What´s better, Gelcoat, paint or wrapping ?

[DSG4ME]

Hi there all,

This is a question which many of you know the answer well. As am no expert on the subject maybe you can shed a bit of light on the subject.

What is better, gelcoat, paint or vinyl wrap?

I think most people paint but I have seen a few cars that were in gelcoat, and looked pretty good.
I suppose its cheaper than paint as a good paintjob can cost quite a lot but what about maintainance ? I have also read that gelcoat applied like paint will need a tremendous amount of sanding to get it glossy. Also there is a product called Duratec that allows you to spray gelcoat and get a glossy finish without sanding and buffing.!!!
So what are the advantages or disadvantages ?

It seams that one of the latest fads is to Vinyl Wrap the car. Here, you can wrap the car without having to prepare the bodywork too much. I think one of the advantages here is the wide selecton of finishes that you could never get with paint, such as Black Chrome, Carbon fibre or skins. Can you imagine a Cobra wrapped in black Cobra snakeskin !
I suppose wrapping must cost a third of a good paint job.

So whats the best deal ?

Here is a pic of a snakeskin Mini.
http://www.reforma-uk.co.uk/image/cache/data/Gallery/Wraps/MINI/Snakeskin/snake-skin-mini-logo-800x600.jpg

[chrislandy]

Gelcoat will hide some imperfections in the surface and you can get a good finish on it by buffing and topcoating, the sheen will go if you don't apply some sort of protective layer to a gel finish. Gelcoat is easy to repair but likely not to get a perfect colourmatch as it will fade and the mix may be slightly different to the original batch

Wraps need a very good substrate to be laid on as it WILL look awful if the underlying surface is not 100% and wraps can only be expected to last a few years and if not applied correctly will peel, bubbles etc... all down to the guy who applies it really.

Paint is paint, costs a lot, needs a lot of prep etc... but tried and tested and easy to touch up from stonechips etc

[Jeffr4]

What about..........CAR DIPPING ....??? Just spray on the rubbercoating in 5 to 6 layers... even any colour or glossy, inexpensive , you can do it youself etc.

[Jeffr4]

http://www.cardipuk.com/

[DSG4ME]

The interesting thing about Plastidipping your car is It's not to expensive, you can do it yourself and if you don't like the end result you can just peel it all off as if its a vinyl wrap.