Vinyl Wrap Long Term Durability and Advice

[Mellow Yellow]

I have a friend with a yellow Seat Leon Cupra, the car has suffered badly from paint fade as they are prone to. The car has FSSH, low mileage and is otherwise in excelent mechanical shape. She lives in London and hence doesn't drive a lot so it's not worth her replacing it. The car is only worth about £2k so respraying doesn't make economic sense, I've suggested she might consider having the car wrapped in a similar colour as a low cost alternative to a respray.

Has anyone experience of how long a wrap is likely to last? Do the colours fade over time, if you have a knock after a couple of years can it be patched or is colour matching virually impossible?

Any advice gratefully received.

[dooosuk]

Wouldn't a professional mop and polish be a cheaper and better way of restoring the colour?

[Mellow Yellow]

dooosuk said:

Wouldn't a professional mop and polish be a cheaper and better way of restoring the colour?

Not as simple as that unfortunately, I think it's had re-spray at some time, in places the top coat/laquer has lifted leaving patches of nice bright yellow underneath the rather pale top layer.

[jon-]

How much do you think a full wrap is?

Last quote I had was over £1000, so it wasn't exactly a low cost alternative to a spray

[jonm01]

Yep, decent wrap will be £1000 +

If the lacquer is coming off that might make it difficult to wrap anyway. The vinyl might start pulling more off during installation.

[Mellow Yellow]

Prices I've been quoted for a wrap are £800-£1000 vs £2,250-£2500 for a re-spray. If the wrap lasts 3 years it's worthwhile. Paint may need a bit of rubbing down here and there and will undoubtedly lift more if the vinyl is removed but, if she gets three years of it looking okay she'll be happy.

[grantsmith1985]

We often do full exterior same colour resprays starting from as little as £800+vat (For a small car depending on damage).
I would expect for a decent on job on the usual leon issues on a yellow depending on damage, for example denting, expect around the £1200+vat. Denting adds a lot of prep time and can nudge the pricing up. Although there is little point in leaving dent work un touched on a job like this.