Removed Dealer Decal after a Year. Possible Faded Paint?
 

So today, I finally got around to removing the Carmax decal on my car. It's been on the car for a good 1 - 1.5 years.

My Process:
After cleaning the area with soapy water and drying it, I used a hair dryer to warm up the decal and its adhesive. Since the logo was made up of several small "decals", I had to peel each piece individually. It wasn't difficult, just annoying.

After removing the decal, I used some Goo Gone and a micro-fiber towel to rub off the remaining adhesive. After some rubbing, I washed the area again with some soapy water. I repeated this process with the Goo Gone two more times before all the adhesive was gone.

Photos:
Here are some pics of the area with the decal from before, during, and after the removal process.

Before:
http://i.imgur.com/hyIR3rrh.jpg

During (decal removed, lots of adhesive remaining):
http://i.imgur.com/nxf8DnFh.jpg

After:
http://i.imgur.com/e9U2c3gh.jpg

Question - Faded Paint?
If you look hard enough at the third photo, you can see the outline from where the decal used to be. I'm pretty confident that I removed all of the adhesive, which leads me to believe that it is due to faded paint. As I mentioned above, the decal has been on the car for 1 - 1.5 years. My car spends most of its time in my garage or in the covered parking ramp at work (so, not in direct sunlight).

Is there anything I can do to make the "faded" paint less noticeable?

Buff and wax

First thing I would try is Meguiars ScratchX 2.0.. Ive had good success with using it on trouble spots similar to yours. Easy pick up at Walmart and you will not hurt/damage paint if it works or don't work

Glad you posted this. I've been wondering the same thing.

Thanks for recommending this. I'll give it a shot. Since removing my dealer decal a month or so ago, I shake my head every time I look at the difference in the paint. MB is such a bitch to maintain.

Good luck with that stuff. I wouldn't waste my time with that particular OTC product when you can get the professional version of the Meguiar's compound sitting on the same shelf.

I had this issue with an 2003 Infinity G35. You can clearly see the outline of the badges that had been on the car for a few years.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...tl_clinic5.jpg


The damage was bad enough that I had to wet sand the hologram away and then polish the paint back out.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...tl_clinic6.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...tl_clinic7.jpg

Becareful with the paint on the rear bumper, it gets really soft in direct sunlight.