Car Wraps Adelaide
Business branding on work cars and full colour changes for private owners, wrapped in premium automotive vinyl at our Kilkenny workshop.
Send a photo of your car and tell us what you have in mind. We'll come back with a fixed price.
Car wraps for business vehicles
A sedan, hatch or SUV that's on the road for work every day is seen at every client visit, in every car park and at every set of lights. Wrapping it puts your business name in front of those people, whether the car is parked outside a client's office or waiting at the lights on Port Road.
Most business cars suit a partial wrap: printed graphics across the rear quarter and doors, blended into the paint, with the logo and phone number on the panels people see most. A full wrap makes sense when your brand colour is the point, so the whole car becomes the ad. If you only need the business identified, cut vinyl lettering does the job for less, and our vehicle signage and decals page covers that option.
Cars are harder to design for than vans. The panels are small, curved and broken up by handles, mirrors and swage lines, so a layout that looks fine on a flat mock-up can be unreadable on the car itself. We keep the text larger than most people expect and put the phone number where it stays whole when the doors are shut. If you're comparing coverage levels, see our full wrap, partial wrap and decals comparison.
Colour change car wraps
A colour change covers every painted panel of the car in a single colour of vinyl. Done properly, it looks like paint from a metre away, and the factory paint underneath is protected from stone chips, UV and scratches for as long as the wrap is on.
We can wrap the door shuts as well, the painted frames you see when a door is open. Without them, the original colour shows every time you get in, which gives the game away on a colour change. It's more work, so mention it when you ask for a quote.
The other big advantage over paint is that a wrap comes off. When you sell the car, the vinyl peels away and the buyer gets the factory colour back, which is usually what dealers and private buyers want to see.
Gloss, satin or matte?
The finish changes how the car looks and how much care it needs. This is what we tell people at the counter.
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Gloss
The closest to factory paint and the easiest to live with. It washes like paint, hides light marks and suits almost any colour.
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Satin
A soft sheen between gloss and matte. It shows the body lines of the car well and is more forgiving of fingerprints than full matte.
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Matte
A flat, modern look that stands out. It shows oily fingerprints, can't be polished, and needs wax-free cleaning products, so it suits owners who enjoy looking after the car.
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Colour change films
Metallic, pearl and colour-shift films that would cost a lot more to reproduce in paint. Ask to see samples in daylight before you choose.
One thing specific to Adelaide: dark colours absorb far more heat in summer sun than light ones. Black and dark matte wraps on a car parked outside all day work harder than a white or silver wrap, so parking under cover makes more difference with a dark colour.
Car wrap or a respray?
Both change the colour of a car. They suit different situations.
| Factor | Car wrap | Respray |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Usually less than a quality full respray | Higher for a finish that matches a wrap |
| Can it be undone? | Yes, the vinyl peels off | No, it's permanent |
| Original paint | Protected underneath | Sanded back and replaced |
| Finish choice | Gloss, satin, matte, metallic and colour-shift | Wide, but special finishes are expensive |
| Resale | Factory colour returns when it's removed | A non-factory colour can lower the value |
| Fixes damaged paint? | No, it needs sound paint underneath | Yes |
Our view: if the paint is in good condition and you want a new colour, a wrap is the better choice almost every time. If the clear coat is peeling or the panels are rusted, paint is the fix, because vinyl needs a sound surface to stick to.
Partial wraps, roofs, bonnets and chrome delete
You don't have to wrap the whole car to change how it looks. A gloss black roof is a popular choice on private cars, because it gives a two-tone look that would be expensive to paint. Bonnets and mirror caps are the other common choices, usually in gloss black or a carbon-look film.
Chrome delete covers the chrome window trims, grille surrounds and badges in black vinyl. It's a small job that makes a big change to how modern a car looks, and it can be reversed if you want the chrome back when you sell.
These smaller jobs also suit business cars: a contrasting roof or bonnet in your brand colour, with your logo on the doors, gets attention for a fraction of the cost of a full wrap.
Is your car's paint ready for a wrap?
Vinyl sticks to the paint, so the paint has to be sound. Factory paint in good condition is ideal.
The cars that need a closer look are ones with resprayed panels, peeling or cloudy clear coat, or stone chips that have started to rust. Vinyl can lift on poor paint, and when it's removed later it can pull loose paint away with it. Chips and small scratches will also show through the vinyl, especially on gloss finishes.
Ceramic coatings are the other thing to mention. They're designed to stop things sticking to the paint, and that includes wrap vinyl, so a coated car needs the coating dealt with before it can be wrapped. Tell us about any coating or paint protection film when you ask for a quote, and we'll look at the paint before we give you a price.
How much does a car wrap cost in Adelaide?
We price every car individually, because the same coverage can take very different amounts of work from one car to the next. The biggest factor is how much of the car is covered. A roof wrap or chrome delete is a small job, a partial business wrap sits in the middle, and a full colour change with door shuts is the biggest.
The shape of the car matters almost as much as its size. A small hatch with flat doors is quicker to wrap than an SUV with deep bumper recesses, a rear spoiler and complex mirrors, because every curve and recess has to be stretched and trimmed by hand. Design work adds to a business wrap, while a colour change needs none.
Paint condition and existing vinyl count too. If an old wrap or signage has to come off first, that's added to the job, and any paint that needs attention is better known about before the vinyl goes on.
Send us photos of your car for a fixed price, or call 08 8345 3177.
Car wraps from our workshop
Looking after your wrap
Hand washing with a car shampoo and a soft mitt is the best way to keep a wrap looking right. Touchless car washes are fine, but brush washes can scratch the surface and catch the edges. Keep pressure washer jets at a distance and away from the edges of the vinyl. Bird droppings, bat droppings and tree sap should come off within a day or two, as they can mark the film in hot weather. On matte and satin finishes, skip wax and polish entirely and use products made for matte surfaces. Parking under cover is the single biggest thing you can do to keep the colour strong.
Car wrap questions
Do you wrap the door shuts on a colour change?
Yes. Wrapping the door shuts means the old colour doesn't show every time a door opens. It takes more work than wrapping the outside panels alone, so mention it when you ask for a quote.
Can the wrap come off when I sell the car?
Yes. On factory paint in good condition the vinyl peels away and the original colour is underneath, often in better condition than if it had been left bare. That matters at resale, because a buyer or dealer usually values a car in its factory colour.
Do I need to tell my insurer about a car wrap?
It's worth telling them, particularly for a colour change, because the car will no longer match the colour on your policy. Check with your insurer for how they handle it.
Can you wrap a car that has already been wrapped?
Yes. We remove the old wrap first, clean the paint and then fit the new one. Let us know the car is already wrapped when you ask for a quote, because removing old vinyl adds time.
Can you wrap just the roof or bonnet?
Yes. We wrap roofs, bonnets and mirrors on their own, usually in gloss black or carbon-look vinyl for contrast, and we do chrome delete on window trims, grilles and badges.
Other vehicles we wrap
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Van & ute wraps
Logos, phone numbers and full coverage for trade vans and utes, including tray sides and canopies.
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Truck wraps & signage
Cab signage and body graphics for rigid trucks, laid out to be read from a distance.
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Vehicle signage & decals
Cut vinyl lettering and logos when you want the car working for you without paying for a wrap.
Get a fixed price for your car
Send a few photos and tell us whether you're branding a business car or changing the colour. We'll take it from there.