Can someone explain de-badging to me please?

"noise" (noise) 01/15/2014 at 17:43 • Filed to: debadging brandlessness rowrowfightthepower

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i sort of almost understand plasti-dipping all the chrome to make it matte black or whatever to better match the color scheme, but the effort people put into debadging their vehicles confuses me and the reasons elude me. Whats the point? The badges arent that intrusive, i mean I know the chevy bowties have been growing as of late but still its not that bad. And are we trying to hide brand? I can still tell that VW is a VW man, and I want to point out at least the one above modified the hood as well. I cant stand jettas with aftermarket grills that just ignore the little half circle cutaway on the hood now that the logo is gone.

I'm not super opposed to it i just dont get it. Enlighten me, provide examples and counter examples, post a picture of a chrysler with bently badges and a bimmer with kia badges. All that shit

ConcreteShoes > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:45

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To me its like an advertisement on my car. I wouldn't leave a dealer sticker on my car; and in the same way I don't want the cheap looking fake chrome plastic letters saying SUBARU on the back of my car.

CPT Speedbump > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:45

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It can usually be a cleaner smoother look without the badge ruining it, also, in some cases like BMW M cars, or the Legacy GT, removing the badge for M or GT= instant sleeper.

JustWaitingForAMate > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:46

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It adds lightness.

Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:46

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Normally it says "Lexus" on the left and "IS300" on the right. Without the badges it looks a lot "cleaner". IMO debadging works only if you take the model name off and keep the company logo. Otherwise it looks kinda dumb. (not my pic)

It's a "Porch-uh" > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:47

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I thinks it's all a matter of personal taste. Some people feel that taking off all outside markings gives the car a cleaner look. I don't think it's meant to "hide" what car you have.

The people that put on badges from different cars/makes can die in a fire.

N/A POWAAAHH > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:47

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It not about hiding, it about having a cleaner overall look. Especially if you have a highly modded car, it makes people look twice and ask questions.

noise > ConcreteShoes 01/15/2014 at 17:48

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wouldnt the very existence of your car be advertising though? Doesnt matter how many blue ovals i crowbar off my focus, its still a rolling advertisement for ford (mine might be more discouragement than advertising). And in this case wouldnt they deserve the brand credit? They engineered it, they built it, unless my car is super extremely heavily modified its really fords doing and credit where credit is due. Not like a dealer sticker, all they did was resell it for more money and give me a headache. It would be like lauding best buy for the quality of your imac

HammerheadFistpunch > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:49

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Its the equiv. of shaved handles. I get the notion of removing any dealer added crap (If I buy a car it doesn't leave the lot with those on) but I knew a guy who de-badged his sequoia because he didn't think Toyota should be sticking their badge all over his new car. "its just advertising for them" Really?

PanchoVilleneuve ST > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:49

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I debadged my xB, not as a cosmetic choice, but back in 2004, when Scion was first coming out, I found that I could sell my Scion badges on Japanese eBay for quite a bit of money. I made 280 bucks. And I learned that just like how JDM TYTE nerds here like to buy Japanese badges for their cars, the badges off the American version of a Japanese car are (were?) cool over there.

Sn210 > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:49

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It's more for stealth. Is that a 335i or just a 328? Is that an s4 or a4? Sure there are other identifiers of trim level, but I think it's more of a Euro trend. It's cool it you don't want people to know your car is the higher level, but it's dumb if you're just trying to convince everyone that your lower level car is higher end. The VW example you posted confused me

noise > CPT Speedbump 01/15/2014 at 17:49

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That I can see. Or vise versa putting a M badge in a kia rio would be excellent trolling

thedevilinside > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur 01/15/2014 at 17:49

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I was guilty of this with my Lancer. I took off the script that said "Lancer" and "Mitsubishi", but I left the three diamond logo. It just looked a bit nicer to me. Only took 25 minutes total including cleaning all the adhesive off.

Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur > It's a "Porch-uh" 01/15/2014 at 17:50

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Well from totally different cars yes, but if you say, badge an IS300 as an Altezza, that's not all bad, right?

CAR_IS_MI > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:50

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That way when you lie and tell everyone you just got the new Bugatti, there will be no badges for anyone to prove you and you VW wrong...

noise > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur 01/15/2014 at 17:50

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This I can totally see, except for some cases where the model logo or name is cool. Throwing on model names and ZX4-7GTO mk 5 nonsense on the back and sides is fairly useless

Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur > thedevilinside 01/15/2014 at 17:50

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Exactly. I would do this but my dad won't let me lol.

camaroboy68ss > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:51

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To some its smoothing out the lines and getting rid of clutter to bring the lines out of the car. Debadging a car has been around a long time. It was super popular in 50s and 60s when you would start to customize a car. It would start with a simply removing the badging and usually door handles, then usually it would morph into a full blown custom that could have parts from many different cars grafted into it. But like a 58 Chevy impala for example. A simple nose and deck job along with the door handle and emblems would give the car a super clean look.

Textured Soy Protein > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:52

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There's also the reverse-upgrade through de-badging.

Driving a 320i? Take the badges off and maybe people will think it's a 335i.

noise > PanchoVilleneuve ST 01/15/2014 at 17:52

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thats pretty sweet

It's a "Porch-uh" > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur 01/15/2014 at 17:54

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In your example it's the exact same car, just different names in different markets. I don't have an issue with that. If you like the name that your car got in Mexico, go for it.

noise > Sn210 01/15/2014 at 17:55

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this see how the cutout in the hood is still visible even though the VW has been removed? Thats the vw shit im talking about and its EVERYWHERE

RazoE > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur 01/15/2014 at 17:55

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I was going to do this to my '03 MSM. After seeing your pic I'll probably do it this weekend!

Or find some pearl black emblems.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:56

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I actually like my badges :p

They're among the few things that set the Sedicivalvole visually apart from standard 1.6 Tipos, and with many of the few 1.6 Tipos left on the road adopting the red pinstripe and letterings exclusive to the SV, I need something to tell the fans that mine is the real deal.

*true story, I got compliments on gas stations, a guy offered 15 thousand for it in the middle of traffic the other day, another guy told me to take it to a small classic car gathering near my home and another one told me it was by far the coolest Fiat he'd ever seen. The Tipo's getting popular, haha...

noise > HammerheadFistpunch 01/15/2014 at 17:57

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i mean it is a toyota after all, they did build it and stuff

noise > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur 01/15/2014 at 17:58

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I always wanted to get a subary and replace the SUBARU on the back with FUJI HEAVY

does that make me an idiot?

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:58

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The VW culture is heavily influenced by VWVortex.com, unfortunately, and they're a bunch of fuckwadded morons. This isn't even the half of it, man.

Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur > noise 01/15/2014 at 17:59

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I would love to see that on the back of a scoobaru lol

KB Garage > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur 01/15/2014 at 17:59

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Guy at work did this to his TL. Gives it a very clean look.

@rbalch1 > noise 01/15/2014 at 18:02

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I believe it started as a way to hide the model of your car to make it less attractive to thieves mostly in europe.
Vehicle such as the mercedes c43 amg did not look that much different to the standard model. so by removing the c43 and amg badges. they instantly removed some of the giveaway signs to an opportunist that this was a top of the line model and worth big cash on the black market.
It is also a way to be discreet about you high income.
the removal of the Star and other brand badges came later, likely with heavy custom work or to show an engine swap had occurred.
Most recently the Stance/clean car look

See below for C class

AMG

DIESEL

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > noise 01/15/2014 at 18:03

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Well, i bought my CLS used. Because it's used, the owner put lots of AMG badges, pretends it's a CLS63 despite actually it's a CLS550. So i remove all the badge except mercedes logo, and put CLS550 original badge.

And i think this is the only explaination fr this. You remove the badge because you don't like them.

RazoE > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur 01/15/2014 at 18:05

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Or like the bB badges I have on my xB...:D

Timbo > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2014 at 18:05

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This is definitely the case for some, although- surely anyone with enough interest in cars to actually look for model designation in the first place would know anyway from (in this example) the exhausts? I dunno. Maybe that's just my uber geekdom. Am I wrong?

noise > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 01/15/2014 at 18:07

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when i wercked my jetta the VW logo ejected itself from the grill. I recovered it in the woods days later and it hangs on my wall now. I find it funny how hard people try to loose that thing while I hold onto it,

And as the former owner of the aforementioned jetta i know all about the vwvortex culture.... yup

Sn210 > noise 01/15/2014 at 18:08

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Oh no, I knew what you meant! It confuses me why someone would do that lol

noise > Sn210 01/15/2014 at 18:08

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haha ok me too!

Textured Soy Protein > Timbo 01/15/2014 at 18:09

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There's plenty of cars that don't have any exterior distinguishing features between the fast and slow version, aside from the badges.

TwoFortified > noise 01/15/2014 at 18:12

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Looks good. Not everybody can identify it (which is fun for some reason). Other than that, I don't know.

I've got a 240SX hatchback (or a 180SX S13 for the non-USofA'ers) which is damn near impossible to de-badge because Nissan put "240SX" in some bizarre places, such as inside the glass of the rear quarter panel windows...and inside the center brake light housing...

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > noise 01/15/2014 at 18:13

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So you've been there? It's rough, man. I still find myself going there occasionally to rummage through the classifieds, but it can be tough.

Spasoje > noise 01/15/2014 at 18:24

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A Bentley with Hyundai badges, you say? I can oblige.

* * * * * * * * *

I'll add some food-for-thought to the de-badging discussion: nobody would put their logo on something they're not proud of.

Casper > noise 01/15/2014 at 18:24

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Meh, it's just a preference. Most are just stickers so it takes no more effort than that of finding dental floss and a hair dryer. Others is just to hint at the amount of body work done to the car, to get it back to "new" appearance but different than any new car out there.

I've never gone out of my way to remove badges, but I also haven't gone out of my way to put them back if I take them off for paint.

DollaMoneyAve > noise 01/15/2014 at 18:25

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It's a lot easier to wax a car without badges. That's why I de-badged my old A6. That, and it's a cleaner look, plain and simple.

As others have said, it's also a way to keep people from immediately knowing your model designation — either for the "sleeper" affect or making people think your car is of a higher trim level.

Spasoje > HammerheadFistpunch 01/15/2014 at 18:26

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"Cool! That car has a Toyota badge on it, I should totally buy one!" said no-one, ever.

Spasoje > ConcreteShoes 01/15/2014 at 18:27

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So you're saying if you built something you're proud of, you wouldn't want other people to give you credit for it?

noise > DollaMoneyAve 01/15/2014 at 18:28

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i hadent thought of ease of waxing... though to be honest most debadged cars i've seen involve too much plasti-dip to ever be waxed effectively

doub > noise 01/15/2014 at 18:29

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mine stay on. Of course, they're kinda like bookends...

HammerheadFistpunch > Spasoje 01/15/2014 at 18:29

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But what if you desperately want a car that shows your passion for beans in hats, but don't know where to look?

Spasoje > HammerheadFistpunch 01/15/2014 at 18:30

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You drive a hard bargain, my friend. :P

noise > Spasoje 01/15/2014 at 18:30

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WOOO

and I call your bluff on that last bit. The sebring had chrysler badges on it for its whole existance and aveos proudly wear little bowties on the front

Spasoje > noise 01/15/2014 at 18:35

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Well, there was at least one local guy proud enough of his Sebring to put Maserati badges on it. He did a pretty convincing job of it, too...

DollaMoneyAve > noise 01/15/2014 at 18:54

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Waxing around badges is a pain in the ass. No matter how hard you try, you're going to get wax under there, and it makes it difficult to spread evenly and uniformly around that area. This also goes for hood ornaments, dorsal fin style antennae, and hood-mounted washer jets, although those are usually a little easier to work around.

gmctavish needs more space > noise 01/15/2014 at 23:03

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The only ones that wouldn't ever get rid of to are BMW owners....I've never seen a BMW without its shiny roundels. Hell, I'm probably gonna replace mine since they're all faded and the paint's mostly gone :p It's a beater but I'll shamelessly buy new roundels

nucciOMG > noise 01/15/2014 at 23:29

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Less badge for moar vadge.

MentalJuggernot > noise 01/16/2014 at 01:06

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Personally, I think that badges ruin the lines of a car, the cleanness. I don't want to be showing off the name of my car, I want to show off what I've done to it. How I've made it unlike every other rich 17 year old whose parents bought them their first car and don't even know how to change the oil. For some, it's a case of the mystery. I once got a parking ticket that had a ? where the make and model was (tinted windows so no steering wheel ID either). I was pissed or I would have kept it, but it did put a smile on my face for the slightest second knowing that my car was unique enough that an idiot traffic cop didn't know what it - and he must see hundreds of cars a day. You and I may be able to tell every car on the road, but I guarantee not everyone can. It's part of the enthusiast experience.

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > noise 01/16/2014 at 01:50

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Stats from BMW back in the 90s: in Germany, the badge delete option was most commonly selected on the biggest engine version. In the UK it was most commonly selected on the smallest engine version.

BJ > noise 01/16/2014 at 07:29

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As most people have mentioned, it's a cleaner look without the badges.

Or, as in my case, it's because the badges started falling off. The wagon is partially debadged because of winter conditions, or perhaps because the kids were helping remove snow from the car, so I'll have to finish the job when the weather turns nice again.

ConcreteShoes > Spasoje 01/16/2014 at 11:08

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Sure. For example, my Subaru Star badge stays on. It works and looks good with the car. The crappy fake chrome plastic letters however, add nothing of value to my car. It looks significantly better without them. What do you think?

or

ConcreteShoes > noise 01/16/2014 at 11:19

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Sure, if they want the car to look distinctively like part of their brand then they design it to speak to the brand image. Would you let a homebuilder/designer paint Smith Brothers Construction on the side of your house?

noise > ConcreteShoes 01/16/2014 at 18:20

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yes

Spasoje > ConcreteShoes 01/16/2014 at 19:00

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I now see we were on the same side of the argument the entire time! At first it seemed as if you were against any and all manufacturer badges...

Your WRX, however, is de-badging done right. Looks awesome!

ConcreteShoes > noise 01/16/2014 at 19:12

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You honestly would put that on your house?

"1998

Model House Plan C15

Architect: Easyscape, LLC

Builder: Smith Construction

Ranch style home with two bedrooms and two baths "

In cheap plastic chrome letters?

So you leave up yard signs for the type of gutters you bought forever as well?

Timbo > Textured Soy Protein 08/26/2014 at 17:39

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I'm worried I'm going to sound like a pedant/dork but I'm going to have to disagree. There is always something that differentiates, be it number of slats in the grill or wheel size etc

Turbonium2K > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 01/22/2015 at 19:45

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There's a thing called OEM+ that a few VW guys are into, myself included. Basically it's taking a consumer level car (For sake of conversation, let's say a turbo 2001 New Beetle) and adding things like a set of BBS rims originally from a Jetta, front seats out of a 2001 Audi S3, etc... The goal is to upgrade the car without making it look "tuned".