CA owners - are you removing your white/green HOV decals?

[LeftieBiker]

No carpool lanes for me, but removing stickers is often easier if you warm them up with a hair dryer/heat gun. The adhesives underneath need to be warmed up, but not too hot to burn the plastic/paper sticker.

I'd use a hair dryer certainly, but my heat gun settings are 800 degrees and 1200 degrees - I'm not sure I'd go there on a plastic bumper cover.

I've done it. Use the Low setting and keep the gun at least a foot away from the bumper.

[mwalsh]

I took the stickers off both cars yesterday (4 HOV on the Volt, 3 HOV plus the EV parking sticker on the LEAF). Six came off quite easily, but one was a Son of a Bitch!

The six that came off easily, the plastic sheeting that made up the top layer of the sticker pretty much separated from the adhesive, but not so much that I was left with a "VOID" imprint on the bumpers. Instead I was left with a white patch that was pretty much everything except the printing (which appeared to be reverse printed on the back of the plastic sheeting). This residue I hit up with some Goof Off, and it came off relatively easily. I followed this with a spot wash of the area with soapy (car wash) water.

The one sticker that was a S.O.A.B was the smaller HOV sticker on the back of the LEAF, and on it the plastic sheeting would not separate from the adhesive at all. Plus the Goof Off had zero effect on the plastic. So I started to scrape it off with a fingernail; then got frustrated with the pace and went to a utility knife blade. The latter mostly worked OK, but I did end up jacking up my paint a tiny bit. I covered those boo-boos with a GB country sticker. If I had it to do over again, I probably would have left any sticker giving me the slightest resistance in place.

Fading around the stickers was about what I had expected - somewhat noticeable, but not to the point that it would be obvious if you didn't know where to look.

[cwerdna]

Wasn't planning on it.

Heck, the long useless (expired in 2011) yellow stickers are still on the rear bumper cover of my 06 Prius. The front one was removed by a body shop when the had to repaint half of my front bumper cover after my dad got into a minor accident when he'd borrowed my car.

[RonDawg]

Just removed the ones off my eGolf. I bought a cheap ($15 + tax) heat gun from Harbor Freight. I put it in the "low" setting and made sure the surface of the sticker didn't get hotter than I could touch with my bare hands. I warmed it up to about 100-120 F, picked up one corner with my fingernail, and peeled it slowly, re-warming the exposed part of the adhesive surface.

That caused a pattern of "VOID" left behind, but I had a can of "3M Adhesive Remover" in one of my garage cabinets which I used to remove them.

There appears to be no sun fading after 44 months, but my car is garaged both at home and at work, so my car has spent little time in direct sunlight. I won't know for sure until the car is fully detailed and I can see it in the bright sunshine. It's gloomy and rainy right now.

[smkettner]

Never put mine on. Never had a consistent need for them. They expired sitting in the glove box.

[Nubo]

Never put mine on. Never had a consistent need for them. They expired sitting in the glove box.

That's amazing for being in Orange County!

[lkkms2]

Well, my yellow carpool decals are still on our 2002 Prius. Seemed too much work to take them off, and no real need to.

For my 2017 Leaf did want the extended red HOV Decals, so took some of the tips suggested above. Got a razor blade to help start at the edges, pliers, and a helpful wife to direct the hot air from a hair dryer to remove the top layer. (Note: Don’t work to slowly or you may try the helper’s patience). Of course cleaned/washed the area first to get any dust and dirt off.

Had planned to get some “Goof Off or Gunck Off” or try the Borox paste to remove the underlining “Void” printing, but got stared before I had purchased them. Ended up just cleaning with soap and water, drying well, leaving the underlying “void” lettering, and sticking the new red decals right on top were the old ones where located (have to use a good eye and not rush). Made sure not to create any air bubbles under the decal and consistently pressed down the edges several times to ensure a good seal. WALA and I was done.

The red decals didn’t look as bad as I thought they would as the brake lights and tail lights were matching red too.

[RonDawg]

Never put mine on. Never had a consistent need for them. They expired sitting in the glove box.

My commute is short enough that I don't need them, plus if I did use the short stretch of HOV lane available to me, I'd have to exit at the next opening in the double yellows anyway.

But on my days off, the few times I was able to take advantage of them, it was worth putting up with the ugliness.

[sptleaf]

When I get the new purple stickers I’m considering using the 3M film underneath that a lot of Tesla owners use. Yes risk of theft but I park in a garage mostly.

[GlennD]

On my Ioniq I did not bother with the stickers. My eGolf came with them so I mounted them on some magnetic sign material and kept them in the glove compartment. I really have no need for the HOV lanes. In fact I rarely drive on freeways these days.