Questions For Stripe Owners

[Shift]

Never was a fan of stripes, but stripes go with this car like burger and fries. With that being said, do you mind the extra care involved every day?

Long term wise, when time comes for removal of the stripes for discoloration or just getting old and worn, there's some horror stories about trying to remove old vinyl that just cracks in little pieces upon removal.

What's your view on this?

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[Hurricane]

With that being said, do you mind the extra care involved every day?

Extra care every day? The stripes I bought are made from automotive-grade vinyl that will supposedly last eight years. I clean them just like the rest of the car and hit them with the same spray wax I use on the paint. No issues thus far. That being said...

Long term wise, when time comes for removal of the stripes for discoloration or just getting old and worn, there's some horror stories about trying to remove old vinyl that just cracks in little pieces upon removal.

What's your view on this?

I've wondered about this part myself. My biggest concern is what the paint will look like underneath the stripes if I was to wait several years before peeling them off. I predict that the paint will look great under them, but then it will mismatch the rest of the paint that has undergone normal weathering from the sun, rain and washing. In fact, I've toyed with the idea of just going ahead and removing them sooner than later, regardless of how much I like them on the car. They only cost me a little over $100, so it wouldn't break my heart too much to pull them off less than a year after buying the car. I'd rather waste the small amount of money now and call it an experiment and/or learning experience rather than pay a couple thousand down the road to have the whole car repainted if I waited 5-7 years to remove the stripes. Besides, I'm seriously considering buying a carbon fiber hood from Anderson Composites within the next year or two, so when/if that happens, the stripes would have to go bye-bye anyway.

You're right, stripes do look fantastic on this car, but I'm not sure if I want to deal with the long-term effects of having them. :shrug:

 

[Firststang]

I'm about to put the Shelby Super Snake stripe kit on my car.
Supposedly you can wax it with the rest of the car so I'm not too worried about care.
As far as removal, I would assume if you replace the stripe within its recommended life you shouldn't have issues with the stripe falling to pieces. However I'm sure an owner in Arizona will have a different experience than say someone in Ohio just based on temperature and exposure.
I'm in Southern California so I'm thinking I'll get close to that 8 years and will just replace the stripes if I haven't already upgraded to the newest Mustang by then. In 8 years I'll have 160k on my current car. It's my DD.

 

[Shift]

Extra care every day? The stripes I bought are made from automotive-grade vinyl that will supposedly last eight years. I clean them just like the rest of the car and hit them with the same spray wax I use on the paint. No issues thus far. That being said...


I've wondered about this part myself. My biggest concern is what the paint will look like underneath the stripes if I was to wait several years before peeling them off. I predict that the paint will look great under them, but then it will mismatch the rest of the paint that has undergone normal weathering from the sun, rain and washing. In fact, I've toyed with the idea of just going ahead and removing them sooner than later, regardless of how much I like them on the car. They only cost me a little over $100, so it wouldn't break my heart too much to pull them off less than a year after buying the car. I'd rather waste the small amount of money now and call it an experiment and/or learning experience rather than pay a couple thousand down the road to have the whole car repainted if I waited 5-7 years to remove the stripes. Besides, I'm seriously considering buying a carbon fiber hood from Anderson Composites within the next year or two, so when/if that happens, the stripes would have to go bye-bye anyway.

You're right, stripes do look fantastic on this car, but I'm not sure if I want to deal with the long-term effects of having them. :shrug:

Thanks for the input. Extra care everyday like keeping the stripes out of the sun as much as possible, and being even more vigilant in removing environmental contaminants ASAP

 

[Shift]

I'm about to put the Shelby Super Snake stripe kit on my car.
Supposedly you can wax it with the rest of the car so I'm not too worried about care.
As far as removal, I would assume if you replace the stripe within its recommended life you shouldn't have issues with the stripe falling to pieces. However I'm sure an owner in Arizona will have a different experience than say someone in Ohio just based on temperature and exposure.
I'm in Southern California so I'm thinking I'll get close to that 8 years and will just replace the stripes if I haven't already upgraded to the newest Mustang by then. In 8 years I'll have 160k on my current car. It's my DD.

Another complication is that I am going to put a clear bra on the front(lasts for 10 years), and put ceramic coating on the rest of the car to help protect the paint. With that, I am well into the gray area of how the stripes will react long term.

 

[NvrFinished]

Another complication is that I am going to put a clear bra on the front(lasts for 10 years), and put ceramic coating on the rest of the car to help protect the paint. With that, I am well into the gray area of how the stripes will react long term.

I'm having the same thing done with my car right now. A good ceramic coating along with the clear bra is supposed to reduce paint fade due to U.V. rays however.

 

[Shift]

I'm having the same thing done with my car right now. A good ceramic coating along with the clear bra is supposed to reduce paint fade due to U.V. rays however.

Common misconception with clear bras, they don't block UV rays. Most people don't cover their entire car with it, so clear bras allow the UV rays to pass through it ensure even UV exposure to all painted surfaces. Not sure about ceramic coating though. If the coating does prevent UV, then you have to apply it to the clear bra. Then you run into how the ceramic coating will react with the self-healing clear bra. Complicated

 

[NvrFinished]

Common misconception with clear bras, they don't block UV rays. Most people don't cover their entire car with it, so clear bras allow the UV rays to pass through it ensure even UV exposure to all painted surfaces. Not sure about ceramic coating though. If the coating does prevent UV, then you have to apply it to the clear bra. Then you run into how the ceramic coating will react with the self-healing clear bra. Complicated

Right. They have U.V. inhibitors to prevent the film from yellowing, but that does not necessarily mean it will protect the paint.

I'm just doing the front fascia and rockers to help protect from rock chips. The clear bra and stripes will be treated with the CQuartz however. The only downside is if I decided to remove my stripes, the car would need to to be retreated with the CQuartz since the stripes touch almost every panel except the sides.

 

[dgc333]

I have put stripes or some sort of vinyl on every car I have owned. I have never treated them differently the rest of the car.

I have removed them on several cars after having them on 10+ years and had no specific issues getting them off. Hair dryer, a vinyl spatula and some Goof Off has done the trick. Once cleaned up and a good polish there was no difference in the paint where the vinyl was compared to the exposed paint.

 

[Martman GT]

I have put stripes or some sort of vinyl on every car I have owned. I have never treated them differently the rest of the car.

I have removed them on several cars after having them on 10+ years and had no specific issues getting them off. Hair dryer, a vinyl spatula and some Goof Off has done the trick. Once cleaned up and a good polish there was no difference in the paint where the vinyl was compared to the exposed paint.

I agree here! Have done many cars and I don't do anything different than I do with a non stripe car. The reason you use vinyl is because it's easy to un-do.

 

[Hurricane]

I have removed them on several cars after having them on 10+ years and had no specific issues getting them off. Hair dryer, a vinyl spatula and some Goof Off has done the trick. Once cleaned up and a good polish there was no difference in the paint where the vinyl was compared to the exposed paint.

This is encouraging to read. Thanks for sharing Dave.

I garage my car every night, but park in an open lot at work. There's shady spots available, but I'm mostly concerned with the immediate threat of tree sap and bird crap. I was concerned about long-term sun exposure fading the uncovered paint but not affecting the color underneath the vinyl, leaving me with two deep blue stripes on an otherwise faded car down the road. However, the responses on here helped ease my worries. Plus, as others have mentioned, I'll probably have sold the car and moved on long before the estimated limit on the vinyl has been reached. That is if I haven't pulled them off already to install a new hood or spoiler.

 

[Shift]

This is encouraging to read. Thanks for sharing Dave.

I garage my car every night, but park in an open lot at work. There's shady spots available, but I'm mostly concerned with the immediate threat of tree sap and bird crap. I was concerned about long-term sun exposure fading the uncovered paint but not affecting the color underneath the vinyl, leaving me with two deep blue stripes on an otherwise faded car down the road. However, the responses on here helped ease my worries. Plus, as others have mentioned, I'll probably have sold the car and moved on long before the estimated limit on the vinyl has been reached. That is if I haven't pulled them off already to install a new hood or spoiler.

Planning on keeping the car for life, that's why Im so concerned about the long term. I just put in the request to change order to change color and add in the stripes. Hopefully it goes through.

 

[Hurricane]

Planning on keeping the car for life, that's why Im so concerned about the long term.

I can totally understand that. Wish I was so sure about keeping my GT for life, but I have a mixed history with the length of time I'll keep a car. I had a '97 Honda Civic I kept for five years and put 97k miles on. I also had an '03 Nissan Frontier for seven years and almost broke 100k with that one too. On the flip side, I had a base '13 Grand Cherokee 4x2 that I traded in after 18mos for a loaded '14 Grand Cherokee 4x4. I then traded that in last October for my Mustang GT. Now I'm having serious thoughts about saving up a nice down payment ($10k or so) so I can buy a GT350 at the end of 2017. I can say with confidence that I would definitely keep that car for life. It's my automotive unicorn.

At least I know I'm done with SUVs. My wife's '14 Cherokee has plenty of space for just the two of us and the dog.

 

[Shift]

I can totally understand that. Wish I was so sure about keeping my GT for life, but I have a mixed history with the length of time I'll keep a car. I had a '97 Honda Civic I kept for five years and put 97k miles on. I also had an '03 Nissan Frontier for seven years and almost broke 100k with that one too. On the flip side, I had a base '13 Grand Cherokee 4x2 that I traded in after 18mos for a loaded '14 Grand Cherokee 4x4. I then traded that in last October for my Mustang GT. Now I'm having serious thoughts about saving up a nice down payment ($10k or so) so I can buy a GT350 at the end of next year. I can say with confidence that I would definitely keep that car for life. It's my automotive unicorn.

At least I know I'm done with SUVs. My wife's '14 Cherokee has plenty of space for just the two of us and the dog.

I've kept my previous cars for an average of 4-5 years each, except for my latest one, only two years. Sold to make way for the Shelby, the car I'll be keeping for life :cheers:.

I think you should get on the quest for the GT350 sooner rather than later. My original plan was to purchase in 3 years. Then I found out how it's most likely going to be a limited 2yr run(excluding 2015), which bumped my plan to purchase in less than a year.

 

[Hurricane]

I think you should get on the quest for the GT350 sooner rather than later. My original plan was to purchase in 3 years. Then I found out how it's most likely going to be a limited 2yr run(excluding 2015), which bumped my plan to purchase in less than a year.

Well, if they only get produced for the '16 and '17 model years, then I suppose I'll have a decision to make next summer or fall. I'll either have to try and find a GT350 on a lot somewhere (if any more are available) or I'll have to see what the new Mach 1 or GT500 are going to cost and adjust my plans to get one of those instead. I could probably swing the cost of a Mach 1, but if the GT500 ends up with an MSRP near $70k, I would have to pass. I'd honestly rather have the road-hugging performance of the GT350 as opposed to the brutal straight-line speed of the GT500 though. Naturally, a used GT350 would also be an option, but for a car like that, I'd much rather prefer to be the only owner.

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