One of the most enjoyable things about owning a car is being able to customize it as much as you’d like to. These customizations can be for anything from the entertainment systems and accessories inside the car, as well as the wheels and of the colour of its exterior.

When it comes to customizing your car’s colour, people will usually think about getting a new paint job and changing it to just the right colour, with just the right type of finish like metallic or matte. While the painting is the traditional way to alter the exterior look of the car, these days there are other options available on the market as well, one of them being known as ‘wrapping’. 

‘Wrapping’ goes by other terms such as colour paint wrap or graphics wrap, but it all refers to the same process of covering the entire vehicle with a coloured layer of vinyl that doesn’t actually change or remove the car’s existing paint. Think of it as just applying a big sticker onto the car, one that covers every single inch of it. This concept actually originated from somewhere in the late 90’s when drivers attached large vinyl stickers onto cars for the purposes of advertising, much in the same way we see adverts on taxis and busses all around town today.

Unlike getting a whole new paint job for your car, car wrapping has some very distinct advantages:

Wrapping costs less money and time

First and foremost, changing the look of your car using vinyl wrapping instead of paint is much cheaper and can be done much quicker. For starters, repainting a car means that the existing layer of paint needs to be removed first before the actual painting begins. When it comes to traditional car painting, multiple coats need to be applied before the process is actually complete. Each coat will require sufficient time to dry which means that in some cases, your car might need a week or more before it’s actually ready to be driven again! 

When applying a vinyl wrap to your car, the only preparation that really needs to be done is cleaning the existing surfaces of your car before applying the vinyl and applying heat to allow the adhesives to do their job. This entire process shouldn’t take more than just a couple of days to complete!

Wrapping is highly customizable

Customizing the final look is also much simpler when done with vinyl wrapping as opposed to traditional paint work. For instance, getting just the perfect tone of colour is challenging when using paint because it would require a very precise mix of other colours to get it right. This is even more challenging if there were specific patterns or effects that you’re interested in creating, such as the ever-popular urban camouflage design. 

With vinyl wrapping, you have greater flexibility to create designs just as you’ve imagined them and you won’t have to find an expert to paint it onto your car manually! Large designs featuring your favourite cartoon character, for example, are much easier to create and apply. With this freedom, you’ll be able to print your favourite designs with so much ease.

Also, just like with regular paint work, vinyl wrapping allows for finishes such as matte or metallic, but unlike regular paintwork, wrapping goes a step further and allows for the creation of textured coating as well. Imagine your car’s exterior not only looking exactly the way you want, but also feeling precisely the way you want it to!

Wrapping is highly durable

The durability of car paints depends largely on the quality of paint you use; the higher the quality, the higher its durability (and also its price!). Vinyl wrapping can last as long as a high quality paint job, but it is less susceptible to damage by things such as the UV rays from the sun, the harsh Malaysian climate, or even impact and chips in the paint caused by small objects like rocks and branches.

Maintenance

Compared to regular paintwork on a car, vinyl wrapping is super easy to maintain. With regular paintwork, you’d have to habitually clean and wax the car’s exterior in order to keep it clean and reduce wear and tear on it. Over the long run, this could cost you quite a fair bit in upkeep!

When it comes to vinyl wrapping however, all you really need is a cloth and some car soap to wipe it down. Even if you got lazy and didn’t clean the car for awhile, there wouldn’t be any long-lasting damage to worry about!

Getting Rid of It

Best of all, vinyl wrapping makes life so much easier should you change your mind for any reason. If, somewhere down the line you decide that you’ve outgrown the colour or design you’ve previously chosen for your car, all you have to do is carefully peel off the vinyl wrapping from your car and start over. 

Right under that layer of vinyl is the car’s original paint that’s been protected all this while by the vinyl you’ve applied on top of it. After a quick clean, your car will look just like its old self even after you’ve removed all the vinyl!

Legalities

On the legal side of things, what should you do when you apply vinyl wrapping to your car? Vinyl wrapping is certainly allowed in Malaysia, but the main thing you should focus on is the colour. If you’re changing the colour of your car to something different from its original colour, then it should be registered with the authorities as soon as possible. To be sure, check directly with your nearest Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ) office.

With a little bit of creativity and a strong imagination, your car could be looking like a true expression of your personality and interests, at a much lower price and in less time, if you choose to do it with vinyl wrapping instead of traditional paintwork!