Need Solid Tips on Removing CA HOV Stickers

[djlott]

Thank you all for the great replies. Looks like a hair dryer, GooGone, a few microfiber towels, saran wrap and some patience are in my future.

I wasn't confident at first that the GooGone wouldn't harm the paint. After reading all these posts, I feel more comfortable now with a DIY. I'll post my experience when I finish so others can continue to benefit from this thread.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Took the avenue of least resistance and simply put the red stickers over my white stickers.

 

[Buster1]

I’m joking, but kinda serious. Why in the heck does CA have such a silly law that requires these HOV stickers on EVs? Can the cops not tell that a car is an EV?

This is like putting a sticker on your goat, identifying it as a goat, so it can run around in the dog park.

 

[tranzndance]

I’m joking, but kinda serious. Why in the heck does CA have such a silly law that requires these HOV stickers on EVs? Can the cops not tell that a car is an EV?

This is like putting a sticker on your goat, identifying it as a goat, so it can run around in the dog park.

That's because they can expire access. Next year, not all EVs can use HOV lanes with single occupants. Different decals will distinguish eligibility. There will also be another decal color with another expiration date next year.

 

[bdukov]

Took the avenue of least resistance and simply put the red stickers over my white stickers.

That is what I was thinking of doing; I haven't gotten the red ones yet. Are they identical in size? How does the thickness look on top of the white ones?

 

[BlackHammer]

This is gonna sound really weird, but when I took those ugly white stickers off of my black car I used peanut butter! Had goo gone and that worked a bit, but the peanut butter was like magic! It is a mess though.

 

[PhilDavid]

Could it be to prevent them being stolen? I bet if you could get them off easily they have some decent black market value.

But then you would have to stick them on a car that would meet the requirement -- right?

Seems like CHP will be easily able to pull over someone who stuck stolen stickers on their car and they'd get in serious trouble.

Just wish they would have released an exclusive background color for cars that qualify for this exemption and not have to deal with these hideous stickers. I bet many would be fine with having front and rear tags of a certain color rather than have their car vandalized with these stickers.

Whatever bureaucrat who came up with this obviously loathes cars.

I feel the only way to stick these is to first apply it to PPF and then apply the PPF with the sticker on the car when you need it and then remove it.

 

[jkoya]

Had goo gone and that worked a bit, but the peanut butter was like magic! It is a mess though.

Do you just rub it on the sticker remnants ? Details please if you don't mind sharing.

 

[whitex]

But then you would have to stick them on a car that would meet the requirement -- right?

Seems like CHP will be easily able to pull over someone who stuck stolen stickers on their car and they'd get in serious trouble.

The trouble is not in pulling over a car - that part is easy. The difficult part is telling which car to pull over. You take a new sticker and put it on an old, no longer eligible Tesla and chances of getting pulled over for that are very small - your biggest risk is getting pulled over for something else and getting caught. With many new electric cars on the market, I'm betting cops won't be able to keep track what is electric and what is not, especially if they have the same car available in 2 variants (Kia Soul for example).

 

[Acho]

The best I've used to remove agresive adhesives from cars are steamer and 3M citrus based adhesive remover - https://www.amazon.com/3M-6040-ADHE...Y340_QL65&keywords=3m+citrus+adhesive+remover

The last one has citrus extract and it is non toxic and smells like orange. The best way to use it is to spray it on paper towel and "stick" the wet towel over the adhesive lefrover for couple of minutes so it keep it wet /it drys out fast if just sprayed on/ then just rub it with paper or cloth towel. Repeat until all is gone.

 

[moore101]

That is what I was thinking of doing; I haven't gotten the red ones yet. Are they identical in size? How does the thickness look on top of the white ones?

Yes they are identical, I put the red ones right over the white ones.

 

[jkoya]

The last one has citrus extract and it is non toxic and smells like orange. The best way to use it is to spray it on paper towel and "stick" the wet towel over the adhesive lefrover for couple of minutes so it keep it wet /it drys out fast if just sprayed on/ then just rub it with paper or cloth towel. Repeat until all is gone.

Thanks for the tip !!

 

[BlackHammer]

Do you just rub it on the sticker remnants ? Details please if you don't mind sharing.

@jkoya Yup! However I used some of the other tips first to get the bulk of the sticker off. Then it leaves a trail of “void” underneath. I’m sure I got this suggestion from google because who in the world would think of putting peanut butter on their car. Anyways, rubbed a bit of peanut butter around the residue and it removed everything. I washed the car after to

 

[jkoya]

Anyways, rubbed a bit of peanut butter around the residue and it removed everything. I washed the car after to

Thanks for sharing !!! I'll try this on our Volt when I remove the stickers in January.

 

[ceekz]

This is gonna sound really weird, but when I took those ugly white stickers off of my black car I used peanut butter! Had goo gone and that worked a bit, but the peanut butter was like magic! It is a mess though.

PB or mayo was the go-to remover for gum in the hair when my kids were little...

 

[ceekz]

When my HOV stickers come in, I'm planning to do the minimal approach and put one on the rear bumper and the others in the glove box because I don't regularly commute on roadways with HOV lanes. As per advice from other owners on the forum, I'll put the sticker on a piece of Xpel PPF, trim it, and stick that to the bumper.

If CA were to do something efficient, like combine the HOV badging with a license plate, an entire department of state workers would be out of a job...

 

[bmah]

@jkoya Yup! However I used some of the other tips first to get the bulk of the sticker off. Then it leaves a trail of “void” underneath. I’m sure I got this suggestion from google because who in the world would think of putting peanut butter on their car. Anyways, rubbed a bit of peanut butter around the residue and it removed everything. I washed the car after to

I assume that was creamy (not crunchy) peanut butter?

Bruce.

 

[NeverFollow]

Rather than use the four white stickers supplied by the DMV, I just applied a small one to the bottom right of the rear bumper.
Much less obtrusive and hopefully satisfies the letter of the law and calm any following CHP officer.
So far, no problems. I keep the two large stickers in the glove box if called upon to "produce the product".
IMHO, four decals on the car is overkill.

I received this new FastTrak Flex Tool Tag with a three positions switch.

- I wonder how this can be monitored?

Does a CHP officer has a way to connect remotely to your device to check which position the switch is set to?

At a tool gate, what could be the use of taking a front picture if the two passengers are seating on the back?

Anyway, could a Fastrack transponder could be used instead of stickers
to handle this complicated and constantly changing CA Carpool Stickers list.

 

[Lifeinabox]

No, it's in addition to the stickers and how they charge for tolls. The transponder readers here in SoCal flash based on the number of occupants (or if the car even has a transponder). It's common for CHP to lurk right underneath so they nab folks who are violating one or more of the rules.

 

[demundus]

Rather than use the four white stickers supplied by the DMV, I just applied a small one to the bottom right of the rear bumper. Much less obtrusive and hopefully satisfies the letter of the law and calm any following CHP officer. So far, no problems. I keep the two large stickers in the glove box if called upon to "produce the product". IMHO, four decals on the car is overkill.

Now I intend to place the new RED decal over the current WHITE one, much as the annual year sticker on the license plate. Easier then trying to peel off the old white decal. This method is mentioned on the decal placement instructions.

NOTE: License plate reflects my grading scale as a retired teacher. I thought it was clever, family not so much.

View attachment 359546

You're getting a red decal?