adrianp

So how long have you had them?
Top, side or both?
What are your thoughts/experiences as far as washing your car? Dealing with wax?

From what I've gathered, if you have matte, you don't ever put wax on them. So what do people with matte stripes do to wax the none-stripped areas of the car?

Anyone have an SG with glossy black stripes? I read that the glossy ones can be waxed so not as much of a pain to deal with when washing/waxing.

Regarding how the paint fades vs not fading under the striped areas, I work from home, so during the day my car is mostly in the garage. So I'd imagine that over time fading won't really be much of an issue for me as compared to others.

My thoughts is I could always just remove the vinyl and have them painted on if I ever wanted to go permanent and not deal with any of the issues of having vinyl.

SPARTAN VI

I've had the factory side vinyl stripes near the rocker panels on my V6 for over 8 years, and even though it's been chipped a little bit, it's never even hinted at peeling. Not sure about waxing the vinyl particularly since my stripes were a glossy white.

jsimmonstx

The only downside to painting them on is that if you change your mind on the color or whether you want them at all, it's going to cost a lot more to remove or change color. Vinyl is a good choice for most folks due to its non-permanent nature. For me, matte stripes only make sense if they're the same color as the car (such as matte black on a gloss black car).

In my case, I did vinyl and should have done paint.

adrianp

Well my question isn't so much about waxing the vinyl, it's more about do you have to do anything special to avoid the wax getting on them, or do you just wax away and if it gets on, no big deal.


Why do you say in your case you should have done paint?

I'm definitely going with vinyl, at least to start with. I just wanted to get some input on how dealing with them was from people that have them. I mostly want to know if it's a pain in the *** to wax with them on. When you wash/wax your car do you always do it yourself to avoid risking someone from messing it up?

jsimmonstx

Because my stripes are paint-on-vinyl, and they cost as much as it would have to actually paint the stripes on the car. My stripes are guardsman blue, a color you can't get in pre-made vinyl. They start with clear vinyl, and paint the vinyl the desired color, and then use a computer to custom cut the stripes out for the car (to any body kit configuration).

I should have just had them painted on.

I ALWAYS wash/wax my car by hand. I'm more afraid of high-pressure washes blasting my stripes off the car than having someone mess it up...

SPARTAN VI

I treated my vinyl stripes the same way I did my paint. Wash, wax, detailer, etc. The only thing I didn't do use on it was clay bar.

adrianp

ok perfect thanks!

Tommyc

Same here, I've had matte black stripes top and sides for a few years. I wash and wax like normal. Occasionally I'll put that turtle ice, or the triple gloss from the spray car wash and they look like new.

mustangbr

Wow that's pretty interesting. I've heard that matte stripes should not be waxed at all, and that was one of the reasons I was thinking in going with regular stripes rather than matte black (so I wouldn't have to worry about the extra care).

Tommyc

Sorry, I didn't mean to say I wax the stripes, I try to wax around them but I do get some wax on them from time to time, its not a big deal.
I have a video you can see my stripes after a few years of florida sun, they still look like new.