Vinyl wrap in the hot sunny south or respray ??

Major orange peel in my 09 Taco has forced me to consider respray or wrap my hood. Question is, in the hot south Houston area will a vinyl wrap make it ? If so how long ? The oe thinly applied paint lasted 4 years before clear coat peeling then it was down hill. What is the most life you can realistically expect from a wrap in hot climate ?

 

I was told by a wrap company to expect 2.5-3.5 years of life on a wrap without a garage/cover on the truck here in San Diego. Eventually I'll be painting it with single stage paint (no clear coat).

 

Is it orange peel or clear coat failure? There is a difference. Being that you are in Houston, is the truck exposed to any of the chemical plants? Wondering if that could be expediting the issue. How was the paint maintained for 4 years before failure?

Wrap still needs to be maintained. Never priced a wrap but would think it’s cheaper than a repaint.

 

Wrap has purpose/value, but will it meet yours? You have to decide. Keep in mind that a well done wrap requires about the same bodywork prep as paint. Any surface flaws will easily show. So yea, your hood would have to be sanded smooth at a minimum.

BTW, orange peel is a condition of paint from application. IE it would be present from the factory. Or a respray.

Most sun based failures are the clearcoat.

 

Since the other day the hood is now completely sanded smooth. Nothing fingernails can catch. I'm currently studying how to wrap for my application since wrap is mostly used over good paint. However it can be applied on no or partial paint only the correct prep work is more laborous.

 

I'm in Austin and talked to a shop here a few years ago. My top had been peeling off for years, but my experience covered the entire truck so just the hood may be a different story. The prep alone to get my truck ready for a wrap was the cost of a relatively inexpensive paint job. I spend a lot of time on the coast (the heavy salt air and humidity we Texans love) and he didn't think it would be worth it. He actually directed me to a specific person at a Maaco shop in town and the guy agreed - I'm in some rocks, tight trees (scratches), and the beach so I'm expecting degradation over time -- but after a few years and plenty of abuse, it still looks good. If necessary, I'd do it again in a few years and still not approach the cost of the wrap.

 

After knowing what I know about vinyl about vinyl, I would not recommend doing a wrap. Yeah if you can keep it inside most of the time I'm you might get 5 years out of it. Is it. If it's outside in the hot sun it's going to last less.. Oh and did I mention the fact that it's a absolute nightmare to remove after about 5 to 10 years Longer you leave it the more impossible it becomes to get off. Or if you use a cheap vinyl from some cheap company that's Cutting corners and costs, comma you're not going to be happy at all. I would recommend getting it repainted if you're not happy with what you have.

 

First time with Wifey's help. I did have some wrinkles that I couldn't remove though. Total cost was 40$. For the wrap.

 

Looks great. I've got indigo blue and need something for hood and roof.