yeaaah this concerned me a bit...good point. ideally i will be around any time it needs to be towed, get that flat bed out

 

Because it's a forum where the normal thing to do is post one's opinions and the very title of the thread was, "Debadge or no?", which asked for my opinion. Duh! And applying your same logic, why did you feel it was necessary to chide me about contributing my opinion? My opinion means as much as anyone else's opinion here whether you agree with it or not.


Interesting that the guy that posted beneath my original post said pretty much what I was trying to convey and you "thanked" him, yet bitched to me???

 

Lol, beat me to it. Just the other day and friend and I were at the Walmart parking lot shooting the breeze say us old folks.

Couple walks up and started asking about the car. His is debadged and maroon and mine is white with all badges on. They both asked the difference between the base model ( his) and the shawd that I have.

I explained they were both shawd and he took the badges off. They asked why wouldn't you want people to know which one you had. I told them that enthusiasts can tell them apart and pointed out the subtle differences.

And tow truck drivers just tow what they see. No badges means it's a fwd model until they pull off

 

Yea, he's known for doing that.

 

I debadged mine, it's a much cleaner look, but like others have said, no one knows exactly what you're driving as far as the AWD goes.

 

I did preface it with; I know im going to get shit from you!

 

OP, I suggest you look over pictures with badges, without badges, and with only one or two removed...then decide what you prefer.

I personally like the debadged look. I couldn't care less if people that see my car know whether or not it's AWD. Now as far as being towed, I had never thought of that. I'll just keep my fingers crossed!

 

This was the only reason why I did not take off the SH-AWD because I had 2 nightmares about getting my car towed. lol

But at the same time, I doubt those tow truck drivers will take the care unless they were specifically instructed.

 

Just to put into perspective why I mentioned this. A few years ago a water main broke under the lot where I park. All of the cars were towed away and we were notified when we got to the lot at the end of the day. The attendant said they had to bring in a flat bed for a few cars, mine included, and we were towed to a different location. My co-worker has a de-badged A4 Quattro and his was towed with the rear wheels on the ground. Something in his vehicle was destroyed, I can't remember if it was the transfer case, differential, or transmission, but it cost him several thousand and the towing company was not liable as they were not notified that his vehicle was AWD.

Also, many years before this, I owned a parking space down town and often found people in it and had to have them towed. Every single time it was an AWD vehicle, the tow truck driver would call in for a flat bed (If they weren't a flat bed). They also took great care, which surprised me, to jack up and rotate FWD vehicles using wheel carts to make sure to tow them with the rear wheels on the ground and not drag the front wheels.

 

During your ownership period, it's completely up to you. However, if you were to try to sell it, having it debadged will affect how marketable the car is. I, personally, would likely turn away from a used car that I suspect that the owner has modified.

Just providing another perspective...

 

SHAWD badges will be relocated to the lower area behind the front wheel on the side skirts. I am just waiting on a new set to come in. My last car was AWD and I did the very same thing. No badges on the rear but the AWD was relocated to the side skirts behind the front wheels. If a tow truck driver can't see badges there at the front wheels then hey, he is in the wrong business.

As for tow truck drivers taking care I would hope they do. I am not one to fk with when it comes to my car. Do your job in towing it if that's called for but do it carefully.

 

When you do, please post a picture. Would love to see how it looks.