Thanks to research & development in recent years vinyl wraps have become an affordable alternative to painting your vehicle! Wraps were invented in the 1950’s but were sold at a large cost typically for higher-end vehicles.
Now that vinyl wrap prices are comparable to painting, even sometimes cheaper, car owners have much more to consider! Let’s check out some of the pros and cons.
What Exactly Is A Vinyl Wrap?
Do you ever catch a glimpse of a vehicle with ‘nice paint’ or commercial vehicles with exciting graphics on them? These are most likely vinyl wraps. The vinyl wrap is often a business’s medium of choice when advertising because it is much more cost efficient than a paint job.
A vinyl wrap is a way experts completely or partially cover a vehicle’s original paint with a vinyl wrap of a different color, and sometimes the same color with a different finish like a gloss, matte or clear protective layer.
Black & Gold vinyl wrap done by the Wrap Vault Of Scottsdale
Time: Vinyl Vs. Paint
One of the first questions you should ask yourself when considering vinyl vs paint is ‘How long can you be without your vehicle? Wraps and vinyl can be applied to vehicles in very different ways, which could affect how long you will be without your vehicle. If it’s your primary form of transportation you may want to know a few things about paint:
- Old paint must be removed, which takes time
- Each coat of new paint will need to dry for 8 hours or more
- All paint jobs require multiple coats of paint
If you’re able to find a paint shop that can take your vehicle and start work immediately you could expect (for a cheaper paint job) to have your car back in 3-5 days at the quickest. But more often for a quality paint job with several layers you’re looking at 1-3 weeks.
Wraps, on the other hand, take far less time to complete than paint! Once you finalize your design it’s typically a maximum of 3 days to wash, dry, and apply the wrap.
Removal: Vinyl Vs. Paint
One of the primary benefits of vinyl is that it can be removed without damaging the paint beneath! This means the paint exposed when the vinyl is removed is as bright and beautiful as the day you wrapped it.
Paint, however, is permanent, short of sanding it all off. To go from one paint job to another requires you to invest a greater sum of money than if you were to go from wrap to wrap.
If you’re painting a personal vehicle with company graphics you’ll want to think twice! Or even if you are using a commercial vehicle, what happens when you need to sell it? You guessed it, you’ll probably want to have your logo removed, and this will be much cheaper with vinyl.
With vinyl you can apply artistic creations, company logos, or one purely beautiful color – and easily be able to remove them before selling.
Cost: Vinyl Vs. Paint
To get a good idea of the general cost of painting a vehicle (as it can vary depending upon quality, type of paint, and application methods) at the lowest end you may be able to find something as low as $1,000 but for a quality job you can and somewhere between $3,000-$4,000.
Whereas the cost of a professionally applied vehicle wrap can normally fall between $2,500-$5,000. Especially in the case of commercial vehicle’s where you may be applying your logo to two, three, ninety vehicles, vinyl becomes a no-brainer.
For personal vehicles it can be a very economically eye-catching alternative to paint, whether you are looking for a solid color or graphics.
Customization: Vinyl Vs. Paint
A custom paint job for a full vehicle will obviously cost more than the standard pricing mentioned above, as they’re applied by skilled artists who don’t work cheap. For instance, a metallic paint job on a high-end sports car could be north of $50,000.
Wraps give you all the same customization options as paint and then some. You could go for matte, metallic, or textured finishes and achieve the same effect as the $50k paint jobs.
You can reproduce any kind of graphic onto a vinyl wrap so the sky isn’t even the limit with wraps. If you’re into tinted windows you could have your windows wrapped with perforated decals, which would cause you to see a slight tint from the inside while displaying whatever you’d like on the outside from colors to images. Customization becomes an entirely new ballgame when you choose vinyl.
Maintenance: Vinyl Vs. Paint
When it comes to maintenance there’s really no question about it that paint loses. It wears out faster if you don’t wash it regularly or cover it with a protective coat of wax (especially in the Arizona heat.)
Vinyl is extremely easy to maintain, all you must do is wash it normally or just wipe it with a wet cloth!
Durability: Vinyl Vs. Paint
In terms of durability paint will vary widely in terms of the quality and type, but you could expect a cheap paint job to begin to look worn or faded in just a few years. Whereas a paint job from a solid professional could last the entire life of the vehicle, with only minor fading from the sun.
Vinyl wraps last up to around 10 years depending upon how you treat it or if you consistently park it in the Arizona sun. You could also have your wrap finished with a UV resistant coating keeping its colors bright for years.
What Type Of Vinyl Design Options Are There?
Now for the exciting part! Vinyl wraps opens a whole new avenue of customization and creative looks for car enthusiasts and those who enjoy simple, elegant designs. There tons of finishes to choose from and when you visit the Wrap Vault, we can design the car side-by-side so you can see what your vehicle will look like in real time!
Here are some of the wrap options you have:
Matte
Soft, Smooth, and Sleek
Satin
Medium Shine, High Style
Gloss
Bright, Distinctive, and Eye-Catching
Brushed Metal
Sophisticated and Brush
Partial
Achieve The Look & Feel With Custom Designs
Carbon Fiber
Trendy, Modern and Versatile
Visit The Wrap Vault In Scottsdale For Your Next Wrap
It’s important to remember that you don’t have to wrap the entire vehicle, it’s actually much cheaper to provide your vehicle with small accents that could go a long way with aesthetics.
Another key thing to know if that your current paint job must be in good condition to consider applying a wrap. Vinyl wraps will not cover up dings, spots, or heavily worn paint jobs.