Cost to apply wraps in NJ

[NJBob]

Hi All, I am on the fence about getting the Slate wrapped. We'll I called a local place and the guy seemed very excited. Saying that they were discussing this very thing a day ago. We'll he did give me a balpark price of $1200 with me buying the wrap. The wrap from him would be about another 1K. Now I have no idea how this stakes up. But in NJ everything is more expensive.

 

[adele]

Perks of getting an early delivery window: I'm sure some Slate fanboys on this site will happily travel to you and do free work on your truck, just for the chance to see it and work on it.

 

[AeroWolf]

He is basically charging you a labor rate based on Slates estimated install time. Shop rates are generally $80-$120 an hour. Slate says time to install a wrap up to 16 hours.

If they are experienced, they can probably do the Slate in half the time. Your still going to pay their estimated book time.

 

[EV Trek]

The Slate requires a special adhesive on the wrap, your normal wrap shop may not have the right kind of wrap. It may be cheaper overall to buy your wrap from Slate and have their installers wrap it for you before delivery.

 

[NJBob]

The Slate requires a special adhesive on the wrap, your normal wrap shop may not have the right kind of wrap. It may be cheaper overall to buy your wrap from Slate and have their installers wrap it for you before delivery.

Well that's something I did not know. I guess because it is plastic. He did sound very enthusiastic about the truck. Asking me about delivery things like that. Thank You

 

[DToycar]

The Slate requires a special adhesive on the wrap, your normal wrap shop may not have the right kind of wrap. It may be cheaper overall to buy your wrap from Slate and have their installers wrap it for you before delivery.

I've seen this comment several times on the forums, but I'm not sure it is true. Is this something that Slate has specifically said? I wrapped vehicles and boats for a few years a while back. I also wrapped a number of UTVs with unpainted polypropylene panels. We did treat them before wrapping, but they worked fine. Sometimes we used 3M Primer 94, other times we flamed the surface first. As long as the surface wasn't highly textured it worked fine. The Primer 94 was extra good on the edges where the wrap wrapped around and went to the back side of a panel.

I really do think that most competent DIYers could do a Slate truck. It looks way simpler to wrap than anything else I've ever seen. Will it be perfect? No. But take an up close look at most wraps out there, especially fleet vehicles. They are never perfect. There are edge trims that are a bit short, or corners that wrinkle a bit. I've even seen full-on patches where someone cut a bit short and just put a patch on to fill in it. From a distance of 5 feet, they look great, but in detail there are always things that could be better.

I have calculated all the truck panels and the required material, and Slate's prices are pretty competitive with purchasing locally. The main reason I can think of to purchase the material yourself locally would be to get colors that Slate doesn't offer. That, and maybe to have extra material in case you need it. But, I do bet Slate will have a program that you can get a single panel if you mess one up during application.

A pair of good installers should be able to do the Slate truck in six hours, I bet, less after they have done a few. Two competent first-time DIYers, may take two days, but that's the fun in doing it yourself. I'm sure Slate will have awesome videos showing how to do each panel and explaining it step by step. I think we will know more about the whole wrap thing in another month or so. They have said they will announce their material supplier soon. This, combined with some good how-to videos and I think more people will think about doing it themself.

 

[NJBob]

You brought back some memories. I once worked for Mattel Toys and had to flame treat the Hot Wheels engine case so the stickers would adhere. It was Polypropylene.
Now when is the Slate Hot Wheels Slate coming out?

 

[AZFox]

I've seen this comment several times on the forums, but I'm not sure it is true. Is this something that Slate has specifically said?

From the FAQ.

How much are wraps? What about installation?

Our Classic Wraps are available in dozens of colors and are priced just under $500. Professional installation is targeted at under $500, too, so you can get a full color wrap installed for under $1,000.

Can I use a third-party wrap or do I have to get my wrap from Slate?

Our wrap is engineered specifically for Slate's body panels. The adhesive is proprietary, designed to bond correctly with our unique panel material. Standard wraps won't adhere the same way, which means lifting, bubbling, or peeling down the road. We want your Slate to look as good as you imagined it, which is why our wraps start as low as $500 with a targeted professional install cost of $500 or less.

 

[DToycar]

From the FAQ.

How much are wraps? What about installation?

Our Classic Wraps are available in dozens of colors and are priced just under $500. Professional installation is targeted at under $500, too, so you can get a full color wrap installed for under $1,000.

Can I use a third-party wrap or do I have to get my wrap from Slate?

Our wrap is engineered specifically for Slate's body panels. The adhesive is proprietary, designed to bond correctly with our unique panel material. Standard wraps won't adhere the same way, which means lifting, bubbling, or peeling down the road. We want your Slate to look as good as you imagined it, which is why our wraps start as low as $500 with a targeted professional install cost of $500 or less.

Thank you for that, I’d never seen that note before. I do know they make adhesive for low energy plastics, but the color vinyls it comes in, was always very limited. It does seem a little strange that the head of wraps at Slate stated on the 24th that he didn’t know who their vendor was yet. He said it could be 3M or Avery. But, maybe he was just saying what he could say

They are a bit nuanced their words though, “Standard wraps won't adhere the same way”. I still bet other materials will work, just maybe not in the same way. Maybe what they have won’t require priming with an adhesion promoter, and that would be wonderful. At this point, only Slate has their body panels to test.

 

[AZFox]

Nuanced wording is one of their specialties.

 

[Adam W]

It does seem a little strange that the head of wraps at Slate stated on the 24th that he didn’t know who their vendor was yet. He said it could be 3M or Avery.

He didn't say that they didn't know. He said that they weren't ready to publicly make the official partnership announcement. At least, that's what he said in the interview I saw.

 

[DToycar]

He didn't say that they didn't know. He said that they weren't ready to publicly make the official partnership announcement. At least, that's what he said in the interview I saw.

Thinking back, I'd agree with you that this is what he said. Now I remember why I left corporate life As AZFox said, "Nuanced wording is one of their specialties."
There are so many things about the wraps that are yet unknown, that I've given up thinking about it for now.

 

[EV Trek]

One thing people don’t realize there are many different types of polypropolene plastic. They each have specific characteristics. So just because your normal wrap may stick well to one type it may not stick well to another type. We really don’t know which type Slate is using. It may stick, it may not stick. Only way to know for sure is to test it.

 

[Adam W]

There are so many things about the wraps that are yet unknown, that I've given up thinking about it for now.

My mantra for the past year has been "we'll know everything we need to know before we need to know it." All the answers will come in time, and none of them will put a truck in my driveway any earlier.

 

[cadblu]

The main reason I can think of to purchase the material yourself locally would be to get colors that Slate doesn't offer. That, and maybe to have extra material in case you need it. But, I do bet Slate will have a program that you can get a single panel if you mess one up during application.

Well I recall reading that Slate would be able to source any wrap color you desire from their New Wrap Center in Louisville KY.

This leads to more questions. With pre-cut wraps, how will they handle extra material? If you make a mistake, will the wrap center sell you just the cut you need?