Future of automotive paint finishes

Russianguy

Russianguy

Legacy Member
Just something i thought of... i might be wrong or i might be right, but it would be interesting to discuss it.

In the future, exterior body panels will be wrapped in vinyl or other similar finishes and cars are not going to be painted with base and clear coat anymore. Body panels will still have their corrosion protection coatings and perhaps a primer layer but that's as far as it'll go.

Main reason for this is cost. It's much faster and cheaper to wrap a panel in vinyl instead of painting it. Insurance companies will push auto makers to abandon traditional paint finishes and pretty much soon body shops will go out of business or see their revenues decrease.

Price of vinyl wrapping products will also go down as demand grows, and customers will appreciate the fact that they can inexpensively change their car colors with ease.

Discuss.
 
Russianguy said:
It's much faster and cheaper to wrap a panel in vinyl instead of painting it.
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Not sure about this at all. There is as much prep work required. And this is what takes most of the time when painting.

Russianguy said:
soon body shops will go out of business or see their revenues decrease.
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Even if it happens, it won't happen overnight. Body shops should not worry about going out of business "soon". Plus, they just have to adapt to the market.

Russianguy said:
customers will appreciate the fact that they can inexpensively change their car colors with ease.
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Not really easier that it is now. As far as I know, wrapping a whole car is almost as expensive as repainting a whole car. Also, how easy/hard is it to remove a wrap and clean all the adhesive from the previous wrap before wrapping it again? As I see it, it is just as much job as prepping a car for painting.


Also, how about durability? How long before the color turns yellow-ish? How long before the vinyl gets dull and loses its shine?

Can a light scratch ruin the vinyl? If so, it can't be "buffed out" like paint. And the whole panel has to be re-wrapped.

How about color-matching? If you need to repair a panel, how do you match the color from a brand new sheet of vinyl to panels that have been under the sun for years?

Can a wrap provide as much shine as a nicely waxed paint?

How about the environment? What is worst for the environment? Paint or vinyl?
 
I don't think it will be cheaper if you consider the paint that is needed to make the vinyl in the first place, then all the other components necessary for a finished product and then all the same yada yada in terms of preparation of the surface before application just like before regular paint.
 
I think that vinyl is a good cheaper alternative when it comes to things like graphics or airbrush but not for a standart paint-job.
 
I want my car in bare aluminium please.

Unpaint airplanes looked so much better than newer painted (most of the time in white) planes. And paint is heavy.
 
I dont think you can have a pearl effect or a metallic effect in plastic wrap.. -> vinyl so, nope, and now that all new paint is waterbased, i dont see this happening in the near future
 
sparcosoul said:
I dont think you can have a pearl effect or a metallic effect in plastic wrap.. -> vinyl so, nope, and now that all new paint is waterbased, i dont see this happening in the near future
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Metallic effect is impossible with vinyl? Look at this video....

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy1LD4t_q2s"]YouTube - MeRceDeS 221 ЗоЛоТо, ХРоМ.[/ame]
 
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Est-ce c'est possible d'installer du vinyl dans les intérieurs ? Quand il y a un accident moindrement gros, il y a souvent des intérieurs de porte, de valise, des rails, etc. a peinturer. Je ne suis pas sur que de un ca va aller plus vite que la peinture, de deux, que c'est même fesable avec tout les plie et les trous (rails).

Et comme Nadim le fait remarquer, ca va faire plein de no-match parce que le soleil attaque beaucoup plus le vinyl que le clear, et surtout, ca va prendre la même imprimante a vynil et les même cartouche de couleur pour avoir la bonne teinte.
 
I don't think paint will ever be replaced, it's much more of an art form, especially airbrushing. Vinyl is absolutely going to flood the market as a new product, I loved the porsche in satin black one guy on here did... looked incredible. As for that chrome/gold merc it looks like shit.

Also as Nadim said - Can vinyl be buffed out if there's a scratch in it or do you need to replace a $300 piece each time? Might as well wrap our cars in bubble wrap and or cardboard boxes!
 
pour les peintures base + clear, c'est deja changer, la loi a passé pour baisser les cov a 3.5, sinon c'est la peinture a l'eau ;)
 
I think vinyl and other plasticized coatings will not need buffing out. They will be able to repair themselves if there are scratches. This technology already exists - it's just a matter of time before it becomes widely available.

As far as door / trunk jambs are concerned.. they'll be covered with anti corrosive black or other neutral matte color. There won't be any color finish in those areas and customers will accept it because that's just the way things will be.

Some of you have brought up some valid questions and it's great... but i still think the future is in vinyl / plasticized coatings. Just look at 3M Scotchgard paint protection film that a lot of luxury car owners install to protect their front ends and other leading edges prone to chips. It's just a matter of time before someone wakes up and says paint isn't really the best thing anymore because there are better high-performance alternatives in the market.
 
I think it will be in between both. Like vinyl that can be sprayed, with new polymere you can do so much think like auto-repairing scratch.
 
D'ici un an les compagnies seront mit a l'amende s'il vendent/utilisent de la peinture qui n'est pas a base d'eau.

Un bon wrapping coûte autant sinon plus cher qu'une peinture dependament du véhicule et du motif..
 
Untill they become capable of spraying vinyl on a car like paint, i don`t think there will be much of a change.

The cost of refiting every factory is to great, plus the development into robotics to do the wraping. Even if we are talking about time savings in long time, i doubt the automakers would jump on it.

I also ask myself what is more expensive, paint of vinal when talking about production-transfer-storage costs.
 
Like said before, they need to find a way to spray vinyl based paint because you cant wrap a car on the assembly line and if you do, you need to redesign the complete assembly line and the painting robot so we are talking in billions of dollars for that so it wont happen soon. Also pointed out is the fact that you need to store all that wrapping and storage space is expensive so it is not economically viable for now, maybe in the future who knows.
 
Considering how quickly and cheaply (per unit) a shell can be painted on the assembly line, I don't think vinyl will ever replace that process. I do think paint technology will continue to evolve for better rust protection, self-repair, resistance to water/oil/impact.

+1 to whoever said bare aluminium, by the way.
 
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