How Much Does it Cost to Wrap a Car: Professional Vs. DIY?

The first thing most people ask when considering a car wrap is, “How much does it cost?” The second question is often, “What if I do it myself?” We’ll answer both of these, but before you start buying a car wrap tool kit, we encourage you to read the entire article. Vehicle wrapping is not a hobby for the faint-of-heart or the not-so-handy-with-tools, but we’ll get to that. First, lets go straight to the big question: How much does it cost to wrap a car: professional vs. DIY?

How Much Does a Professional Wrap Installation Cost?

Automotive grade vinyl is by no means cheap, but it’s not the most expensive part of a professional wrap installation; labor is. Vinyl installation is done entirely by hand, and there are no shortcuts. A wrap may take a full day or more to install, depending on the complexity of the design, the topography of the vehicle, and the type of film used. Furthermore, professional wrap technicians don’t come cheap because it takes long hours to gain the experience necessary to perfect their craft.

With all that in mind, here are some estimates for basic wrap jobs on simple vehicle bodies, using standard vinyl colors and finishes (upgrades in materials and design can cost significantly more):

• Mid-size sedan: $3,000 – $4,000
• Compact SUV: $3,500 – $4,500
• Full-size SUV: $4,000 – $5,000
• Pickup truck: $4,000 – $5,000
• Exotic sports car: $5,000 – $8,000
• Motorcycle: $1,500 – $2,500

It’s cheaper than a high-end paint job, but still a healthy chunk of cash.

How Much Does DIY Vehicle Wrap Installation Cost?

You’ll spend between $500 and $700 for enough vinyl film to wrap an average sedan with a simple, gloss black finish. Your tools and supplies will run anywhere from $50 to $700, depending on what options you choose to invest in. If everything goes well, and very little vinyl is wasted, you’ll spend anywhere from a day to a few days installing the wrap, so whatever amount of money your time is worth for those hours is the final cost factor.

What Tools Do I Need to Wrap A Car?

Vinyl work requires some equipment you don’t find in an average tool drawer:

• Teflon-coated backcutter
• Small magnets
• Soft magnetic tape-measure
• Felt-edge squeegee
• Breakaway knife with spare 30-degree blades
• Spray bottle
• Microfiber towels
• Heat gun
• Lint-free gloves
• Cutting tape
• Air compressor
• Two more hands (this is a two-person job)

Other supplies you’ll need include car-washing accoutrements (Car Wash Equipment), a clay bar, isopropyl alcohol, and of course, the automotive vinyl film.

And finally, a dust-free work space is a pretty important consideration. You can install a wrap outdoors, but every speck of dust that floats by can potentially ruin the finish of vinyl film.

How Do I Prep a Vehicle to Be Wrapped?

The car’s surface has to be clean. Not sort of clean, but meticulously, squeaky, near-laboratory clean. Vinyl film can stay firmly adhered for up to 8 years, assuming it’s applied to smooth, pristine surfaces. On the other hand, vinyl adhesives may come loose in a matter of weeks or months if applied on dirty, dusty, or oily surfaces.

So you begin by washing the car, all over, in every crease, nook, and cranny. If you wax your car, you’ll also need to remove it with a chemical wax remover. Use a clay bar to remove oils and fine chemical contaminants from the micro-pores of the paint’s surface. When you’re sure every inch of the vehicle is as clean as it can be, clean the surface again with rubbing alcohol.

Remove any trim and hardware components that prevent access to edges.

Now apply the vinyl as quickly as possible, to prevent new surface contamination.

Should I Wrap My Own Car?

Yeah, let’s back up to a very basic question: can you do this job? Not everyone has the workspace, the to savvy, and the practiced dexterity to successfully install a vinyl wrap on their first try. Online sellers of DIY wrap kits would have you believe it’s a simple arts-and-crafts project, but this just isn’t true. Vinyl wrap application is more comparable to a multimedia sculpture project than to a paint-by-number kitten plaque. It requires finesse, concentration, and ideally, practice. If you decide to take the DIY route, it’s best to practice with smaller pieces of vinyl before tacking the actual installation.

For proper adhesion, vinyl film has to be heated and stretched, but not heated too much or stretched too far. You generally get one chance to stick a section of film to the car, and if you get it wrong, you may have to trash the whole section and start over.

Bottom line: we don’t recommend installing your own car wrap. It’s much harder than it looks, and though you may save some money, it will probably cost far more time (and emotional energy) than you bargain for. If you want a vehicle wrap, it’s best to pay for professional installation. Chances are, it will look better and last longer than a do-it-yourself job.

Car Wrapping FAQs

Can you wrap a car yourself?

Yes, but we don’t recommend it, if you want the wrap to look great and wear well.

Does a car wrap ruin the paint?

Professional installation of high-quality automotive vinyl should not damage the underlying paint. This is not necessarily true of DIY installations.

Do car wraps fade?

Yes, over time, even high-quality, UV protected, automotive vinyl will fade with enough sun exposure. You can expect 4 to 7 years of vivid color and reliable adhesion for an average car wrap. Then it can be removed and replaced with new vinyl.

Can I wax a wrapped car?

No need to; the vinyl will protect your paint, so waxing isn’t necessary.

Do car wraps prevent rust?

Yes, wraps protect paint from rust, dust, scratches, UV radiation, and chemical contaminants.

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2014 Taurus Full Coverage Blue Camo Wrap

Taurus Full Coverage Blue Camo Wrap

2014 Taurus Full Coverage Blue Camo Wrap – Stop on by and check out this beautiful, start to finish Ford Taurus Camo Car Wrap by Mighty Wraps a US Logo Company! This blue camo wrap was designed, printed, and installed in-house right here at Mighty Wraps in Wichita Kansas.

Mighty Wraps

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Four Steps to Calculate Cost for a Commercial Vehicle Wrap

If you’re considering applying vinyl wrap advertising to your company vehicles for the first time, congratulations; you’re about to embark on a very profitable marketing strategy. Next comes the pricing question, and the short answer is that an average cost is $2,000 to $4,000 per vehicle. But here’s the thing: your particular wrap could cost $800, or it could cost $6,000. Every wrap is different, and there’s certainly no shortage of options that can alter the price by thousands of dollars, so—sorry—there’s no fast answer to the question, “How much does a commercial vehicle wrap cost?”

But you can make a pretty good guess. You’ll need to break down your specific requirements a bit to rough out some numbers, and this article will walk you through a simple, four-step process.

1 How Vehicle Size Affects Commercial Vinyl Wrap Cost

Generally speaking, the bigger they are, the more they cost. Plan on an average of $3,500 for a mid-sized vehicle. Now let’s talk cost variations, some of them common sense stuff, some of them not so much. Really small vehicles can hover in the $2,500 range for a full wrap. Really big ones may run $5,000 or more, especially if they require a lot of detail application over complex contours. But size isn’t everything; a cargo van may cost less than a compact car if it has fewer detailed trim areas to work around.

So, you see, there are two types of cost happening here: materials and labor. The more vinyl you need to cover the vehicle, the higher the price. The more time it takes to apply the vinyl, the higher the price.

2 How Different Vinyl Films Affect Wrap Cost

Adhesive vinyl film has come a long way since it was invented. These ultra-thin materials offer incredible protection against the elements, road debris, and ultraviolet radiation (UV radiation is paint’s worst enemy, except maybe an angry spouse with a hammer. Or a meteor strike. Those are worse.)

Okay, so vinyl film is this tough, beautiful, amazing stuff that can replace paint while protecting the actual paint. It’s as stretchy as a Band Aid, but it stays adhered for years. This miracle of science is made by pouring a brew of ingredients onto a moving web, then heating it. Pretty straightforward stuff, if a bit sci-fi, but the process gets considerably more complicated when you try to produce a glossy chrome finish, or a carbon fiber look, or an iridescent undertone. Because special finishes are more difficult to manufacture, you may pay up to $7,000 per mid-sized vehicle for them. But, hot-diggety-dog, they look sharp.

3 Partial Wrap Cost Versus Full Wrap Cost

The price really drops when you leave most of the paint visible and wrap only parts of each vehicle. So what do you wrap? It can be anything from a set of decals on the back to a photorealistic graphic swept along the sides. These kinds of vinyl applications can be done with quick turnaround, and they’re easy on the pocketbook, with prices drifting down into the $300 to $500 range. And with a little help from a graphic designer, they can be every bit as a effective as full wraps, in terms of positive brand presence.

4 Poor Paint Condition Can Cost You When Wrapping A Car

Vinyl sticks to every bump and blemish on a painted surface, adjusting to almost microscopic contours. It won’t hide bad spots. It won’t stick to them very well, either, so good luck getting a warranty on your wrap if you insist on applying it to less than excellent paint. You have to repair the blemishes. Minor collision repair shops specialize in cosmetic damage, and they work cheaper than full-service shops when you need dings and dents removed or paint areas touched up. Not much guidance we can give here except the very general range of $200 to $700 per vehicle for this type of repair. So take a good look at your fleet before you commit to wrapping it, and recognize that you may run into some outside costs for some vehicles. On the bright side, most minor collision shops are happy to discuss fleet discounts, and that can save you big.

I Just Takes a Phone Call

If you’ve read all this, and you’re still considering vehicle advertising, the next step is to give us a call. It’s free, and it won’t take long to get a clear idea of, both, what your cost will be, and what you can expect to accomplish with this new advertising channel. Good luck!

If you’re in the Wichita, Kansas, area, Mighty Wraps (a US Logo company) is the place to go. The shop is a spacious warehouse that gives us plenty of room to wrap anything from food trucks to big-rigs. If you’re located elsewhere, we can design and print your wrap for you, then ship it for third-party installation. Give us a call! (316) 264-1321.

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How Much Should a Vehicle Wrap Cost, and Why?

Sticking some vinyl film on a vehicle… how complicated could it be? You may be surprised to learn how much science, design expertise, and craftsmanship goes into a professional vehicle wrap installation. Do you really need all the details? Well, if you want a high quality wrap and trustworthy installation, yeah, it’s worth a few minutes of your time. So let’s get into it: how much should a vehicle wrap cost, and why?

Basic Vehicle Wrap Pricing

If you’re just looking for the shallow dive on car wrap costs, here you go: The average price for an average wrap on an average vehicle is $4,500 to $5,500. The low end averages around $1,500, and the high end runs into the $8,000-plus range. Done.

If, on the other hand, you want enough information to determine whether you’re getting quality materials and craftsmanship at a fair price, let’s take the deep dive. There are five factors that influence vinyl wrap pricing:

• The type of vinyl used
• Vehicle type, size, and condition
• Amount of vehicle preparation needed
• Quality of the vinyl film used
• The installer’s facility and staff costs

How Does the Type of Vinyl Used Affect Wrap Costs?

Different types of finishes present different challenges during vinyl installation, which affects price. The lowest-cost vinyl is a single-color with a standard finish, like gloss, matte, or satin. These are also the easiest films to manufacture, and they’re far less tricky to install than specialty finishes. Standard color films typically run around $3,000 for a small vehicle and $5,500 for an SUV or truck.

Standard colors are great if you’re just looking for a new paint job without the trouble of getting a paint job. But if you’re hoping to turn heads with your vehicle’s new look, you may want to consider one of the more exotic finishes:

• Iridescent finishes feature a subtle metallic flake and shimmering rainbow sheen that uses light to accentuate the lines, curves, and angles of a vehicle.
• Carbon fiber finish is a very sleek, understated, high-tech film that emulates the carbon fiber used in aerospace, military, and other applications.
• Camouflage is exactly what it sounds like, natural colors and patterns like on a hunter’s jacket.
• Brushed aluminum looks both realistic and striking, sort of a space ship feel.

Specialty films are significantly more expensive to produce than standard, solid colors, so the material prices are higher. Expect installation costs to go up, as well, because these films require much greater care by technicians. For example, brushed aluminum film has to be applied with the grain lines running the same direction. Camouflage, chrome, and carbon fiber films can’t be stretched as much as standard colors without blemishing the aesthetics of the finish. The bottom line is that these finishes typically add $500 to $1,500 to the cost of the wrap.

Chrome finishes are the brightest, shiniest things to hit the road in years—and they’re the most expensive option. The processes used to make them are complex, and installation requires particular care and expertise because the outer finish can crack over time if the film is even slightly overheated or over stretched. Plan to spend around $6,000 – $7,000 for a straightforward installation on a sedan, and up to $10,000 if you’re wrapping an exotic sportscar or other vehicle with complex contours.

How do Vehicle Type, Size, and Condition Affect Pricing?

Generally speaking, a smaller vehicle will require less vinyl film and less installation time than a larger one, although there are exceptions. For example, a complicated, custom wrap design on a Cooper Mini might cost more than a standard, single color on a Hummer. A standard color on a van might be less expensive than the same color on a Lamborghini Aventador because the van has mostly large, flat surface areas, whereas the Lambo will require lots of detailed work around its sexy curves.

Vehicle condition is extremely important for proper vinyl adhesion. If your car has pits, scratches, or other minor body blemishes, they will need to be repaired before wrapping it. Vinyl sticks like a second skin, so any imperfections on the surface will still look like imperfections through the vinyl. More importantly, vinyl doesn’t stick to inconsistent surfaces as well as smooth ones, which means your wrap may begin to peel without remedial detailing and possible minor body repair. This may cost a few hundred dollars or more, but most installers won’t guarantee installations over substandard surfaces.

How Does Vehicle Preparation Affect Wrap Costs?

Assuming your paint is in pristine condition, the wrap shop will still have to prep the surfaces, and this takes time. Even if you wash and detail the car immediately before taking it to the shop, the technicians will clean it more, removing every trace of oil, dirt, and atmospheric contaminants before beginning installation. They’ll also remove trim, if necessary, to hide vinyl edges and achieve the best possible adhesion. This whole process takes hours—before vinyl installation can begin. It’s the only way to do the job right, and it guarantees a longer lasting wrap.

How Does Vinyl Film Quality Affect Price?

If you’ve used duct tape, you may have noticed the huge differences in quality between, say, the Gorilla brand, and the no-name stuff you get at the dollar store. The same is true of vinyl films, of their adhesives, and of the processes used to create them. A lot of companies make film, but only a couple have refined the manufacturing process to a level of quality that will stand up to environmental extremes, ultraviolet light, and road debris.

The sad truth is that not all shops use high quality film for their installations, which means the vinyl won’t provide as much protection for the underlying paint or last as long as it should. Make sure your installer is using a premium brand like 3M, Avery Dennison, Oracal, or Arlon. It will cost more than the “dollar store” stuff, but it could mean the difference between your wrap lasting 2 years and 7 years.

The main thing that sets premium vinyl film apart is the research and experimentation that goes into its creation. The big names have huge laboratories devoted to the development of every aspect of vinyl car film, from adhesive types to pliability and ease of installation. When you buy these products, you’re paying for research and development as well as the material itself, and it’s money well spent.

Understanding the Wrap Shop’s Facility and Staff Costs

The thing about wrap installation is that it doesn’t cost much to set up a shop and go into business. The result is that there are lots of installers out there working out of garages or the corners of warehouses, which means the facility may not be clean enough to do professional vinyl work. But their low overhead allows them to offer lower prices than full-service shops that have proper installation spaces. They may also use cheaper film in order to keep their prices low. The biggest concern with these shops is that many of them lack the experience to perform an installation that will last years. If you get an amazingly low quote from a shop, it’s time to ask questions and possibly visit their facility. A half-price wrap that lasts half as long is no bargain—and it may not be as easy to remove as a premium installation, when the time comes.

So what does an established and trustworthy shop look like? They have large, clean, indoor spaces where vinyl can be applied without fear of dust or contamination. They may have extremely large bays for wrapping semis and buses. They have an in-house graphic design department with experience using the specialized software applications that allow designs to be accurately placed on vehicles, and they can provide 3D simulations of your wrap as it will appear on your vehicle. Their technicians have been installing vinyl for a long time, and they have experience with cars, trucks, boats, heavy equipment, motorcycles, exotic sports cars—in other words, they’ve seen it all and have honed their skills to a high level of craftsmanship. They are insured.

Don’t settle for less than the best, and be prepared to pay for it. You’re making a high-dollar, multi-year commitment, and the extra cost will ensure the longevity of your installation.

What About Vehicle Wrap Pricing Near Me?

If you’re in Wichita, Kansas, and you’d like more detail on wrap pricing, come and see us, check out US Logo’s Mighty Wraps shop, and get a first-hand look at what goes into a wrap installation. It’s pretty cool stuff. If you don’t live here in “Oz,” we can ship wraps anywhere for local, third-party installation. Give us a call at (316) 264-1321 and let’s talk about your project and plug in some numbers specific to your needs.

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