Cost of wrapping a car

[kn0x47]

Most people know i wrapped my car a couple of years ago. I chose to wrap it cause i wanted a color change but most of my paint was still in good condition so i didnt want to repaint it and i wanted a gloss finish so no plastidip. I knew some of the paint was going to lift on the front and rear bumpers but i didn't expect issues anywhere else.

well, i'm currently in the process of unwrapping the car, which is a real pain, and figured people should see the paint damage i'm left with. I'm less than half way finished unwrapping it and there's already more paint damaged than i thought there'd be. Also, annoyed with the amount of glue residue that's still on my car.

THINGS TO KNOW:
-vinyl wrap is very thin so it will not protect your car from rock chips. It took less than two years before road debris started putting holes in the wrap on the front bumper
-sense its so thin, i doubt it can provide any UV protection for your paint
-it won't hide door dings or unevenness in your paint surface
-wrap is considered to be removable only up to three years after installation. leave it on longer and expect it to lift alot more paint

On to photos:

Here's the current state of my car.
Wrap removal by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr
Wrap removal by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr


Hopefully you can tell, but there's several large spots of glue on the hood.
Wrap removal by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

My dad decided to knock over a sink onto my car several years ago so the passenger side had to be repainted. now i have spots where the clear coat has lifted. Here's one example on the roof.
Wrap removal by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

Zoom in and you should be able to see where the clear coat is gone and all the adhesive left behind in the door jam.
Wrap removal by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

There's always been some primer visible on the fender under the hood. I've only gotten a small section unwrapped and its already ruined.
Wrap removal by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

When i started wrapping the car I noticed the paint thinning out on the roof in a small area and now i've lost some clear coat there too.
Wrap removal by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

The front lip is a mess and the front bumper will probably be too but it was poorly painted to begin with, then a lot of rock chips happened, then i hit a ladder in the road but here's the front lip after the wrapped lifted all the clear coat.
Wrap removal by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr



I honestly wouldn't recommend wrapping your car unless your paint already has issues and you just wanna keep it looking good for a few more years. That being said, I've already have new wrap to change the color so it'll still be getting wrapped again. I was originally planning on wrapping the FR-S too which is why i got a black one but i don't think i'll be wrapping it now

 

[RedRyder]

Jeez that sucks, and you used the 3M which is on the higher end. I thought wrap was supposed to be much more forgiving to remove, or at least not ruin paint. Makes me cringe to think of all the new cars out there people have wrapped and likely ruined.

You were planning to rewrap the Accord anyway so I guess that helps. But as long as you keep the car I guess you'll either keep wrapping it every few years or repaint it at some point?

I'm excited for the new color.

 

[Varnell]

While it looked great, as much of a headache as it was to install, a headache to remove, and still damaged the paint, I think I'll stick with paint.

Makes me cringe to think of all the new cars out there people have wrapped and likely ruined.

This. The new car scene is wrap, wheels, and bags. Done.

 

[White6GAV6]

That sucks! I was thinking about wrapping my Accord, but glad I never did. I've seen a few cars where they were peeling the wrap and saw it all cut up like that. Never thought anything about. I guess plastidip wasn't as bad of an idea as I thought. Didn't lift any pin and the panels came off in a single sheet each.

 

[DBO867]

this is nice to know, its a good thing i decided to not paint my car and just wrap instead. How much vinyl wrap was needed to fully cover the car? if you dont mind me asking, planning to do this right after new years. been looking up videos and doing all types of research but not much was found on my end

 

[604ACCORD]

Vinyl wrapping is not easy, I learned from doing trim piece's its very time consuming. I guess if you do it all the time then its easy. That sucks what happened to your paint bro, I guess in the long run its cheaper just to get a paint job. But your whip did look sick as **** when it was wrapped.

 

[Accordx]

This is really good to know, I was thinking about wrapping my Accord mainly to cover up some damage on the passenger side door, but if it's going to cause permanent damage to the paint, I'd rather try my luck at the junkyard finding a new door in satin silver. I've got a coupe so it's really difficult to find a door in good condition that's the right color. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Curious did you heat it while removing ?

 

[Russianred]

Same bullsh1t as plasti-dip. Sorry to hear the outcome after the fact, but hey at least you have new wrap going on! It looked mighty sharp in that blue John.