Decals Showing in paint when removed

jtrujillo · April 3, 2019

I took my vehicle to have a paint correction at a body shop. It is a 2017 GMC Sierra All Terrain in black. I purchased this vehicle with 7 miles on it, it has 22,000 mile, it has never been off-road or in an accident. I requested that the body shop remove all GMC emblems and badging because I like my vehicles this way. About an hour after dropping off the vehicle I was asked to go back to look at the tailgate. They stated it had been repainted and wanted me to see before they touched the paint. The imperfections were behind the GMC, SIERRA and ALL TERRAIN emblems. After removing the emblems, you can see in the paint the letters of GMC and SIERRA, the ALL TERRAIN looks like a square.

I took it to the dealership I purchased it from. They checked their records to see if was damaged on their lot, they found nothing. They also pulled a Carfax on my truck to make sure I was not in an accident before taking them the truck. At my purchasing dealership the body shop manager took a look at the tailgate and stated he had never seen that before but verified that the tailgate has not been repainted. He examined the edges of the tailgate and said if it was painted that's where you can tell. He also complimented multiple times on the condition of the paint multiple times. stating it was the cleanest black truck he has seen. after speaking with the GM, she stated that it has been almost two years since purchase and that the vehicle is supposed to have the emblems. A second body shop employee also came out to look at it and stated that it is too perfect other then seeing where the emblems were to have been repainted. We are not sure how this will play out or how/if they will make it right .

Has anyone else experienced this?

1SLOW1500 · April 3, 2019

Sorry man but you are spending to much time worring about it just buff it out and polish. And it will look better then ever. I would have done that anyways.

jtrujillo · April 3, 2019

This was one option we mentioned to them. The imperfection is not on the surface, it is not in the clear, but it is in the actual paint. The dealers body shop manager said it could stay worse if they were to color sand it.

DeePa · April 3, 2019

Ask the shop how they removed the glue

if they used a 3m eraser wheel on too high of a speed, it can burn the paint under the clear.

Had it happen in two small spots on my crimson red but not enough for me to worry about it.

damnthetorpedoes · April 4, 2019

3 hours ago, jtrujillo said:

This was one option we mentioned to them. The imperfection is not on the surface, it is not in the clear, but it is in the actual paint. The dealers body shop manager said it could stay worse if they were to color sand it.

That sounds unlikely. Did they try cutting and polishing? I would try finding someone else to look at it. I am yet to find a dealership body shop that is competent at buffing. The only way it could get worse is if they damage the clear coat. There is no way that the lettering would damage the base coat without effecting the clear.

I’ve debadged two different 2017’s and both had some level of ghosting. I corrected it with a very light compound/polish. No wet sanding required.

jtrujillo · April 4, 2019

15 hours ago, DeePa said:

Ask the shop how they removed the glue

if they used a 3m eraser wheel on too high of a speed, it can burn the paint under the clear.

Had it happen in two small spots on my crimson red but not enough for me to worry about it.

They did use the 3m eraser wheel to remove SIERRA but the GMC adhesive was removed with the wheel while I was there. the imperfection was showing on parts that didn't require the wheel.

12 hours ago, damnthetorpedoes said:

That sounds unlikely. Did they try cutting and polishing? I would try finding someone else to look at it. I am yet to find a dealership body shop that is competent at buffing. The only way it could get worse is if they damage the clear coat. There is no way that the lettering would damage the base coat without effecting the clear.

I’ve debadged two different 2017’s and both had some level of ghosting. I corrected it with a very light compound/polish. No wet sanding required.

The clear coat is perfect. It is under the clear. The body shop who polished my truck told me it looks like the emblems were placed on the black while the paint was wet then lifted and re-cleared. In the paint you can see the back of the emblem imprinted.

bhales · April 4, 2019

i started to remove all my badging but behind the Z71 badge the paint is rubbed through and im not getting my truck repainted just to debadge it. truck had 1500 miles on it when i tried

Edited April 4, 2019 by bhales

Joppy818 · October 28, 2019

Would time matter? If I did this on five year old truck versus a one. Would it be anymore difficult to polish out the "ghost" I debadged the doors on my 15 and never got around to the tailgate. Would it be difficult to polish out five years later

davester · October 28, 2019

Longer you wait, the more the surrounding paint/clearcoat will fade from sunlight/wear&tear.

Edited October 28, 2019 by davester

xSHIFTxNASTYx · October 28, 2019

Simple solution for me was some Meguiar's ScratchX 2.0

I removed some badges and had the same ghosting/imperfections in the clear coat. A bit of ScratchX made a huge difference.

Mikeg77583 · June 27, 2020

Any updates? I had the same thing happen to me. Removed badges and the badges were imprinted in the paint, the paint under the badges was also soft so can’t buff or cut. I can literally peel paint with my finger nail. Not really a ghost of the emblem more like they installed them on wet paint and then cleared over that but it never cured. How did you repair ? Seems like the only option is re install badges.

Edited June 27, 2020 by Mikeg77583