Vinyl Wrapping: Wrapping v. Respraying

The mercedes cla is painted in a turquoise color.

When it comes to changing the aesthetic of your vehicle, your two main options are vinyl wrapping and re-spraying. 

Vinyl wrapping is a temporary change that usually lasts for 7-10 years. There is a vast range of film brands, colours and finishes to choose from, all of which have their own pros and cons. You can read our blog post about those, HERE.

Re-spraying your vehicle is a permanent change. If you’re having a full vehicle re-paint, then the workshop would remove the initial paint coat. The car will then be re-primed and the whole vehicle will go through the process. Most manufacturers will typically only allow certain brands of paint to go on their cars at official service providers, which limits the colour and finish choice. 

A Toyota GT86 shown on an angle in in an industrial unit. It has just had a
A Toyota GT86 with a full exterior wrap in Oracal Midnight Metallic Blue

What’s the difference?

Re-spraying can be in the original colour of the vehicle, or in a different one. If the paintwork was faulty or chipped, a re-spray or paint correction is often the final stage in repairing the damage.

Vinyl wrapping is ideal if you don’t necessarily want to change the vehicle forever. At Auto Wrap Manchester, our wraps typically last for 7-10 years as long as they’re well-cared for. If you’d like to have the wrap removed earlier, that’s also possible.

As the wrap is not a permanent change, we find people are less likely to go for a safe option. Most customers prefer to choose a colour or finish with loads of personality. We’ve done lots of neon colours, as well as individually designed prints. Lots of people like to use the vinyl wrap as self-expression, and have a chance to stand out; you’ll certainly not lose any of the cars in this post at the supermarket!

A Mercedes CLA wrapped ina bright mint green colour. The car is posed on an angle in an industrial unit.
A Mercedes CLA with a full exterior wrap in Oracal Satin Mint Green

The extra room for creativity is a bonus point in wrapping’s favour, but it also means there is less risk when it comes to selling your vehicle. As you can remove the wrap before you sell the car, an unusual colour wouldn’t impact the success of the sale. It’s the best of both worlds!

Wrapping also does not impact the metal or paintwork beneath it. There is a small risk of paint coming away in certain cases. This happens when panels are poorly resprayed and the seal does not work correctly. Our team would be able to let you know in advance if this was a concern for your vehicle. Otherwise, the car will have no damage beneath the wrap.

Does vinyl wrapping have any benefits?

Vinyl wrap adds a layer of protection to your car. The thick vinyl protects the metal and paintwork beneath from stone chips and other typical road wear from driving. When the wrap comes off, the paint and metalwork beneath have extra protection from wear and tear that otherwise may need fixing.

Sometimes, things can damage the wrap. In these cases, you can just have the damaged panels re-wrapped. This takes much less time than re-spraying a panel as we don’t have to wait for drying times.

A ferrari challenge car wrap a full exterior wrap and a stripe kit in black and white over the top.
A Ferrari Challenge car with a full exterior wrap in dark blue and a black and white stripe kit

Is vinyl wrap hard to look after?

Mostly, you can care for vinyl wrap and re-sprayed paint in exactly the same way. However, with the vinyl wrap, you may have to use slightly different products: we’d recommend using pH neutral cleaning products to avoid bleaching the colour. With a vinyl-wrapped vehicle, you also have to make sure you don’t jet-wash the edges of the panels at a high speed as it can dislodge the wrap.

In the end, the choice between wrapping and re-spraying comes down to personal preference. If you just want a small amount of damage to your paintwork fixing, then a re-spray is the ideal solution. If it’s experimenting and changing the aesthetics of your vehicle, then we’d recommend vehicle wrapping!

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