nuclearfishin

Just curious what you all are paying to get your car properly wrapped? I was just quoted $5,500 which seems a bit high. I had a full martini wrap in the past and I only paid $2300, but that shop isn't local. I asked for a breakdown of the quote and the shop seemed offended. I know the vinyl would cost between $500-$1000, so that leaves about $4,500 - $5,000 in labor. If I took my car to any mechanic, I'd get a full breakdown of parts, labor, overhead, no problem. When I posted online in my local car forum asking if this was normal, all the local detailers jumped on the post attacking even asking the question. The common response seemed to be "that's what it's gonna cost, we can't give you a breakdown of labor or materials cost, you don't understand how it works." My question was, how could you give me an accurate quote if you don't know the labor and material costs. Then the conversation degraded into insulting the question. But my question still stands--why can't a detailer provide a breakdown of my quote like any legitimate mechanic would? I think I know the answer but they all feigned shock that I would even ask. Anybody have this experience trying to get a car wrapped?

KevinP832

I share your frustration. My 2008 is in pretty good shape, I just got a quote for PPF. I was shocked to hear it would cost $8500 for full PPF on my car, plus $800 to remove the existing headlight and mirror film, plus $1200 for paint prep (buffing, no touch up). I'm going to pass on this service. Curious to see where this thread goes. Good luck with your wrap!

cdk4219

What’s in it for them to provide a breakdown of parts and labor, so you can complain about how much you think the labor should be? If you don’t like the price, either find someone to do it for a price you like, do it yourself, or don’t do it at all.

whitegt315

Sounds like all those quotes are pretty accurate. Anywhere you go, if you want a decent job done $5500 for full wrap is reasonable. And 8k is average for a full car ppf. My car was done by Chicago auto pros and it cost about the same for full ppf. Good luck

Full Boost

Sounds on the money to me?
The old "why does it cost so much and take little time" accounts for exactly ZERO when someone has the experience gained over years....
YMMV

papasmurf

I wrap cars for a living and that quote is pretty high. Materials cost is probably around 5-700 hundred unless you were wrapping it in some special finish film that does cost a bit more. There is a fair amount of labor involved in wrapping cars particularly if you are having the door jams wrapped and they are removing lot's of pieces like bumpers and wrapping them off the car separately. You can easily spend a full day doing assembly/disassembly work not to mention the time it takes to prep the car and get it totally clean before the installation. We typically charge around 4-4500k for a large truck/SUV for a complete wrap but we are talking something the size of an F250 or excursion. Assuming they are not upcharging you for it being a porsche, I figure it would run about 3k +/- for something the size of a 997. I can understand part of their reluctance to give you a break down on labor because removing door panels, bumpers, lights, etc. off a car 10-15 years old can be a delicate process and it is hard to say how easily or fast it can be done without doing any damage and at least in my area, pulling apart each car is a bit of a learning process if it is the first one of that make/model you have done.

2swoosh

why PPF the whole car in the first place? just do all the high impact areas (front bumper,hood,mirrors,etc..) and use a self healing film. price is also depend on the type of car you got and most important is the shop's reputation or your car will be ruined.

Steve Theodore

I work in the automotive industry as an independent specialty car dealer, and so of course along the way I have built partnerships with a very large number of other shops, including vinyl wrap specialists. Here is my quick take on the matter based on what I've learned in my region.

- Small cars like the Porsche 911 don't take much physical material to wrap. They would generally require under $1000 in materials unless you're talking about some super high end custom wrap product, which would be made obvious to you as a shopper I suspect
- Labor varies in any market or region based on the costs of the shop and location of the shop. Some vinyl wrap guys work out of their own private home garages, while others work out of expensive facilities they have to pay for. These factors can affect the price in a major way.
- Experience and reputation matters a lot, probably more than you even think. People starting out in the business are WAY more likely to give you a $2500 quote whereas a top pro in your area with a great reputation may charge $5500.

I have personally paid $2500 for a wrap from a smaller name shop (not on a Porsche) and I can say that overall I was happy with the work BUT I did find flaws over time that lowered my overall opinion of the quality of work. More bubbles than expected in some areas and a few broken clips where parts were reattached, including a spoiler and rear bumper cover. Worse yet, no one told me about any of the broken clips so I discovered them on my own. I didn't shame the shop or anything like that, but considered it a lesson learned and something that I'd proactively bring up in future wraps.

With a top pro expect not only to pay more but also to get more from them. Expect them to disclose any issues found (body clips are typically cheap), and expect a better overall finish and process. They will also likely ask you a lot more questions about what you want to do, and some of that is extremely valuable as they have ideas that you likely don't that can make the experience even better. Is it worth the overall price difference? That's up to you.

I apologize for the late reply on this thread, but I only saw it today and wanted to offer up a bit of real-world experience from someone who actually works in automotive and has experience with (paying for) wrapped vehicles.

ab10

Might also be worth asking, at that price point, the degree to which workmanship is warrantied - if you see any bubbles after x number of months, would they be willing to help fix?

Steve Theodore

Great point, and I did forget entirely to mention that. In my experience both the 'cheaper' and more expensive shops I've worked with (for my own cars and my own customers) have always offered at least a 12 month warranty, and I would say that many will employ goodwill to make repairs as needed for longer periods than that, sometimes for vastly reduced pricing. For workmanship defects, you should depend on a shop to take care of it, but for use related defects (like a stone hitting and piercing your wrap), that would be a case where a discounted repair would be more appropriate.

joes c4 cab

Don’t be so sure about a dealer or mechanic giving an itemized breakdown. I recently took my wife’s car into a local Range Rover dealer and was told that parts and labor breakdowns “aren’t done any longer.” Obviously they didn’t get my business because their oil change alone more than doubled from a year prior!

rsalicrup

I helped my son wrap his 335 and it was a lot of more work that we had thought. The videos on YouTube make it look easy but I will never do it again. It is easy to do the flat panels but when you get to the bumpers and edges is when it gets tricky. I also think the durability/longevity of vinyl is not worth it. I’m currently looking at colored PPF which has smoother finish and can last up to 10 years plus the benefit of being PPF. Was quoted $9k for it.

THEDOD

Last wrap I did 2 years ago was $2650 for 996 turbo S. Still looks great.

cyclrder

I’m not sure I’d want some team disassembling my turbo…. Its value is more important than me being bored of my Artic Silver wishing it was some much more sexy shade of green. Screw heads being scratched and so on…. I guess if it was an earlier year car and had 60K on it then it would make much more sense.

i have had bird crap stains show up on my hood and am dreading the removal of the existing clear.

nmummert

I’ve paid around $4500 for a full colored change wrap, including door jams.