I have some stickers I'd like to put on my 2011 PB GSR. They are original Ralliart stickers.

I have clay barred, sealed, and waxed my car. I am very meticulous about the paint care and would hate to see a blemish. The car is in a garage 99% of the time.

I'd like to put these Ralliart stickers on my car. What I'm worried about is after them being on there a year, the black paint may fade a bit but the paint under the sticker will not. If the sticker gets damaged it will have to removed. What are the odds there will be a noticeable blemish left behind? I know the paint is less than great, so perhaps it's prone to fading more-so than usual?

Thanks for any input

 

If your car doesn't spend full days in the sun standing there, it should take a VERY long time for a visible blemish to be there, while if your car is parked in the sun often, then there will be actual visible markings in less than a year.

 

Well I do live in a rainy state. But with that being said, there could be a time coming up where I have to start DDing my car for work. I guess I could always get a car cover or find a covered parking facility.

 

You'll be fine, especially since it sounds like you take care of your car. My car has had decals on and off of it so many different time and the paint is just fine. I've taken really good care of mine forever, and it looks clean.

From this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gates311/3651522789/http://www.flickr.com/photos/gates311/3651522789/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/gates311/, on Flickr

To this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gates311/5980739456/http://www.flickr.com/photos/gates311/5980739456/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/gates311/, on Flickr

And to this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gates311/5751814361/http://www.flickr.com/photos/gates311/5751814361/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/gates311/, on Flickr

 

Ryan, that's pretty interesting.

I figured you had repainted by now (especially after your 2nd engine failure, wasn't their a fire?)

I'm sure your car is the ultimate test for this too. Thanks for the input.

 

No it hasn't been repainted, there have been a few new pieces here and there over time, but for the most part the paint is OEM. I'm pretty on top of it though, I have to have a clean car. Sounds like you're the same...so no worries on the decals. The fire was in the engine bay, and burned underneath to the rear bumper, which was replaced.

 

Ahhh, I knew I had something in my memory about the rear bumper being messed up.

Cool, I think I'm gonna go for it. I'll post pictures when I'm done . Thanks everyone.

 

Well there you have to. What better reassurance. Go for it!

 

I was thinking about doing the same thing on my AS X. My car is my DD, and garaged when not sitting in the parking lot at work, so it would see plenty of sun.

I've done the same thing, washed, clay-barred, sealed, waxed. Should I have the same concerns with a lighter color than PB as the OP has?

 

I like that ams stickers!

 

I have a WW and had sponsor graphics all across my rear quarter panels and doors for an entire year. The car is a DD and is NEVER parked in a garage unless I go to a mall or somewhere that has one. The car has been drag raced, auto-xed and was driven for an overall 15k or so miles over the past year with the stickers on it.

I just removed the vinyl about a month ago and, after a little tlc, there is no visible difference anywhere on the car. It's like they never existed. The most important part is taking care of your paint regularly: clay at least 2-3 times a year, then polish and seal immediately after clay (duh), and just clean and wax regularly (I personally wash the car every week or two and try to "spray wax" every other wash).

The other part of the trick is to make sure you have just detailed the car prior to installing the vinyl and make sure there is a nice fresh coat of wax that you'll be laying the decals on. Then, while on the car, continue to care for the paint as normal and when it comes time to remove the decals, use VERY light heat to soften them and peel them off by hand. Then use a high quality adhesive remover to get rid of any excess sticky gunk without having to rub too much and damage the paint. Then strip the entire car of any remaining wax and do a complete full detail again; clay, polish, seal, wax.

Good to go!

 

I work at a dealership and we have a car covered in vinyl stickers and it was 2 yrs sitting outside every day with it on. But once we removed the vinyl you could see where the vinyl was on because the rest of the paint that wasnt cover by the vinyl faded. It was a black car so that makes it I think the worst color to see the difference. But in my option the detail department at my work sucks soo...

 

Couldnt have been said any better!! Do this and your car will always look nice!


Only bad thing about doing this is, when your cleaning your car you notice every new little scratch/rock chip and road debris. But every other person doesnt see it

 

Wow, good to know. On the other hand this is an extreme. I wonder what the happy medium of sitting in a garage most of the time and in the sun the rest of the time. Ugh, now I'm not so sure

 

Thanks for the quick response. I was going to wash, clay, seal, and wax again over the weekend. I may just end up doing this when I'm done!