Have you ever thought about advertising via the mobile billboard that is a car wrap? It’s a great medium for promoting your company with unmatched cost per impression. Let’s dive in on the factors that will affect the cost of one. We’ll first touch on the difference between wrapping a part of your car and wrapping the entirety of it.
Full Wrap vs. Partial Wrap:
You wouldn’t expect to pay for a dozen eggs when you only buy six. The same holds true when it comes to car wraps. If you only get your doors wrapped or the hood wrapped, you’re not going to pay the same price you would if the whole car received a new look. A car wrap is not one big sheet of vinyl that is put on all at once. A wrap is made up of several “panels” that get placed on a vehicle in pieces. To wrap a car requires time and labor. And a full wrap includes things you might not have thought of, like bumpers and windows. In essence, the more surface you have wrapped, the more cost you will endure.
Vehicle Size:
A big factor that comes into play is the size of your vehicle. If you drive a compact car, it will most definitely cost less to wrap than a cargo van. That’s just a fact. The first thing that will be asked of you is the make and model of your vehicle. That gives shops a jumping-off point for square footage and the ensuing wrapping cost.
Vehicle Contour:
It is more expensive to wrap a high-end car like a Rolls Royce or a uniquely shaped sports car. The reason is that it takes installers longer to remove parts and shape the vinyl when wrapping these types of cars. What happens is that labor costs go up, and subsequently cost to you increases. These types of cars can add possibly thousands of dollars to a wrapping job. We assume you’re not driving a Rolls or a Porsche around as your company vehicle, but we did want to let you know about that kind of additional cost.
Type of Vinyl for a Car Wrap:
In the industry, there are three different types of vinyl—pre-dyed non-printable vinyl, printable vinyl, and extreme conforming print vinyl. The difference in your cost comes from the difference in the price it costs wrapping shops to buy them.
Pre-dyed vinyl is for one-color wrap jobs, period. It comes as already printed in the color you want. For example, you own a lawn care company, and all you want for your wrap is a single-colored design. Pre-died vinyl costs printers less, and therefore that lesser cost is passed on to you. It’s an easier job to create the wrap, and less labor is involved as well with regards to designing. Printable vinyl is for multi-colored, fancier wrap designs. A startup might not have much money to advertise with a car wrap. They may choose to just put their company name and contact information on both sides of the vehicle in simple black letters. A company that has more cash reserves to play with may want to really do it up with a full logo, several colors, and design throughout the vehicle’s surface area. That’s done with printable vinyl, which is one of only two ways to do a multi-colored job, and it does add cost. The most expensive is extreme conforming vinyl. It’s meant for cars with lots of big, round areas or unique cars like a Lamborghini with its unusually angled edges.
Paint, Dents, and Scratches:
Preparing your vehicle can add cost. Let us explain why you need to bring it to get wrapped with a clean, flat surface. Your company car or truck might have some cosmetic wear and tear on it. Your thought might be that a wrap is perfect for concealing the aged, not so pretty-looking vehicle. It makes sense, but it doesn’t exactly work that way.
If you’re looking to cover up some paint that’s chipping, know this. First, when a car gets wrapped, it’s a job that even the most skilled installers have to be careful with. In every wrapping case, the vinyl will get attached to the car. There might end up being bubbles or ripples between the adhesive and car surface. It means the wrap has to get pulled off partially to make the adjustments or corrections. When it is pulled back, it will likely pull the chipped paint portions off with it.
If you have had a paint job or been in an accident and had new paint applied to even a small part of your vehicle, this will be a problem as well. Wraps will be fine with a clear coat (original factory paint), but additional layers of paint are susceptible to coming off your car when the wrap is pulled back for precise adjusting during installation.
As for dents and scratches, again, it would seem like a wrap would be the perfect cover-up. Strangely, but truly, it’s completely the opposite. Vinyl is so thin that when it’s wrapped over a dent or scratch, it actually accentuates them. So, if you’re a DIYer and can get your car’s “injuries” looking good and/or getting rid of them, you’re in good shape. But if you have even the slightest doubt in your ability, you’ll want to take it to a professional for preparation. And then you will incur some extra, but necessary, cost.
Wrapping Up:
As you can see, there are a few factors that weigh into the price you’ll pay to give your car a new look. Right now, you might be thinking, “They hit several points, but they didn’t tell me how much more it costs for a complex design.” Well, we saved the best for last on that one. No need to worry about having two colors or 14 colors in your design. It doesn’t matter if you only want part of your text in cursive. It’s not a problem if your logo is insanely detailed. Once you hit two colors, it all costs the same. Maybe it’s time to give your business a facelift. Call us at (813) 614-8040 or hit us up at our website at www.goodguyssigns.com.
