Removed Dealer Decal after a Year. Possible Faded Paint?

SwissCheese

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:


During (decal removed, lots of adhesive remaining):


After:


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?

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Mods: Fast Intentions Resonated Test Pipes and TDX Exhaust with 18" Resonators (#1054), K&N Drop-Ins, GTR Start Button

monaser1994

Buff and wax

1LIFE

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

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Memphis370Z

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.

Junkman2008

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.




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

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Limeybastard

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