We are a team who works day and night on car wraps. As a result, we sometimes find it easy to forget the fact that a lot of people don’t know anything about what we do – what car wrapping is, how it improves your vehicle, the pros and cons and the inevitable comparison between painting and wrapping a vehicle.
In the first-ever entry on our blog, we want to demystify the art of car wrapping and give you some first-hand insights into what we do and why car wrapping is a great solution for your vehicle.
What is a Vehicle Wrap?
Put simply, a vehicle wrap is an external layer of material (usually vinyl) that is applied to the exterior of the body. Wraps are not permanent, but they can last for a number of years if they are maintained and well cared for.
We apply the wrap to the exterior of your car by stretching the vinyl across the body work and using a heat gun to bind the material to the outside surface. The vinyl softens under the heat, moulding itself seamlessly to the curves and details of the vehicle’s exterior.
Before getting started, we remove decals, hood ornaments and sometimes door handles so that we can easily lay the vinyl and achieve an optimal finish.
Possibly the greatest benefit of wrapping your car is the timeframe; re-painting your vehicle can take up to several weeks, meaning you have to factor in a rental or borrowing another car in the interim. A vehicle wrap, on the other hand, takes a matter of days and we almost always have our clients’ vehicles back to them within one working week.
All told, vehicle wrapping is a fast and versatile way to colour your vehicle, with several benefits when compared to traditional painting.
What Are The Benefits of a Vehicle Wrap?
There are several very real and tangible benefits to wrapping your vehicle that is not often talked about. In fact, when compared to traditional painting, there are many ways that vinyl wrapping is a vastly superior colouring method. Here, we’ll go over the six most obvious benefits of getting a vehicle wrap, and also a few things to look out for when considering a wrap job.
1. Tight Timeframe
As mentioned earlier, the number one benefit to getting your vehicle wrapped as opposed to painting is simply the time it takes. A wrap is simply applied to the vehicle, over the existing paint job. A traditional spray colour means you have to factor in time for your vehicle to be sanded, prepped then painted.
This is a method that actually saves you money too, as compared to getting a new paint job. When you consider the fact that you’ll be having to rent a car while yours is in at the shop, several weeks versus a few days makes a big difference.
Our new clients are always shocked at the fast turnaround of wrap jobs, and happy that they don’t need to find an alternative in the interim. All told, the faster time difference of wrapping versus painting is a major factor to consider when going about re-colouring your car.
2. Uniqueness & Customisation
When you buy a new or used car from a yard or dealership, you are presented with a selection of fixed, limited colours to choose from. Every other person buying a car will have these same colours too, meaning it’s hard to stand out or express yourself through colour with many car models.
This is an area where vinyl wrapping excels – not only do you have a full-colour wheel to select from, but vinyl wrap comes in several different patterns and styles that paint just cannot achieve. Some of our favourites right now are ‘colour shifting’ wraps, which are designed to appear different in colour depending on the angle you view them at.
We can also apply custom vinyl to highlight parts of your vehicle with a chrome, carbon fibre or scrubbed metal appearance, something which is impossible to do with regular, traditional spray paint.
3. Cost Effective
We touched on this factor in our first point, but it is worth re-visiting: The simple fact in 2020 is that a professional, high-quality wrap is still miles cheaper than a pro paint job.
Vehicle wraps commonly range in cost around $3000 to $5000, depending on the colour, finish, style and size.
The cost-effective factor is also considerable when you factor in the resell value that car wraps add – not only does the wrap provide a creative custom exterior, it also protects the paint underneath.
Any way you look at it, vehicle wraps are the most cost efficient option when you are looking to colour your car.
4. Wraps Are Removable
One of the biggest selling points when it comes to vinyl wrap versus traditional spray paint is the fact that vehicle wraps can be removed when you’re selling your car on or simply no longer wish to keep your current colour scheme.
The reason so many of our clients find this so appealing is the ‘low commitment’ factor: It’s very easy to revert back to the factory paint job whenever you want.
The process of removing your vehicle wrap is fast and simple – just bring your vehicle into the shop and we can have your wrap removed completely within 2-5 days. The cost of this is usually under $1000, depending on the wrap size and complexity of the original job.
5. Retains Value
While re-painting a new car almost always decreases it’s value straight away, getting your car vinyl wrapped actually helps it retain value and keeps the factory paint job in mint condition underneath the wrap.
Vehicles are exposed to countless forms of wear and tear out on the road, and your vehicle wrap acts as a temporary shield against all of these factors.
If you buy a new car and wrap it straight away, your paint will remain in mint condition until you decide to remove it, retaining its factory state and resell value.
On top of all the other benefits that vinyl wraps provide, this factor seals the deal for many people deciding between wrap or paint.
6. Ease of Maintenance
Once your vinyl wrap has been applied, it is very quick and easy to maintain a quality finish and keep your wrap looking great. To clean, simply use a little soap and water to hand wash. The wrap will look excellent after a single wash, and it will continue to protect the paint underneath from road debris and sun damage. For an even better chance of upkeep you can choose to get a ceramic coating applied over your wrap – this is a hard, shell-like surface that will deal with the worst of the wear and tear.
Things to Look Out For
While vinyl wrapping is almost unanimously superior as compared to paint, there are still a few considerations to keep in mind when deciding to colour your vehicle.
The first is the fact that vinyl wrap is only semi-permanent, meaning you might have to renew your job every few years to keep the desired look on your vehicle.
Another thing to consider is the fact that your vinyl wrap will accurately cover the existing surface of your vehicle, including paint chips and peeling sections. In other words, your wrap will only be as good as the surface it is applied to.
We Want To Do Your Wrap
We hope you have found this post informative. If you did, please consider sharing with your friends and spread the lesser known benefits of vinyl wrapping.
If you live anywhere in New Zealand and would like to get a vinyl wrap for your vehicle, we have you completely covered. Contact us now to discuss your options to achieve the dream look for your vehicle.