Debadge - trade in and resell

[circatee]

If you debadge your car, does it make any difference for trade in or resell? Curious...

[niceonept]

Anything that alters the car from stock and can't be put back very quickly and easily is likely to lower the resale/trade-in value a bit... well here in UK it would.

[1004ron]

I would not buy a used car that's been de-badged - its a telltale sign for me.

[enigma-2]

Personally, I'd immediately walk away from any car that had been altered, other than simple, cosmetic items. (I would consider removing the cars identity is NOT minor). Most of these guys think they know more than the manufacturer's engineers and never obtain a service manual when making mods. Plus they believe that aftermarket parts are tested and validated by professionals and therefore good mods. (Very, very few aftermarket LLC's actually do any testing and/or test under all conditions. When something goes wrong, poof!)

 

Dealers know this and will usually address difficulties reselling vs. how much to offer for a trade in. (Engine tuning and suspension modifications usually cause permanent damage and no dealer wants to eat future a sale over someone's idea of "he can do better".)

 

Exhaust mods will require to be brought to state requirements before resale so they will price that into their offer. (Not required for private sales).

 

Dealers are regulated by state laws and cannot knowingly sell a car that does not meet state DOT regulations. Not only will he have to buy the car back, he also faces fines and possibly lawsuit.

 

Plus, you could lose your factory warranty. Here's how Ford puts it (and you better believe they mean it).

 

Debaging is no big deal, but, its a giant flag for the service department to look very, very closely to find what else you've done.

 

"The installation or use of a non-Ford Motor Company part (other than a certified emissions part) or any part (Ford or non-Ford) designed for off-road use only installed after the vehicle leaves the control of Ford Motor Company, if the installed part fails or causes a Ford part to fail. Examples include, but are not limited to lift kits, oversized tires, roll bars, cellular phones, alarm systems, automatic starting systems and performance-enhancing powertrain components or software and performance ‘‘chips’’"

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by enigma-2

[1004ron]

The tell-tale I mentioned:

 

 

[muzicman61]

I personally never understood the desire to "de-badge" a vehicle.  Are people embarrassed to show what brand of car they own? I guess it's personal preference.

 

Although the first thing I do is take off the dealer's license plate cover and sticker.  I'm not giving them free advertising. ?

[todd92]

Debadging is silly.  It started in Europe, where uber sedan drivers started removing them on the theory that not flaunting your wealth reduces the risk of being robbed.  So badges started disappearing from BMW 750i, 760i M's, MB S 500, AMG's.  Not that any Russian mafia type wouldn't be able to distinguish the car from things other than the badges.   Then of course being debadged became a status symbol, so off came the badges on 318i's and C180's.  Then some folks started rationalizing doing it not because they were status seekers, but because it was a 'clean' look.  Whatever.

[circatee]

Hmm, some rather interesting responses. The idea to merely remove the EDGE badge, was purely about aesthetics.

However, probably the better idea would be to merely paint it Agate Black (same as the car). Thus, still having better aesthetics, and not ruining it by the badge removal. 

 

PS: I must remind myself that posting questions or thoughts online, will from time to time draw some negative comments and conversation, versus constructive ones... 

Edited April 21, 2021 by circatee

[1004ron]

53 minutes ago, circatee said:

Hmm, some rather interesting responses. The idea to merely remove the EDGE badge, was purely about aesthetics.

However, probably the better idea would be to merely paint it Agate Black (same as the car). Thus, still having better aesthetics, and not ruining it by the badge removal. 

 

PS: I must remind myself that posting questions or thoughts online, will from time to time draw some negative comments and conversation, versus constructive ones... 

Regardless of reasoning behind the removal of the badges, whether its claimed to be for aesthetics, the impression it leaves with some folks, including those setting the price of a trade-in, remains the same.

 

It may come across as negative comment to those that enjoy removal of the badges, but its really just a fact of life.

 

Painting the badges would leave me with the same impression as the removal.

[handfiler]

De-badging would raise alarm bells for me too. It would make me wonder what non visible modifications might have been done to the vehicle.

Also never understood the black wheel thing. That looks so wrong.

[niceonept]

Ford partially de-badged my car in the factory!

The ST-Line here in UK has no badge, whereas the model it replaced had "Sport" prominently on the tailgate.   

[ben senise]

12 hours ago, niceonept said:

Ford partially de-badged my car in the factory!

The ST-Line here in UK has no badge, whereas the model it replaced had "Sport" prominently on the tailgate.   

 

the sport is not the same as the "ST Line," at least in N America. The Sport became the ST, both of which were more powerful. The ST Line is strictly cosmetic (again, at least here in NA).

 

regarding de-badging, why does it have to be because of embarassment? i debaged all cars i've ever owned. why do i need to tell anyone what trim i have or what engine i have? i subscribe to the "less is more" school of thought. i dislike clutter. de-badging reduces that clutter. i don't like stickers. i don't buy clothes with logos either.

 

i've never had a problem selling a de-badged car. and there's no reason to think that it would be any indication of problems with the car. so cars with all these mods people talk about are okay as long as the car still says edge titanium on it?

 

it's strictly a matter of taste and my taste is plain and boring. live and let live.

[DaMiFo]

2 hours ago, ben senise said:

 

the sport is not the same as the "ST Line," at least in N America. The Sport became the ST, both of which were more powerful. The ST Line is strictly cosmetic (again, at least here in NA).

 

The European Sport is not the same as the North American Sport. In Europe, the Sport was rebadged as the ST-Line (and both have/had 2.0 TDCI engines - and while there were two power options for the engine, there was no real engine upgrade like in NA).

Edited April 23, 2021 by DaMiFo

[niceonept]

5 hours ago, DaMiFo said:

 

The European Sport is not the same as the North American Sport. In Europe, the Sport was rebadged as the ST-Line (and both have/had 2.0 TDCI engines - and while there were two power options for the engine, there was no real engine upgrade like in NA).

Yes, exactly the same twin-turbo 2.0 litre diesel AWD, 210HP for all European automatic transmission models regardless of the specification. The Zetec, Titanium, Sport/ST-Line and Vignale all have the same engine. The much rarer manual transmission was paired with a 180HP version of the 2.0 litre diesel.

No 2WD versions were available, which I think isn't the case in America?

[bscott94]

This is why I debadge. It's impossible to keep the paint clean around the little letters and logos. 

[handfiler]

That's a non issue on my cars. They don't see automatic car washes.

[niceonept]

Also less of an issue with Fords. The area around an oval Ford badge is much easier to keep clean than around that Audi badge!

[atulo]

On 4/21/2021 at 7:00 PM, muzicman61 said:

Although the first thing I do is take off the dealer's license plate cover and sticker.  I'm not giving them free advertising. ?

 

That was the first thing I did on mine.

[ben senise]

i was thinking about this a bit more and for me, what it comes down to is that i like the wolf in sheep's clothing.

when i see people put an "S" on a non-S porsche, or a V12 on a 6 cylinder mercedes or a M5 badge on a 525i, it makes me laugh. i'd love someone to see my de-badged ST and think how i must be embarrassed to have an SE to leave the badge. fine with me.

i'm definitely not condemning anyone who leaves things as they came, even with the dealer stickers and/or license plate frames. i just prefer my cars without.

[ben senise]

17 hours ago, DaMiFo said:

 

The European Sport is not the same as the North American Sport. In Europe, the Sport was rebadged as the ST-Line (and both have/had 2.0 TDCI engines - and while there were two power options for the engine, there was no real engine upgrade like in NA).

 

so what was the difference between the previous Sport model and the lower models?

[niceonept]

16 hours ago, ben senise said:

 

so what was the difference between the previous Sport model and the lower models?

 

Other than "sports" suspension, mainly cosmetic e.g. 20 inch alloy wheels as standard, black front grill, Sony sound system etc.

[niceonept]

On 4/23/2021 at 2:40 AM, DaMiFo said:

 

The European Sport is not the same as the North American Sport. In Europe, the Sport was rebadged as the ST-Line (and both have/had 2.0 TDCI engines - and while there were two power options for the engine, there was no real engine upgrade like in NA).

 

There weren't really any power options though. If you wanted automatic transmission the 210 HP engine was the only option. Likewise 180 HP was the only option for manual transmission. 

Edited April 24, 2021 by niceonept

[ben senise]

3 hours ago, niceonept said:

 

There weren't really any power options though. If you wanted automatic transmission the 210 HP engine was the only option. Likewise 180 HP was the only option for manual transmission. 

 

wow, thanks for all that info. so strange to see three pedals and a stick in an edge and the instrument cluster looks interesting.

[niceonept]

20 minutes ago, ben senise said:

 

wow, thanks for all that info. so strange to see three pedals and a stick in an edge and the instrument cluster looks interesting.

 

Yes, the manual Edges are really quite rare, even here where manual cars predominate.

Am I right in understanding the instrument cluster on our Edges is only available on the Lincoln version you have over there?

[ben senise]

22 minutes ago, niceonept said:

Am I right in understanding the instrument cluster on our Edges is only available on the Lincoln version you have over there?

 

i'm not sure. i've never really looked into it. don't know much about the Lincolns. perhaps someone more knowledgeable will chime in.