Tell me what you know about vinyl car wraps...

Whats the range on a full quality job?

How durable is it?

How can I wash the car afterwards.

If I wrap the car in a different color how noticeable will it be, only under the hood and when you open the doors?

ewgrosschris said:

Whats the range on a full quality job?

How durable is it?

How can I wash the car afterwards.

If I wrap the car in a different color how noticeable will it be, only under the hood and when you open the doors?

Click to expand...

$2000-$3000 is the average for a full wrap in a solid color, its very durable and lasts 5 years + ( i have friends going on 7 years).

You wash it basically like you would a regular car but you have to make sure you don't drag dirt and other items you wash off over the vinyl.

Answering your final question, its not that noticeable considering most shops will do the sills and insides of the doors (at least the ones i know of) plus it also depends on the colors. The major focus is on the base color of your car and the vinyl i've seen a burnt orange wrap on a yellow car and the difference was extremely noticeable, it really depends on what you have.

I'm starting the wrap process on my car tomorrow so if you got questions feel free to ask!

Personally I hate anything that's all vinyl'ed, especially matte colours, partly because where I live it's practically a symbol of "I'm too rich and I have nothing better to do to my car."

That being said, I am for little additions like vinyl roof or something to colour contrast a car. I'm trying to run a bit of a gloss black contrast to my shark blue car so I am considering a vinyl black roof, which would run somewhere around $200-300 if you know someone.

I think if you vinyl the car you should represent the original car colour and not make it seem like you have buyer's remorse on the colour choice.

Keep in mind that if you DO vinyl the whole car (at least where I live, but I'd bet similarly for other cities) that you have to get new plates and register the new car colour. For police purposes the car will be the new colour, whereas if you choose to just do part of it I think you do not need to re-register.

i love wrapping cars. its such a cool material to work with and if done right really is a great look. i agree with what crid says except for the covering everything part. theres some big grey area between industry expectations and customers expectations. at that 2-3k you getting face panels wrapped, not typically "everything". taking a black car and making it matte black doing it that way will make a great final product. ALOT of extra time goes into a real full color change. to the point that you literally have to take off bumpers and everything. that will no doubt cost you more. heres some eye candy ive done

I was thinking matte white or super glossy white. But damn that wrap on the mini cooper looks so sick.

Wow, definitely love those wrap jobs, drtyjrsy! Great work.

I just got a black 2012 GTI and want to wrap it in either matte black or matte dark grey. I plan to do it myself with help from a friend that has some experience.

Drtyjrsy, one of my only complaints about my color choice is how dirty the black gets so quickly.... do you find that matte black shows water marks/dust/dirt is better, worse or about the same as the gloss? Also, what do you think about dark grey vs black?

I'm planning on using 3M's 1080 stuff, which I'd assume you have experience with.

Thanks a lot,

-Keebs

in for more info...

drtyjrsy said:

i love wrapping cars. its such a cool material to work with and if done right really is a great look. i agree with what crid says except for the covering everything part. theres some big grey area between industry expectations and customers expectations. at that 2-3k you getting face panels wrapped, not typically "everything". taking a black car and making it matte black doing it that way will make a great final product. ALOT of extra time goes into a real full color change. to the point that you literally have to take off bumpers and everything. that will no doubt cost you more. heres some eye candy ive done

Click to expand...

Phuching Sick! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

toddkeebs said:

Wow, definitely love those wrap jobs, drtyjrsy! Great work.

I just got a black 2012 GTI and want to wrap it in either matte black or matte dark grey. I plan to do it myself with help from a friend that has some experience.

Drtyjrsy, one of my only complaints about my color choice is how dirty the black gets so quickly.... do you find that matte black shows water marks/dust/dirt is better, worse or about the same as the gloss? Also, what do you think about dark grey vs black?

I'm planning on using 3M's 1080 stuff, which I'd assume you have experience with.

Thanks a lot,

-Keebs

Click to expand...

i thought about wrapping my car in the matte dark grey too. its got just a bit of flake to it, its real nice. all those cars are the 1080 except the orange which is oracal. honestly they all show dirt and debris just the same as paint and cleans off just the same as paint with one exception. you cant really polish and buff vinyl to restore it like you can paint. the biggest thing i stress when someones looking to spend the money is the more you baby it the longer itll last. if a bird drops a deuce on your roof wipe it off, avoid waterspots by not parking it by a sprinkler that kinda stuff. its durable but not invincible. i wrapped a kids A4 in the 3m matte silver like a year ago. he went on vacation and parked it in his parents driveway. a week later came back and it was destroyed. they must have treated the grass or sprayed for bugs or something and spray got all over the driver side of the car and ate away the finish on the vinyl. its the only time ive ever seen that but these are the type of things to try and avoid. at the same time ive had the 3m matte black on my roof for over 2 years and i somewhat neglect it but do keep it garaged during the day..28k miles and its still flawless.