3M Wrap????

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Looking at purchasing a used vehicle that has been "3M Wrapped." Car looks great and is owned by an older gentleman with his Daughter doing the selling.
She's not familiar with the wrap but said her Dad was a clean freak concerning his cars. She said it has never been wrecked or painted. They live near the ocean.

Should I not look at a car that has been wrapped? What is the point in wrapping clear vinyl over a perfectly good car?
 
Lots of people wrap supercars in clear, it is very common practice and can cost up to 5Gs depending on the curves of the car. Mine has a clear bra on the front and the mirror backs. I wouldn't hesitate to buy the car, you can peel it off yourself if you don't like it.
 
I worked for a guy who wrapped his luxury cars, his Lambo, his Ferrari and Maserati..his daily driver was an AMG Benz, don't recall (C class maybe?) what one but it was tight.. It's not cheap I know that and is a painstaking process when done right... and if you didn't know that they were wrapped, you couldn't tell. It looked that clean. He turns his luxury's over every few years so it preserves the showroom look.
 
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If you take the clear bra off, you can tell the difference in paint quality between what was covered and not if the car was exposed to UV long enough. Other than that, it's just a nice protective film.
 
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Originally Posted by Gebo
Looking at purchasing a used vehicle that has been "3M Wrapped." Car looks great and is owned by an older gentleman with his Daughter doing the selling.
She's not familiar with the wrap but said her Dad was a clean freak concerning his cars. She said it has never been wrecked or painted. They live near the ocean.

Should I not look at a car that has been wrapped? What is the point in wrapping clear vinyl over a perfectly good car?



If anything It's more of a reason to buy it, if someone is going to drop that extra into protecting his car it stand to reason that he would be just as meticulous with other upkeep. I don't see how people look at someone who goes that extra mile to keep it protected/clean and try and find a fault or question why.
 
Originally Posted by domer10
Originally Posted by Gebo
Looking at purchasing a used vehicle that has been "3M Wrapped." Car looks great and is owned by an older gentleman with his Daughter doing the selling.
She's not familiar with the wrap but said her Dad was a clean freak concerning his cars. She said it has never been wrecked or painted. They live near the ocean.

Should I not look at a car that has been wrapped? What is the point in wrapping clear vinyl over a perfectly good car?




If anything It's more of a reason to buy it, if someone is going to drop that extra into protecting his car it stand to reason that he would be just as meticulous with other upkeep. I don't see how people look at someone who goes that extra mile to keep it protected/clean and try and find a fault or question why.


I have lived a very sheltered life and the only thing I knew about wrapping a car was if you wanted to advertise or have some unusual color scheme.

Forgive me for not knowing. That is why I question. Just not as knowledgeable as you.
thumbsup2.gif
I have NEVER heard of someone wrapping a car for protection.
 
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Can you Verify that this is genuine 3M wrap. Sometimes that name gets tossed around loosely like Jacuzzi.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Was it a custom job or pre-cut?


Don't know yet. I'm talking to his Daughter and she only knows a little more than I do.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Was it a custom job or pre-cut?


Don't know yet. I'm talking to his Daughter and she only knows a little more than I do.

I haven't been able to talk directly to the owner as of yet.
 
Obviously, this appears to be a very good thing. Since I had never heard of someone wrapping a
"normal" car, I was wondering if people would wrap a car to hide bad paint, scratches, fading, etc.

This car is near the Florida coast.

My only concern, I guess (?) is what Pew mentioned in his post as the car is 12 years old.
 
Originally Posted by Gebo
Originally Posted by domer10
Originally Posted by Gebo
Looking at purchasing a used vehicle that has been "3M Wrapped." Car looks great and is owned by an older gentleman with his Daughter doing the selling.
She's not familiar with the wrap but said her Dad was a clean freak concerning his cars. She said it has never been wrecked or painted. They live near the ocean.

Should I not look at a car that has been wrapped? What is the point in wrapping clear vinyl over a perfectly good car?




If anything It's more of a reason to buy it, if someone is going to drop that extra into protecting his car it stand to reason that he would be just as meticulous with other upkeep. I don't see how people look at someone who goes that extra mile to keep it protected/clean and try and find a fault or question why.


I have lived a very sheltered life and the only thing I knew about wrapping a car was if you wanted to advertise or have some unusual color scheme.

Forgive me for not knowing. That is why I question. Just not as knowledgeable as you.
thumbsup2.gif
I have NEVER heard of someone wrapping a car for protection.




Did not mean to come across as a [censored], lol. But as long as it's a good 3m application and especially if it's applied on the whole car, I would jump on that car. If I had the courage I wouldn't hesitate to drop a few g's on that myself...but instead I wax my vehicles 95 times a year like a idiot.
 
Domer10, it sorta caught me off guard when I found out the Daughter is selling it for her Dad. It has perked my senses a little as I haven't talked with him yet. And I'm having a somewhat difficult time getting the VIN. I can't tell if the Daughter is not very knowledgable or acting dumb. Both strategies I am very familiar with as I have done them both. LOL

We will stay alert and see where our conversation goes. I have made an offer based on my onsite inspection.
 
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Originally Posted by Gebo
Domer10, it sorta caught me off guard when I found out the Daughter is selling it for her Dad. It has perked my senses a little as I haven't talked with him yet. And I'm having a somewhat difficult time getting the VIN. I can't tell if the Daughter is not very knowledgable for acting dumb. Both strategies I am very familiar with as I have done them both. LOL

We will stay alert and see where our conversation goes. I have made an offer based on my onsite inspection.


Ya little things like that can toss questions into mix, just tell her to send a pic of ownership to you, you just want to take it to DMV to run a check, or Carfax. I had this issue las vehicle I purchased privately, gentleman thought I was trying to pull a fast one in him somehow by asking for a pic of ownership.
 
I just did a clear wrap on my Porsche. It drained my wallet but the car looks great.

If the wrap was done professionally you will hardly notice it. If it was taken care of they can last 7 to 10 years before they start to yellow and need to be changed.
 
My sister bought a car last year and ran into a similar problem- it turns out that the previous owner attempted to wash a questionable title into a clean title, but the Virginia MVA caught it. It was not a salvage title, but there was something else wrong with it- maybe an old lien or ownership issue. She was able to do something like cancel the check or withhold the last few $K until he either produced a clean, negotiable title or refunded the entire amount. It took like a month but he eventually produced a clean title.
 
I have done wraps on my Z06, 370Z, and now CX5. Or rather, I had them done. Take window tint, and pretend it's now 3D. That's the level of artistry that goes into a proper wrap. I learned a few things, there. ALWAYS do a full hood. Fenders? It looks better if full, but really not worth it on most vehicles. Roofline, same. Do the A pillars and mirrors and headlights. All of my vehicles cost me $1200-1500 or so/ea.
 
Well, this car purchase didn't work out as the CarFax showed it had 241k miles in November ‘18 and it now shows 128k. She hasn't responded to my last text. Looks like she was attempting to con me.
 
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