Will Vinyl Stick? Vinyl Graphics VS Dealership Paint Protection

Companies that have grown to include multiple service vehicles are known to utilize commercially leased cars, trucks, and vans as a way to fulfill their service industry needs and avoid the hassles of fleet maintenance. If your business recently replaced vehicles in your commercial fleet with brand new models that automatically came with dealership paint protection, you may be surprised to find out that your new multipurpose investment may not like to keep its vinyl wrap on.

What is dealership paint protection?

Dealership paint protection is sometimes combined with other coverage or maintenance items as a type of optional service package. Sometimes these packages are installed on new vehicle stock arrivals before they even reach the sales lot for buyers to browse. For vehicles intended for personal use, this trend usually doesn’t cause future usage issues since defending against things like bird droppings and fading is generally a positive quality.

One such spray-on paint protection package that we noticed locally and nationally advertised is Triton Protect Care Care System®. Triton Protect appears to be a division of Triton Automotive Group, a composition of 200+ automotive dealerships and 36 franchises across America. Triton Protect’s paint protection brochures list a well known national private label detailing product distributor, MetroTech Chemicals, Inc., as being the administrator. Their website is geared towards dealerships and their page regarding exterior appearance protection lists a spray-on nanoparticle coating (SiO2) as well as a 9H ceramic coating.

More about ceramic and nanoparticle protective coatings

Professional grade coatings are designed to repel oxidation, harsh UV rays, and other environmental pollutants from surfaces. In the automotive world they are extremely hydrophobic and are commonly used as a way to protect your paint and glossy top coat, but can also be applied to non-painted surfaces. These protective products are very successful at acting as a barrier against just about anything you try to throw at them. Although they last a year or more, they do require maintenance quarterly or annually to continue to perform as intended.

Why would dealership paint protection be a bad thing?

In the world of commercial vehicle wraps, paint protection systems interfere with the adhesion of professional grade automotive vinyl when applied beforehand to cars, trucks, and vans. Most vinyl wraps and cut lettering lasts 3-5 years with proper care in Southwest Florida’s extreme UV conditions, but it’s not uncommon for vinyl wraps and decals to fail when applied to a painted surface with a ceramic coating. The premature failure as a result of the adhesive’s poor bonding to the extremely non-porous surface can range from peeling or lifting along the vinyl edges.

The bottom line for businesses

This can be a costly issue if your brand new truck or van was intentionally bought to double between technician transportation and marketing for your business. Until the dealership paint protection “wears out” or is removed
you will encounter extra vehicle down time and additional production costs to replace your graphics during that timeframe.

How can I check to see if there’s a ceramic coating on my new vehicle?

Car waxes and protective coatings will both bead water more uniformly. A good way to check if your vehicle’s paint has a wax or ceramic coating applied is to observe how sprayed water or rain behaves on the surface. SiO2 and ceramic coatings tend to have a “self-cleaning” effect when they encounter rain, causing the drops to roll off on their own as sheeting instead of streaks.

Check out the video on this page for an example that compares of the hydrophobic action between two different protective products.

Since professional vehicle wrap installers are intimately familiar with painted automotive surfaces they can usually feel a slight residue where the protective product may have dripped in some crevasses such as door channels . However with some products, like nanoparticle coatings, it may not be be discovered by even the best installer until vinyl failure happens.

Can I have the dealer paint protection removed to install a commercial vehicle wrap or vinyl cut lettering to avoid future issues?

If it’s too late to request that dealership paint protection not be applied, it can still be removed after the ink dries on your contract with some additional vehicle prep. We highly recommend having the paint protection removed by a professional detailer who is familiar with nanoparticle and ceramic coating products as some paint protection products require a form of abrasion or buffing in order to fully remove them.

The answer to the big question:

Our answer is a resounding yes; vinyl graphics can win out over dealership paint protection with the right preparation completed before your installation date. Investing in the additional professional preparation will pay off in the long term as it will help prevent repairs and replacements caused by adhesive failure. Make sure to inform your Southwest Florida vehicle wrap specialists of any paint protection that’s applied when requesting a vehicle wrap quote to avoid any potential installation delays and extra non-operational time.

We’re ready to help turn traffic jams into opportunity!

The experienced team at This Creative believes “if it moves it makes money when wrapped!” Our in-house team specializes in putting attention grabbing advertising in motion from start to finish for companies with budgets big and small across Southwest Florida.

Contact our sales representatives today to get a free quote on your commercial vehicle graphics!

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Will Vinyl Stick? Vinyl Graphics VS Dealership Paint Protection