My 2008 Cadillac STS-V came with a Dealer emblem on the trunk lid.  Today’s project was to get that off and enjoy the clean rear that Cadillac intended.

I want to keep the V logo, and the STS.

Our targets are the “TAYLOR” and subtext “Houston” emblems.

Tools / Materials:

• Dental floss
• adhesive removal chemicals or (alternate) car shampoo solution
• water
• More dental floss

How to remove dealer emblems

• Take photos for Before
• Wrap a long strand of dental floss around your fingers, as if you planned to floss.  Perhaps more than you normally would use.
• Slide the middle of the floss under one edge of the lettering or emblem to be removed.
  

  Using dental floss to saw through the adhesive pad attaching the dealer emblem

• Saw with the floss in a back and forth motion, applying slight pressure downward on the floss.  We are trying to saw through the rubber-like adhesive holding the lettering or emblem to the car.
• Use a new strand of floss once the floss breaks.  Floss is pretty cheap, so use a new piece whenever needed.
  

  Lots of broken dental floss and discarded Dealer Emblem

• Once you have the lettering/emblems off, there is probably going to be some adhesive still left on the car where the lettering or emblems were.
  

  With the emblems removed, there is residual adhesive ready to be scrubbed off

• Using the car wash solution and water on a microfiber towel, wash and scrub the adhesive until it washes off the car.  3M actually makes an adhesive removal product that probably makes this easier.  I found that using my DIY Spray Detailer (car wash and water) the adhesive scrubbed off with some effort.
• Clean up
• Take photos for After

After successful Dealer emblem removal

Bruce: How do you know the DIY Remove Dealer Emblems Works?

You can see in the pictures this is the process I used to remove the emblems.  Your paint, car, emblems may present some issues I didn’t have.  But if I were doing this project again I would follow the same process.

Problems you might run in to:

When I asked the Cadillac Dealer to handle this for me, the Service Writer suggested that sometimes the paint underneath the emblem/logo has aged differently than the surrounding paint, which effects the appearance.  I don’t see that issue on my STS-V.

 Speak Up!

Have you successfully removed emblems other ways, or had an emblem removal not go well?  Speak up and share in the comments below!