Your car’s your oyster when it comes to custom painting. There are block colors, branded designs, the classic racing stripe or whatever you can think of.

When it comes to creating a custom design for your car – whether through custom painting, custom wraps, tinting, accessory installation or a mixture of everything, there can be a few grey areas we can clear up.

From what a “custom design” covers here at Dealership Autoplex Collision Center all the way through to some general FAQs and legality queries, we’ve got everything you need to know before rolling into the shop here in Carrollton, TX.

1.    What Does a “Custom Design” Cover With D.A.C.C?

Let’s have a look at one of our favorite examples we have: a custom painting and accessory installation job for a beauty of a 2017 Shelby F-150 Super Snake earlier this year.

For this motor we helped a driver bring their vision to life. To do this, there were a few jobs on hand:

a.    Blackout Emblems

b.    Custom Painting

c.    Custom CNC Grille

d.    Custom Front Bumper

e.    Custom Rear Bumper

f.     Wheels Powder Coating & Tire Replacement

In summary, your custom design can be anything from bumper to taillight and from the trims on your tires to everything in between. For example, there’s window tinting, pick-up bedliners, aftermarket accessories, black-out servicing, paint-to-match and more.

2.    Can A Custom Painting Job Be Against the Law?

While you may hear the phrase “seeing red” around the state, there aren’t any rules or laws here in Texas regarding the color of your custom paint job; especially not red ones.

However, there are some conditions that may get you pulled over. For example, if your custom painting job looks a little too much like a police car or another emergency services vehicle, you’d be in full violation of state law. Did you hear about the guy who was cited after customizing his car to look like the cop car in the Transformers movie? It actually happened.

Other custom design work that could get you pulled over includes the  completely blacked out look. All black everything from body to wheels to windows to black painted taillights.

3.    Can a Custom Paint Job Decrease a Vehicle’s Value?

A custom paint job can not only hold the value of your car, but it can also appreciate it and depreciate it, too. It all depends on the quality of the custom painting job, how new it is and the color of it. Essentially, the new buyer wants a car that looks good.

If you’re selling-up for a newer model, you’ll want to think about these colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, grey, brown and black. And - believe it or not – yellow has been known to hold the lowest depreciation value in more states than it should. Purple and gold, however, are big ones for depreciation.

4.    Is Paint or Wrap Better in a Custom Design?

Creating your custom design is all about choosing the specifications and types of each aspect.

When it comes to the custom painting side of things, you want to be able to know the differences and decide between opting for a paint job or a wrap. Both have their pros and cons when it comes to resale, insurance, time taken, durability, customization and more.

a.    Cost - the winner is Paint

On the lower end of the spectrum, you can get your car painted for as much as $1,500 less than a full-body wrap. Although, this is dependent on the paint quality, meaning it may be more likely to chip and need upkeep sooner.

b.    Time of Application - the winner is Wrap

Not only is there no drying time needed for a wrap, but there’s also only one layer and – if you’re not going for a full body custom design – a few panels worth of wrapping is a quick-fire process.

c.    Customization - the winner is Wrap

Most wraps involve computerized designs printed on vinyl and cut to your car’s specifications. So, you can have anything from a matte finish, to satin, carbon fiber, or even more complex designs like logos and powder coat textures.

d.    Durability - the winner is Wrap

Quite simply, paint chips easier than wrap tears through the same weather conditions or driving collisions. The reason being down to the vinyl material and it already acting as a protective base for your car.

e.    Upkeep - the winner is Both

Neither the paint nor the wrap wins here because both are just as good as each other. That said, the same general best practices apply; no automatic car washes and no harsh chemicals in the car shampoo.

Now you have a better idea of what your custom design will look like with us here at Dealership Autoplex Collision Center.

But, if you want to know more and get designing now, the team are on hand and ready. Give us a call on (972) 242-0092, email us, scroll through our website or come straight to the shop in Carrollton, TX. The vision is yours, so let us bring it to life.