Car wraps? Good idea or a nightmare?
Discussion
Surely like anything it's all context, ignoring the aesthetics I've seen plenty of brand new cars with stunning looking wraps, if someone's bought a brand new sports car and paid for a good quality wrap then fantastic you can be pretty sure it's top notch. If it's a lowered 12 year old polo then you can guess to the quality! Best to check in person and look at the corners and edges and check how good they are.
GTR's tend to get wrapped quite often and there are more horror stories than pleasant stories with how the wrap has been applied (scalpels used to cut around wing mirrors etc and marks left on the car) to the paint being ripped off when the wrap is removed, which tends to happen on car's that have been repainted in some point in their life.
A car that I know off within the GTR community has had a few panels resprayed due to paint being ripped off with the wrap.
It all comes down to who has applied the wrap. If someone like PW Pro applied the wrap then you have no concerns at all. My friends have had car's wrapped by them and 5 year's on the wrap application itself has held up though the colour on the wrap has faded. One of the car's was re-wrapped and IIRC 4 years later the paintwork was just as immaculate as it was when the wrap was applied.
A car that I know off within the GTR community has had a few panels resprayed due to paint being ripped off with the wrap.
It all comes down to who has applied the wrap. If someone like PW Pro applied the wrap then you have no concerns at all. My friends have had car's wrapped by them and 5 year's on the wrap application itself has held up though the colour on the wrap has faded. One of the car's was re-wrapped and IIRC 4 years later the paintwork was just as immaculate as it was when the wrap was applied.
EmilA said:
GTR's tend to get wrapped quite often and there are more horror stories than pleasant stories with how the wrap has been applied (scalpels used to cut around wing mirrors etc and marks left on the car) to the paint being ripped off when the wrap is removed, which tends to happen on car's that have been repainted in some point in their life.
A car that I know off within the GTR community has had a few panels resprayed due to paint being ripped off with the wrap.
It all comes down to who has applied the wrap. If someone like PW Pro applied the wrap then you have no concerns at all. My friends have had car's wrapped by them and 5 year's on the wrap application itself has held up though the colour on the wrap has faded. One of the car's was re-wrapped and IIRC 4 years later the paintwork was just as immaculate as it was when the wrap was applied.
The one that always springs to mind is the white GTR that had deep knife cuts around all the panel gaps plus all the trim screws replaced with brass wood screws. A car that I know off within the GTR community has had a few panels resprayed due to paint being ripped off with the wrap.
It all comes down to who has applied the wrap. If someone like PW Pro applied the wrap then you have no concerns at all. My friends have had car's wrapped by them and 5 year's on the wrap application itself has held up though the colour on the wrap has faded. One of the car's was re-wrapped and IIRC 4 years later the paintwork was just as immaculate as it was when the wrap was applied.
Daston said:
EmilA said:
GTR's tend to get wrapped quite often and there are more horror stories than pleasant stories with how the wrap has been applied (scalpels used to cut around wing mirrors etc and marks left on the car) to the paint being ripped off when the wrap is removed, which tends to happen on car's that have been repainted in some point in their life.
A car that I know off within the GTR community has had a few panels resprayed due to paint being ripped off with the wrap.
It all comes down to who has applied the wrap. If someone like PW Pro applied the wrap then you have no concerns at all. My friends have had car's wrapped by them and 5 year's on the wrap application itself has held up though the colour on the wrap has faded. One of the car's was re-wrapped and IIRC 4 years later the paintwork was just as immaculate as it was when the wrap was applied.
The one that always springs to mind is the white GTR that had deep knife cuts around all the panel gaps plus all the trim screws replaced with brass wood screws. A car that I know off within the GTR community has had a few panels resprayed due to paint being ripped off with the wrap.
It all comes down to who has applied the wrap. If someone like PW Pro applied the wrap then you have no concerns at all. My friends have had car's wrapped by them and 5 year's on the wrap application itself has held up though the colour on the wrap has faded. One of the car's was re-wrapped and IIRC 4 years later the paintwork was just as immaculate as it was when the wrap was applied.
I personally would never buy a wrapped car
I've seen some youtube channels dedicated to wrapping cars and it appears that they cut the wraps directly on the car. They are not precut sheets like PPF can be. If that's the case I'm not so keen on a blade being that close to the paint work.
I'm sure they are very very skilled, and the results can look amazing, I personally would steer clear of a wrapped vehicle.
Saying that if the wrap had been removed I doubt I would be able to tell without going over the car with a fine toothed comb.
I'm sure they are very very skilled, and the results can look amazing, I personally would steer clear of a wrapped vehicle.
Saying that if the wrap had been removed I doubt I would be able to tell without going over the car with a fine toothed comb.
My brother in law has a BMW that was wrapped by the previous owner who was an ex premier league player, so assume not a cheap job...
A few years later the wrap is a mess, discoloured, peeling in places and generally making the car look like a banger. Remember that wraps need to be treated and looked after and washed with the correct products. Not your local scratch and sniff wash merchants...
He's now had it removed, and the bodywork is shocking. Looks even more of a banger, short of a full respray it will never be the same again.
A few years later the wrap is a mess, discoloured, peeling in places and generally making the car look like a banger. Remember that wraps need to be treated and looked after and washed with the correct products. Not your local scratch and sniff wash merchants...
He's now had it removed, and the bodywork is shocking. Looks even more of a banger, short of a full respray it will never be the same again.
lord trumpton said:
The issue with wraps (aside from looking s
t) is what the state of the paint is like underneath.
Stone chips, poor repairs, knife cuts or reaction from the wrap adhesive with previous non standard factory paint (ie repairs)
Not only that but if there are any hidden smart repairs or whatever underneath they're pretty much guaranteed to come off with the wrap.t) is what the state of the paint is like underneath.Stone chips, poor repairs, knife cuts or reaction from the wrap adhesive with previous non standard factory paint (ie repairs)
A decent wrap will cost quite a bit, more than most people would probably expect. On that basis I'd posit that there will be a proportionately high number of people out there who baulked at the idea of a respray and instead found someone to do a wrap on the cheap.
Got to love the generalising, why not wade in with some more haha. The wonderful thing about generalisation is that they are often based on a sample size of 1 and extrapolated out to millions ;-)
A proper wrapping company will use cutting tape, its very easy to use and cheap, you stick it on along the panel edges where you want the wrap to end and wrap over it and then pull the tape and it cuts from underneath. Many 'bellends' who do no research in to wrapping techniques and listen to other bellends telling their 'based on one experience' as the truth covering all will not know of this...or many other techniques ;-)
They will also check paint quality, depth, lacquer quality etc - they will also use expensive materials from the likes of Avery which have guarantees associated with them in the event of damage to paintwork and the like.
The will also cure the wrap with a heat torch running consistent temperatures and not just stick it on and hit it with a heat gun.
And many other things...
A bellend is unfortunately a bellend regardless of car, paint, wrap, location!
A proper wrapping company will use cutting tape, its very easy to use and cheap, you stick it on along the panel edges where you want the wrap to end and wrap over it and then pull the tape and it cuts from underneath. Many 'bellends' who do no research in to wrapping techniques and listen to other bellends telling their 'based on one experience' as the truth covering all will not know of this...or many other techniques ;-)
They will also check paint quality, depth, lacquer quality etc - they will also use expensive materials from the likes of Avery which have guarantees associated with them in the event of damage to paintwork and the like.
The will also cure the wrap with a heat torch running consistent temperatures and not just stick it on and hit it with a heat gun.
And many other things...
A bellend is unfortunately a bellend regardless of car, paint, wrap, location!
The logic is pretty simple I think.
People looking at wrapping their cars in a single full colour are probably doing it as an alternative to respraying, because of cost. Even a "gloss" wrap looks objectively worse up close than a polished painted panel. On that basis alone I would argue that most people will be looking to do it relatively cheaply.
I paid £1,476 to get a Civic Type-R wrapped in 2009. It was done with 3M "85 Series" film and lasted until I sold the car last year, a good 5 years after the warranty expired on the job, and probably a few years longer than it should've been left on the car. The paintwork was (as far as I was concerned) immaculate before it was applied, save for a scuff on the rear bumper. When the wrap came off it took about 5 bits of paint off down to the primer - two around the arches, one large piece on an aftermarket grill that I had originally sprayed the same colour as the car, then wrapped, and on the bumper where I had expected it to come off. There were thankfully no scalpel marks or other surprises.
I don't expect most people who would wrap their cars would be happy paying £1,476, because your average person would think "I could get a respray for that much" (not a decent one obviously). On that basis - as I said - I would suggest that there are probably more bad wraps around than there are good ones.
People looking at wrapping their cars in a single full colour are probably doing it as an alternative to respraying, because of cost. Even a "gloss" wrap looks objectively worse up close than a polished painted panel. On that basis alone I would argue that most people will be looking to do it relatively cheaply.
I paid £1,476 to get a Civic Type-R wrapped in 2009. It was done with 3M "85 Series" film and lasted until I sold the car last year, a good 5 years after the warranty expired on the job, and probably a few years longer than it should've been left on the car. The paintwork was (as far as I was concerned) immaculate before it was applied, save for a scuff on the rear bumper. When the wrap came off it took about 5 bits of paint off down to the primer - two around the arches, one large piece on an aftermarket grill that I had originally sprayed the same colour as the car, then wrapped, and on the bumper where I had expected it to come off. There were thankfully no scalpel marks or other surprises.
I don't expect most people who would wrap their cars would be happy paying £1,476, because your average person would think "I could get a respray for that much" (not a decent one obviously). On that basis - as I said - I would suggest that there are probably more bad wraps around than there are good ones.
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