[Datamonkey]

Hi all,

New in town having been a BMW, Mini and long time Vauxhall owner (boo hiss)

Picking up a new 61 plate Kia Sportage KX-3 on either Sat or Mon, from dealer stock, going to test drive it in 30 mins.

Any ways, if i replace all the KIA badges with the better looking K badge is the dealer likley to get a bit crappy over it? As in the warran side of things?

I have just seen an excellent 11 piece badge set on ebay for £60 from korean which actually includes the key fob badges, which i thought was a nice touch as it will keep everything universal.

Anyone had any experience of a dealer refusing to carry out any warranty work because of the badge changes?

Im thinking i might get a set of spare kia badges just in case?



Also i know i need to do a propper search on here, but how easy is it to get the badges off? From past experience it was a pan of hot water onto the badge to soften the sticky back and then pull off using a screw driver if neede very carefully so as not to scratch your pride and joy.

Many thanks

Wez

 

[HGF69]

Search below for my link to pics with the rebadges. I doubt very much if your warranty will be affected, KIA have already said its only things that they would service so change the horn while your at it.

Mine looks great with the K badges. Just put the steering and wheels ones on with the 3M tape. The back one get some fishing wire, heat the badge with a hairdyer and 'cut' behind it'. The grille one is a bugger but if you search the .com KIA site you'll see instructions for grille removal.

 

[Datamonkey]

Nice one, thanks for the reply.

Asked the dealer while i was signing the paperwork and hensaid it wouldnt affect the warranty, in fact he hadnt seen the K badge so did a quick google himself to see what it was like.

He even agreed they look ten fold better.

Cheers

WezEdited by: Datamonkey

 

[Malta Guy]

Its true that these badges are nice, it was also my first impression....


until.....



I discovered which vehicle they really belong to...have a look



http://ceratoforte.forumotion.com/t2063-king-long-bus-retro-k-emblem-embarrass-my-car



If one looks to their website the buses look really nice, however in Malta the new bus company Arriva some some 200 of them and they are having infinite problems with them....



therefore, i'm not going to make my new Sportage look like a china bus....NO WAY!!!

 

[Datamonkey]

Lol did make me chuckle, have to say though i'm still going to go for it

Delivery wont beuntil tuesday now as i have added the side steps onto the order been reading that they will offer "some" additional protection against stone chips.

I did notice on the demo car that there is a small clear patch applied to the lower bottom of the rear passenger doors is this new?

 

[Sid Rumpo]

Not new, mine has the clear patches, delivered March 2011

 

[AyOwZe]

Very nice indeed, much better looking.


Not sure I'd trust myself not to bugger the whole process up though, do you thinkthe dealermight be able to do this kind of thing if asked nicely and paid a small labour charge?



On another note, I'm thinking of asking the dealer to remove the SPORTAGE,CRDi and AWD badges from mine as I think it will look better and dirt can't get trapped within the little nooks and crannies of them, not having done this kind of thing before will the dealer do this if asked or will I have to do this, and if so how difficult is it?



Many thanks in advance for any help and info any one can give.

 

[Datamonkey]

Hey AyOwZe,
Im not sure if the dealer would remove the badges, one thing i will be asking them to do though is if they have stuck a dealer sticker in the back window i will want that taking out. Not sure how easy it would be to remove as the windows are tinted.

From previous experiance removing badges isnt too hard, just take your time and i found it a good idea to use veyr hot (not boiling) water, pour it down the back of the badge as this helped loosen the sticky pad on the back of the badge.

HGF69 has some very good advice up above on using fishing wire and the hair dryer to heat up the badge/sticky pad. Will probably go down this route.

HGF69, did you used to own a rover at some point? when i hear HGF i always think of Head Gasket Failure lolmy mates Rover was a nightmare for it.

 

[Dr Grim]

AyOwZe/Datamonkey i have removed the dealer sticker off my rear window and the Kia 7 year warrenty sticker with a sharp knive in the corner of each sticker, also removed the Sportage CRDI and AWD badges from the rear and side of the car again with a sharp knive under each letter which did not mark the paint work if you are very carefull, also purchased the K emblems from Korea at a cost of £56 for the seven - 4 wheels, 1 front, 1 rear and 1 steering wheel which look much better.

 

[Datamonkey]

hey Dr Grim,

Cheers for the input, im hoping if the dealer has stuck something in the window it will be pretty easy to remove as it wont have been on there long.

I have been toying with the idea of removing the AWD and model badges and such, have done on my current Astra SRI.

Will have a good luck once we pick her up

ThanksEdited by: Datamonkey

 

[bitman]

second to those

k badges

i want them too on my 2005 sorento!

 

[HGF69]

Hey AyOwZe,


HGF69, did you used to own a rover at some point? when i hear HGF i always think of Head Gasket Failure lolmy mates Rover was a nightmare for it.

Not me mate. If anyone does remove their AWD badge and can spare it I'll take it off your hands, I wanted to put an extra one on the rear.

 

[MrsBarrowman81]

We are quite lucky here, our dealer puts their web address on the Reg plates. So a quick change of plates is needed

 

[AyOwZe]

Hi HGF69,


If I get the balls to do mine and I don't mess them up then you're very welcome to have the spare AWD badges, that's if you can wait that long!

Datamonkey,



Good point about the dealer sticker, I'll make sure I mention this to the dealer and hopefullysave myself the hassle.

 

[HGF69]

seriously the only one thats tricky is the front grille, the rest are all just 3M tape. And thnaks I'll hold you to that LOL

 

[Datamonkey]

Hey guys,

Sorry i haven't posted back yet lol.

Picked up the car last night and love it!!! have just had shipping confirmation from my friendly Korean chappy saying my badges have shipped

So will be fitting them once they arrive, wish the weather would improve though.

 

[mattbianco1]

Datamonkey -


Did you sort the badges out in the end?



How did you do the grille ? Was it difficult?



I've bought these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KIA-All-new-Sportage-2011-R-Logo-EMBLEM-Package-7EA-/290510895497?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43a3cc7989



I'm gonna have a crack at them over Xmas i reckon.

 

[mattbianco1]

I've also bought these but i'm not sure about these either.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KIA-All-new-Sportage-2011-Wheel-carbon-Mask-sticker-/300480454622?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item45f607dfde



What do you think?

 

[Mr Kia]

I doubt very much if your warranty will be affected, KIA have already said its only things that they would service so change the horn while your at it.

Its actually anything that has a manufacturing defect will be covered. Changing the badges could invalidate the paint warranty if it is cratched and paint starts to rust and bubble up around near wether the badge is fitted, wether you scratch it yourself or not will no longer matter as you have modified the car yourself with non genuine parts.

 

[Datamonkey]

Hi all,

I'm afraid I haven't fitted them yet

I have removed the crdi badge and the sportage badges. In place of the Sportage badge I have fitted an identical AWD badge to the ones on the front wings, this I think looks quite smart.

I'm still not decided on the K badge. I bought the whole kit for £70 from eBay which replaces all KIA logos on the car.

But to be honest I'm not such a badge snob now I have had the car for coming upto 4 months lol

Sorry for any spelling/gramaticalerrors posting on my iPhone at work lol

CheersEdited by: Datamonkey