In recent times, car wraps have become very popular, and for good reasons. It has many advantages when compared to car painting.
Road hazards can scratch the paint on your car, car wraps provide a layer of protection to the car’s body.
Car paint can also fade as time passes but car wraps are easy to replace in case the car wrap is scratched, torn, or damaged in any way.
Another major advantage of car wraps over car repaint is that when a car is wrapped, the resale value of the car is considerably greater compared to a car that has been repainted.
So now you know about some advantages of car wraps, but how much does it cost to wrap a car? Let’s explore your options and the process that goes into wrapping a car.
Before you wrap your car…
Car wrapping might seem like a simple task, but there are some factors that you need to consider before wrapping a car. Here’s a list of the important ones:
1. Paint Condition (Myth Busting!)
If you think car wrapping hides the terrible condition of your paint, you’re mistaken. The nature of vinyl wraps is such that it does not hide defects in paint but can sometimes accentuate them.
If your paint has some major surface damage or if it is peeling off, a vinyl car wrap is not recommended. So fix your damaged paint before thinking about car wrapping. But if your car paint is in the good condition, you’re good to go!
2. Material Quality of the Vinyl Film
It is crucial to use only high-quality Vinyl Films for wrapping your car. And I assume you’d want nothing but the best for your car, so this one is a no-brainer. Low-quality cheap films are difficult to manipulate, leading to poor installation quality and sometimes bubbles and wrinkles, yikes!
3. Skills of the Installer
Picking the right shop and choosing the right person to wrap your car is very important. Many unskilled installers leave visible layers on parts of your vehicle, which makes it look amateurish.
4. Gaps in your car
One critical thing to consider is that the car wrap is applied to the exterior of your car. So, the original color will be visible in some panel gaps in your vehicle.
Installers try their best to hide as much of the original color as possible, but sometimes there is just no way to stick vinyl films to the area between panels.
It’s not always the case, but it’s something you should be keeping in mind if you’re planning to get a car wrap done.
Three Steps of Car Wrapping
STEP 1: Surface Cleaning
A professional will first get rid of any contamination present on the surface of the car by using soap solution to wash, followed by thorough drying.
STEP 2: Prepare Vinyl Sheet (or your car)
Ideally, you can then apply a perfectly-cut vinyl sheet that fits every turn of the surface of your car. But if that is unachievable, you’ll need to remove taillights, headlights, bumpers, etc. to wrap the vinyl around all edges completely.
STEP 3: Applying the Vinyl Sheet
Finally, a heat gun is used to apply the vinyl wrap to the body surface of your car. A heat gun makes the vinyl wrap more flexible to cover the entire surface. A tool called a squeegee is also used to remove all air bubbles between the additional layers and the surface layer.
Other tools used for car wraps:
● Cutting blade
● Cutting tape
● Measuring tape
● Gloves
● Safety Glasses
● Infrared thermometer
● Microfiber Towel
● Vinyl Wrap
A car wrap installation can take anywhere from 7 to 9 hours or longer. But it depends on the size of the vehicle, so sometimes it takes 2-3 days to complete a full wrap. The only question now is: How much does it cost to wrap a car?
How much does it cost to wrap a car?
Finally, now that you know everything about the car wrapping process and its benefits, let’s talk about how much does it cost to wrap a car. The average cost of a car wrap can cost anywhere between $1800 to $6000 dollars, but in some cases, it can get as expensive as $10-12k.
Here’s an estimation of how much does it cost to wrap a car, for specific cases:
● Family sedan: An average family sedan would cost around $3000
● Compact Car or Coupe: The price for this type of vehicle can cost $2000 but it varies according to design and requirements.
● Compact Crossover: For this type of vehicle, the average cost is $3500
● Full-size SUV: The starting price for a full-size SUV wrap is $4000
● Luxury sports car: Luxury vehicles are very expensive, so the wrap cost can be anywhere between $5000 and $10000
● Truck: The starting price is $4000
How much does it cost to wrap a car depends on how large the wrap is, hence you can see the truck costs more. But the cost also varies according to all the factors we discussed today. The only choice you have is whether to hire a professional or DIY the entire process. Either way, it’s a time-consuming process but a highly rewarding one.
