Inmytimeofbrian

Hey all. Newbie to the forum, but not to endless, sleepless nights tracking down a 718 Cayman over the last couple of months. I stumbled upon a 2018 718 Cayman S via Cargurus with 55k miles, former lease vehicle, 2 owners. It immediately caught my eye, due to the Miami Blue wrap. I checked VinAnalytics and the car was originally black. The wrap looks very vibrant and only one negative crease towards the rear, passenger panel. The car also has aftermarket, black wheels, similar to Carrera Classics. Carfax looks good
1. What are the downsides to buying a wrapped Cayman as far as future depreciation?
2. Would there be more wiggle room on price negotiation due to the wrap and aftermarket wheels?
3. Any other two cents if helpful

Thanks!
Brian

Xxyion

There shouldn't be any downsides assuming the wrap was done properly and was not done to hide any paint damage. Vinyl wrap acts very much like PPF lite and does offer some protection to the elements. I've wrapped 4 of my own cars and when i sold them the paint looked brand new.

If you are truly considering this purchase here are a few things to look out for.

Open the doors and inspect the trim areas. If the cut of the vinyl is rough or it looks like someone too the edge of a knife to it, then chances are there are cuts in the paint. If the cut is clean and straight, then you should be good.
Check edges and corners. Do they seem to be shrinking back and exposing paint? If they are the wrap job might have been done by someone with less experience. Corners are tricky but a good vinyl wrapper will know how to wrap corners without any excess stretch which will prevent pull back and lifting.
Check complex curves. So specifically things like the inside corner of headlights and the inside corner of the front bumper. This is probably one of the most important . If it looks like there's a bunch of random cuts, then there might be possible cut paint under. If it seems like it was done in one or two pieces with clean cut lines, then you're probably good.

Chances are trying to get a price reduction due to wrap isn't going to happen since wrap if anything adds protection to the car and can enhance the visual aspects of the car. It's aftermarket, but can be very easily removed if undesired. Just takes maybe 20 minutes.

Inmytimeofbrian

Thanks for the info! That is definitely helpful. I wish I could see the vehicle in person, however I am in NC and the vehicle is in California. I do have the below pics from the dealer, which was one area of concern. Ripples in between the panel

I'll ask the dealer for door jamb pics

TXshaggy

The main downside is you can’t evaluate the exterior paint surface.

Exterior finish is usually the top 1-2 used car qualifiers in purchase consideration.

That reason alone I would never consider one.

Plenty of used ones out there, why focused on this one?

Inmytimeofbrian

@TXshaggy good info about the original paint condition. It has actually proven quite difficult to find an S 718 in my area here in NC. Most are base versions in White or Silver. I am looking for a more unique color

rasetsu

A wrapped car is generally a harder sell because potential buyers have no idea as to what condition the paint underneath is or if the installer did any damage to the paint during the wrap process. A once wrapped car that has the wrap removed before listing will lose no value assuming the wrap was properly installed without having caused any damage to the paint or used to hide any damage to the paint.

Aftermarket wheels depends. Well known brands like HRE, BBS, Apex, etc. can add value with the right buyer. Unknown or cheap brands can diminish some value.

As far as being able to get a lower price because of these two items, I would think it's slim because there is generally no shortage of someones wanting the instant gratification of having them. Personally, I would not purchase a wrapped car without being able to see it in person first. And even then, I probably still wouldn't buy it because I don't know what may be in store underneath.

SoCal-NSX

i personally would be hesitant after seeing some horror stories of roof wraps that baked onto the car and were nightmares to remove....

and like others have pointed out, you don't know paint condition and what is hiding under there....I have wrapped roofs and cars before, but personally would be hesitant buying one already wrapped

Xxyion

That's pretty common honestly and is generally due to the installer wrapping the car with the bumper on the car (common practice). The reason is because the area is so small it's hard to get all the dirt out of it. The only way to accomplish that is to remove the bumper entirely to clean that area, but you also pay a lot more for that.

Based on the vinyl around the taillight it looks like the installer removed the taillight which is a good sign and generally means they know what they are doing. The tuck on the trim itself is good but shifted due to adhesion losing effectiveness due to embedded dirt and fluctuation in temp.


As some others said, yes it's hard to know what's underneath, however i will offer a different perspective. California (where you said the car is located) being one of the main central car hubs of the US also happens to have a very high rate of cars being vinyl wrapped here to change their color. if i see 20 Teslas on the road, 5 of them have been vinyl wrapped. Almost every single first generation FRS/BRZ is wrapped in some way whether it be just the roof or full body, and ive even seen a stock old Honda Odyssey wrapped a cool ruby red. Chances are, he wanted miami blue but either it wasn't available at the time or maybe it was an already built allocation. Or maybe he ordered it specifically in black so that he could wrap it. I did the same with my M2 Competition, i specifically wanted black so i could wrap it matte purple. IMO chances are the paint is fine, if anything it might be better since it isn't being exposed to the constant california sun.

Overall it's up to your comfort level. You can always have the dealer pull off the wrap. Its not like it would lose value if they did.

Inmytimeofbrian

@Xxyion good info for sure about the potential reason for the wrap. I would agree that the owner wanted Miami Blue, like myself, but couldn't acquire one. So the wrap was the best option, so being optimistic about no h paint horror stories as other users mentioned. Dealer sent me door jamb pics and video and they look great

Inmytimeofbrian

Anyone have concerns about 55k miles for a 2018? I am accustomed to my BMWs with 70k miles and no worries at all

BoxKing

My OCD would never allow me to sign a check over to a dealership unless I already had a plan of action to correct the vinyl. This would be the first thing I would see every time I went to start up the car, and I would be unhappy - which is no way to take ownership. Hindsight, the area where the vinyl is defective is a very common issue, regardless of the install. Those are contact points, which flex/shift during operation, and are prone to those issues. There is no repairing this, both panels would need to be re-wrapped.

I may buy a Civic sight unseen, but a high 5 figure P-Car… Nahhh! To me, it would be well worth the plane ticket to go see whichever car you think might be “the one”.

BoxKing

Here are all the primary areas I would want to inspect in person (both sides DUHH!!)
These are high impact zones, or points of contact where defects could have occurred… and in this case, defects are shown in the image you posted.

BoxKing

Lastly, if the aftermarket wheels are not equal to, or greater in value to the originally spec’d OEM wheels, then yes, they diminish the value of the car. Im going to assume these are cheapies, if they had value, the previous owner probably would have swapped the OEM’s back on to sell them.

Inmytimeofbrian

@BoxKing thanks for that perspective and taking the time to outline problem areas!

Xxyion

Haha @BoxKing i see you have some experience with vinyl yourself. Yeah to OP, i agree with everything he said. Those are def all the areas to check for if you are truly thinking about this car.

As far as mileage goes i think 55k for a 5 year old car is fine. 10k miles a year, pretty obv it was a daily, which is surprisingly more common here in CA but i guess it makes sense since everything is so expensive here we really can only afford one car at a time hahahah....cries