Has any one had their car wrapped in stead of spray paint, just bought a hardtop but need to get it sprayed or wrap any advice the car in neo green, would I be able to get near enough the same colour match. or maybe get it wrapped in say black
I was thinking about this and there was a post a while back. A member had rather a nice job done on his MK3.
Wraps, even ones using the best material have a surprisingly limited lifespan - from memory 5 to 7 years. This is not a job that an enthusiastic amateur is likely to be able to do as complicated and involved - usually takes two people even in the profession.
Cost for a good job likely to be £1000+ which is near the territory of a respray. Guessing a quality respray would be in the region of £1500.
Wrapping or spraying a hardtop would be much, much cheaper - I’m guessing £150.
What you said is certainly my experience. I know a guy who does wrapping and he uses what he calls “top quality 7 year vinyl”. So 5-7 years certainly seems about right. I’m not sure about the price for a full wrap but what you quoted spraying wise is certainly what I’ve experienced having had a couple of cars sprayed in recent years and had a hard top done separately.
Please forgive my ignorance but, what exactly is Wrapping, is it covering the whole body of the car in vinyl like that which some hoods are made from?
Wrapping and painting, two subjects close to my heart. A proper wrap, done correctly is almost impossible to tell from an paint job for the first couple of years. A wrap with top notch materials will last no more than 5 years, 7 if you keep the car out of the sun. Expect to need to redo the wrap every four years to keep it in tip top condition. Also expect to pay around £3k for a good wrap, £5k for an excellent wrap. On my work vehicles we use wraps. Nothing else. We factor in the cost with the need to redo then every 4 years and for me it is cost effective. Painting the vehicles can be upwards to £10k.
If you want a contact to give you price for a top quality wrap, let me know. I will put you in touch with Justin at Matrix in Cheadle. His work is very very good. But, if you are looking for a good job in a single colour, get it sprayed. It will be cheaper in the long run.
I have a fully wrapped London Taxi. It’s an advertising thing. They usually stay on for a year or sometimes 2. It may be cheap stuff they use, but it totally destroys the paintwork underneath. It also looks awful if it gets scratched, and if / when it starts to unpeel at the edges, it also looks a mess. Out of curiosity, I’ve also had a close look at a Lamborghini wrapped in gold vinyl. On close inspection that was suffering the same fate. Also a couple of matt black Merc’s. They didn’t look too great up close either. I’d advise against the wrap route. The longer it’s on the worse it looks.
With Taxi_Driver’s comment made me remember a very good point. A while back I was helping a friend with their newly purchased old race car. It had previously been wrapped. Hardest damn paint job I have ever done. Took days of blocking, filling, head scratching, bead blasting, priming, blocking, filling, sanding, priming, painting. Cheap vinyl is horrible. The expensive stuff is more expensive than you think, still destroys the paintwork underneath, but looks a lot better.
Stick to paint, unless you are doing something complex.