"How much is a wrap?" is the question we get most, and the honest answer is that it depends on five things. None of them are mysterious, and once you understand them you can estimate roughly where your job will sit before you talk to anyone.
1. The size and shape of the vehicle
A small hatchback has far less surface area than a Hiace or a Hino, so it takes less vinyl and less labour. But raw size isn't the whole story — shape matters just as much. Deep body curves, recessed handles, roof rails, spoilers and bumper contours all take time to wrap properly, because the vinyl has to be heated and worked into shape rather than simply laid flat. A boxy van is often quicker to wrap than a smaller car with complicated curves.
2. How much of it you're covering
This is the biggest single lever you control. Options broadly run:
- Cut vinyl lettering and logo — your name, number and logo on the doors. The most affordable option by a wide margin.
- Partial wrap — printed graphics across the lower half, doors or rear, with the factory paint still visible. A good middle ground with strong visual impact.
- Full wrap — the entire vehicle covered, including a colour change. The most material and the most labour.
A partial wrap that's well designed often reads as boldly from across a car park as a full wrap, for a good deal less. If budget is tight, this is where to start the conversation.
3. Vinyl grade
Not all vinyl is equal. Cast vinyl conforms to curves and stays put for years; cheaper calendared vinyl wants to shrink back to flat and will lift at edges and recesses sooner. We spec cast vinyl for vehicle work because a wrap that fails in eighteen months isn't cheaper than one that lasts — it's more expensive, twice.
Laminate is the other half of that equation. A UV laminate over the print is what stops New Zealand sun fading your graphics, and it's not the place to save money.
4. Design and artwork
If you arrive with print-ready artwork and a clear brand, there's little design time to pay for. If you need a logo built from scratch, or a layout designed so it works around windows, door seams and body lines, that's design work — and it's what separates a wrap that looks considered from one that looks like a sticker applied to a van.
5. Surface condition and prep
Vinyl needs a sound surface. Peeling clear coat, rust, dents or a previous wrap that needs removing all add labour before a single new panel goes on. Fresh paint needs curing time before it can be wrapped, too — usually several weeks, depending on the paint.
So what should you budget?
We don't publish fixed prices, because quoting a number without seeing the vehicle would be guessing, and you'd have to un-learn it later. What we can tell you is the order of things: lettering and logos sit at the affordable end, partial wraps in the middle, and full colour-change wraps at the top. The gap between them is significant enough that it's worth asking about all three.
Send us the vehicle make and model, a couple of photos, and a rough idea of the look you're after, and we'll come back with real numbers — usually within one business day.
One more thing worth knowing
A wrap is close to the cheapest advertising a small business can buy when you measure it per impression. It works parked outside a job, sitting in traffic on the Southern Motorway, and every day for years afterwards — with no recurring ad spend. That's a different calculation to a one-off cost, and it's worth doing before you decide on coverage.