I was going to wax my car for the first time. I got vinyl stripes installed about 2 weeks back and was wondering if its ok to wax the vinyl, or should I avoid it? I am going to be using Meguiars NXT to wax the car.

Any info is appreciated, thanks

I'm not too familar with it. I have vinyl and am waiting for a couple months until I take it off and paint my stripes to wax the car. I would think that you should not wax vinyl. I'm guessing you can use some other type of cleaner for that. Maybe a plastic/vinyl cleaner.

I was told to wax them the same as your car. They need love too! Anyway, call the people who did your car and ask what they think. The people who did mine two weeks ago said definitely wax them. We live in Arizona so they need some UV protection!

There is absolute no reason why you can't put wax over the vinyl stripes. I do it all the time and it helps seal the corners and protects them better when washing the car. Go ahead and wax them right away.

Thanks, I just waxed it earlier today with Meguirs NXT stripes and all, looks and feels great :-D

Hey there adrenalin I have a question to ask ya.
I am looking forward to possibly putting silver striped on my Black Gt, I talked to a vinyl guy last Friday. He told me that silver is one of the worst colors for vinyl specially on the tops of cars because the age quicker and begin to chip. He is supposed to look more into it and get back with me tomorrow or Tuesday.
thanks for your help.

Hey there adrenalin I have a question to ask ya.
I am looking forward to possibly putting silver striped on my Black Gt, I talked to a vinyl guy last Friday. He told me that silver is one of the worst colors for vinyl specially on the tops of cars because the age quicker and begin to chip. He is supposed to look more into it and get back with me tomorrow or Tuesday.
thanks for your help.
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If anyone would know I would think adrenalin would, he has been very informative in any vinyl posts I have seen.
But just my opinion, why would silver vinyl be different than black, or white etc. I could see where if the silver was brand x and the other color was brand y, but same brand different color? doesn't add up for me, but I don't know vinyl.

i agree, but for some reason this guy told me that all the other colors arent so bad. He just said that silver would crack and go bad faster. I then asked him how long it may last and when it does go bad I could just replace it. He said for the most part vinyl is easy to take back off but NOT always. I know for sure that I want the GT 300 down the side of my stang but now me and my wife are kinda weary of the le mans stripes. I knew they wouldnt last forever but by the sounds of this guy it may only last 3 years or so.

I used Zaino Z-2 and the accelator on my vinyl stripes, it made such a difference on the black stripes.
I dont know how closely the Meguiars is to the Zaino product. I had no problems with the vinyl or the wax.
the pict on the left is after the Zaino!

Not sure where he got this information. I put bright metallic silver on my 97 GT and several other cars. Because of the light colour, and metallic, it takes longer to fade. Keep in mind, most metallics come with a 9 year warranty, regardless of colour so it would not matter if you got silver, red metallic, black etc...as long as it is metallic, they would last the same amount of time.

If the guy thinks they will only last 3 years you may want to find another shop because it sounds like he is using a cheap product. I use 3M and Avery products and never have issues. Also take a look at some of the previous mustangs, like the Mach 1. You will notice that the ones from the dealer have vinyl on the hoods, not paint. Worst case scenario, you will need to replace them in about 10 years, which you can then remove them and replace them. Also along the way if you want to change colours you can do this easily.

As far as removing them. The longer they are on the car the harder it is but nowadays you can buy what is known as a vinyl eraser that attaches to a drill. I know, sounds scary, but it stripes the vinyl and glue off and does not damage the paint. The hood is the hardest to remove vinyl from because of the combination of the sun and heat from the engine. What takes hours by hand takes about 30 minutes with the eraser.

Perry, also just my 2 cents here, you might want to go a shade darker than the silver metallic. Go with pewter or medium charcoal metallic. I think it would look better on your black car unless you want the "Look at me factor" (as if we already don't get that) go with the bright silver metallic.

Not sure where he got this information. I put bright metallic silver on my 97 GT and several other cars. Because of the light colour, and metallic, it takes longer to fade. Keep in mind, most metallics come with a 9 year warranty, regardless of colour so it would not matter if you got silver, red metallic, black etc...as long as it is metallic, they would last the same amount of time.

If the guy thinks they will only last 3 years you may want to find another shop because it sounds like he is using a cheap product. I use 3M and Avery products and never have issues. Also take a look at some of the previous mustangs, like the Mach 1. You will notice that the ones from the dealer have vinyl on the hoods, not paint. Worst case scenario, you will need to replace them in about 10 years, which you can then remove them and replace them. Also along the way if you want to change colours you can do this easily.

As far as removing them. The longer they are on the car the harder it is but nowadays you can buy what is known as a vinyl eraser that attaches to a drill. I know, sounds scary, but it stripes the vinyl and glue off and does not damage the paint. The hood is the hardest to remove vinyl from because of the combination of the sun and heat from the engine. What takes hours by hand takes about 30 minutes with the eraser.
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amazing information you provided Thanks!!! :nice:

Perry,
My car is the metallic pewter color, if you want to see what the pewter looks like check out my gallery. Its a sonic blue not black car though, but will give you an idea of the slight difference between a bright silver and the pewter.

i greatly appreciate all the input. I know some from these forums have purchased stripe kits from Graphic Express in which I thought that I was lucky considering I live about 20mins from them here in Florida. After I got my car I gave them a call and to my dissapointment they told me they only sell the stripes and they dont put them on. I asked the guy at the shop there if he could at least recommend someone to help me, and he wouldnt. He said that I could do it easily myself. I am pretty good at doing things but I dont want to screw up my stripes specially with it being a black car I dont want to scratch the @#$#@ out of it. Plus I am no vinyl expert. I asked this other vinyl guy about his warrenty and he said he really doesnt warrenty them. I never thought it would be so hard to find someone to hook me up with some stripes.

Most places, if they are smart, will not warranty them against peeling, fading or cracking because they have no control over how you treat the car. A lot of places will not install them on the new stang because it is NOT easy as someone had told you it was. They tell you that because if you screw up you need to buy another kit from them. Even I goofed on the hood and had to use an additional 12 feet of vinyl to get it to look right. You cannot install the stripes wet because of the curve in the hood. They have to be installed dry and if you have no idea on how to install vinyl, don't even try this job. I know, not want you wanted to hear but I don't want you to think it will be easy and then get frustrated when you find it is not. One question for you. How comfortable do you feel taking an exacto knife to your car? Because that is what you will need to do to put vinyl on the bumpers and trim around the rear license plate area.

I tried to install my stripes myself! Failed miserably, good thing I started on a small section of the trunk. So I got a new piece and took it in to a shop that does tint and graphics.
Boy the guy who installed it was really frustrated when I picked up the car, I asked him if it was easier with a "kit", since I saw him do an 05 stripe job custom. He answered "NO, it was not!" I paid and left him alone. He did a great job though, poor guy. I dont think he will be doing anymore Mustangs.

hey i was wondering how much you guys are paying to have your vinyl stripes done. and i have a mineral grey gt....do you have any color suggestions other than black. also what are the measurements of the stripes and the gap between. just lookin for info before i do mine.

I deffinately know better than to try this on my own. Me and my wife have been talking about it and I may just get the GT300 stripes on the sides and be done with it. I really want the le mans stripes but no one around here really wants to tackle it :dunno: and I am way afraid of just letting ANY body do them. When I talked to Graphic Express they wanted to borrow my car over the weekend like drop her off on Friday and pick her up on Monday just for side stripes. My wife was like they will put 100 miles on it. So we didnt go that route. Oh well looks like I am outta stripes for the time being till I can finally hunt someone down near me.
:shame:

I know what you mean here. I went to one shop who hadn't done an 05 yet, and after they saw the car they were real hesitant, and then they did one from a dealer and didn't even know if they wanted to do mine, so I cancelled and found a place that has done a bunch.
As far as the warranty they warrantied mine, said the vinyl itself had that warranty, and that if anything like that happened they would redo it and its their problem to fight with avery to get the refund, so they have a good policy and put the tough part on themself :nice:

I paid 600 installed, 10" 2" gap

check out a dark charcoal metallic, saw someone with that combo and looked good