RGVA is a UK vehicle wrapping company working exclusively on vehicle graphics. We wrap cars, vans, trucks, trailers and complete commercial fleets, from a single colour change to a national rollout of several hundred vehicles. We are a 3M Select Platinum Partner, our technicians are 3M Approved Vehicle Wrappers, and we have been fitting vehicle graphics since 2001 from our production facility in Maidstone, Kent, with mobile installation teams covering the whole of the UK.
Commercial vehicle wrapping turns an asset you already own and already insure into permanent advertising. Unlike paid media, a wrap is bought once and then works every mile the vehicle drives, for the five to eight years the material is warranted to last. It also protects the paint underneath it, which matters more than most operators expect on lease and contract hire vehicles, where the condition of the original paintwork at handback is what gets charged for.
What a vehicle wrap includes
A vehicle wrap is a printed or coloured cast vinyl film, applied over the vehicle’s original paint and finished into the panel edges so that it reads as a paint finish rather than a sticker. There are three levels of coverage, and the right one depends on what the vehicle is for.
Full wrap. Every external panel is covered. Used for colour change work and for high-impact commercial branding where the base colour of the vehicle would otherwise show through. Maximum coverage and maximum paint protection.
Partial wrap. Selected panels, typically both sides and the rear, are covered in your brand colours and artwork, with the roof, bonnet and remaining panels left in the original paint. On a white or light coloured vehicle this often reads as a full wrap from the roadside at a materially lower cost.
Cut vinyl graphics. Logo, contact details, website and any required legal or safety markings, cut from pre-pigmented film and applied directly. The lowest cost option and the standard for large fleets whose vehicles are supplied in a single base colour.
We only fit 3M materials, and only in 3M Matched Component System combinations, because the warranty depends on it. The specific film we quote depends on what the vehicle is and how long it needs to last.
3M 2080 Series. Cast colour change film for full wraps on cars. This is the material behind the eight year warranty described below.
3M IJ180 with 3M 8518 overlaminate. Latex printed cast film for full commercial wraps. This is the specification we used across the HomeServe fleet of more than 200 vans.
3M IJ180 and 3M IJ140. Printed self adhesive vinyl for cab wraps, trailer graphics and curtain work, as used on the 34 vehicle Toolstation rebrand.
3M 50 Series pre-pigmented film. Coloured film for cut graphics and lettering where no photographic print is needed.
3M IJ40 laminated. Used on large format trailer artwork, including the 13 metre Schmitz Cargobull trailers we printed and fitted for Freshlinc.
Non-PVC film. Contains no added chlorine or halogens and 58 per cent fewer solvents than conventional films, available where you have a sustainability requirement or a procurement policy that asks for one. See our non-PVC vinyl option.
All printing is done in house on HP Latex printers. We do not outsource print or installation, which is why we can hold a single specification across a whole fleet and match a replacement panel to a vehicle wrapped four years earlier.
Warranty and accreditation
RGVA is a 3M Select Platinum Partner. That is 3M’s highest partner tier and it is the reason we can offer a manufacturer backed warranty rather than our own promise.
Eight year warranty, backed by 3M, on any vehicle wrapped in 3M 2080 Series vinyl. Only Gold and Platinum 3M Select Partners are permitted to offer this.
Three year 3M Matched Component System warranty on printed commercial graphics, covering both the materials and their application. This is the warranty that applied to the Toolstation fleet.
Minimum three years, maximum eight years across our range, depending on the film specified.
Every technician is 3M AVW qualified, meaning 3M Approved Vehicle Wrapper. The warranty is void if graphics are fitted by anyone who is not.
Survey and specification. We confirm the vehicle or vehicle schedule, the coverage level and the film specification, and check the paint condition. On lease vehicles we check the handback terms at this stage rather than after.
Design. Our in-house design team either works to your existing brand guidelines and artwork, or builds the design from scratch. You approve a visual of your actual vehicle before anything is printed.
Print and production. Printed in house on HP Latex, laminated, cut and quality checked against the approved visual.
Preparation. The vehicle is decontaminated and, on full wraps, stripped down. Bumpers, lights, mirrors, handles and trims come off so the film can be finished into the panel edges properly.
Installation. At our Maidstone facility, at your depot, or at the vehicle converter or dealer. On the HomeServe programme we fitted alongside the van converters as vehicles came off conversion. On the Howard Tenens programme we fit at Mercedes and Scania during the PDA process, so new vehicles arrive already liveried.
Handover and two week check. We recommend a free of charge check two weeks after installation, once the vinyl has settled and been out in the weather. This matters most in the colder months.
Vehicles we wrap
Vans and panel vans. Small, medium and large panel vans, crew cabs, Luton bodies and tipper conversions. Coverage priced by van size at our van graphics service.
Rigid trucks. Cab wraps, box body graphics and curtain designs. On the Toolstation rebrand this covered 13 DAF CF75 26-tonne rigids in both curtainside and box variants.
Tractor units and trailers. Nine DAF XF105 tractor units and 12 trailers on that same project. For trailers on frequent campaign changes, the Traxx quick-change banner system replaces vinyl entirely.
HGVs and demount bodies. Including DFS, where the fleet runs to more than 400 demount truck bodies and 89 tri-axle trailers.
Company cars. Colour change and corporate identity work on car derived fleets and director vehicles.
Food trucks, mobile units and buses. Full wraps on irregular and riveted surfaces, where the film specification matters more than on a flat panel.
Commercial vehicle wrapping at scale
Most vehicle wrapping companies quote a single vehicle well and struggle above about twenty. Almost all of our work is the other way round.
HomeServe came to us in 2016 to standardise the livery across more than 200 new vans as its engineer network grew. Depending on each van model’s base colour our technicians applied either a full wrap in latex printed 3M IJ180 with 3M 8518 laminate, or 3M 50 Series pre-pigmented white with 3M IJ180 laminated cut graphics, working on site at van conversion companies in Doncaster and Telford so vehicles were liveried as soon as they were converted. Rhys Thomas, Head of Fleet at HomeServe, said the team “went above and beyond to meet our fitting targets, without any drop in quality”. The work went well enough that HomeServe then asked us to wrap its franchisees’ personally owned vans too, to hold brand consistency across the whole network.
Toolstation gave us six weeks to strip an existing livery off 34 trucks and trailers and replace it with new Toolstation colours, in a joint project with Howard Tenens, the third party logistics provider that owns and operates the vehicles. Nine DAF XF105 tractor units, 13 DAF CF75 26-tonne rigids and 12 trailers, using cab wraps, trailer graphics and new curtain designs, all delivered inside the deadline.
We publish prices because most operators are trying to work out whether a wrap is a four figure or a five figure decision before they speak to anyone. The figures below are starting prices excluding VAT, based on 3M 2080 Series wrap vinyl, and they assume a vehicle in sound, unmodified, factory paint.
Commercial vehicle wraps and graphics
Commercial work is priced per vehicle, and on fleets per asset against your vehicle schedule, because coverage on a small van, a curtainside trailer and a tractor unit are not comparable. What we can tell you up front is the time on site, which is what usually drives the operational decision:
Cut vinyl graphics, small van. Half a day on site.
Partial wrap, medium van. One day.
Full wrap, large panel van. One to two days.
Rigid truck, trailer and HGV work. Priced per asset against the vehicle schedule. Send us the fleet list and we will price it per asset type.
Fleet work of ten vehicles or more is quoted per asset against your vehicle schedule and is normally materially cheaper per vehicle than a single unit. Request a vehicle wrap quote and we will come back with a written price per vehicle type, a film specification and a lead time.
Colour change wraps, cars
Car colour change work is the one area where we can publish a starting figure that holds, because the vehicle and the process are consistent. The three service levels below are all based on 3M 2080 Series wrap vinyl.
Silver Service = Full external wrap
Unlike some companies who would wrap the whole car without removing a single thing from the car first, at RGVA we still make sure the car is professionally stripped down so that we can achieve the best finish possible. This includes the removal and re-installation of the front and rear bumpers, trims, front and rear lights, wing mirrors, door handles and similar fittings. Completion time: 3 to 4 days.
Prices from £2,250 + vat (Based on 3M 2080 Series Wrap vinyl)
Gold Service = Full external wrap including door shuts
As with the Silver service, the car is stripped down and the doors are also removed from the car, allowing us clear access to the door shuts. We usually recommend wrapping the door shuts when the original colour of the car is a vast contrast to the colour of the vinyl wrap. For example, we are more likely to recommend wrapping the door shuts on a red car that is being wrapped in white. Completion time: 4 to 5 days depending on the number of doors.
Prices from £2,950 + vat (Based on 3M 2080 Series Wrap vinyl)
Platinum Service = Full external wrap including door shuts and backs of doors
As per the Gold service, the doors are removed and also the interior door trims so that the visible areas on the backs of the doors can also be wrapped. This is the ultimate in vehicle wrapping, with only the door hinges, boot interior and under bonnet remaining the original paint colour. This option also includes a full complimentary interior and exterior valet. Completion time: 4 to 5 days depending on the number of doors.
Prices from £3,500 + vat (Based on 3M 2080 Series Wrap vinyl)
Whichever full or partial wrap service you choose, we also recommend a quick free of charge check on the car two weeks after installation, just to make sure everything is fine once the vinyl has had a chance to settle and it has been out in the elements for a couple of weeks. This is usually what we would recommend during the colder months as a precaution. All options are fitted to the highest standard by our 3M Approved Vehicle Wrappers, which means that any vehicle wrapped in 2080 Series vinyl also comes with an 8 year warranty which is backed by 3M themselves. Only Gold and Platinum 3M Select Partners are able to offer this kind of warranty.
Lease vehicles, DVLA and insurance
Three things get asked at quote stage on almost every commercial job.
Lease and contract hire. Professionally applied cast vinyl removes cleanly from sound factory paint, which is what makes wrapping safe on a lease vehicle. The risk is not the vinyl, it is pre-existing damage. If a panel already has stone chips, abrasions, rust or a previous respray, removal can lift loose paint or lacquer. We check for this at survey and tell you before we quote, not after.
DVLA. If a wrap changes the colour of the vehicle you must tell the DVLA, even where the change is temporary.
Insurance. Tell your insurer the vehicle has been wrapped, so cover is not affected.
Aftercare and damage replacement
Because we only work on vehicle graphics, we hold your artwork, your film specification and your fitting records, and can reproduce any panel later. On accident damage, Howard Tenens’ National Fleet and Compliance Manager Alan Pellow describes the process as one where “RGVA matches up the panel with a coded graphic and the finish is flawless”. For day to day care, including washing, pressure washing limits and what not to clean a wrap with, see our vehicle wrap FAQs. For fleets, the ordering and replacement process is set out under vehicle graphics project management.
Vehicle wrapping questions
How much does vehicle wrapping cost?
A full colour change wrap on a car starts at £2,250 plus VAT for our Silver service, £2,950 plus VAT for Gold including door shuts, and £3,500 plus VAT for Platinum including the backs of the doors, all based on 3M 2080 Series vinyl. Commercial vehicle work is priced by coverage and vehicle size, and fleets of ten vehicles or more are quoted per asset against your vehicle schedule, which is normally cheaper per vehicle than a single unit.
How long does a vehicle wrap take to fit?
A full colour change wrap on a car takes three to four days for our Silver service and four to five days for Gold or Platinum, depending on the number of doors. Cut vinyl graphics on a van take around half a day and a full van wrap takes one to two days. Fleet rollouts are scheduled around your operation: we re-liveried 96 Müller trailers in three weeks and rebranded 34 Toolstation trucks and trailers in six weeks.
How long does a vehicle wrap last?
A professionally applied wrap lasts at least five years. RGVA warranties run from a minimum of three years to a maximum of eight years depending on the film specified. Vehicles wrapped in 3M 2080 Series vinyl carry an eight year warranty backed by 3M itself, which only Gold and Platinum 3M Select Partners are permitted to offer.
Will a wrap damage my vehicle’s paintwork?
No, provided the original paintwork is sound and has bonded correctly. Professionally applied cast vinyl removes cleanly from factory paint, which is what makes wrapping safe on lease and contract hire vehicles. If the vehicle already has stone chips, abrasions, rust patches or a previous respray, removal can lift loose paint or lacquer, so we check paint condition at survey and tell you before quoting.
Can you wrap a leased or contract hire vehicle?
Yes. Cast vinyl is designed to be removed without damaging sound paintwork, so wrapping is routine on lease vehicles and the paint underneath is protected for the life of the contract. Check your lease agreement for any specific condition on livery, and we will confirm the paint condition at survey before work starts.
Do I need to tell the DVLA and my insurer that my vehicle is wrapped?
Yes to both. You must tell the DVLA if a wrap changes the colour of the vehicle, even where the change is temporary. You should also tell your insurance company that the vehicle has been wrapped, so that your cover is not affected.
What is the difference between a full wrap and a partial wrap?
A full wrap covers every external panel and gives maximum impact and maximum paint protection. A partial wrap covers selected panels, usually both sides and the rear, leaving the roof, bonnet and remaining panels in the original paint. On a white or light coloured vehicle a partial wrap often reads as a full wrap from the roadside at a materially lower cost.
Do you wrap vehicles outside Kent?
Yes. RGVA produces graphics at its facility in Maidstone, Kent, and operates mobile installation teams covering the whole of the UK. We regularly fit on site at customer depots, at van conversion companies and at manufacturer facilities, including during the PDA process at Mercedes and Scania for the Howard Tenens fleet.
Get a vehicle wrapping quote
Tell us the vehicle or send us the fleet schedule and we will come back with a written price per vehicle type, a film specification and a lead time. Call 01622 673797, email enquiries@rgva.co.uk, or request a quote online.
