Spray Paint vs Car Wrap comparison. Which one is best?

When car gets old, the first thing which comes into mind is that, should we change the color of our car with spray paint or warp? Both have advantages and disadvantages.

Well if you are thinking of spray paint, you need to keep that in mind that it’ll cost more money and it’ll be long-lasting and you can’t remove it easily.

If you are thinking of wrapping then it’ll not last long and the money you’ll cost is really less than spray paint. But there are issues you need to know before using a spray paint or wrap on your car.

You’ll get a total idea of what you should choose to coat your car, at the end of the article. 

Car Wrapping Color Varieties

There are a lot of colors and varieties like Gloss Vinyl, 3M™1080 SATIN, Carbon Fiber, and Matte Vinyl films. You can use orange color from Matte Vinyl films for an exotic touch to your Lamborghini. This will give a bubble-free finish to your one’s and has a guarantee of 7 years which might be more sustainable than an average wrapping. 

3M™ is one of the famous brands for having more than 100 colors for car wrapping vinyl. The combination shades are totally lavish.

They even add new shades every year. They have every variety of wrapping vinyl-like matte, gloss, texture, color flip, satin. Gloss Flip Ghost Pearl is one of the fancy colors of the 3M™ brand.

It’ll cost $3000 to $4000 for covering a car with wrapping vinyl but for a metallic finish you’ll need to spend double cash on your car but for a higher exotic touch, you’ll need to spend more than that. 

But don’t forget that it’s kind of like a temporary tattoo and it’ll last for 2 to 10 years in your car. It also depends on the place where you are parking.

The weather made a huge impact on wrapping, the more you’ll keep it under the sun or in increased or decreased temperature the more it’ll last less in your car. It’s better to keep a wrapped car inside a garage. 

It’s better to avoid wrapping if it has a lot of damages and flaws because it’s not going to cover up all of it rather it will accentuate. 

Spraying & Wrapping Time Duration

Well, a spray might be a long-lasting one but it’ll take more a week to coat the whole car. Sometimes it doesn’t even cover the stains really well. If you use spray paint for your car then you can’t think of painting it again for 10 years or more. 

Wrapping takes really less time. It’ll not take more than 12 hours to wrap and only 5 hours to remove an old wrap from the car.

But you need to keep that in mind that if you want to remove the old wrapped paint then you need remove it earlier, If it has a warranty of 3 to 5 years then remove it on the 3rd year and wrap it again with another color.

But keeping it longer than 6 years or more, it’ll not keep the car in a situation to wrap or spray. 

Now let’s talk about the spray. Car Sprayer is for a long-lasting finish on a car. You can’t change the color of the car before 15 to 20 years after coloring it with spray paint. 

Is it Possible to Give a Car Wash to Your Vinyl Wrapped Car? 

It’s better to avoid the car wash machine. The car wash machine can damage the upper surface coating. The pressure of the machine can create scratches even if it can lower the lifespan down of the wrapping vinyl for only a year. The brushes which are used for car washing rubs hard on the surface and it’ll harm the color. 

If the color comes out that way and the color of the surface looks damaged and lifted up then it’s difficult to coat with both a Sprayer or a wrapper. Stead of using a car washer machine try to use towels which are made of fiber. 

Microfiber towels are best for use after cleaning the dirt with a plastic water spray bottle. If your car is matte in color then use a car washing soap which is used for matte colors on a car, otherwise use waxes or silicone for giving a polish look to the glossy coating car’s. 

Meticulous Matte Auto Wash CWS_995_16 from Chemical Guys are famous for using the matte color surface of a car. It’ll cost not more than $11. 

Use Chemical Guys MIC_493 Microfiber Car Wash Mitt for matte colors. It’ll cost only $10. In total, you’ll need $21 for washing your car. And you can use it several times as well. 

So try to avoid the car washer machine and use those machines which will cost and are harmless to your car and quite affordable at the same time. 

Is Spraying Paint Expensive than Car Wrapping? 

When you think about spraying paint, you need to keep in mind that you’ll need to spend a lot of cash on your painting. Usually, when you use a higher quality wrapping paint you’ll have a warranty of a maximum 8 to 10 year’s which will cost $12,000 to $15,000 dollars and you can remove it and try another one.

You can remove it with only $500 to $700 dollars and if you want this work to be done by professionals then you’ll have to spend $2500. 

When you are using spray paint you’ll need $5000. You can’t think of Removing and repainting it again for a very long time. It makes the car quite heavy if you use another color on the main color of the car. 

Using wrapping vinyl is lighter in weight than spraying paint and cost less than spraying paint. You’ll only need 4 to 5 hours for Removing vinyl paint but it’s really tricky to remove the spraying paint and of course, it’s costly with a good amount of money as well.

Sometimes you can’t find the color you want for your car on a spraying paint brand. Even some of them might not be suitable for your car. 

If the surface of your vehicle is smooth and without damage and stains and you want a new color on your car then you should spend the money on spraying paint but it’s not sure if it’s going to work on the surface of the well or not.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Spray Paint & Car Wrap 

As I said that spraying paint on a car will be long-lasting that car wrapping. So the advantage goes for spraying paint but when we look at the price and finishing the advantage goes with vinyl wrapping. 

Painting Spray will not give you the option of illustration or different designs on your car even the color options are not as much as a vinyl wrap. 

Wrapping has a disadvantage of peeling while having a car wash machine with a brush which creates a huge pressure on the wrapping color and decreases the warranty of that paint. 

No matter which you are going to pick, it’ll not look better like the time when you bought it in the first place because the raw paint of the car is done by the professionals and it’s not easy to compete with it by the 2nd coating after you bought it. 

 

What Kind of Vinyl is Good For Cars to Protect it from UV-Rays?

The average wrap will be good for your car according to its warranty of 2 to 3 years. But it’ll not save the vinyl wrap from UV-rays. 

When you’ll use a wrap with bright chrome or with a metallic finish then you’ll cost more and the warranty will increase as well.

If you have nano-ceramic on your vinyl then you can make yourself assure that your cars will be protected from UV-rays. It’ll cost a bit more of $1000 for adding that on your car wrapping vinyl.

The coating will give an extra shield to the actual color of the car and not only keep it safe from the rays but also from the water as well.  

 

Various Paints For Spraying Cars 

Pro-15 is one of the brands which has amazing spray colors. And the silver color of this spray paint aerosol cost $22 and you don’t even have to use a primer before using it because it can be used in any previously painted space. It gives a long term sheen and the retention of the color. 

There is a brand that requires scraping and priming before coating the car with your spray paint. Because if you want a new color on your car with a good and strong coating then a primer is a must. 

Use Acrylic Enamel paints for cars and it also comes in an aerosol can. It’s durable and it really gives a good finishing on your surface. You can use Acrylic Urethane. It can cost a lot but it’ll work as much better as enamel paint. 

But be careful with the urethane because it has some harmful chemicals on it, so it’s better to take protection before using this paint. Water-based paints are also good as car paints.

Best spraying paint color for car

  • CRC All-Purpose Enamel Spray Paint
  • Dupli-Color Black Single Car Paint
  • Honda Crystal Black Pearl Touch-Up Paint 
  • Rust-Oleum Automotive Enamel Spray Paint 

You can use these amazing brand paints for coating your cars. It might be costly but it’ll be worth your money if the car is not too old.

Coming up with a spraying problem is quite common because every person has to deal with it.

Sometimes over-spraying gives an uneven look to the surface of your cars so when spraying we need to hold the spray to a distance of 6 inches.

And the coating should be done for 2 to 3 times except for having one thicker coat on the surface of the car. 

Using Primer on A Car Before Spraying Paint 

Epoxy is one of the most famous primers to use before coating your car with your favorite color. This primer coats any metal even if you have an existing coating on your car. 

Sometimes we make a silly mistake which costs the look of our car which is not using the primer before painting the car from dark to light. 

For example, if your car is black in color but you want to give a white color on your car then without a primer it’ll turn out as a disaster. And it’s really important to use a primer before coating it. 24 hours later we use spraying paint. 

Which One Should You Pick for Covering the Crack Paint? 

It’s better to choose spray than choosing vinyl wrap. Because using vinyl wrap means you are using to wrap something which no matter what will try to take the shape of the thing which you are covering. 

If the surface of the actual color of your car has cracked paint or peeling paint then it’s better to avoid wrap of vinyl. Because it’ll not cover the faded paint or the marks of your paint. 

The sprayer paint will be higher in cost but it’ll give a much better look at your car. Even it’ll increase the value of the car with better protection from the rust.

So don’t think what to choose between spray or wrap if the actual color of the car is cracking rather use the spray because before spraying you can scrape the whole surface for coating primer for having a smooth finishing after coating the paint with a thin layer for 2 to 3 times. 

 

Both of the products have their pros and cons but it depends on you what you want to use in your car after some ages. Cost matters, the kind of paint you want in your car, or the designs.

Now the decision is totally going to be what do you want, do you want to spend your cash on spraying paint for a permanent solution or do you want to try new colors on your car by using a vinyl wrap.

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