Vinyl wraps (body panels but also inside)

[Frank818]

Extracted from post #35 of my build thread, I am gathering some info on different vinyl wraps for the body. It can also work for the interior for whoever would want that.

This thread is not intended to compare wraps vs paint vs FFR gel coat vs anything else you can think of. It's intended solely to compare different vinyl wrap brands.

I found a place where they hold many brands, sizes, colors and everything you need to wrap your car.

http://www.metrorestyling.com/Default.asp

Different brands I see everywhere on the web are Alsa, Arlon, Oracal, 3M and Avery.

www.alsacorp.com has many choices. I love the chrome blue in there. Here's a nice Lambo in that (actually I think it's another brand, but it's damn close).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypLUq6h718o
http://alsacorp.com/strechchrome/sof...ilm/index.html

But, it's really expensive!! About 2.8k bucks for the 818 if using Alsa Corp, assuming 35ft length roll (by 5ft). Still, that is less than very good paint.

The others are:

Avery Graphics http://graphics.averydennison.com/en...cle-wraps.html
3M Scotchprint Wrap Film http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...ts/Series1080/
Oracal http://www.orafol.com/gp/americas/en...-wrapping-cast
Arlon http://www.arlon.com/Utilities-Produ...447&SelLevel=0

Kalstar has become a dealer of http://www.ultimatepremiumplus.com/, one model of Arlon.
http://www.arlon.com/Utilities-Produ...869&SelLevel=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8tyMWrwnpk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi_bcw2GXp0

These 4 are in the range of 400 bucks for 5ftx35ft rolls (compact car). I have asked for a roadster if I can shed off 5ft and save 60-80 bucks, no answer yet.

One info worries me a little bit though, they all say the wraps last from 3 to 12 years (depends on brand, color, horizontal vs vertical installation, etc.). So what, after 5 years I have to remove the wrap, buy a new roll and restart the installation? Some say it's easily removable up to 5 years, then what after 5 years it's going to leave stuff on the panels or will be very hard to remove? I failed to find answers yet on that.

The characteristics of all these products seem to be fairly the same, which means to me that this market looks well blended with similar offers. So the price/rebates or color will most probably tell me which one I will choose.