Vinyl Wrapping??

[spinedoc]

I saw there was a thread about a company in England doing this back in 2014, but I was just at a car show here in Minnesota this last weekend, and nice 5 series BMW was there with what we all thought was a killer paint job....turned out to be a vinyl wrap....


Place called Platinum Wraps....apparently they guarantee it for 3 years, and can last 5-7 years depending on use....

Platinum Automotive Wraps

Has anyone done this with a 986 Boxster? Mines a '98 and the paint is still pretty good, but starting to show it's a age a bit with small rock chips in multiple locations....

Wondering if this might be a good alternative to a full strip and repaint?

Thoughts?

[GaryMulcahey]

I was giving this process some though also. If you can get a good detailer they can eliminate a lot of chips and minor scratches.For the rest of the vulnerable spots> I was thinking of getting my front bumper and mirrors wrapped if they can match the colour.

[ArizonaDan]

another option. the range of colors is pretty deep these days...perhaps you can search for an authorized/recommended shop near you. (links at the bottom of the page)

https://www.dipyourcar.com/collections/plasti-dip-colors

[Mauiguy]

Car wrapping has been a fascination of mine for the last couple weeks- just go to youtube and punch in "porsche boxster wrap" and you'll get a ton of videos. I don't need to get my car painted/wrapped, I just recently found out about wrapping so I've been checking out videos.

[thstone]

I've known three guys who wrapped their 997's. All of them removed it in less than a year.

Why?

1. Wraps don't seem to wear particularly well whereas paint will remain brand spanking new looking if you take care of it. A worn vinyl wrap looks much worse than old paint.

2. A wrap is often tempting to select a wild color or graphic combination that looks good for a few months and then kind of looks obnoxious. You become "that guy in the insert crazy color here car". If the car was a race car or a Lambo, the wild colors or graphics might work, but often not for a street car.

3. The rest of the car remains the original color so when someone gets in the car they see the door interior or rocker panel and say, "Oh, your car is actually insert original color here." The impressiveness of your wrap was just lost. Completely lost.

At the end of the day, its your car and your money, do whatever you think is best.

[VGM911]

Originally Posted by thstone

I've known three guys who wrapped their 997's. All of them removed it in less than a year.

Why?

1. Wraps don't seem to wear particularly well whereas paint will remain brand spanking new looking if you take care of it. A worn vinyl wrap looks much worse than old paint.

2. A wrap is often tempting to select a wild color or graphic combination that looks good for a few months and then kind of looks obnoxious. You become "that guy in the [U]insert crazy color here[/U] car". If the car was a race car or a Lambo, the wild colors or graphics might work, but often not for a street car.

3. The rest of the car remains the original color so when someone gets in the car they see the door interior or rocker panel and say, "Oh, your car is actually insert original color here." The impressiveness of your wrap was just lost. Completely lost.

At the end of the day, its your car and your money, do whatever you think is best.

+1 . . . . . . what he said!

[Smallblock454]

Hi,

i know several people that had problems to get the vinyl wrap off professionally without damaging the clear coat. All theses wraps were took off within the manufacturers guaranteed lasting time. Most were 3M wraps. So no cheapo stuff.

You will see every paint damage though the wrap. Maybe not very fine scratches, but everything else.

I don't see plasti dip as an alternative. That didn't last very long and it's a PITA to remove.

Regards, Markus

[spinedoc]

Originally Posted by thstone

3. The rest of the car remains the original color so when someone gets in the car they see the door interior or rocker panel and say, "Oh, your car is actually insert original color here." The impressiveness of your wrap was just lost. Completely lost.

At the end of the day, its your car and your money, do whatever you think is best.

Interesting, I was over on the Maserati forum, and saw this...and it looks like they wrapped the door sills so you cannot tell at all...

Vinyl Wrap - Page 3 - Maserati Forum

I'm just curious about them......

[FauxDiablo]

I have been in the sign industry for over 25 years as a designer and fabricator, pretty much well-versed all aspects of it. I have also been a car-guy for a longer period of time.

Wrap technology showed-up not long after computer-cut vinyl and large format printing became "affordable" back in the late 1990's. Everyone and their brother was scrambling to find new uses for wrapping, me included. Let me tell you what I know...

1) The quality of the wrap job is entirely based on three things all coming together at the same time; The intelligence and carefulness of the installer, the quality of the material, and the quality of the surface it's being applied over. A fourth would be the quality of the printing if it's printed.

2) On cars...NO wrap will look as good as a nice, professionally painted surface for more than three months if that wrapped surface is driven in the sun and washed more than a few times. A wrap is vinyl, a soft plastic that cannot be buffed-out. Vinyl is also 10 times easier to damage than paint.

3) On cars...When a seam is cut and matched on the car at the time the wrap is being applied, the installer WILL use an X-Acto knife to the cut vinyl, and more times than not, WILL cut into paint underneath...even the BEST installers cannot avoid this. I might fall into that category, so trust me on that one. If you know you will keep the car "forever" and are hoping that your paint will look good after you remove the wrap sometime down the road, think again. Water WILL migrate through the tiny cut seams, and it WILL find any bare (scratched) metal left by the trimming procedures.

4) No, you will not see slight defects in the car's original finish under the wrap. The vinyl used is anywhere from .003" to .008" thick...it WILL make a crappy paint job look better...but in 3-6 months of use, it's an EXPENSIVE wash if the car is washed or driven a lot.

5) When you see people on TV who have decided to wrap a car, it's usually because the original paint is shot and they are cheap, only looking to flip the car to make money.

6) Removing the wrap without damaging the car... It's actually pretty easy IF you know what you are doing. However. If you have any clearcoat or basecoat that is not well-bonded to the surface, you will probably see areas where the wrap will pull it right off. The colder the surface when you remove it, the harder and worse if WILL look when you remove it.

7) With what I know from experience, I would never wrap a car if it were something I cherished. Most wraps are done to leased vehicles and used to promote a product or service, and they are removed after 3-6 months.

LOL...we can talk about Plasti-Dipping cars too, if you want...Basically the same pitfalls, except that you are spraying the vinyl onto the car, and it is actually easier to damage/remove than regular vinyl because the adhesion is not as good.

[papasmurf]

I wrap cars for a living...my boxster is partially wrapped (windshield frame). I have contemplated wrapping my car many times as I am fond of the signal and viper green colors the car was not offered in without PTS but have not done so. If your paint job is worn with any chipping or flaking areas, the paint will be removed when the wrap is removed. I usually advise against wrapping cars that have economy respray jobs or if the original paint is older and has not been properly cared for. You will see chips under the paints...scratches not so much unless they are wide and/or deep. Everyone is very fond of the matte finishes but these typically do not wear very well unless you are careful where and how you drive (gravel roads and following dump trucks are a no no). There are lots of places now installing wrap and lots of people that think they can do it themselves after watching a youtube video. It is not an easy process and a true professional will install the wrap with as few seams as possible. It is possible to wrap the door jams and under the trunk, etc. to make the wrap appear like a paint job but most people do not want to pay for this level of detail so it is rare...certain colors (black) it is not as distracting on just like a respray. There are ways to install the wrap without cutting on the vehicle (cut tape, trim lines) but some places do not use these options. The vinyl wraps in the gloss colors can be polished to some extent and there are waxes available to give them more protection. If you are someone that does not wash their car frequently, I would pass, as just like paint the dirt buildup will likely lead to surface wear over time. There are some advantages to wraps as the finishes available can be next to impossible to duplicated with paint and if a panel is damaged...repair can sometimes be more economical than having it repainted.

[Nine8Six]

Wraps are kool. Haven't seen a single 'matte' wrap here during the last year or more (redundant here already). Haven't seen a mirror wrap for a while neither. The trend now is japanese cartoon wraps, giant prints of their family members - one's ferrari owner here has his son pics printed all over it. I mean, no disrespect, but its a 7month toddler in his washable diaper for christ's sake.

Fear few ppl have lost the pole RE how to become unique on the road lolllll

That's nice: