And besides that, the brand of a product can add to value or perceived value. People liked having the Nike swoosh or Izod Alligator - sometimes those badges can add status value. It’s not the same with (most) cars, but a number of people are brand-loyal have a “team” for cars. Probably less than used to, though.
Even more than that, though, it’s what you said about choosing - when we look at pictures online and in brochures and even on the dealer websites, they don’t have dealer badges on them, and do have brand badges.
Also, to a much more minor degree, brand badges are integrated in to the design, and seller badges are not, and for me personally, look less attractive.
I don’t have any problem with it. It’s the very definition of “not a big deal.”
And considering your clothes probably have a brand identifier on them, it seems a bit hypocritical to get outraged about it. Do you insist that the logo on the shirt you wear be taken off, too?
As others said, it’s hard to find sneakers without the Nike (or whatever brand) logo. But my dress shoes definitely don’t have branding (aside from on the sole and on the insole). And I don’t wear clothing with logos on it. If you look around the men’s department of a store like Macy’s you’ll see entire sections devoted to various brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, etc. and almost everything has the brand name (HILFIGER in big letters) or the logo (the Ralph Lauren polo player logo) on it. And this is supposed to be the good brands. So instead I wear stuff from places like The Gap or Lands End that has no logos. (If they want me to advertise their stuff, they can pay me for it.)
And yes, I removed the dealer plate frames from my car right after bringing it home.
If it is not already on the car (I am ordering and not buying off the lot) I require it not be put on. If it is already there and can be removed without damage, I have it removed.
Never bought from a dealership but if I had, it would definitely have to be removed, either by them or by me, anything screwed on gets taken off and holes filled with bondo, sanded painted etc. I don’t want to drive a car with it on there, it just screams “i treat my car as an appliance instead of what it is”.
I was talking about this with my wife the other day. I told her I wanted to remove some key letters from the advert stuck to the back of her car to read “arson dog dot com”.
She suggested an altered iconic photo* of the Hindenburg bursting into flames, but with a Weiner dog face, ears and paws.
Goddamn, I wish I had the Computer Jimmy to work up such an image!
I was having this same conversation with someone the other day. He was going on about how people kept the dealership plate frames on their car. I said that I had no idea what was on my plate frame and it could be promoting NAMBLA for as much as I’ve thought about it. As it turns out, I do have a dealership frame on the plates but not from the dealership where I bought the car (used). So pretty much no one along the car’s chain of custody has cared about the frames either aside from the original dealer.
I’d probably feel differently about a window decal but I can’t say I care about my plate frames. I haven’t seen a bolt-on dealer plaque on the trunk in the last twenty years. Stickers, yeah, but not the metal/plastic affairs.
I bought a new Olds back in 2004 (the last year they were ever made) and specifically had that put in the contract. When I went to take delivery on it and saw a dealer sticker on the trunk I had a complete conniption. I would not accept delivery of that vehicle and would not take it even if they removed the sticker. It’s next to impossible to remove the “ghost” image of the adhesive of those stickers no matter what and it looks like shit.
Because Oldsmobile was being eliminated GM/dealer wanted to sell them off and they were willing to kiss my ass for their screw up. They supplied me with a loner car for 3 weeks while they had an identical model shipped from somewhere else, and I got an additional $900 off the agreed upon price.
Not kidding!
ETA: That sticker was not on the car in the beginning (I looked). They put it on there during the prep.
If the dealer name is overlarge and prominent, I ask that it be removed. A small decal or license plate holder is no biggie. (I think license plate holders are illegal in Texas anyway, so I eventually remove it for that reason).
The law in Texas is that you can’t have a frame that obscures any part of the plate. However, I don’t see even that level of illegality being enforced much.
I like to have the plate frames but don’t like the dealer’s name on them.
They’re usually white print on a black frame so I usually black them out with a sharpie.
Like a couple of others here, I have the salesman write it on the sales order that I want no dealer logos on the car. They write it in big letters and I circle it.
The car comes back with the stickers and the license plate frame. I curse mildly, the salesman feigns alarm and quickly calls for the prep guy to come back – points to the sticker and to the circled instruction to place no stickers – prep guy takes car back to shop and removes stickers. Salesman asks if the license plate frame is OK. I shrug and throw the thing away when I get home.
Car dealers are really aggressive about getting us to advertise for them for free.
I think having an advertisement on my car looks unbecoming. I don’t like them and don’t want them on my property.
I bought a new car once that already had the dealer sticker on the back. When I asked for it to be removed there still was this “ghost” image of where it was and nothing an detailer could do would remove it. The image eventually was faint but I still knew it was there.
For this reason when I order a car or buy one off the lot that hasn’t a sticker on it I demand none be put on and have that stated in the purchase contract.
Plate frames and such I can remove myself and they leave no lasting image or mark.
When we lived in snow country dealers would put on metal logos that were affixed with holes drilled in the car. Pry off the label, you have holes.
In a place where they salted the roads heavily.:mad:
Jerks.
Every time I bought a car I insisted on no dealer labeling. When I pick it up it has dealer labeling. I stand there and wait for a mechanic to clear it all off.
Again, everybody knows I’m driving a Chevy or whatever. But I’m not endorsing any car dealership. They are something you tolerate at best, not promote.
Yeah, pretty much that - oh, when decals start peeling, or if they’re on the windows (I must have clean windows!) I’ll take them off, but I think my 19 year old pick up still has the dealer frame around the license plate. I honestly don’t care enough to even look and see if it’s there, much less the bother of taking it off.
I avoid or remove all the advertising I can if it’s not too difficult and doesn’t look likely to damage the car or other product underneath. I choose clothing with minimal visible logos, and on a day I can only find clothing with prominent logos I typically delay my purchase. The advertising for the make of the car is usually pretty well attached looking and I’m afraid to mess things up just to get rid of it, but if there were a $100 option to get the car with absolutely no branding logos inside or out I would definitely buy it.
I think there’s some kind of mass unconsciousness in which we have become so accustomed to advertising that we tend to only unconsciously absorb many of the ways the advertising industry erodes the quality of our lives every day. But absorb it we do.
Same here, so far as I know. checks own and wife’s car Yes, seems to still be the case. I can’t be arsed to change the license plate frame so I leave it on. Plus, I actually really did enjoy my experience and would gladly recommend that dealer to anyone else looking for a Mazda. Heck, I even left a 5-star Yelp! review, I was so pleased.
At one dealership where I bought a used car, the salesperson told me that if I kept their license plate frames on my car, I’d get some free oil changes. Not every oil change–I think it was every fifth or sixth.
This was interesting; it was the first and only time I’ve seen a dealership offer an incentive for allowing their tacky advertising on the car. Anyway, I took the frames off and got the oil changes done at my regular place. The dealer charged so much for oil changes that it wasn’t worth it.
.jpg&exph=288&expw=288&q=oswald+band+poster&simid=608052257703135316&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0){kind=link}
