So I am really wanting to "me-ify" my mini and I think the best way is with some unique wrap ideas I have had. Everyone I've contacted though has had some pretty high prices and I am wondering if this is just market.

Here are some examples:
Wrap the roof red = $400
5 stripes from bottom of the bumper to bottom of the trunk = $750

Are these normal prices?
Does anyone have any recommendations in California?

 

You're paying for specilized labor. Pay it or learn to do it yourself. I charge $200 for stripes bumper to bumper

 

Unfortunately for the customer, wrapping a car can cost thousand$, easily.

 

Check out Stickercity.com if you are near the Los Angeles area. They do awesome work at what I believe to be reasonable pricing.

 

Full wrap on a MINI is probably $1800 on the low end and $3500 on the high.. Labor intensive to do it correctly, and factor in quite a bit of wasted vinyl, which is the cheap part compared to the labor..

 

I work in the graphics industry and in the long term, I wouldn't want to wrap my MINI if someone put a gun to my head. No matter how good the UV protection says it is, wraps will fade, get dinged up and generally look the worse for wear after a couple of years - especially if it's your everyday commute vehicle.

As a commercial application they're great, but I would stick to small, easily maintainable areas (stripes etc). Just my 2 cents worth.

 

Depends on the materials and the labor. Just because its a smaller car does not = less money to those shops.

 

All comes down to how much disposable income you have. For some they might like doing a different wrap every 2-3 years. Plenty of people change up their stripes from time to time..

 

Are you saying I do it too often? haha

 

A full wrap job can sometimes be just as much as a paint job. Pricing on it varies as some materials used can cost more than others. For example, a brushed aluminum wrap costs a pretty penny. I have a good amount of vinyl on my car and have had a shop car fully wrapped. The wrap on the shop car has been holding up pretty well 7 years later. What part of Cali are you located in?

 

Not too often, but you are who I was referring too. I'm sure I'll be cutting you some vinyl come spring time of some sort!!!

 

Where are you at? If your in the San Diego area, send me a PM.

I got my roof wrapped in Oct 2014 for less than your quote, and that custom artwork printed and perf for the sunroof (which is more $) -- and they did a great job.

Pictures: https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/g/album/3810322

 

Was $460 to have the side 3M checker pattern, grille piece wrapped red, white on hood stripe changed to red and 3M window tint to side and rear glass. The red he used doesn't match the brake duct scoops I added (painted in true MINI Chili Red), So going to have the grille either painted in the correct color or see if he can find a perfect match in a wrap. Guessing paint will be the only true match. One photo is taken in shaded area w/o a flash, other is w/ a flash (or how it looks in direct sunlight).

My Tint/Wrap guy said he could do a red roof for me (but didn't mention the pricing). Again, concerned about the Chili red color match.

 

Looks good.

 

To be honest, no one installing wraps is going broke. I'd be willing to bet that most of the wrap installers around are charging close to $100/hr or more on labor with the cost of materials already subtracted.

 

That's probably close. I decent roll of 60'' x 30' of wrapping vinyl will run $450- $700 or more if you go with a custom print vs off the shelf color. 2 guys working for 8-10 hours each to thoroughly clean car and then wrap it. Depending on vehicle 30' may not be enough. There is a good bit of waste involved with wrapping.. and then going back and doing the door/trunk jams etc for a good clean wrap transition to factory paint.
So 16-20 labor hours at $80 = $1280-$1600 plus the $500 or so for the vinyl puts you in the $2000 range..

 

Pay to have part of the car wrapped but ask if they can show you their methods while they do it. I did that for my R56 and eventually learned enough to wrap the entire car myself. It's not an easy process but seeing it done first will lead to a lot less mistakes later.