DIY Car wrap

[Brent114]

How hard would it be to wrap my car without taking it to a pro?

[Rahnok]

Depends on how much experience you already have with vinyl

Even if I had a good bit of experience working with vinyl, I’d still take it to a pro. Unless it’s something you do for a living, you won’t do nearly as good as the professionals.

[PJMZL1]

I would think certain skills are needed which are acquired through experience.

[Mattchew]

look up knifeless tape will make it seem much easier but its still pretty hard

[silverstorm]

I'd definitely take to a pro. I sometimes have a hard time wrapping small interior stuff

[LC-SS1LE]

Finally something on this forum I think I can add some knowledge and insight. First off I owned a small company for many years doing architectural window films, both commercial and residential, so I have a great deal of experience with FLAT films.
I also did a great deal of research on different types of vinyl and I watched a great deal of YOUTUBE video on the installation of vinyl (CKWraps). I decided to go with Avery SW900 vinyl mainly because I wanted a Satin film and their satin looked better than the others. I purchased the vinyl and some equipment from BUYWRAP.com - great folks to deal with.
Now for the meat of the subject - It took me 3 times more vinyl than it should have due to mistakes - the time involved was also about three times as long - I did not attempt to do it all at once and I dismantled much of the body to accomplish the operation - something most people don't do but I am somewhat a perfectionist.
As far as money - I still saved money doing the vinyl myself, there are a couple of areas I'm not happy with, but they are only known to me, no one since I finished has noticed them at all.
So bottom line, can you save money? MAYBE. Can you save time? NFW. Will quality be same or better? Depends on your level of detail and willingness to do it again.
Would I do it again? Yes - but l love doing things like this and learning new things. (next time I would not dismantle, didn't make that much difference)

Sorry for being long winded, but hope that helps!

LC

[rdanzel]

If you are decided to do it as a DIY project, ask help from a friend who has experience installing vinyl wraps.

[nty1234]

I wrapped the Hood, roof, headlight recess's, and the middle of the bumper just above the splitter on mine gloss black with a buddy of mine. No prier experience just watched a lot of ckwraps videos. Once you wrap a couple of things you start to understand how the wrap works and which ways it wants to go while stretching it. Depending on what your wrapping, a heat gun is your best friend but I did not use any of it on the hood and or roof. Things with crazy edges and points you will need it. Obviously, use quality wrap ie: 3M,Avery,Vvivid,Oracle. Personally, I used vvivid. It is not as expensive as 3M and it performs better with no glue lines and a better finish.

[SSEssence]

Wrapping something yourself for the first time is going to be super frustrating, at least it was for me. It is important to have a heat gun handy and felt lined squeegee (order online) as well as knifeless tape if doing corners and complex lines. Also google or youtube vinyl glassing for wrapping as that helped me a great deal!