OFFICIAL 2012 SPGP INFO THREAD
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 886
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From: Ann Arbor, MI
Just peeled mine off. I peeled half off in the sun (parking lot at work) and the other half I took off in the shade (parking garage)after the car was cooled off on the drive to school. No issues (aside from the nice pollen outlines), but they came off much easier while the car was warm.
ViperASR, I think I remember you had some issues with some of your decals. Did you end up putting any of them on yourself? Not saying you did anything wrong, just looking for discrepancies...
If you applied them yourself, what kind of soap did you use? I did my front bumper decal after the decal day, and while reading online about applying them, I saw somewhere that there are specific kinds of soaps you shouldn't use. It's the only thing I can think of, particularly if your girlfriend's car has never been painted. In general, the whole application process seems relatively harmless...Also, could there have been something harmful left in the container used for the soap/water mixture (bleach, greased lightning, etc. leftover/residue in a spray bottle?)?
(1) Cheap clear on repainted front bumpers
(2) Reaction between the paint and whatever application mixture was used
(3) Excessive strength or amount of adhesive on decals (unlikely since it happened on both cars)
I hope you are able to find out what caused this, and I hope it didn't cause too much damage!
ViperASR, I think I remember you had some issues with some of your decals. Did you end up putting any of them on yourself? Not saying you did anything wrong, just looking for discrepancies...
If you applied them yourself, what kind of soap did you use? I did my front bumper decal after the decal day, and while reading online about applying them, I saw somewhere that there are specific kinds of soaps you shouldn't use. It's the only thing I can think of, particularly if your girlfriend's car has never been painted. In general, the whole application process seems relatively harmless...Also, could there have been something harmful left in the container used for the soap/water mixture (bleach, greased lightning, etc. leftover/residue in a spray bottle?)?
(1) Cheap clear on repainted front bumpers
(2) Reaction between the paint and whatever application mixture was used
(3) Excessive strength or amount of adhesive on decals (unlikely since it happened on both cars)
I hope you are able to find out what caused this, and I hope it didn't cause too much damage!
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,048
Likes: 1
All the decals were put on at the decal day, I didn't do any on my own. The only thing weird was on my car, and that was because of the XM antenna on the trunk.
My only thought is that it was a combination of weak clear, and maybe that they weren't out in the sun long enough. However, I feel like heat on the decals would help yes, but it's not like it would be enough to prevent the clear from coming up with them. The decals were vynal, its not like they had a glue on them. The clear was stuck to the back of the decal, it's not like it just kinda fell off. My suspision is there was something going on with the clear, and that it wasn't something I did. The clear itself was the only thing that came up, it didn't peel up paint or anything like that.
But it is odd that I'm the only one who has had this problem, and I had it on both cars.
The damage is bad enough that both cars will require at least the front bumper to get resprayed. Mine is significantly worse than hers, but I may just leave mine for the time being and see about getting hers fixed. The good news overall is that neither front bumper was perfect, so it may just be an excuse to get the cars cleaned up. I'm hoping that the paint on her front end is good enough that after we get the bumper painted we can clear bra the front of the car to help keep it nice.
Maybe next year someone should make a bold post about waxing the car before doing the decals, and letting them bake before peeling them off. Idk of that would have saved the cars in my case, it may have just been really bad luck in that it happened to both of them.
My only thought is that it was a combination of weak clear, and maybe that they weren't out in the sun long enough. However, I feel like heat on the decals would help yes, but it's not like it would be enough to prevent the clear from coming up with them. The decals were vynal, its not like they had a glue on them. The clear was stuck to the back of the decal, it's not like it just kinda fell off. My suspision is there was something going on with the clear, and that it wasn't something I did. The clear itself was the only thing that came up, it didn't peel up paint or anything like that.
But it is odd that I'm the only one who has had this problem, and I had it on both cars.
The damage is bad enough that both cars will require at least the front bumper to get resprayed. Mine is significantly worse than hers, but I may just leave mine for the time being and see about getting hers fixed. The good news overall is that neither front bumper was perfect, so it may just be an excuse to get the cars cleaned up. I'm hoping that the paint on her front end is good enough that after we get the bumper painted we can clear bra the front of the car to help keep it nice.
Maybe next year someone should make a bold post about waxing the car before doing the decals, and letting them bake before peeling them off. Idk of that would have saved the cars in my case, it may have just been really bad luck in that it happened to both of them.
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2007
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From: Ft. Myers/Cape Coral
Well that stinks 
Usually the only reason peeling off a decal would do that is if that particular part has been repainted. Thats the only instance I can think of people having issues with that in the bast, not the stock paint.
Also, for future reference, the easiest(best) way to peel vinyl decals off is to let them sit in the hot sun for a while. They come off much easier. Thats why we pulled all the decals of the S when we got home Sunday afternoon since the car had been sitting in the sun all day.
Usually the only reason peeling off a decal would do that is if that particular part has been repainted. Thats the only instance I can think of people having issues with that in the bast, not the stock paint.
Also, for future reference, the easiest(best) way to peel vinyl decals off is to let them sit in the hot sun for a while. They come off much easier. Thats why we pulled all the decals of the S when we got home Sunday afternoon since the car had been sitting in the sun all day.
Plus I put on hell of a coat of wax on the day before.
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,642
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Waxing the car is not needed. More than likely you had bumpers that had crappy or deteriorated paint. Aside from using a razor blade..there really isn't a right or wrong way to take them off. Wax..no wax..sun.. or no sun..
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,048
Likes: 1
That's what I figured, if the clear pulled up that easy, it was just crappy paint.
As far as the razor blade, it was easy to peel up a corner, and then peel the decal from there. On the spots where the clear peeled, it was only part of the decal that would peel the clear, not the whole thing. I don't think any amount of blade/sun/wax would have prevented it.
Looking at her bumper, there are a ton of spots that look like stone chips, but it's only thru the clear. My guess is it's just the clear lifting on small stone hits, hard enough to beat up the crappy clear, but not enough to go thru the paint.
I always felt like my paint was bad on my front bumper, because it was already cracked/peeling from where I ran something over in the garage. It wasn't too much of a surprise when it lifted.
I feel like hell for screwing the cars up, but they will come out looking much better in a few months. It does make me feel a little better hearing that it most likely wasn't something I did, and it was crappy paint.
(and I know you are reading this, don't get too excited :-P)
As far as the razor blade, it was easy to peel up a corner, and then peel the decal from there. On the spots where the clear peeled, it was only part of the decal that would peel the clear, not the whole thing. I don't think any amount of blade/sun/wax would have prevented it.
Looking at her bumper, there are a ton of spots that look like stone chips, but it's only thru the clear. My guess is it's just the clear lifting on small stone hits, hard enough to beat up the crappy clear, but not enough to go thru the paint.
I always felt like my paint was bad on my front bumper, because it was already cracked/peeling from where I ran something over in the garage. It wasn't too much of a surprise when it lifted.
I feel like hell for screwing the cars up, but they will come out looking much better in a few months. It does make me feel a little better hearing that it most likely wasn't something I did, and it was crappy paint.
(and I know you are reading this, don't get too excited :-P)
