I have yet to see it (all the dealers in my area have sold each car they received) but I just want my car to look clean and elegant. It has nothing to do with hiding hybridness, quite the opposite for me. I am going to be spending what for me is a premium, however, and I just don't want it to be tacky in any regard. I want it to say hybrid and be cooler than those that don't say it.

As promised, my new car didn't even make it through the first night without being declawed of its badges. GONE are two (2) hybrid fender badges, one (1) Camry rear trunk badge, and one (1) hybrid rear trunk badge.

What a difference! The car not only looks sleeker, cleaner, and more sophisticated... but I'm sure that the badge streamlining will give me about .00001 MPG improvement.

Anyone want some EXTRA hybrid badges to plaster all over your new Camry?

By the way, I used "Glide" dental floss for this minor surgery. It took about five minutes to remove all badges. These were held on by a gummy substance that I'd never seen used before. It "unadhered" very easily, except for the rear hybrid badge. I thought the dental floss was gonna slice off my fingers before I was able to cut through the rear one. (Hint: open your trunk lid to do this one.) Use long, slow motions to "saw" through the gummy adhesive. It took me about 3-4 pieces of floss to do each badge. Then, you can remove the excess adhesive just by rubbing it with your fingers, and it will ball up easily and lift right off your unblemished paint.

Steve Villatoro
www.stevenvillatoro.com
“An enlightened guide to small business mastery.”

So you didn't even need to heat it up? Sometimes people use hair-dryers to heat up the glue first.

After having seen the badges, I think they are fine. The talk at the beginning of this thread had me concerned but they are small, well-placed and anything but annoying to my own personal tastes. I was worked into a lame frenzy over their alleged garrishness but I think should I end up with the Camry, I will leave them just for advertising the hybrid nature of the vehicle. I might remove the other badges andleave the hybrid ones, if anything.

CGameProgrammer, I sold the hair-dryer when I started shaving my head. There's no need to heat anything. Just floss, as your dentist told you.

Steve Villatoro
www.stevenvillatoro.com
“An enlightened guide to small business mastery.”

SV -


There's been a report of a sighting in SoCal of a CamHy with badging removed and Lexus emblems replacing the Toyota ones.

I'm guessing if it was a Mag Grey one, you finally accomplished it!! Very Nice.

Could you share any tips on what you did with respect to the logo replacement?


p.s. Where'd the Villatoro CamHy pics go from your sig? Good looking ride, that one!

Still, I think the first responder issue here is totally legitimate. The car SHOULD be identified as a hybrid for safety reasons.

Plus, of course, for those of us who enjoy HOV priviledges, the badges are a must. Yes, we've got the plates, too, but police could think they are stolen.

Car included badges are alright. I absolutely don't like dealer decals/stickers, especially when they drill a perfectly fine bumper to put their dealer plates on it(don't need front license plates here).

I like the cleaner look of a car without the obnoxious badges. I have done it to the TCH and last 2 cars I have owned before that. I just posted my pics in the Share area as well as you can see more of mine at http://www.pbase.com/kluken/my_cars

Eskimonio, I did a major overhaul on my website (come visit!), and haven't replaced the Camry pics yet. Sorry, but thanks for the compliment, anyway! That wasn't me with a Lexus logo, hehehe.

Steve Villatoro
www.stevenvillatoro.com
“An enlightened guide to small business mastery.”