Smart Graphics: revive or replace?
Livery specialist Smart Graphics has offered its perspective on the choice facing operators experiencing long waiting times for new vehicles, of whether to extend the existing fleet’s road life, or compromise on colours, makes and other options to secure orders.
“The availability of new vehicles has had a knock-on effect for the graphics industry,” explained Smart Graphics general manager Paul Bellard.
“As well as the usual requests to wrap new vehicles, we are finding that some of our customer base are asking us to apply new branding to older vehicles after deciding to keep them for longer. We have also seen some fleet operators introduce low mileage second-hand vehicles into their fleet simply due to delays in new vehicle production and supply.
“Colour changes are also becoming more common, with operators maybe having to take a vehicle that doesn’t fit with their standard purchase choices. Availability is the deciding factor – we can change the colour with a full wrap to bring the vehicle into line with brand or fleet guidelines.”
The process to wrap older vehicles is a little more in-depth and time-consuming, says Smart Graphics, as most have had graphics applied in the past. As it becomes more common to be asked to re-wrap a vehicle, it is therefore important to remember that older fleet members may have a few ‘battle scars’ though the rigours of day-to-day use.
“It is important to manage customer expectations when dealing with older vehicles,” Paul continued.
“Fantastic results are possible but we always recommend that any damage including dents, gouges and scrapes are taken out professionally by a reputable body shop. We can then begin the process of a full strip of all the old graphics.”
Depending on the quality of older graphics, they can leave behind deposits of residue on the vehicle body which require the use of specialist surface cleaning solutions to render the vehicle fit for a fresh graphic install.
In some instances, says Smart Graphics, ‘ghosting’ is a problem – where old vinyl is removed but the outline of words and logos still appears on the body. With ghosting, the surface underneath the old graphic has been protected from UV and weather, but the areas outwith this may have been damaged by environmental conditions, resulting in a ‘ghost’ of the graphics that have been removed. A machine polish using compound can resolve this, bringing the surface back to life.
While every graphics supplier dreams of brand new fresh surfaces, says the firm, it is still possible to achieve excellent results on older vehicles providing that they have been properly prepared for new graphics. Full vehicle wraps can give an older vehicle a completely new look and with supply issues likely to persist for the foreseeable future, it expects the demand for makeovers for long-serving vehicles to continue.
