Can You Vinyl Wrap A Peeling Car?
Every year, more and more drivers choose vinyl car wrap as an alternative to investing in a new paint job: usually because it’s less expensive, and because it opens the door to a wide variety of different color options. But not so fast — often the cars in most dire need of a paint job, have problems that can’t be solved by a vinyl car wrap. A vinyl wrap won’t hide dents, for example, and cannot stick to rust. However, not all bad paint jobs are created equal. While some paint problems run too deep to hide beneath a thin vinyl wrap, there may be hope for a car with a peeling outer coat.
Paint Problems That Can’t Be Solved With Vinyl Car Wrap
As much as we’d all love vinyl car wraps to fix any blemishes to your car’s exterior, some common paint problems can’t be fixed. Let’s look at deep scratches and chips. The success of a sleek, vinyl car wrap installation requires a smooth, even surface for the vinyl to bond to. A deep scratch, or just chipped paint, mars this surface, and will lead to bubbles and other distortions in the vinyl. As mentioned, a paint job so worn the car body has started to rust, also creates a problem spot that vinyl can’t cling to. Most vinyl wraps are too thin to actually cover up that sort of thing anyway. For similar reasons, poor pain jobs resulting in too much paint — the dreaded, pebbled texture of orange peel paint job — cannot be cosmetically fixed with a vinyl wrap.
Many of these conditions are especially ironic because vinyl car wraps are actually outstanding at protecting a car’s paint job. If the car had benefitted from a vinyl car wrap in the first place, its original paint job would probably still be in great shape.
So, Can You Vinyl Wrap A Peeling Car? It’s Complicated.
The good news for those with a peeling car is: the short answer is yes, vinyl wrap can be applied to a peeling car. Especially if it’s peeling clear coat. BUT! Doing so requires an extra step. Peeling and flaking paint lead to all of the same issues as chips, scratches, and rust. However, in the case of peeling paint, the painted surface can be corrected by getting it sanded, or feathered, by a body shop. This eliminates all the peeling or flaking areas and smooths out any edges, so in the hands of an expert installer, the vinyl will bond to the surface as intended.
However, while feathering a peeling paint job may successfully prep a car for vinyl wrap, that doesn’t mean every vinyl wrap will look good. When wrapping a peeling car, it helps to know which kind of wraps to choose, and which to avoid.
Wraps That Are Not A Good Choice For A Peeling Car
Though most vinyl car wraps are thick enough to change your car’s color and finished appearance, they may too thin to obscure drastic changes in surface color or texture. Many vinyl wrap options will not adequately conceal paint peels, even after they’ve been sanded. Glossy vinyl wraps, for example, get their appeal from looking shiny, perfect, and new. But they can’t accomplish this if the paint beneath exhibits uneven color and texture.
Other popular vinyl wrap effects that will struggle over peeling paint include the shimmering, two-tone look of color flip, or color shift, wraps; and chameleon wraps, which appear to change color depending on which angle you look at them. Despite their two-tone appearances, these looks will fall flat in areas that have been sanded over peeling paint.
Wraps That Can Work Well For Peeling Car
So which types of vinyl work well to wrap a peeling car? Usually, those featuring their own patterns or graphics. Carbon fiber wraps, for example, tend to be a little thicker, and also obscure any underlying colors or textures due to the small, repeating geometric patterns that make the look so appealing. Any camouflage pattern should also work, as uneven colors and shapes are baked into its design. Of course, graphic vinyl wrap applications may obscure whatever is happening beneath the vinyl, especially the notorious sticker bomb pattern, which can make it look like thousands of stickers have covered your ride, bumper to bumper. If you’re looking for a solid vinyl wrap to cover paint peel, some peel jobs may be obscured by a thick, black matte finish, if it’s dark enough and flat enough that below-the-surface differences can’t shine through.
Find Out Whether Your Car Is Ready For A Vinyl Wrap
Do you have a peeling car in need of a vinyl wrap? Come see us at Car Audio City in San Diego, CA to find out if it can be made ready for a vinyl car wrap! Give us a call today at (619) 474-8551 for a free quote,
