VinayRaju

Hey Guys,

My vinyl wrap is starting to deteriorate and I will need to remove it soon. My guy is charging $85 an hour, and says it can take up to 8 hours.
I was wondering if anyone has done this themselves? Or gotten it done? How much did it cost you?

Thanks!

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Just watch some YouTube vids on the topic of removing wrap and invest in a heat gun with adjustable heat settings. It'll take time, but ALOT cheaper than having someone else do it obviously.

davidbusta

iTrader: (1)

Removing it is easy to do and doesnt require prior experience. just need to put in the man hours and a heatgun and youll save yourself a lot of money. its similar to removing window tint as well.

Zmon

iTrader: (2)

Heatgun is a very important friend you'll want to have, and it absolutely needs to be removed slowly (if you yank it, you're bound to remove the laminate and now you just made your job harder). If it's deteriorating, it's going to be a big PITA to remove regardless. I had a fun time removing the vinyl from my roof after 3 years of sitting out in the sun. If this is an entire vehicle wrap, I wish you luck.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Also worth noting is that if the paint job/clear coat that is under the vinyl wasn't of the best quality, the wrap could pull off some of the clear coat.

VinayRaju

It is a full body wrap. The paint job under is just stock, no clear coat on it or anything. Thanks for the inputs!

BTW: If anyone is located in SoCal and would help me out, I would definitely compensate you!!

Nelly

iTrader: (11)

I'd recommend leaving the car out on a hot sunny day to pre-heat the vinyl before removing.

lexus-is2

Also really depends on how long the wrap has been on the car. Most vinyl manufacturers recommend removal after 3 years as it is the time period they cover for safe removal. After this, the longer it stays on the more risky it is to remove. If it's been on longer there is a risk of clear coat peeling, so just be aware.

richy350

How long did your wrap last? How much did it cost?
i was thinking about wrapping my car.

VinayRaju

Yep, I live in San Diego, so I am going to wait for a hot day coming up and buy a heat gun. I have been watching videos on youtube, they said to wear gloves and pull slow, it will take ~2 hours.

This July will be exactly 3 years. But it has been parked outside the entirety of 3 years. Last summer was excruciatingly hot in SD, so I am sure that did not help. I still took good care of it, but I didnt have a garage and my office is all outdoor parking.
But if it is parked inside, it can easily last up to 5 years.
I paid ~3k for it, but my friend worked at the shop and gave me a good deal on other things he did for my car. But you can find places that will do it for ~2k I am sure...

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Let us know how it goes!

VinayRaju

Update:
I am almost done un-wrapping it, just did it with a heat gun, and tried to do it when it was hot (SD doesn't get hotter than 80, but it is definitely easier to pull off when its hotter)
Overall, it will probably total 8-9 hours of work... Once I got the technique down, it went a lot quicker than the initial hours.
At first, just 1 door panel took me at least an hour. Yesterday I did the final door panel in about 30 mins.

I have the front bumper, and the trunk left (I have a spoiler which I need help to take off, may need to get someones help).

So far, I have gotten (only) 3 boils/calices, nothing was THAT bad though.
If anyone is thinking about un-wrapping yourself, it is definitely doable! Just takes a lot of time, and patience (luckily I am WFH right now, so I have a lot of extra time on my hands right now)

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

Even if the vehicle were inside 70% of the time, the adhesive is still out gassing and degrading. That said, I wouldn't push the 3 year mark by too much.

VinayRaju

Alright guys, I finally finished up everything. Overall, it is a pain, but doable. If you are like me and have minimal experience with working on cars, you can definitely do it! Just takes patience, and a good heat gun.

Removing the wrap took me about 8-10 hours total. I had to get my guys help on removing some of the door panel wrap, handle wrap, bumper wrap, etc.

By far the most annoying thing was the roof adhesive. A lot of the glue stuck to the roof when I was removing the wrap. This forced 2 things:
1. It left some spots on my roof paint. This was expected, my car has been outside for 3 straight years and was in the SoCal sun. I may have to re-wrap the roof to make it look good.
2. It took me about 3.5 hours to remove the glue. It was a pain in the a**... my fingers hurt like hell after. I used this special solution my friend had, a plastic razor blade, and a towel.

All in all, it was a nice 3 years with the wrap. Looking back, not sure if it was worth the $3k, but it was good while it lasted.

Now looking to detail my car! Paint looks great still (other than the roof), trying to figure out the best option.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

In the future, for those with alot of left over adhesive, these wheels are miracle-workers!