Stains on front badges

**Ralfi** · 23-05-2015, 09:41 AM

Just had my car detailed (3rd party) & noticed the front VW & GTI badges have water stains on them.

After checking photos of the car pre-detail I noticed they were already there, so they must've been there prior to the dealership receiving the car (or their own "detailers" didn't do their job properly).

The 3rd party detailer said that they could remove them, but that it would take a lot of time. They mentioned they normally remove the GTI badge but not the VW badge (as it can be a headache).

Wondering what others would do here; Go back to 3rd party detailer & ask them to remove the stains or contact VW & get them to fix it?

Photos...

**DV52** · 23-05-2015, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by Ralfi

Just had my car detailed (3rd party) & noticed the front VW & GTI badges have water stains on them.

After checking photos of the car pre-detail I noticed they were already there, so they must've been there prior to the dealership receiving the car (or their own "detailers" didn't do their job properly).

The 3rd party detailer said that they could remove them, but that it would take a lot of time. They mentioned they normally remove the GTI badge but not the VW badge (as it can be a headache).

Wondering what others would do here; Go back to 3rd party detailer & ask them to remove the stains or contact VW & get them to fix it?

Photos...

Ralfi: hi and sorry to hear about your stained logo!

not entirely sure about the veracity of your detailer's advice. i suspect that the detailers just didn't want to do the job - what ever happened to honesty in business practices?

here's a video showing just how easy it is to remove the front emblem on a mk7

please note that the maker of the video doesn't ship to Australia. but, you can buy these emblems on the web. if you want, you can even pay a price equivalent to the annual budget of a small African nation to VW for an original replacement

But of course, try the stealer first - given that this problem is clearly a warranty claim. When the stealer says no (as I suspect that they will), I suggest that you buy online (eBay cost seems to be about $60). Once the new emblem is delivered, grab a small flat-head screw-driver and with a little care, it should be easy to change-over (IMO). Or else, give the emblem to your detailer together with a copy of the video and pay them to do the work (shouldn't cost you much in time charges with the evidence in the video)
cheers
Don

**Ralfi** · 23-05-2015, 06:03 PM

Cheers for that Don.

The 3rd party detailer had kindly offered to polish the badges free of charge, so I think I'll able dealing with the dealer for now, see how the polish turns out & take it from there. If the stains are still too obvious, I may go down the path you suggested above.

Fyi, the stains are from adhesive which are on the back of protective stickers VW place over the badges. If these stickers are left on for too long, the change in temps during shipping can have this effect on the adhesive where it embeds into the coating of the plastic badge.

& then when it comes time for the dealer to detail the vehicle, the stains get trapped under the layer of seal they apply.

It should've been picked up the dealer prior to detailing, so I'm sure I'll be able to get them to replace it off need be.

The advantage of getting the 3rd party detailer to have a go at polishing the badge (which they're confident will work) is that they can then apply their superior protection sealant over it.

**brad** · 23-05-2015, 06:47 PM

Dealer would simply replace the badges under warranty...

**wasabiz** · 24-05-2015, 02:09 PM

My badge peeled off at the front at back after 14 months of ownership, and they replaced it for free

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**Ralfi** · 06-06-2015, 01:08 PM

Originally Posted by brad

Dealer would simply replace the badges under warranty...

Good news - dealer has badges in country & can replace them as early as next week. No issues.

**Ralfi** · 19-06-2015, 02:19 PM

Well, there are issues now.....

Went in to dealer today to get badges replaced & Nav updated.

Came away with a car that had a damaged VW badge. They now need to order a whole new grill, so another trip across town in a couple of weeks after today's waste of time & money...) & on top of that, they started washing the car without even asking me. Paranoid of paint swirls, I left the dealership pretty angry.

Oh & they couldn't even update Nav because they got busy & reckon it'd take much longer than what they told me a week ago (which I couldn't hang around for due to other appointments)...... & if I arrange this at a closer branch to me, I'll get charged for the update since it's not at the branch I purchased the car from.......

& then to top it off, got home & found scratches on the front bumper (below bottom corners of grill & under the VW badge) from their attempts at removing the badge....

Furious now.

I've already let them know I'll demand a new bumper if touch-up paint doesn't look good. Haven't even had the car a couple of months.....pathetic service already...

What would you guys do?