I'm looking for the headlight rings, tail light rings, door handles, etc wrapped in vinyl. I was planning on ordering the set from outmotoring, which was $125 for the set, but they don't sell it anymore. I looked at Vinyl Styles but just the headlight rings and tail light rings are over $200! That's waaay too much. It would probably be over $400 to do all the trim. Are there any other good-quality cheaper options?

 

Hi-
Well there is a better way to go if you can do the work yourself (or even find a installer who does car wrapping in your area).

What i did was order from Rvinyl.com and got carbon fiber in all different colors. They have all sizes- for example, i just got black carbon fiber (sheet roll) for my headlight rings, doors, gas cap and hood. Then i can do it myself but i'm going to pay someone a hourly rate to put them on. Over all, you can get yours done for under $150 to $200 paying someone to do it.

I'm getting all that done this Tuesday.
hope this helps
AR

 

What kind of crack are you smoking?

Headlight rings with washers, $80 for the pair.
Taillight rings, $60 for the pair.

That's $140 The core charge is refunded when he gets your take off parts.

Oh, and paying somone to do a 5 min, so simple a cave man could do it job? Really?

 

I'm in the same boat dani. Unless you are a DIY type of person you're kind of stuck. I'm getting vinyl covered headlight rings, scuttled, gas cap, tail light rings and belt line from vinyl styles. Found better option locally for the door handles. Also found a reputable local installer who can handle for me at a reasonable price.

 

One thing you guys are missing is that Lyle from Vinyl Styles has been doing this for a long time and he is a master at this. My whole car except for the door handles has been blacked out by him. No chips, cracks, peeling...no nothing after a year.

Phil Yiu who is a NAM vendor details my car 2 times a year. The first time I dropped my car off to him, he was amazed at the vinyl wrapping work especially the work done on the belt line.

You get what you pay for.

 

Hey ******, the attitude isn't needed.

I didn't realize it was a core charge. It's still pricey. I am mechanical person, I haven't brougt my car to a garage since I was 16. I'm not sure how I'd handle some vinyl though. I guess it could be worth a shot since a roll of vinyl is decently cheap. Lol. I just can't have something looking less-than-professional on any of my cars.

 

I don't think any of us were diminishing Lyle's work. It IS a lot of money but it IS also a lot of work to be done by hand. For me it came down to this...is it worth around $500 to black out the chrome on my MINI? Yes. Done.

 

I didn't think of this, but a friend of ours own a shop. He does a lot of body work, powder coating, painting, etc. I think I'm going to see if he'll install my viper stripes and ask if he could vinyl wrap my parts too. He isn't cheap either, but he's local and does awesome work.

I wasn't trying to insult anyone's work quality. $500 just seems steep for wrapping some stuff in vinyl. I've never worked with vinyl though.

What about painting the chrome pieces? I see lots of wrapping...is it because paint doesn't hold up?

 

yeah dude, you can have your opinion, but drop the attitude.
Danigurrl- yeah i think people normally did paint but since vinyl has come around, it's a alternative that's not "permanant" so they like the idea of being able to rip it right off. For example, i just toke off my bonnet stripes today in preparation for tuesday's work. I wouldn't be able to change the look that quickly if it was painted.

And agreeing with BrewswapGuy- we weren't dissing anyone's work. I live in upstate NY so i have to find alternatives plus i do my own work. Everyone has their right to charge whatever they charge. It could be worth a lot more in someone else eyes.

 

Another option is Plasti-dip. About $8 for a can from Home Depot. Sprays on, mat finish. Can be peeled off and the chrome is unharmed. Mine has been on for a year, 14,000 miles in Seattle, rain 13 months a year, and looks like the day I painted it. One spray can is enough to do headlight and tail light rings, grill surrounds, and gas cap. It can all be done in an easy afternoon with 90% of the time going for waiting for the paint to dry. Outmotorings beltline kit takes about an hour for a first timer. For $60, Aesthetic Creations sells door handle covers that inatall in about 5 seconds each, A.E. can be a little slow with shipping. I still need to plasti-dip my scuttles.

 

The crack part was sarcasm. You need to get over yourself. If you are on crack, got any to share? (more sarcasm...)


Ok....The OP said he looked and the headlight and tail light were OVER $200... I can't help it that reading comprehension is not a strong suit for him...

I correctly pointed out the cost was only $140, you have no down time, you don't have to do it yourself, (which oh by the way you will screw up at least once, wasting more time and money)

 

This is a good idea! I didn't think of plasti-dip. I'm an ex-DSMer...I'm used to being exceptionally cheap. lol. The only thing I worry about with the plasti dip is nicks because I drive all highway and this will be the first "nice" car I drive during winter. I'm not sure what they use in Seattle winters, but here in MA they use salt and it's horrible iwth cars. But...I guess it would be cheap enough to just peel off the old stuff and respray it.


Oh I know A.E. is slow with shipping. I ordered something from them at the end of September and JUST received my order yesterday. I better get ordering my handle covers now if I want them by the time the car is delivered.

Apparently you suck with your reading comprehension since my user name is daniGIRL. And due to me being female, I can't get over myself.

 

I'm surprised so many (not just yourself danigurrl) complain about modification prices on a car that have an upward price of $30K or more.

There's significant time involved along with getting zero creases or lines.
As the headlight and tailight rings are large in size, alot of unusable waste is created.

That can be done too; simply prep the plastic pieces appropriately, clean them, prime and paint.
Typically the vinyl result is faster so many choose that route than waiting for parts to dry / cure.
Others buy an extra set of parts to color / mask so the car isn't torn apart while waiting.

If you found someone local you like an trust, go with them! Support your local area, it does wonders for your region.

- Erik

 

I'm cheap whether it's my $30,000 Mini Cooper S, my $17,000 MC base, my $21,000 ION Red Line, my $8500 Talon TSi AWD, my $1500 Saturn SC2, or my $600 Subaru. lmao. I'm also an avid couponer.

I think I'm going to go the plasti-dip route first. Then, if that fails, I'll contact my local guy. As the car gets closer to delivery, I'm going to contact him about my viper stripes and some powder coating jobs.

I have a Subaru that I'm driving for most of the winter, so it's no big deal if the Mini looks torn apart for a few weeks, luckily!

 

Being a bargin shopper is one thing I'll side with almost 100% when it doesn't after overall quality outcome.

But when you make a statement like such:
...and want to 'skimp' out on the potential quality because a few extra bucks will make it right, that boggles the minds of many and counterpoints your supporting arguement.

Sounds like the plasti-dip will be the right-at-the-time choice for you.
Make sure to properly sand the pieces first, clean with a mild detergent (Dawn dish soap or other to remove mold-release oils), and paint.
The results are usually spectacular when time is taken for the prep. Good luck.

- Erik

 

I'm not trying to argue anything? I'm female...not everything in my mind makes sense. lol. I just have such a long list of stuff I want to do, saving some $ here and there really helps. I don't want anyone to think I'm a snob...the only cars of out that list that I still own are the Mini cooper base (for sale) and the Subaru. I sold the other ones for the '12MCS, which I'm waiting for it to be delivered.

 

If you go the Plasti-dip route, you don't sand anything, just wipe down with rubbing alcohol and spray. I did about four coats about ten minutes apart and then let dry for an hour or so. If you want to undo it, the plasti-dip peels off like a bandaid and the chrome is in the same condition as when you did it. So don't sand it. After a year, mine hasn't chipped, but touch up is easy. Removal of the grill surrounds, gas cap, and tail light rings only takes a couple of minutes. Took a bit of figuring out how to get the headlight rings off. Edit, BTW, 2011 JCW.

 

FYI my local alternative for the door handles are the AC door handles. :-)

 

Just to kind of carry this in a slightly other direction. For the DIY folks, where exactly would you order/buy rolls of unprinted vinyl for exterior use?

 

plastidip = cheap looking in my opinion. That is my opinion as i know many on here have used it , i personally would rather sand prime and paint.

 

Another option is to contact orangecrush, he has a bodyshop in NC. I am going to send him a second set of trim rings so that he can color match Ice Blue. After I receive them, I have the option to sell the OE ones from the car to recover some of the expense. Just a little food for thought.... He does amazing work if you look at Oscar's rebuild....