[GreenMan0352]

I’m thinking of adding some carbon stripes to my hellcat. Aside from the price is there any reason to get them painted vs. vinyl?

 

[Xylander]

Painted is more durable. Painted looks better. Painted doesn't chip and dry rot over time. Painted is less maintenance and can be washed/sprayed/rubbed without fear of lifting an edge. Painted, if done properly, looks perfect. It's almost impossible to lay vinyl perfectly.

I am going to mention it though. You're talking $5k or more for painted full body length stripes done at a quality level. You get what you pay for. Similarly, you can go to Billy Bob's budget auto body shop and get a set of $1,500 stripes where they didn't blend the clear into your old paint job and it'll look like crap for less.

 

[areuriding]

If you got the cash paint..

 

[StevenB]

Painted is more durable. Painted looks better. Painted doesn't chip and dry rot over time. Painted is less maintenance and can be washed/sprayed/rubbed without fear of lifting an edge. Painted, if done properly, looks perfect. It's almost impossible to lay vinyl perfectly.

I am going to mention it though. You're talking $5k or more for painted full body length stripes done at a quality level. You get what you pay for. Similarly, you can go to Billy Bob's budget auto body shop and get a set of $1,500 stripes where they didn't blend the clear into your old paint job and it'll look like crap for less.

This ^ - I purchased my 2019 HCREWB that had painted on enamel stripes and they started chipping and peeling and it drove me NUTS. I had a beautiful car and all I could see is the stripes peeling and chipping and nothing else. I ended up having them removed (had to go down to the meta) and new metallic black stripes painted on and double clear coated. I think it looks amazing and I’m very happy and lucky I found a great body shop that did a great job at a great price (3500, removing the old stripes was brutal).

Here‘s some pics

 

[Mattm400]

If you have them painted, you won't get the carbon fiber look. Depends on what you're after. I got the factory carbon fiber stripes on my black car & totally love them. As mentioned above, if it's outside in the sun alot or a daily driver then they will deteriorate over time. Mine lives In garage & doesn't spend time sitting out much so I'm good with it.

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[Frosty]

Simple answer:

• Looking at Carbon - Vinyl as you wont get paint to look like carbon unless you are spending big money for a top notch artist to do it. I added them to my car. Major PITA so I'd suggest paying to have it done unless you are really detail oriented and looking for a weekend project. Installing hand cut stripes.
• Looking for a single color stripe like matte or flat black. Paint if you want it perfect.

The good thing about vinyl stripes is they are not permanent so you can change them rather easily. Paint is real expensive to redo if you change your desires later. The best looking and easiest to maintain is paint though.

 

[Vapor SRT]

Just had 3M Anthracite Carbon Fiber vinyl put on $350 for vinyl and $500 labor. I prepped the cars paint and removed the dealer installed $1195.00 stripes from 2019, installed by a 5 year old.

 

[2ndAmend]

The texture of the 3M Carbon and Anthracite is very cool, and if you self-install like Frosty, it is very inexpensive. Frosty pointed out an issue in his thread, the 3M stripe material is only 60" wide but a Challenger roof is about 63". So, if you don't have a sunroof, the only way to get mirror image stripes is to stretch the 60 to 63". I recommend checking Frosty's thread.

 

[Barbell_Cat_717]

I had custom Satin black vinyl stripes put on several months ago and they still look good. Car is also mostly in the garage as well.

 

[GreenMan0352]

If you have them painted, you won't get the carbon fiber look. Depends on what you're after. I got the factory carbon fiber stripes on my black car & totally love them. As mentioned above, if it's outside in the sun alot or a daily driver then they will deteriorate over time. Mine lives In garage & doesn't spend time sitting out much so I'm good with it. View attachment 592484 0
View attachment 592483

This is exactly how I want mine! So how would you say they’ve held up and how long have you had them installed? Mine is driven 4 times a month usually and is also garage kept if not being driven. When you wax can you wax the stripes or do you have to be careful not to get any on them?

 

[frictioncircle]

I have oem stripes and my ppf guy used 2 different thickness of xpel so that the ppf is flush together along the stripe edge. For the life of the ppf I have no worries....when it comes time to remove we will see. My installer thinks he can remove without lifting off the stripe

 

[Vapor SRT]

I had the ppf put down first and stripes over it. Then everything including stripes got 2 coats of CQuartz Pro UK 3.0 Ceramic Coating. All the metal then got Carpro Gliss. These 2 have been my go to now on several cars. The 3M Stripes showed no change in finish or streaking. I used the same method on my jeeps Glossy black 3M on the hood and entire roof and after 4 years the vinyl was perfect.

 

[Frosty]

This is exactly how I want mine! So how would you say they’ve held up and how long have you had them installed? Mine is driven 4 times a month usually and is also garage kept if not being driven. When you wax can you wax the stripes or do you have to be careful not to get any on them?

A good quality vinyl on a car that sits in the garage the majority of the time will last a REALLY long time (basically a garaged non-daily driver/pleasure vehicle). I'd imagine every bit of 10+ years if taken care of. I saw quite a few 2015 hellcats when I was looking for the car I finally bought, last year, with factory stripes and they were all still perfect looking. I was looking at low mileage cars so keep that in mind. The sun (UV) is was deteriorates vinyl stripes the most.

You do not want to wax over carbon stripes (matte or flat black too). The carbon stripes have texture to them so getting the wax off would be a nightmare. Ask your installer the proper way to maintain those specific vinyl stripes (as different brands and materials can be different) and follow that and you should be fine. Main thing is do not cheap out on the quality of the vinyl. Their are tons of different levels of vinyl. The cheap stuff wont last very long and generally is much harder to get off (according to the shops I shopped from before deciding to do myself).

If you do decide to tackle yourself get very familiar with knife-less tape as that was the hardest part for me. It's easy to use once you figure it out but getting it to start cutting was a bit of a trick on the thicker/textured vinyl.

As stated above, you can have PPF put over stripes as well. At that point you could then wax over things.

 

[RussLansky]

Here’s mine

 

[Mattm400]

A good quality vinyl on a car that sits in the garage the majority of the time will last a REALLY long time (basically a garaged non-daily driver/pleasure vehicle). I'd imagine every bit of 10+ years if taken care of. I saw quite a few 2015 hellcats when I was looking for the car I finally bought, last year, with factory stripes and they were all still perfect looking. I was looking at low mileage cars so keep that in mind. The sun (UV) is was deteriorates vinyl stripes the most.

You do not want to wax over carbon stripes (matte or flat black too). The carbon stripes have texture to them so getting the wax off would be a nightmare. Ask your installer the proper way to maintain those specific vinyl stripes (as different brands and materials can be different) and follow that and you should be fine. Main thing is do not cheap out on the quality of the vinyl. Their are tons of different levels of vinyl. The cheap stuff wont last very long and generally is much harder to get off (according to the shops I shopped from before deciding to do myself).

If you do decide to tackle yourself get very familiar with knife-less tape as that was the hardest part for me. It's easy to use once you figure it out but getting it to start cutting was a bit of a trick on the thicker/textured vinyl.

As stated above, you can have PPF put over stripes as well. At that point you could then wax over things.

Beat me to it! 👍