Debadging.....not such a good idea.

[DVDSteve]

Well...after successfully debadging my wife's ML320 last week, I thought I'd give it a go on my MO. I used filament to remove the letters and WD40 to take off the excess sticky stuff. Somehow small chunks of paint came off with the stick'em! Had to use touch up paint and now my MO's back end looks like...well, you get the idea. Guess I'll have to go buy an Altima 3.5 letter kit to cover over the uglies.

And yes....I expect to see a thread of "you should have done this or that's"....


Pewter SE w/VDC/No Nav/Falken tires/and an ugly ass back end (now).

[higbyz]

What a sin ,that is too bad,cant you make an attempt to rebadge and cover up the chips?I will leave that beautiful butt alone!

[Ohgeez]

Sorry about your MOs butt.

This concerns me. I'm starting to wonder about how long our MOs are going to look.

On Tuesday, I was detailing the Mo because I had taken a trip to Ohio so there were dead bugs all over the front end. When it comes to washing and waxing cars, I become a perfectionist. (wish I was that way about everything else in life ) Anyway, I noticed what appeared to be a few small chips about the size of a large pin head. You can only see it if your about a few inches from the bumper so it's no big deal. But what I did notice was, it doesn't look like a chip but almost like the paint is flaking off. I've only had the Mo for a few months so I hate to imagine what it's going to look like in a few years.

When I get home tonight, I will take some close up shots and post them.

[Sw1tched]

It's a shame it didn't work out for you, the MO looks really good when it's debadged. Hopefully you get it all patched up in the near future

[Doombringer]

I wonder if this is happening to other newer vehicles out there (paint chipping, flaking). I've heard that newer paint is water-based because of the EPA and such, but I haven't heard complaints from other car owners...

Then again, I haven't been involved in auto discussions like I am with the MO

[KSmurano]

DVD - I'm Sorry to hear about your bad luck with your MO's A$$. I know you don't want to hear this, but I have never had that problem on my last 10 cars that I have debadged! I love them clean......

FYI - my wife put a 5" scratch on the bumper of the Spyder last year & I had Dr Dent airbrush it out.
They did a great job of matching & blending it!

OGz - man you've got me watching the clock, waiting to go home & check my hood out closely!
This is why I've been on a hunt for a MO Bra, I like being able to put on some extra protection for those long trips.

Doom - I'm with you on never being so involved on a board before!

[03GoldMurano]

The paint chipping seems to be a Murano issue. Take a close look at how thin the paint is. If things continue the way they are, the front end of my car will look 10 years old in about 1 year. I can't believe how easily this paint chips, I've never seen anything like this. I guess this is a non-issue with Nissan. Supposedly this kind of thing is not covered at all and we have to deal with chipped up front ends?

[Mike_TX]

The paint chipping seems to be a Murano issue. Take a close look at how thin the paint is. If things continue the way they are, the front end of my car will look 10 years old in about 1 year. I can't believe how easily this paint chips, I've never seen anything like this. I guess this is a non-issue with Nissan. Supposedly this kind of thing is not covered at all and we have to deal with chipped up front ends?

Nah ... my $55,000 2003 BMW 540i has a bunch of chips on the leading edge of the hood after only 10,000 miles. There may be something to the stories about paint formulation changing, but whatever it is, it ain't unique to Nissan.

What gets me are the little tiny chips in the windshield ... I don't remember having a lot of trouble with this in the past, but in the last couple of years it seems like chips just materialize out of nowhere ... and no, I don't drive on gravel roads.

[gregep]

DVDSteve, it's really a shame that you had that problem. I debadged my MO a few weeks ago, and although it was much more trouble than I anticipated from the experiences I had read here, it looked (and looks) great. I hope you can get it fixed to your satisfaction.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned--I wonder if the paint adheres to the composite material of the hatch the way that it adheres to the sheet metal parts of the M0. Or perhaps the paint on the hatch is a different formulation for the composite. I can see a slight difference in the appearance of the color in bright sunlight between the two on my blue MO.

[SpaceGhost]

I also thought the debadging process was more difficult than expected. But everything came off without a hitch and I am satisfied with the result. I used goo gone, not WD-40, per discussions in this group. Could that have been your downfall, DVD?

I did have some ever so slight ghost images of the letters outlined...but I think they are close to not existant now and are definitely not noticeable unless you are looking for it. But I am also very particular about things when I DIY. So I am more scrutinizing than your average person.

[D_Nyholm]

Well, the paint problem is not a non issue, Nissan/Infiniti just don't seem to care about it. That is why MANY of the G35 owners have purchased clear bras for their cars. I had my clear bra installed at 1100 miles and I already had about 15 chips on the front if the car/roof/fender flares. I took extreme caution driving on the highway and made sure that I didn't tailgate at all. Still got the chips. IMHO, Infinit/Nissan paint sucks!!

[Mike995134]

The paint chipping seems to be a Murano issue.

Actually it seems that this is becoming a more common issue with all later make vehciles (because of the revised EPA restrictions which lead to the use of revised paint formulas).

Anyway ... just on FA alone, check out the G and FX forums and you'll see lots of posts on chipping paint on the front end.

Guess I'm gonna' get the clear bra sooner rather than later.

[N2MURANOS]

Debadging is a good idea....

For those thinking about doing it, try my technique. Grab a blow dryer/ hair dryer and direct it to one letter for about three minutes. This will soften the adhesive. Then just peel off the letter slowly so that most of the adhesive stays on the letter. If there are some adhesive left on the Murano just rub it with your fingers until you can take it off. Adding chemicals of any type can harm the paint's surface. Good Luck!

[BigDon]

Do yourselves a favor. Do not debadge your murano. If you insist, only remove SL or SE and the AWD. Looks much too naked if bareback.

[Stew24]

I can't get with this de-badging. When I see a vehicle missing it's proper lettering, I see only one thing ... "Poorly repaired wrecked vehicle". It simply looks like a crash repair financed out of pocket, instead of an insurance repair. It looks like some paint work has been done, and the lettering either cost too much, or couldn't be found. I guess I just pay too much close attention to details, because I always notice improperly matched panels, improper paint match, missing lettering, etc.,on other vehicles, .. and it always looks bad to me. I have traded vehicles before because it irked me so bad to have any visible sign of previous crash damage/repair, .. and this is just what de-badging looks like to me.

[N2MURANOS]

I guess debadging is not for everyone. Most people think it makes the car look "cleaner" and some people think it looks salvaged. But if it's for you... don't use chemicals to take the emblems off.

In my opinion it's worse to rebadge emblems that never came with the Murano to begin with. (3.5L or V6) That's just my opinion.