Car wrap tacky?

I have a stock black 911 with black interior. Beautiful car, very understated and tasteful. But I'm considering jazzing it up with a body wrap. Possibly GT3RS orange with carbon fiber hood and mirrors. Thought it would be a nice change, very exotic, and not permanent. But is it just too much? Is it too "wannabe a GT3"? Just looking for your valued opinions. similar to this - without the Carrera Decal OrangePorscheCarrera_00.jpg

Wouldn't be my choice.

wanna be

I don't think I'd personally go with a GT3 copy - there are many other choices available with wraps. The one that I've seen that I like is flat white with black wheels. You could also do many other things - a wrap really allows you to go for something unique.

I like wraps...but not fake CF wraps. I think those are tacky. As for using wraps to change the colour (non-permanently) of your car, it's an excellent choice! I think changing your car to orange and adding the carrera script wold like very nice...just don't put any FAKE words like GT3 or RS...etc, as your car isn't any of those. That pic...minus the CF hood...I think would like nice.

It's entirely a personal choice. I don't like to do anything to my car that I have to "explain. For example: " Well, it's really not a GT3 but ..." It's a Porsche. It doesn't need to scream.

I actually like the cf look; I guess its all personal taste. As was noted above, I'd avoid the GT3 look.

How much does a basic wrap cost, just curious?

I think it really depends upon how old you are. That might provide some insight into your need to change the car.

If you're doing it for your own enjoyment, go for it. If you're doing it to impress others, don't bother. Most people won't know the difference and those few that do will resent it.

Go for it. If you don't like it, just remove it, and you're only out the cost of the wrap. Since your car is black, you could just leave the hood, and the center section of the roof, unwrapped.

How long do these wraps last? I didn't realize people did wraps except for advertisements. You learn something new every day. Still wouldn't be my choice but I like simple.

I think they're rated for 3-4 years of UV exposure.

I definitely don't want to try to make people think that I have GT3. I would not add that, and I don't even want to add Carrera to it either. It's too much I think. But I think Dennis makes a pretty good point. With all of the options out there, why copy something else? But I do like orange. I was quoted around $3000 for the entire car, but I'd really like to do it myself. I'm getting another quote for just the materials. I've found online colors for $650-entire car. I ordered samples in orange and Matte Red as well. stickercity.com has a lot of options (no affiliation). Just need to turn on the creativity...after all, I was an Art Major...

Quotes source post: 8775705

$650 is conservative. Probably around $1,000 if you don't mess up. You can do the whole car in a day. My brother and I have done most of his car and we did some of his friends cars. You will need a helper who doesn't really do much but stretch the wrap as you work it smooth. Just thought I would add my thoughts.

Pretty amazing how many options they have. I do like the satin black finish, was thinking about doing my wife's 996 in that color.

You can do the wrap yourself?? I'd like to see a DIY for that one..

Quotes source post: 8775897

I bet you have to know what you're doing though..but would love to see a DIY.

I got a general quote from stickercity in summer of 2010 for this: Thank you for your email. Stickercity generally charges about $3100 for a full exterior wrap. Please give me the year make and model just to make sure that it is the right estimate. This price includes the material (about $1000) and $2100 for the installation along with a three year warranty on the installation. Thank you, The thing is, the wrap only lasts about 5 years so if your doing a very large section of the car or the whole car then it's not really worth it. Just my .02

Quotes source posts: 8775897, 8775916

Seriously just try to do your hood or something like that and you'll see how easy it is. It is so easy I don't know how they can get away with charging so much. You could do the whole car and save a couple grand. This is just his car very simple to do, took about four hours for hood,roof, and trunk. Materials for this cost $180 and had plenty left over. Whatever I wrap next I will take a video with steps.

ask your self this.....Will it go faster with a wrap? Id spend the $ on performance mods or track time myself but I can see the appeal of temporarily changing the color. Post up some pics when your done....

There are a ton of DIY videos on youtube. That is what made me think I could it myself. Just search "car wrap". It's amazing what they put it on too. Lambo's, Ferrari's, GT-R's. You name it, it's out there.

Quotes source post: 8775946

Looks good, how would I do the louvers on the rear wing?

If you want to spend $3100 on something that lasts 5 years...you could get a 944. And you could get it in whatever color you wanted, to boot, as long as it was white, black, or used-to-be-red.

I like it too, even with the Carrera! Good advice not to add decals though painting or wrapping the car to look similar is one thing, but 'advertising' it as something it isn't will bring about the wrath of the Porsche goddess!

I'll definitely post pics as the process goes along. Maybe I'll start a DIY thread on how to wrap your car - what NOT to do! I'm mostly worried about the rear wing too. Going to be very tricky. I'm still waiting on a quote for custom colors rather than the stock orange. This may be a winter storage project. Put it away black, take it out in the spring orange. Also, if I come up with some good designs maybe I'll post those up for opinions too. I have to make sure I do this right.

Quotes source post: 8775946

Ohhh my car would look good in matte black! I bet the biggest pain in the a$$ would be removing all the seals on the windows and between the roof and doors. Looky.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQgYs...ature=youtu.be

Quotes source post: 8780321

I've seen them where they don't even do that. It's nbd actually, the only hard type of wrap though is carbon fiber just because you have to lineup the lines of carbon fiber perfectly on the car.

Quotes source post: 8780332

Well let me add... using an exacto knife near my paint...

go for it. I think it is a great price to change your car color. I think the satin cover is a great choice, change the color but not too much. I am just worried about what happen to the paint when you remove this thing. all wrap have a disclaimer saying that it may harm your paint over time... scary.

I haven't seen any disclaimers, but I've read a lot that it doesn't harm the paint. Hard to believe that if it is on there for a few years. I've talked with the local decal guy, who we also hire a lot for graphics jobs where I work. He claims they have refinished their car twice in 6 years and the car looked like new underneath each time. I've known him for years now, so I feel like I can trust him. I am a little worried about the knife though!

This was used in Europe years ago to change blue BMW's to Yellow taxi's over night. And Matte black is the most popular. Matte blue looks amazing too... It's very interesting to do, I've considered doing my roof shiny black, but I dunnnno... Maybe if I had millions and just didn't care, I'd buy a brand new RR and make it all Matte black for the heck of it. But nothing I would really consider doing unless my paint was CRAP!

Pretty happy with mine. I wouldn't do it if you don't like talking to people about it.

Go for it Whatever floats your boat It's your car and if that is what you want I think you should do it. I like the idea of the wrap, because if you don't like it, just peel it off and as far as the CF looks goes, I have been considering doing it to my hood and mirrors My 996 is Black and I have the yellow calipers and a yellow vinyl side strip of CARRERA. I had a friend tell me the other day it is not his taste and I reminded him he does not drive or ride in my car Enjoy your car

Every time I read a thread about wrapping a car, I ask this question: have you ever removed the wrap from a car and what was the condition of the original paint? I have never received an answer. It's a serious question. I go to auto auctions with a dealer friend and they routinely have old police/fire/ems vehicles that have had the graphics removed. They all show dirt and damage from the graphics or the removal. Now I understand that some of the damage could be due to a lack of care in removing the graphics, but since I have never gotten an answer, I have to wonder...

Quotes source post: 9382167

This is an excellent question and inquiring minds want to know

I know a few people who have had car or parts of their car wrapped. If the paint is properly prepped prior to wrapping (cleaned, clay bar'd, waxed) and high quality automotive vinyl is used (yes, they make vinyl specifically for wrapping cars) the paint will look as good as the day you wrapped when you remove the wrap. The reason you see outlines on old work trucks and police cars when the logos are removed is because the paint under the vinyl is protected, while the rest of the car gets trashed and battered with UV rays. My friend Greg has his C4S wrapped with a battleship gray vinyl. It looks great. And if he decides he doesn't like the "primer" look anymore, he's only about two hours of work away from the original paint.

Damn that battleship grey looks awesomazing!

So many questions! How do you remove the wrap? Just peel it back? Or do you need heat to lift it? Does it leave residue on the painted surface? What happens when you get a rock impact on the front end and it tears the vinyl? Do you have to replace the whole section again, or is it durable enough to withstand a stone impact in the first place? Is this the same stuff as those "clear" bras?

You remove the wrap by simply peeling up a corner and gently pulling it of the panel. Sometimes a little bit of heat is required. Generally speaking, a high quality film will not leave a residue. If the vinyl does tear, you can massage it back into place and more or less "hide" it. If that doesn't work, you will have to re-do that panel. It's pretty durable though when it comes to rock chips and does a great job of protecting the paint underneath from rock chips, just as a clear bra would. Some downsides to it is that the white vinyls are known for staining if you get tree sap, wet leaves (tannins), road tar or other similar things on them. The matte vinyls can also "scratch" if you're not careful (not like a tear or anything, but if something rubs on it hard enough it can "polish" the vinyl so it's less matte than the vinyl around it). Also, it can be expensive and it's extremely time consuming to apply. Expect to pay $2500-$4000 for a quality wrap job.

Hell how much would it cost for a high quality paint job? But then again would a respray lower a selling price? um.

There was a DIY sort of thread a while ago on wrapping a 996. The thread seemed to suggest its about $300 for materials, and about 12 hours of work (over a weekend). Pictures seemed to suggest that it was a nice job. I've a red 996 coupe that I've been thinking of wrapping with white vinyl - been a few months and I am still thinking

I had mine done last year in matte metallic grey... originally artic silver. Nice change and gets a lot of attention. I like the fact I can always go back to my original paint when I am tired of the wrap. David