Well, I didn't take a good look at it after it came off. If it was some sort of plastic coating rather than paint, I stand corrected. And I agree that there's an adhesion issue (a serious one, I'd say). Although if the stories about fading are true, the coating isn't worth a lot even when it stays on.

I also agree the metal of the badges seems nice, which makes it all the more a waste that they seem to end up looking trashy way too soon. If the switch to the new badges was to save money, as I assume, then I wish they'd just put all the money into the badge and dropped it into a bubble mailer rather than FedExing me a large box with a very handsome silver folio.

My car should be up for the next badge within the foreseeable future, if that one happens to arrive intact I'll try the epoxy trick, it sounds like a cool idea. Maybe I could get a replacement for the first at the same time. I had been thinking about the clear varnish due to its UV resistance, but I wasn't sure about how well it would adhere on metal.