Vehicle Wraps: A Wrap Gone Wrong

I recently had the opportunity to witness a matte black vehicle wrap on a BMW sedan that had been improperly installed. Problems such as the original paint finish color, in this case white, showing around the door wells, to vinyl having been applied over a surface that had not been wiped clean, were evident. And these were not the only problems. In this case, the customer had opted to cover the chrome trim around the windows in 3M Carbon Fiber to give the vehicle a unique and high end look. Unfortunately, this very expensive material was improperly trimmed such that in some areas the chrome, and/or white edging of the former paint color, showed through. Our recommendation: remove the wrap and start over!

The problem with this particular wrap was that the installer made several mistakes:

1. He neglected to adequately clean the vehicle so that small dirt particles were trapped been the vehicle surface and the vinyl. These then appeared as a collection of tiny bubbles that could not be flattened out because, unlike air, they would not dissipate.

2. The installer was clearly inexperienced. He made several cuts around the vehicle edges freehand and obviously misjudged where to cut. This left small gaps where the original white paint actually showed through. When the customer complained he simply patched in slivers of vinyl to correct these small gaps. The resulting finished look was both shoddy and unprofessional.

3. The installer failed to remove or wrap large sections of the customer’s door handles giving the entire wrap and door sections a patch work effect.

4. There were several noticeable blade marks or tiny slices on the vehicle surface meaning that the installer actually damaged the vehicles original painted finish. Unfortunately, even if the vinyl is removed and properly reinstalled, these cut marks will show through. We suggested that the customer visit an auto body shop to have these slice marks refilled so that these imperfections don’t show through once the vehicle is re-wrapped.

In summary, making sure that you use a reputable and certified installer is critical. The cost of redoing a bad vehicle wrap and having to pay for corrective auto body shop work far outweighs any potential savings. Why take those chances. SignWorks uses a certified installer so we will do your vehicle wrap right!