Here is an excellent vehicles wraps example for the folks at Cat Country Radio and Cumulus Media. This Jeep Liberty came to us with a tired 6 year old wrap which was done by another shop. We removed the old graphics and installed a fresh 3M Certified full wrap which has a high gloss finish. Typical radio station vehicles need to look their absolute best, since they’re often used for satellite spots at the locations of their advertisers. This Jeep travels throughout the Valley for such spots. These vehicles are usually parked in front of businesses where the optics of the promotion is unavoidable. The vehicle wraps essentially become a beacon of representation for the satellite spots where they broadcast from car lots and many other types of businesses. The impact that vehicle wraps present is arguably exponentially greater than other forms of outdoor advertising. When this Jeep is parked along a busy road, it may garner many thousands of impressions every day. In some cases, thousands of impressions may be reached after just a few hours. Many commercial highways in populated areas may have more than 30,000 cars pass a given point every day. Just imagine comparing this advertising power to direct mail. If we were to study the cost of the lowest priced form of direct mail, which is postcards; We’ll find that an average small mailing may cost up to 50 cents per card mailed. If we apply this metric to a vehicle wraps that may receive 2000 impressions on any given day, this would reflect a direct mail value of $1000.00. This is in just one day! Considering that 3M vehicle wraps cost between $1000 to $4000, the ROI is indisputable. Many IDWraps.com clients have raved about the vehicle wrap investment paying for itself within only weeks. This does vary from client to client, but in 12+ years of wrapping vehicles- we’ve never heard someone say they wouldn’t do it again.
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So back to the story on this specific Jeep. Unfortunately, the shop that wrapped this vehicle previously used low cost films which proved to be very difficult to remove. The films were very brittle and exhibited cracking throughout the installation. When the films are dry and the adhesives were hardened. This meant that we were in for a ton of labor on this removal. The films actually came off in very small pieces, many being less than 1 square inch in size. Worst of all was that the adhesive on the economy films used actually destroyed much of the paint. The contamination from this wrap film actually damaged the clear coat, making it flake an bubble off. The glue also somehow leached into the paint and discolored the pigments. This turned the formerly nice metallic silver finish into a terribly unattractive tan color. Nonetheless, it surely pays to invest in a quality wrap film. The most common film used by IDWraps.com is 3M’s IJ180MC. The 3M IJ180 series films have been on the scene for over 10 years with an excellent track record of durability. One key aspect driving this durability is the matching system overlaminate that we apply over the printed surface. A quality overlaminate not only protects the valuable vehicles wraps prints from scratches, but also from UV exposure as well. That’s right, the sun can attribute to most of the wear and tear that a wrap experiences over its lifetime. The sun not only can fade the colors over the years, it can also dry out the vinyl materials and adhesives. Dryness in the vinyl may cause cracking on the surfaces. This cracking is usually evident after more than 5 years of wrap life on horizontal surfaces. Horizontal surfaces may consist of hoods, roofs, and trunk lids. When the glue dries out, it becomes much more difficult to remove and may separate (stay on vehicle) upon removal of the wrap.
The other key component of this film is it’s removability. This Jeep wrap project is a prime example which exhibits the importance that a film is designed to be removed. Not only is damage to your vehicles paint an obvious concern, but the labor associated with a removal is to be considered as part of the total cost of the wrap investment. 3M films have been proven to take up to 1/3 the labor to remove as many of their competitors. In the end, a quality 3M wrap may cost a bit more, but in the long run- it could possibly be one of the lowest cost options. This factors in both durability and lower removal cost. It essentially may last longer and come off easier when your ready to sell or trade the vehicle. The big bonus to having a full vehicles wrap is that your paint is shielded from the elements. That’s right- the wrap takes the brunt of light scratches, swirl marks, light stone chipping. The other benefit is color fade protection. Most folks don’t realize that all automotive paints do indeed fade over time. This is a constant change that starts as soon as a brand new vehicle hits the lot. In fact, our new car dealer clients only place promotional decals on top of vehicles for 6 months or less. Any longer, and the decal actually leaves a “ghosting” effect behind which is in the shape of the formerly applied lettering or graphic. What actually happens is the decal is shielding the paint from the sun’s harmful ultra violet rays. So if color preservation is noticeable within a 7 month period, imagine what is is like after 7 years. As we change out IDWraps company vehicles which have been wrapped, we often find ourselves with a distinct used car market advantage. Sometimes we’ll have 50k+ mile vehicles with brand new looking paint. This helps tremendously when selling a new vehicle. When all others have relatively dingy looking finishes, ours stands out. Nonetheless, our sells for a higher dollar. This is why leasing companies absolutely love vehicles wraps. Your essentially installing an air tight car cover for the term of the lease on “their” vehicle.
The resale aspect reminds us of our 2007 Chevy Colorado company pickup which was sold just a few years ago. This truck received a full wrap from head to toe when the truck had only one thousand miles on it. So then for 5 years, the paint on the Colorado stayed well preserved under the air tight truck cover of the vehicle wraps. Years later, when privately for sale, buyers were astonished at the brand new finish of the truck’s paint. Not so much as a swirl mark or a stone chip was evident on our Work Truck. No, there was not one single comparable truck on the market with the same paint condition. Not even close folks. Nonetheless, this truck was sold for almost $1000 more than comparable trucks on the market (according to Autotrader listing prices.) So if we examine our own truck’s vehicles wraps investment ROI, we’ll find that our advertisement actually cost nearly $1000 less than the upfront investment. At that rate, our monthly amortized cost of the graphics came out to an estimated $30.03 per month (at an average street price.) So just what other type of advertising are you going to find for this amount? Surely none that can drive thousands of impressions every day. Best of all, you own this advertising. Most advertising mediums consist of rented space. Billboards, and all forms of internet advertising like banners, adwords, etc- are essentially rented communication vehicles. If you stop paying, your message is often done. With vehicle wraps, your engine could break down and your wrap still could deliver leads (assuming it is parked in a strategic high traffic area.)
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