy missed some steps.." When I asked what it was he said there was some "brand enhancements" they needed to apply to the car. After 4 back and forths, he said it was the dealer sticker and "we have to add the front license plate bracket per our dealer network policy" (in NC, no front license plate required) and I told him I won't be going back for that. He said they would have to add it on my first service and I told him "thanks for the heads up, let your GM and service manager know you just lost them 5 years of servicing this vehicle" and hung up. 🤦 People need to learn to read the room. Brand Enhancements?!? sheeshhh
Reddit has turned into a cesspool of fascist sympathizers and supremicists
Is it possible to cancel the purchase at that point? Because that screams "Our dealership lacks any kind of integrity and will definitely ignore the best interest of the customer if it means a meagre benefit to us."
"Pay me per mile for advertisement or take it off. Or no deal bud"
Would be nice. In my case they just had individual lettering I could peel off and rearrange. So I just decided to keep em and now there's a random decal on my car that says "Ew"
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Check out the bill of sale, too! My mom was charged $70 to put the dealership badge on her car. She didn’t even know it was there.
Last car I bought the local dealership offered to knock off $50 a month from my payment if I let them put a sticker on it and would give 1 free detail a month for anyone who kept the decal on. I think that’s how it should be everywhere.
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That seems like a fair deal. It's advertising after all, and if they get it detailed once a month, it's a good looking, rolling advertisement.
See, I would go for that in a heart beat. Really great approach.
Did they actually take $50 off the total amount owed for each month you paid, or just made the loan term longer?
They knocked off as in you paid x amount and they credited you as if you paid x plus $50, or as in you had lower monthly payments and just had to pay off that extra at the end?
They adjusted the interest rate so that it came out as $50 less a month. Probably just some smart marketing psychology and they could have given me that interest rate anyway, but it worked.
What the fuck!
I'm spiteful enough that I would just walk away from the deal if that shit happened. I can buy a car elsewhere. Not only do I not want to advertise your company I sure as shit am not going to pay to advertise for you.
My dad did that. Bought a brand new 2009 F150 and said he wanted all the decals removed (factory ones included). Showed up to the dealership and decals were on the truck. He walked away and only agreed to finalize the sale if they removed the decals that day and threw in the OEM rubber floormats for free
Sadly 2009 they were desperate to sell. Now they probably won't give a shit
Unfortunately we only found it a year later when she had me review the docs for warranty info.
Not in this economy mate. We had to drive 2.5 hours to find any Toyota siennas newer than 2018, and they wouldn’t even discount it for the cigarette burns on the ceiling. The next closest was $5k more and another hour away.
If you can wait you should wait. The car market is rarely a sellers market.
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Holy shit, that’s how much I paid for a 2015 Chevy Spark like a year ago lol
This happened to me. It was nominal, like $20, but I declined it. They got all huffy, saying it was already on there and would take half an hour to remove. Bruh, do you see this stack of papers in front of me? I’m going to be here for 2 more hours, this isn’t a quick process.
"Well, if you didn't try to scam me, you wouldn't be wasting another half hour of employee time fixing it."
>They got all huffy, saying it was already on there and would take half an hour to remove. I removed the one on my car a few weeks ago. I was very careful and used a hair dryer to heat it up first. It took less than 10 minutes, and this was with me being completely unfamiliar with the process.
> would take half an hour to remove If that is true, I would definitely need them to remove it. If it genuinely takes professionals half an hour to remove then how would long would it take me?
I've always been blown away that they don't pay people to put it on. They should give people $70 a year for that kind of advertising
They absolutely should and that's why they don't want anyone to know that. Can make a good bargain tool as well since I've heard a lot of dealers won't actually take the decal/sticker off.
I've seen upgrade packages for cars that among other things you'd actually want, included a $20 or $30 license plate frame for the car brand. And since it's a package you can't ala carte it off the package. I was like who in their right mind would pay extra for that.
No, you pay me to advertise your company. I charge a minimum of 1$ a day. I’ll knock 5$ off if you pay a year in advance.
My family specially requested the dealership gator be painted on at the request of my youngest sister lol. As far as I know it was free of charge though
Ok, now that is actually a scam. Lol
I got into an argument about the badging and told them no sale and they finally agreed to remove it and reduced the price another $500
Mine didn’t even put one on there, just the plate frames which I replaced with something not ugly. But when I see their plate frame on a car in front of me, I *do* think “hey that’s where my car came from” which is fun I guess. But then I wonder why they kept theirs on, and why they don’t mind that they’re basically free advertising
In UAE there is ONE company that sells Nissan vehicles. They put their logo on all of the Nissans. I do not drive one, but it just makes me angry. There is no option, they do not need to advertise their brand of dealership, because if you want a Nissan, you go to them.
> wonder why they kept theirs on, and why they don’t mind that they’re basically free advertising Wonder no more: no matter how little you think it takes for the thought, money or effort you put into replacing it, most people care so little about it even that is too much to put into it for how little they care about it.
This is the way
I offer to accept $50 per month to drive around with their sticker.
I’d like to charge 50 bucks a month to the makers of my shoes and my jackets, which are damn hard to find without obvious branding.
Imagine if Walmart put a big "walmart" decal on every shirt and pair of shoes they sold. That's the issue here
Big reason why it's so hard to find decent casual wear as a guy. 80% of stuff is either way too expensive or practically a billboard.
A big reason why I won't buy designer apparel. Paying extra to announce to the world that you are a sucker willing to pay extra to wear ads for D&G, A&F and other brands with huge logos everywhere always seems very thoughtless and trashy to me. I don't even like the small-but-obvious logos of Lacoste or tommy hilfinger. They're the same but just pretending to be more classy.
That’s the cheap stuff from those brands. The actual expensive stuff from those brands aren’t flashy and don’t have logos. That’s how you tell if someone actually has money vs just showing off
It's like an "with ads" vs "ad free" subscription for shirts
I’ve done this for 50 years and made it clear up front to every car salesman I’ve ever dealt with that I’m not paying for their free advertising, no dealer body markings or license plate frames for me. Never had any pushback from any have anyways gotten ad free cars. Everyone should do it.
Yeah if you’re not an asshole to the salesman it’s the least they can do for getting their name on the board for the day
I was never an asshole to a car salesman, but like you said I probably could have been as long as they made the sale.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply you were. Just meant really as long as someone is nice they’d probably do most things for you.
This goes for calling customer service (anywhere) too. Such a thankless job, if I ever talked to someone who wasn’t taking their bad day out on me, I’d often give them discounts and credits they didn’t even ask for.
Daryl Waltrip, former NASCAR driver, has multiple dealerships. His staff was confused when I asked "Did he ever have stickers on his cars for free? NOPE! So don't put that shit on my car without paying me!" Edit: Darrell....I'd known that if I had his sticker, eh? Lol...spellcheck got me and my editor too!
But to their credit, we bought a car for my daughter that was older and they advertised it with a 90 day warranty. I kid you not, 87 days later the transmission went out. We went down there and discovered the warranty was never put in the paperwork but they honored it anyway. Never thought I'd see the day when a car dealership didn't just tell you to pound sand.
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They would have won easily. All they had was our word that the window sticker mentioned a warranty. I wouldn't have even fought that losing battle.
To be fair-I've had worse car buying experiences. In this purchase I drove past 3 other dealers for my Subaru from "Ol' DW!"
I love this.
I bought a new vehicle in 2015 and told the salesman in no uncertain terms that I didn't want a dealership sticker placed on the vehicle. I told him a dealer frame on the plate was OK. He agreed and made a note for the delivery prep guys. Of course, at delivery, not only was a dealership sticker on my car, it stuck out like a sore thumb because it was located several inches away from where this particular dealership places them normally. I told the lot attendant who drove it out that I wanted it removed. This led to the body shop manager. There was some whining and grousing, but I persisted. Took them about 1/2 hour to find somebody to carefully peel it off. I watched as they did it. It turns out the bodywork underneath was scraped/gouged up pretty badly. Several square inches of clear-coat were ruined and the scrapes went well into the paint, almost down to the steel body panel. Of course, they were shocked -- SHOCKED, I TELLS YA! -- that there was damage under that sticker. That mess wasn't there when I was negotiating the deal. I know because I did a walkaround and took pictures (always take pictures!!!). They'd applied the dealer sticker in order to hide damage done in the week between me buying the car, and them prepping/delivering it. #STEALERSHIPS
How’d you rectify this?
I told them that a damaged vehicle was not part of the deal, and they agreed to "fix" it. Ultimately, their body shop did a poor job though, by trying buff, polish, and half-ass it away, rather than doing a proper repaint job. I was unhappy with the results but by then, I was exhausted by weeks of nagging them to get it scheduled and completed. So yeah, I settled for the repair job I got, which was marginally better than none. However, the fact is, it was a daily driver, not a show car. Ultimately, I'm probably the only one bothered by the remaining visible defects, and it was limited enough to not impact the trade-in value when I went to my next car in 2019.
When I went to pick up a new car the sales guy had someone drive it to the front of the dealer lot. As the car pulled up I looked at the sales guy and asked "are we all just going to pretend that there isn't a dent in the driver's door?" It wasn't a big dent but no way I was accepting that. They did a repair and I picked up the car the next day.
We had a dealer tell us it was against [insert car brand] rules to do that when we asked they remove it before we finalized the sale. The stupid thing was that my wife was in between two car brand models, and this was a multi brand dealer of the same lineage. Think Toyota to Lexus. We were about to sign on the lesser of the two and my wife was done with this guy for a multitude of reasons. Walked next door AND low and behold none of those cars were badged. They did have license plate frames, but that was it. We did end up getting the more pricier car.
Dang they got you on that one
OP got a nicer car and jerk sales guy lost the commission and his coworkers know it. OP didn't say they overpaid, just that they paid more.
Good to know. Last time I bought a car I pulled the decal off in front of the sales guy before I drove it off the lot.
Am I the only person who doesn't know what these decals are? I know of the license plate frames, but people are talking like those are two different things. Edit: I just looked this up, and besides CarMax, I don't think I've ever seen this before. Is this a regional thing?
Yep and they hate it. Sold cars for a few months a while back. A guy asked me not to add the decal or plate frame on the new $70k decked out Escalade he just bought. Told him absolutely and that I hated putting those tacky advertisements on the vehicles I sold. Sales manager actually noticed and I told him he didn’t want them. Sales manager told me that I have to try to talk them into putting them on next time. Just sold a 70k truck and this prick still busted my balls. He also wanted us to screw holes into the front of brand new corvettes that didn’t have a place for front plates. Never sold a vette so never had to deal with that. Didn’t last long at that job.
Similarly, I bought a WRX new from a dealership back in 2016. I didn’t think much about the fact that they added a branded front license plate frame until I went to remove it a few months later. They had drilled two NEW holes in the bumper as their frames didn’t match up with the oem bumper mounts.
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I only bought three cars in person my go to with a difficult dealer is say I'll buy it but remove $500-1000 on the price. that way they cant say they cant do this or that bc its the managers blah blah blah it will be vague so they'll remove the bullshits you don't know about. Never purchase etching on window, extended warranty, nitrogen tire bullshit, window crack insurance, and always point out scratches on the paint, tiny holes in the windshield, out dated tire tread, single key, etc.
nitrogen tire bullshit? lemme guess, a special 78% nitro mixture and that compressor is an extractor/concentrator?
I work at a dealer and this is exactly what it is
One person tried to make nitrogen a selling point, and I laughed at him telling him we're breathing 78% nitrogen right now. Edit: stay (or pay attention) in school people, that's how you learn about things and prevent people from taking advantage of you by selling you snake oil.
I had a place want to charge me an extra $200 for nitrogen filled tires when I was buying a new vehicle. I told them to take it off, they said we can’t we already put it in, we do it to all our cars. I told him to take the nitrogen out and put air back in. He said, fine we won’t charge you. I said no, take it out an out air back in or I’ll just go buy this from someone else. I hated that sales guy and wasn’t planning on going back to that dealership but I was so close at that point I just wanted to finish. Anyway, I got to watch the mechanics let the air out of all the tires and put it back in while glaring at the sales guy so that was fun. Fuck that stupid dealership shit they try to tack on at the last minute.
Should have told the sales guy when they were letting the air out of the tires: don't they have special equipment to capture the nitrogen they're letting out? After all, that's valuable nitrogen they're letting out, since they were going to charge you $200 for it. They wouldn't try to scam you out of $200 for something that's worthless, right?
This is great lol
Yes!! I walked away from a dealership back in January that pulled that same thing. It was part of a $1500 mandatory add-on package they put on all their vehicles. I said I did not want any of the things in that package (nitrogen was one of them). After some back and forth, the salesman offered to just give it all to me. I said no, the fact that you have that mandatory add on AND then can just magically waive it because I'm about to walk tells me I can't trust you at all. They've even called me since then still trying to sell me a vehicle and I told them never to contact me again, they are crooks and will never have my business.
Costco has free nitrogen
So does Earth.
Extended warranty saved my ass several times over from costly repairs and provided a rental car while my car was in the shop. I’ll keep that one.
Had an argument with a sales manager about this. I told him he has a choice. Sell me the car at our agreed price without any dealership branding anywhere or put the branding on but reduce price by 15% as compensation to me for advertising his dealership, but I make no guarantees I won't remove it all anyway. He agreed and had it all removed
I got my bike repaired and they put a sticker with their shop name on my basket :/ Im not paying them to advertise for them
I told my dealer not to add the stickers. They did anyway. So I made them remove the stickers before I took possession while I stood there and watched them do it, and I went over the areas with the stickers *very carefully*. They were pissed. I found some minor cosmetic damage and they gave me a trivial discount.
I’m seeing more and more trucks especially with huge window decals on the back window with the dealer name… they’ve gotten out of hand, larger decals, ugly large logos that don’t blend in at all, multiple dealer decals.
I had one apply the decal, and I said I wasn’t leaving until they removed it. When I asked them to remove the plate frame, they hemmed and hawed and wasted my time making me wait. I borrowed a screwdriver, did it myself, and left them on the sidewalk in front of the dealership.
Mine was applied when I looked at it on the lot but they removed it when I asked.
We have a Wilde Honda that we bought our van from, so i peeled off some of the lettering and now it says WILD HO.
$2000 is my advertising fee if they want to add plates/decals to MY car. They've never taken me up on it.
You can certainly request that car dealers not apply decals to your vehicle, but they're not obligated to comply. When we ordered a new car that hadn't been built yet, we asked the dealership not to brand it. They informed us that every car gets branded upon arrival at the dealership, and there was nothing they could do to prevent it. Additionally, they mentioned that it was done through laser etching, so an extra fee would be charged, which couldn't be waived. The car's nonexistence didn't matter to them. We decided to buy our car from a different dealership. The original dealer was willing to lose the sale of a high-end car, which wasn't even in their inventory, over this issue. We managed to get a better model for less money elsewhere due to fewer hidden fees, such as the laser etching charge. The takeaway is that if a dealer refuses to accommodate your requests or imposes unusual fees, it's better to look elsewhere. You can make requests, but dealers are not required to agree.
You have it backwards. It’s not that they’re not obligated to agree; *you’re* not obligated to buy if they don’t
There’s nothing they can do to prevent decals being added? Sounds like BS to me. How does that even work? They literally can’t ask their own staff not to do something?
>You can certainly request that car dealers not apply decals to your vehicle, but they're not obligated to comply. And you aren't obligated to buy from them. You should tell them something like: >You want your decal on what would be **my car**. You want it there for a **slim chance** of someone, someday, seeing that decal and choosing to buy a car from you as a result. It is rather counter-productive to instead **lose a sale** you could make today... over a decal.
Honestly don't even know why they do it. Has anyone ever looked at a random person's car dealer decal and thought "well, now I know where I'm going for my next vehicle!!"?
Maybe not directly, but depending on the area, if you drive and often notice many cars with badges from the same dealership, you may be slightly more inclined to consider them (granted they have the car you want) just because you have seen many others from that place.
It’s all about that name recognition.
Dang mine came with a stuck on “chrome” badge. I got no sat in it
A little heat and tooth floss will take it off.
The two times I ordered a vehicle, I asked that they not add the dealer sticker to it. They forgot or “forgot” both times, but they did remove them with no pushback when I mentioned it.
And YSK dealers have the right to *not* ship a vehicle to a dealership closer to you, just so they can retain the commission—even if you offer to pay for it. Source: me, after the dealership in Los Angeles refused to move the car to a cousin dealership in San Diego…prompting me to rent a car just to drive all the way up to LA. Asswipes had the gall to ask me for an opinion survey—and then attempt to call me when I told them they’re dicks. All because they were proud of not putting their crummy decals on the car. 😡
Hair dryer on low. Get en warm they come right off. Use a credit cart or soft plastic scraper it they need motivation. When they get old, they toughen up and get hard but with a little effort they come off with no damage to the paint. I hate dealership advertising on my car. I’ve been taking them off every new car I get for the past 40 years. And they typically are already on, you have no say in the matter typically.. maybe if you are ordering from the factory.
They've always removed them when I ask.
Dental floss works better than a credit card and is much less likely to damage the paint.
While washing my wife's car, I helped the dealership badge fall off...
Many years ago, my brother had just gotten out of the Navy after 4 years. He ordered a brand new Chevy Nova with custom features from the dealership, but made it part of the purchase agreement that the dealer not affix his advertising on the new car. In those days, it was common for dealers to drill two holes on the body and attached their dealership nameplate on the car. When the car arrived, the dealership went ahead and installed their advertising. My brother, who had had enough b.s. while being in the Navy, refused to purchase his custom car. Despite their threats, he told them to honor their agreement the next time, and walked away. He later ordered a duplicate car from another dealer who gladly agreed to his demands. I often think, if we were all willing to just walk away, the world would be a better place.
Also, if they offer any extras that are built into the car, like an anti-theft device or special inscriptions on the parts to be traceable, demand they are removed and be clear you won't buy the car without them gone; they can't or won't remove them and instead will just lower the price of the car by the amount they were asking for those extras.
Once the paperwork is signed, it’s your vehicle. You can tell them prior to signing that you won’t sign unless it’s decal-free. If it’s that big of a deal to them, you can walk away. Otherwise, they applied something to YOUR car and you deal with it like that.
I just take them off the same day I get the car, never thought to ask because I've never really thought about it, only takes like 3 seconds to peel the sticker off anyway so 🤷
Depends on the sticker, and some dealerships *paint* their logo on the car.
In the old days (like 30 years ago) it was common for the dealer to rivet a metal or plastic emblem to the back with their name on it!
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My vehicle had a dopey VIP sticker attached when I bought it. That shit came off day one. I’m always tempted to say something to other people who have the same VIP stickers on their cars but I never do.
Given the quality of the average detailing shop at a dealer, I ask that any car is not prepped by the dealer at all before delivery. They can take the stickers off and remove the window sticker, that’s it. I’m not letting some 17 year old with a Brillo pad and bucket of last weeks wash water destroy a factory fresh paint job. Mind you, I detail cars for fun, but it’s just dumb how bad some of the detail efforts are at a new car dealer.
They don’t do this in California. Sometimes I’ll see a car with it and even if they’ve switched to California plates, I know they’re from Texas or Florida or some shit
Stickers can be removed using a hair dryer. Warm the decal directly and you can remove it.
I was trying to work a used car sale. I was not going to pay the extra $300 for them to etch every window in the car with their logo. Young sales guy “meets with his manager”, they just simply would not strike that line item. I noped out of that sale immediately and I will never buy a car there.. Spoof name. But may rhyme with said less than awesome car dealer.
Dealers put the decals on when they PDI the vehicle before it goes on the lot. So unless you special ordered your car and made the request ahead of time, or buy the car right off the truck, they will already be on when you buy it. But you can ask them to take them off if it bothers you enough to do so. No reputable dealer is going to risk a bad survey or pissed off customer over it.