So this just happened.... = /

[Bernie Fen]

Went ahead with a re-badge project this morning and this happened. Took a heat gun and as I carefully pry out the badge, part of the paint came off completely exposing the primer (DO NOT USE A CREDIT CARD! use a proper pry tool) Sooooo pissed at myself. Not only that, putting the STINGER badge on the rear wasn't as simple as i thought it would be as I accidentally set the heat gun on HIGH and melted a small portion of the paint (FML). It looked horrible and I was crying, kicking and screaming inside my head. Sadly I didn't get a chance to snap a Before and After as I was already having bad day. Note to self - be a little more patient when doing this type of mods or if you ain't confident, DON'T DO IT, leave it as is or get it done professionally! So I called up a nearby auto body shop and was able to get a fair estimate ($500) to repair the damaged area (front and rear). The technician offered to completely shave the front badge and even out the paint so it will look clean and will also repair the rear - so with that said, i'm pretty excited on how that clean look front will turn out. It is now sitting at the body shop waiting to be repaired. Today's disaster cost me nearly $800 (with car rental) that I didn't have to spend thanks to my boneheaded DIY. Lesson learned BIG TIME. Will post after I get my baby back.

 

[Blitz]

Awe man that blows. I don't know why everyone recommends heat guns!?! It has been proven debadging can be done with no ill effects with just fishing wire/wedges and goo gone. Adding in the heat gun ups the risk by ALOT.

 

[Bernie Fen]

Awe man that blows. I don't know why everyone recommends heat guns!?! It has been proven debadging can be done with no ill effects with just fishing wire/wedges and goo gone. Adding in the heat gun ups the risk by ALOT.

yea man.. it was my first time using a heat gun. I normally go for a fishing wire to avoid hideous scratches as such.... for the record, i didn't have a proper wedge tool so I ofted for a credit card FML. so freagen pissed at myself and could have avoided this costly disaster by being a little more patient. Maybe i was just too anxious to get it done right away. Now, my mind is like BLAH... definitely a lesson learned.

 

[Blitz]

yea man.. it was my first time using a heat gun. I normally go for a fishing wire to avoid hideous scratches as such.... so freagen pissed at myself and could have avoided this costly disaster by being a little more patient. Maybe i was just too anxious to get it done right away. Now, my mind is like BLAH... definitely a lesson learned.

Can't change it now. Shrug it off my man!

 

[Bernie Fen]

Can't change it now. Shrug it off my man!

trying man, thanks. By far the worse DIY I've done to date. Never again.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I am glad you posted this self flagellation. It will help others to reconsider before they go off all hubris "me do it meself". You are taking a hit for the team, as it were, by admitting what happened. And lessons learned are good for the future.

This car has taught me a lot about being patient, and also about not being afraid to spend some money to do a job right (use the pros, in most cases). I've rashed my forward rims several/many times in the last eleven months. And although I have "perfected" a sanding method for restoring the main appearance, I don't kid myself that it looks like a professional restoration job. Rather than rush off and do that the first time or even second or third time I curb rash my wheels, I have waited to see what lies ahead. And guess what? CAR WASH RASH! Yep, the owner told me this morning: "Yours is the first damaged rim I've had in over ten years. I'm so sorry the new kid drove your can in wrong when I wasn't around." The lesson: don't rush off to fix something that is likely to just get repeated: you'll spend money on a wasted effort. (I am not going to repair my rims in OEM two tone finish: I am having them powder coated glossy black; which will be tons easier to fix with touch up paint than trying to sand down alloy. So I am paying for the pros to fix my rims ONCE, in a fashion that will be more practical for me to fix as I go along.)

There are many examples of patience reaping the benefit of saving money in the long run.

 

[Callum]

I’ve said it a few times, and I’ll say it again.

DONT USE HEAT ON THE STINGER.

 

[Bernie Fen]

I am glad you posted this self flagellation. It will help others to reconsider before they go off all hubris "me do it meself". You are taking a hit for the team, as it were, by admitting what happened. And lessons learned are good for the future.

This car has taught me a lot about being patient, and also about not being afraid to spend some money to do a job right (use the pros, in most cases). I've rashed my forward rims several/many times in the last eleven months. And although I have "perfected" a sanding method for restoring the main appearance, I don't kid myself that it looks like a professional restoration job. Rather than rush off and do that the first time or even second or third time I curb rash my wheels, I have waited to see what lies ahead. And guess what? CAR WASH RASH! Yep, the owner told me this morning: "Yours is the first damaged rim I've had in over ten years. I'm so sorry the new kid drove your can in wrong when I wasn't around." The lesson: don't rush off to fix something that is likely to just get repeated: you'll spend money on a wasted effort. (I am not going to repair my rims in OEM two tone finish: I am having them powder coated glossy black; which will be tons easier to fix with touch up paint than trying to sand down alloy. So I am paying for the pros to fix my rims ONCE, in a fashion that will be more practical for me to fix as I go along.)

There are many examples of patience reaping the benefit of saving money in the long run.

Yeah def lesson learned. As pissed as I was about myself, I'm slowly starting to get over it. It could have been alot worse like a crack bumper etc.

 

[GenesisG70]

Feel ya pain!!! Hopefully your baby gets fixed soon.
For me I keep the Kia badge, to mee looks good and shows proudly its a Kia, the 5th biggest car maker on planet earth.

 

[Bernie Fen]

I’ve said it a few times, and I’ll say it again.

DONT USE HEAT ON THE STINGER.

im im a new member. So no way I would have gotten your message. But noted.

 

[Bernie Fen]

Feel ya pain!!! Hopefully your baby gets fixed soon.
For me I keep the Kia badge, to mee looks good and shows proudly its a Kia, the 5th biggest car maker on planet earth.

Yeah I kept the Kia badge, but the front one flew off the freeway earlier. Oh well. The shop will go for the clean look upfront and I will not be putting a badge on it. I think it'll look more sophisticated without any badging. Cant wait.

 

[Bernie Fen]

I am glad you posted this self flagellation. It will help others to reconsider before they go off all hubris "me do it meself". You are taking a hit for the team, as it were, by admitting what happened. And lessons learned are good for the future.

This car has taught me a lot about being patient, and also about not being afraid to spend some money to do a job right (use the pros, in most cases). I've rashed my forward rims several/many times in the last eleven months. And although I have "perfected" a sanding method for restoring the main appearance, I don't kid myself that it looks like a professional restoration job. Rather than rush off and do that the first time or even second or third time I curb rash my wheels, I have waited to see what lies ahead. And guess what? CAR WASH RASH! Yep, the owner told me this morning: "Yours is the first damaged rim I've had in over ten years. I'm so sorry the new kid drove your can in wrong when I wasn't around." The lesson: don't rush off to fix something that is likely to just get repeated: you'll spend money on a wasted effort. (I am not going to repair my rims in OEM two tone finish: I am having them powder coated glossy black; which will be tons easier to fix with touch up paint than trying to sand down alloy. So I am paying for the pros to fix my rims ONCE, in a fashion that will be more practical for me to fix as I go along.)

There are many examples of patience reaping the benefit of saving money in the long run.

That's another thing I'm most paranoid about (curb rashing etc). I always make room between the curves. Ruining your wheels is the same as damaging your nice pair of Jordans (I don't own one). Agreed with your whole statement above. Will be more careful from now on.

 

[Cayra]

Considered doing it myself.... but decided not to

 

[Mike04SVT]

It may not be the heat gun. The paint quality on these cars is horrible. I have took the badges off tons of cars without problems. when taking mine of it peeled two small pieces of paint of. On mine it was due to poor paint coating and drying process. Its a gamble to change out the badges even if you take it to a shop with "professionals".

 

[Bernie Fen]

Considered doing it myself.... but decided not to

Yeah might be smart to just leave it. If I can bring back time, I would have not even attempted it.

 

[eflyguy]

No issues with my 2019. No heat gun used when I did mine in the fall - probably 50ºF or less. Not pointing blame, but also don't want people thinking there's anything unique about this paint on these cars. Many besides myself have removed badges with no issue.

 

[Bernie Fen]

It may not be the heat gun. The paint quality on these cars is horrible. I have took the badges off tons of cars without problems. when taking mine of it peeled two small pieces of paint of. On mine it was due to poor paint coating and drying process. Its a gamble to change out the badges even if you take it to a shop with "professionals".

Yeah that's what I thought too. Ive done rebadging on my past vehicles, including my two previous optimas and Genesis coupe and i've never seen shit like this. So disappointing that Kia would even cut corners with the paint. SMH.

 

[Soca Boy]

Yeah I kept the Kia badge, but the front one flew off the freeway earlier. Oh well. The shop will go for the clean look upfront and I will not be putting a badge on it. I think it'll look more sophisticated without any badging. Cant wait.

That’s my plan, please post when it’s done. I saw someone on the forums with a white one that doesn’t have a badge and it looked sick.

 

[BBB]

Awe man that blows. I don't know why everyone recommends heat guns!?! It has been proven debadging can be done with no ill effects with just fishing wire/wedges and goo gone. Adding in the heat gun ups the risk by ALOT.

No issues removing all my badging with a blow-dryer, goo gone and some elbow grease.

 

[Doel]

There are three things I would tell people when removing the badges, if they follow all three they will not damage their paint.

First, don't use a heat gun, ever, a hot day is adequate, you can use a hair dryer as well.

Second, use painters tape all around the badge, if you skip this you will scratch up your clear.

Lastly and most importantly, DO NOT PRY THE BADGE OFF. I've seen a couple videos where people separate the adhesive at the edges then yank the sucker off, do NOT do that. The adhesive on the back is incredibly strong and if I had to guess, that's part of the reason people are losing paint. The bond to the paint in some cases is stronger than the paint bond to the primer, the weakest link will always break first. There is adhesive in the middle that you will never reach with just fishing line, you need something skinny, thin, and plastic to push in there to break up the adhesive. Once you have cut/broken up all the adhesive, your badge should come off with very little effort. If you're gripping it tight and having to yank on it you're doing it wrong.

Regardless, it's just money to get it fixed. I have 5k on mine and already had to get a fender fixed and the front bumper recleared, stuff happens. Having no badge on the front I think will look great.