Roof Wrap vs Paint

[240whpWRX]

Hey guys

I have an SRP Bugeye and I was wanting to get some advice on changing the roof.

Car has just been fully repainted left side and rear, and the right side was done 2 years ago.

Only bits left are front bumper and bonnet and the roof.

I've just began to notice that a lot of people seem to like wrapping their roof in a matt or gloss black.

Is it because of the look it provides?

I just saw it on a few WRX/STIs from all model years and it looked amazing to me.

SO I was looking at doing it myself.

I have a very nice black accent theme going around the car with smoked indicators/reflectors, black diffuser, black front lip, black Perrin stabilizers on my STI spoiler and black wing mirrors.

However, I don't want to to go from black accents to "2 colors" if that makes sense.

Basically, I really don't like when the spoiler or boot or hood or scoop is blacked out. To me, it makes the car look tacky and like a repair was done but not painted.

Personal preference of course!

I think that was why I never considered doing the roof because I lumped it under the "2 color tacky" category.

However, while looking at vinyl wraps tonight for another reason I came across many of the photos of black roofs and actually really liked it!

So my question is

Paint vs Vinyl Wrap?

Is Vinyl wrapping that much cheaper or is it easier to just get it painted?

Why Paint?

or

Why Vinyl?

And would doing the roof start to over power the main color or no?

Thanks!

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[Karlot]

So I have the roof wrapped on mine, IIRC, it cost me 185 to get it done. which was definitely cheaper than paint. and the reason I went vinyl and not paint.

to match it, there are multiple different vinly colors that are all considered "black". your best bet is to go onto amazon or through the wrap company directly, and order samples. these are usually samples in a 3x5 size (index card size), and they will allow you to compare wrap colors to the other accents to ensure they will match.

if you can afford paint, it will be better/last longer.

DO NOT wax vinyl, if you do, when the wax dries in the sun it can cause the vinly to crack and look terrible. this is a lesson i learned the hard way. I have heard you can ceramic coat vinly, but i would have to do more research on that. when washing vinyl, dont use wax heavy washes (dont worry, still plenty of wash options for vinly).

[amiexploited]

I'd recommend the Vvivid Gloss Black. It has a nice gloss finish and virtually no texture. Add your favorite graphene coating on top of that as soon as you can. Bird/bee droppings will permanently etch the finish if left untreated.

What color are you wheels? SRP can be tricky to pair other colors with. Good luck!

[rtv900]

wrap can be undone, paint can't
plus a nice wrap isn't as expensive

[xtremewlr]

Originally Posted by rtv900

wrap can be undone, paint can't
plus a nice wrap isn't as expensive

Paint can be undone, just not nearly as easily or cheaply.

[Jack]

How about a carbon fibre wrap? Since the paint isn't good anyways, why not? I would not do it myself. Learning how to wrap is going to result in either of 2 things. Either it's not going to come out well or you'll be really obsessive and spend $5k on wrap material. Pay a good pro to do it right.

[aaronlh360]

I wrapped my roof in Vvivids gloss (piano) black about a month ago and I love it. I bought some sample sizes of Vvivid and 3M. The 3M has way more tack but it also has a bit of orange peel and it isn't nearly as black when compared to the Vvivid. It wasn't too hard to do either... need to prep the surface really well though.

Oh, I also ceramic coated it about 3 three weeks ago. Water beads up really nice.

[TriniPhantom]

Benefit of wrapping is:
(1) Protection. I actually had a rock chip on my roof, just in front of the sunroof and that began to rust.

(2) Convenience- With a wrap you can always go back to stock if you want and it's (usually) cheaper than painting.

[TriniPhantom]

Benefit of wrapping is:
(1) Protection. I actually had a rock chip on my roof, just in front of the sunroof and that began to rust.

(2) Convenience- With a wrap you can always go back to stock if you want and it's (usually) cheaper than painting.

[TriniPhantom]

Benefit of wrapping is:
(1) Protection. I actually had a rock chip on my roof, just in front of the sunroof and that began to rust.

(2) Convenience- With a wrap you can always go back to stock if you want and it's (usually) cheaper than painting.

[jeffs42885]

For a roof, wrap. If it was a whole car, meh - Paint. Idk, not a fan of some of these wraps ive seen.

[designfate]

Cons of wrap: it will bubble and start peeling

Pros of paint: a good paint job will last you 10+ years

Paint would probably be a few hundred more then the wrap and the wrap you will have to replace every 2-3 years.

Do the math!

[designfate]

Posted twice

[DrTrae]

I wrapped the roof on my 20 Impreza Sport a while ago now. There is definitely a learning curve to it. I "wasted" my first 10' roll of VViViD Ultra Gloss Piano Black by getting a little carried away when I was trimming the excess vinyl. 2nd try went great.

The most important part is cleanliness. The surface you're wrapping needs to be CLEAN. A lot of people clean, and then claybar. This includes cleaning where you'll be tucking the excess wrap for that seamless look. Underneath the drip rail covers on the roof, between your paint and the rubber window trim, etc. Any little piece of debris that gets caught under the wrap is going to stand out like a sore thumb, not to mention the vinyl not sticking because of dirt.

Wrapping your sharkfin antenna in one piece is a huge pain in the ass. And then you get real pissed off when it doesn't stick because you didn't clean it well enough the first time. Ask me how I know!

All that said, I LOVE the black roof. If I could go back in time knowing what I know now? I'd just have it painted.