Vinyl or painted stripes?
 

Hello new to forum. I was wanting to put black or silver stripes on my GT, but don't know if it's better to paint them on or use vinyl. If I go with vinyl and need to replace them in a few years or want to take them off all together will my paint be ruined underneath. My last mustang had vinyl put on it before I got it and they were peeling off when I traded it in. Any input on which is better is appreciated. Thanks. Hear are a few pics of her.

looks great! If you can afford to have them painted on that is the way to go IMO. On the other hand vinyl is nice if you don't like how things turned out as in easier to change to something you like better.

What about Plasti dip? I was thinking of that but I'm unsure.

I have had a horrible experience with vinyl. The vinyl faded and spotted twice and it became a 4 hour job to remove it. I had a professional company do and I finally told them to get it off my car. $800 wasted. I love the look of stripes. I am still considering having them painted on in black.

I agree with Glenn, if you can afford painted, get painted.

However, if your unsure if you will like them go with vinyl. Vinyl is much easier to change if you change your mind. We purchased our stripes through BMC custom graphics online and are very happy with the final results. I believe it was around 400$ for the rally and side stripe kits. These stripes curve with the car are are not truly straight which IMO look much better than "straight" strips. These BMC stripes are like OEM stripes. The warranty is 7 years, I believe. We were very impressed with the quality of the vinyl. The best part is we saved some money because my husband and myself installed the stripes. We had about 10 hours of time in it. Our stripes even have some silver fleck in them, which really comes out in the sunlight.....sure would not see that with factory stripes :p

i dd my vinyl on my earlier vehicle had them for years non garage.... use to put 303 protectant spray to maintain it.

Ya when I got my car I got a free thing called tsc I think. It's like a wax or something they bake into the paint, a paint guy I talked to said he should put the stripes on first, if I did vinyl it would have to be after that. Anybody have that bake on wax done before.

Paint Hands Down - You will be happier!
 

Dude go paint! Horizontal surfaces are brutal on vinyl stripes. I had vinyl rally stripes on the hood which went to crap but the paint just looks fantastic! The C stripes are doing good on the sides, they will last a lot longer. Here is what I did and the horseshoe painted on matches the sides - just love it! I choose silver but black is beautiful on our cars too:devil:

If you plan to sell the car in the future, having a painted stripe might cut down your potential pool of buyers if they don't like the stripe design you do. I am more of a fan of vinyl because it can be changed out later. My experience has been reasonably good with the stripes, based on the choice of material and the application process. I paid to have mine done. Good luck in your decision!

What he said, I agree about the resale aspect. Paint if you plan on keeping it. Vinyl if you will eventually sell it.

My plan is to keep it forever so I think for sure I'm going to do paint. I found these vinyl's on AM's website (for the design) but I would paint them on. They are the hood only instead of the stripes that go from bumper to bumper. I'm leaning towards the outer hood stripe (first picture )what do you guys think.

I debated between vinyl and painted stripes too. I ended up going with vinyl because (1) paint was ridiculously expensive, and (2) I knew that I could just peel off the vinyl if I decided I didn't like it, or if I wanted to change the color.

The installer ended up putting one of the vinyl stripe sections on a bit crooked--I had him peel it off and do a better job. It came right off, and he did a perfect job on the 2nd attempt. If a paint job got botched, I'd have been screwed. I'm not saying to avoid paint--just that if you do, and you can justify the expense, make sure you use somebody with a flawless reputation so it gets done right the first time. I'd check his masking tape application before he applies the paint, to make sure you feel it's perfect.

In your case, cost wouldn't be so much of an issue, with the stripes only covering such a small section of your car.

I like vinyl because I know I can always change my mind for minimal expense.

Not that I have yet, but my '07 has had matte vinyl stripes since about 2008 and it's garage kept and they are still in perfect shape.

Yes. They look great on your car. How long do you think C stripes will last on sides of your car? 1 year? 2 years? I live in LA and we get lots of sun most of the year. I'm inclined to go paint but want to live with a design I have for awhile.

Oops...forgot to include pics of a custom c stripe I'm thinking of trying out.

Man, that looks seriously hot. Go for it.

If you do plan on going with the inner AM stripes. Post pics. I too have considered these. Still thinking about it but haven't seen any pics of a SGM with the inners installed. Guess I could do a quick plasti dip shoot and see if I like the way it looks.

I got quoted from two of the most reputable paint shops near me between 5 and 7 hundred. They both said they thought the Clear coat would make the hood darker which makes me worried. For 75 bucks I guess I could try the vinyl first just to see how it turns out. For that kind of money I almost rather get a tuner or suspension mods. I'll post pics when I put them on.

^ you are on the right trackkk....