briwar454

I wish I would have researched this company more before buying a windshield decal from them. Here's my sob story: A year and four months ago, my girl friend wanted to buy me something for my Trans Am. I always wanted a windshield decal for my car. It gives it a nice "pace car" look. I found some at autografics. I got the the vinyl decal at the top of this page: http://www.autografics.com/pages/birds3.htm

Seven months later, I was looking at brown stains all over the decal.




I emailed the company and he said, "That's what it looks like when it gets exposed to something harmfull. You probably need to go with high performance vinyl."

J.Cutta

Was it the reflective type material..I had some decals go south on me too

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

To remove it, scrape it with a razor blade, & use acetone (available anywhere, even Wal Mart) to remove the residual "sticky" adhesive left behind. Your best chance for taking it off easier is when it is warm. Either do it mid-afternoo when it is warm, or better...Use a heat source...heat gun or hair dryer to heat the vinyl. Careful though with heat o windshields. They are 2 layers of glass, with a film in between the layers for shatter resistance. Overheating WILL cause the film to bubble & create nasty bubbles in the glass. Don't ask me how I learned.

7 months is just BAD. Been doing vinyl for almost 10 years now, and never seen even Indoor vinyl go bad like that outside.

Occasionally, the car or sign was only meant to last 6 months, so they went with the cheapest available. Understandable.

But that looks like MOLD. Never seen vinyl turn moldy. Not sure how it could even do that, without some texture for the mold spores to adhere to & grow.

briwar454

Thanks for the love. It was not the reflective vinyl. I can't wait to post the pics of the current condition. You'll be impressed.

KYLE87

iTrader: (5)

I have a vinyl decal on mine and its been fine for 2 years or more now

briwar454

what color is it? is your car garaged?

wanab03ss

iTrader: (20)

Ive got the same decal but the one for 87 and its silver like yours. It looks like new ;but it is in the garage most of the time..I believe the cheapest vinyl they offer is a 6 year warranty... let me know how it works out..I started a thread some time ago about how good the autographics stickers were Im interested to see how there customer service is..I feel bad for ya, my girlfriend wanted to know what she could get me for a present and I like you always wanted the windsheild sticker..good luck

briwar454

my car is outside and parked on the street most of the time. i still use it a a daily driver. so far, chuck at autografics has the worst online customer service i have ever seen!

F_N_JUNK

iTrader: (4)

Thats what happens when you park a car in the Cali sun all the time. I'm sure your dash looks pretty bad too.....

briwar454

actually, the dash looks really good. probably the best part of my car. thank you sun shades!!!

briwar454

Sorry it took me so long to post the pics of the decal's current condition. Note that the Silver decal is now BLACK!!




I would fear buying anything from Autografics. The product is bad and the customer service is worse. Keep in made they make decal sets for third gens. I would be upset if I had repainted my whole car, put on there decals, and have them discolor like this!

wanab03ss

iTrader: (20)

If your using a sunreflector,is it shinysilver on the outside... if so no vinyl sticker will hold up to that , especially in cali. Your basically taking all the heat of the sun thats being magnitized on its way in your windshield and shooting it right back out. If thats the case .

briwar454

It is not "shinysilver." It is a mat finish material.

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

He brings up a good point though...The vinyl might have some sunlight resistance from the outside in, but being lit from the iside out??? Maybe the light being reflected from BEHIND has something to do with it. Just a thought.

1hotroc

iTrader: (3)

Chuck is the absolute worst. His product sucks and he is a theif. Pay the extra money and go with a reputable company. Sooner or later he will pay for all the people he has ****ed over.

briwar454

THANK YOU! I personally believe that if you are selling something for a car it should stand up to normal use. I'm not doing anything abnormal with this car. If you have a garage, get the decals. If you park outside, do not buy from this guy. Keep in mind Los Angeles isn't a desert. Right now the car is parked under a tree.

Guy In A 90 RS

Holy crap, that's awful- I'd take that off.

It looks as if its been on your car for over a decade!!! I've been wanting a widow decal, but been holding off 'cause my windshield is pretty crappy. . .
After seeing that, I'll be sure to avoid Autografics.

Maybe soap from washing your car, or window cleaner got to it somehow??? Just a guess.

TheScaryOne

iTrader: (3)

I just bookmarked that site to. Almost bought an IROC-Z sticker last night. Not gonna do that now. Here's to hoping everything works out for ya!

Guest

Windshield banners have been around forever. That thing is a worthless piece of junk.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

I bought the hood scoop decals from the same guy, for my 83 Z/28. The decals are supposed matte black, and the ones I got were a very glossy black. It bugged me so much, I removed them.

I emailed the guy and he said I should have specified matte black if that's what I wanted. WTF!

briwar454

Autografics sucks! Tell everyone one you know!

vindeezl

iTrader: (2)

**** AUTOGRAFICS

Chuck is an absolute moron and screwed me out of $50 as well.

That dumbass managed to send me his low quality IROC decals in the wrong color. I e-mailed him to exchange the decals to which he replied ok and I sent them to him only to recieve NOTHING back and I'm sure I joined his growing list of e-mail addresses to ignore.

It has been over a year I think, but I suggest you and everyone else here on TGO to spend your hard earned money elsewhere. I hope he gets what he deserves as karma is a bitch.

Al Hasse

Not from Autografics, but I've had a banner on my Camaro for 5 or more years now and it's just starting to look a little ragged on the edges. Color has held up fine, but it's not reflective (which is available). It didn't come with the curve to fit the windshield, so that was a fun application, other than that I'm happy with it.

Ordered from this place...
http://www.stickergirl.com/

krisb410

iTrader: (9)

I ordered the "High Performance" black vinyl decals for my 82 hood, I like that they are glossy black. I have to agree that you should have specified matte black if thats what you wanted.

I just put them on the car, so I guess I'll have to see how they hold up.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Two things:

1) If these are the "replacement Z/28 hood decals", wouldn't you assume that they'd come in the proper factory finish?

2) When I ordered them, I wasn't given any choice in finish. Yes, I went back and checked. Had I been given the choice and chose what I got, that would be different.


I've already removed them from the car. I'm thinking of ordering the ones from Phoenix. Anyone have any feedback on those?

krisb410

iTrader: (9)

NO, why would you assume anything when your not ordering GM parts!!!!!

I ordered mine reflective by accident, sent him an email telling him I didn't want the reflective, but the High Performance. So I think you could have done the same. Or even better, sent him an email before you ordered, asking him if it was the same as original!!

I rarely order something on the Internet before I do a little research about what I'm buying. At least a phone call or an email. It's just a good idea in order to protect your money.

briwar454

GM decals are the way to go, if your gonna put all the work in to the paint, get the right stuff!

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Yeah as I said, I did email him.

Did he exchange yours for you? Because he didn't offer to do that for me. Also, I made no errors in ordering them either, since (as I said), the matte ones weren't even one of the choices.
The only choices were:
1)Standard
2)Metallic
3)Reflective


If you ask me, from a goodwill and customer service point of view, it would be smart business practice to have simply exchanged them for me - if in fact he even offers them in a different finish.

Anyways, water under the bridge now.

krisb410

iTrader: (9)

I didn't need to exchange mine. The email I sent him about my order error was within minutes of placing the order. So he sent me the correct pieces I wanted.

allenfre

Man. this looks awful! I won't wait till the weather strip them off dude. I'll scraoe these decals right away! Thanks for the heads up. I should be careful in choosing low quality decals

xNJ92RSx

Where do you live in Los Angeles? Could the smog or pollution be a problem? I lived in Eagle Rock for almost 13 years, and I had a couple of window banners go on me, I suspect the pollution, but It really could be anything.

Kandied91z

iTrader: (7)

Wow i haven't seen something like that since early 90's.

you should find a local sign/vinyl shop and just get it there. probably cheaper and they can help you to notice the difference. granted there are variances in vinyl but anything for automotive use shouldn't do that for quite some time.

good luck.