Need Help Police car graphics

[ikarasu]

Vehicles aren't my specialty so I just had to look up a 10yd 24 inch roll of that stuff just to see. Expensive is no exaggeration. $310...wow

Yes... 680 is insanely expensive. Don't get me wrong, there are alternatives... Avery makes a decent removable reflective. Oracal does as well..both which are cheaper, the only problem is a lot of places spec 3M.

You could also go the bubble free, non removable route... which a lot of places do. However when it comes time to repair a damaged vehicle, removing and re-applying graphics is a pain in the ass, or when they get rid of the vehicle after XX years and their policing decals need to come off... Another pain in the ass.

We don't usually buy the pre-colored 680, We buy the white and print everything for the police vehicles we do. A bit more expensive that way, but you're not bringing in 10 yards of 4-5 colors to match stripes / etc.


And yes, It can be lucrative. We were in OP's situation where they asked us to do one vehicle because they weren't happy with their old company - They loved it... and now we do 10-15 of their vehicles per year, ontop of 10-15 city vehicles... AND a huge (2 million pop) city is going to be re-branding and purchasing all new vehicles...Theyre estimating 50-100 vehicles to start. And we got put at the top of the list due to recommendation by the city we're currently doing work with. They asked us if we could do them all in 3 weeks and we turned them down and said no, it wasnt possible. I dont think theyve awarded the contract yet... But sometimes as much as it hurts, you need to turn down a job if you don't think you can meet their expectations. Badmouthing travels a lot faster and further than word of mouth does.

don't take on a job until you're ready to do it, otherwise you might be blowing your one and only chance!

 

[letterman7]

The other issue are fonts etc - the police will have a retained sign company to do such work - they'll have the complete vehicle map and vinyl specs - unless you've got that, theres not much point even thinking about it.

Especially money wise.. They'd have specified expensive vinyl, the body shop wouldn't know that so would give them an all in one price - he'd probably end up not paying you.

Not so. Police don't "retain" sign companies. The municipality will go to whomever the lowest bidder is. As long as it gets done, they don't care who does the work.

That said - that particular graphic is a pre-packaged graphic from one of the dozen online emergency graphics retailers. The entire kit costs about $450 - in 3M reflective. It's cheap 3M reflective, but still. I deal with these packages almost on a monthly basis because departments don't want to spend the money to purchase a "better", quality product. And I'm fine with that - when they wreck a car they have me call the company, order what I need and install.. all with the appropriate markup, of course.

 

[Ataylor19]

This is not a very big city at all! And half their cars right now don’t have anything on it or they have I know 2 different designs for sure maybe more! So I’m sure a lot of the ones y’all are doing are for way bigger and pickier city’s. My husbands boss just said today that we should cut it out of regular vinyl and go and put it on and show it to them and then if they like it and decide on a price to order the expensive stuff then.


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[visual800]

sub it out to these guys and stop trying to rush stuff

 

[Stacey K]

Well, first off, is everyone sure it's reflective? The police cars I do for a local community are not reflective. I used 3M 7725 and they have held up excellent.

I'm not sure if the installation itself has you ruffled, getting the stripes straight or figuring out the vinyl. It is possible to recreate this, it's unlikely you would have the vinyl in time.

Your first step is getting a template, uploading this photo and quickly determine how much vinyl you need and get it ordered. There's also an emblem on there, that needs to be vectorized or you need the art and you need to order the prints. Then take your time and recreate the graphics in the computer - have you ever created graphics from scratch? If not then this is not a project for you. Putting the blue on would not be as much of an issue as making sure the red is exactly the same space apart from the blue all the way down. Personally, I would jump on this and if I could get the vinyl in time, I would do it. You can always add the emblem next week. If this is the first vehicle you are lettering I would definitely NOT do it especially if it's reflective, it's harder to work with. If you've done several vehicles successfully already then you could push yourself to succeed. In a perfect world, if you had the vinyl by Friday, you would have all weekend. When you take on new and unfamiliar projects, make darn sure you have plenty of time and plenty of vinyl. There's been times when I first started that I had someone's "work vehicle" over the weekend. I kept doing it until I got it right. I probably only make $15 an hour for labor but that's how you learn.

-- If this is your first vehicle install, you really need to pass, it's too complex and important. Start with a set of truck doors and work up from there.

 

[Lindsey]

Use premium cast vinyl. For the sake of your nerves & your sanity, don't take on rush jobs like this. Especially the first time. It sets a precedent that they will come to expect. At our shop, turnaround on everything is 2 weeks minimum. If they are in a rush they can go elsewhere. Train the clients (and your husband) that if they want you to do the work, they need to provide you need the proper amount of time to prepare.

 

[tulsagraphics]

Nobody really mentioned much about getting paid, so I'll add this bit... Regardless of how you decide to price this (hint: err on the side of caution -- give yourself enough room for waste / mistakes / warranty repairs). Once you figure out the total cost, make sure to discuss this with your customer and have them sign a written agreement (contract, purchase order, or whatever) so they are truly informed about the total cost. Customers generally have no idea what something should cost, but they always assume jobs are cheaper than what they really are. This has the added benefit of separating out tire kickers from real buyers. Also, be sure to speak with the actual decision maker before starting any job (the one writing you the check, not the "middlemen")... because the last thing you want is doing a $1k job (for example) and the body shop repair guy thought it would be $250.

Also, get a deposit before ordering material or cutting into your inventory (50% down; balance upon completion is pretty standard). For riskier clients (new businesses, out of town folks, etc) get full payment up front.

 

[ikarasu]

You guys have police cars that arent reflective down south?

Don't think I've ever seen one that isn't reflective in Canada. Granted 90% of our police force is RCMP and their standard is reflective... So maybe that's why.

Even our "ghost" cars over here have reflective on them

Tbh, reflective is easier than 7725. If you're not used to wrapping vehicles, using a non air egress vinyl that's so thin like 7725 is going to be a pain in the ass, or look terrible. We do stripes with 7725 for a municipal vehicle and hate it. Definately not for the feint at heart!

 

[Stacey K]

You guys have police cars that arent reflective down south?

Don't think I've ever seen one that isn't reflective in Canada. Granted 90% of our police force is RCMP and their standard is reflective... So maybe that's why.

Even our "ghost" cars over here have reflective on them

Tbh, reflective is easier than 7725. If you're not used to wrapping vehicles, using a non air egress vinyl that's so thin like 7725 is going to be a pain in the ***, or look terrible. We do stripes with 7725 for a municipal vehicle and hate it. Definately not for the feint at heart!

Yes, one of my local communities does not use reflective. He said something about then people can see them coming or hiding out on the side of the road? And he didn't want that.

The first shop they had do the graphics used printed and it peeled off and faded badly, they applied them 2x on 2 cars. There's a post on here some place from me about that where I was asking for help. I just recreated them using cut vinyl and they were expecting them to fall off...but they didn't...and they are very happy about that LOL

 

[Gino]

All the municipalities we do have lotsa reflective, too. Even ones we don't do have reflective in them.

As for someone seeing a car with reflective on it..... is that why they spend about $7,000 on all those LEDs all over the cruiser ?? Those suckers are blinding when they're in a hurry, and your guy worries about being spotted ?? I think he has his job description a little goofed up.

 

[Ataylor19]

So they have dropped the car off at the place my husband works and I’m sitting here now trying to get measurements. My husband talked to the police earlier and he said he is really just wanting to see that we can do it. He said we can just use regular vinyl at least for now and he said the stripes aren’t even that big of a deal as long as it says lexington police but he don’t even want the 911 on the back or the car number or that badge that’s on top of that blue so I guess I’m gonna go home and try to do it. The one he wants it on is a Ford crown Victoria and one side has a huge scratch on it and there’s spots all over the car where the old vinyl is still on it or adhesive from the old vinyl.

 

[Gino]

By rights, if you wanna appear professional, you'll need to remove all the old vinyl and adhesive.

 

[Ataylor19]

By rights, if you wanna appear professional, you'll need to remove all the old vinyl and adhesive.

Oh for sure! I’d never put them on without removing all the old stuff! The big scratch and dent on that one side is really gonna bother me but I can’t really do anything about it


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[GAC05]

So they have dropped the car off at the place my husband works and I’m sitting here now trying to get measurements. My husband talked to the police earlier and he said he is really just wanting to see that we can do it. He said we can just use regular vinyl at least for now and he said the stripes aren’t even that big of a deal as long as it says lexington police but he don’t even want the 911 on the back or the car number or that badge that’s on top of that blue so I guess I’m gonna go home and try to do it. The one he wants it on is a Ford crown Victoria and one side has a huge scratch on it and there’s spots all over the car where the old vinyl is still on it or adhesive from the old vinyl.

If they are still running Crown Vics their budget must be pretty tight - I think those went out of production in 2011 or 12.
There are a bunch of them here all sitting in the Police boneyard on blocks.

 

[Johnny Best]

My mother had a Crown Vic
“God rest her soul”

 

[Ataylor19]

Oh I’m gonna say it’s for sure tight hold on I’m about to see if I can find the population of the town. It’s where I grew up and I graduated from a private school but we literally had 9 kids in my graduating class.


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[Ataylor19]

Wow I didn’t even think it was this small but the population in 2021 according to google is 1,351. Lol so yea it’s a small town to say the least.


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[ikarasu]

Well... If it doesn't have to be reflective, I'd just print it and cut it (assuming you have a printer laminator and cutter) on some good vehicle wrap vinyl and be done with it.

Id say now's the time to introduce them to reflective.... But it might not be the best time for you!

With how fast cruisers fly around at night in emergencies, I thought it was law they had to be reflective....and that's why all our ambulances (not sure about USA ones?) And fire trucks are like 50% covered in reflective vinyl.

Big world though and everyone has their own rules, I'm sure there's some places in Canada that don't use it as well, just something that's never crossed my mind since all I ever see if reflective.

Good luck on the job, in sure recreating everything will be an interesting experience, hope it goes well for you and brings in future work. Once you get the hang of it.. hit up your fire trucks and ambulances next, getting your foot in the door opens you up to city signage and other stuff as well... Just make sure to hint you do more than a few graphics on vehicles.

 

[Ataylor19]

I took this from a city about 30 minutes from the one I’m trying to do the graphics for. I don’t even think it’s reflective and they are a little bigger than the other one. Big enough that I would’ve thought they for sure had reflective so it must not be required in Mississippi!

 

[Johnny Best]

My mother was from Union, Mississippi.
Good luck with your project.