# Can I wrap my car black for Uber Black?



## Mark Wease (Jan 27, 2015)

Can I wrap my car black for Uber Black?

I can even get my door jambs wrapped if needed. There is this new material that may be worth it for me.


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## UberSonic (Jul 22, 2014)

Question is will it look like it's wrapped when done? What kind of shine or luster does this material have? Have you considered the hours required to get it all laid out smooth without wrinkles, into every nook and cranny and seam. What advantage over just getting a professional repaint? While I'm sure it might work, it might be more work than it's worth.


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## centralFLFuber (Nov 21, 2014)

i wouldnt be spending $$$ to uber...just sign & drive ; but rates are terrible across the country and u probably wont make any $ & keep in mind u can be fired at any moment with NO notice....i would not do it


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## fargonaz (Oct 30, 2014)

What's it cost? Give it a try and report back.

The finish thus far is only matte/satin you won't see reflections.


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## UberSonic (Jul 22, 2014)

Yeah with a matte or satin finish wrap it's not going to be the expected look of a Black car.


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## Mark Wease (Jan 27, 2015)

This is a gloss black, not going for the matte look. I see how that matte would not work. This is a affordable gloss black spray, seem pretty glossy to me.


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## UberSonic (Jul 22, 2014)

Not plastidip, I hope.


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## UberLuxbod (Sep 2, 2014)

fargonaz said:


> What's it cost? Give it a try and report back.
> 
> The finish thus far is only matte/satin you won't see reflections.


That is not the case in the UK.

You can get glossy finishes as well as Chrome and Gold finishes.

Just depends what you want.

Many people get cars like Rolls Royce wrapped White for wedding work, but they don't have the poor residuals associated with a white Rolls.

There is a shiny Gold 458 Italia in South Kensington.

The advantage with wraps is they are cheaper and quicker than a respray.

The Chrome/Gold wraps can be prone to scratching.

Door shuts are no problem as long as you get it done by skilled fitters with a decent quality product.


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## Mark Wease (Jan 27, 2015)

UberSonic said:


> Not plastidip, I hope.


Hell no. They are doing a Maserati with it gloss black this weekend, ill let you know how it turns out.


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## UberLAguy (Aug 2, 2015)

Has anyone been able to use a vinyl wrap car for Uber Black?


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

UberSonic said:


> Question is will it look like it's wrapped when done? What kind of shine or luster does this material have? Have you considered the hours required to get it all laid out smooth without wrinkles, into every nook and cranny and seam. What advantage over just getting a professional repaint? While I'm sure it might work, it might be more work than it's worth.


It can look like CHROME.
Or be flat matte.
Depends on the wrap.

Wrap can be as Shiney as you want.


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## OldBay (Apr 1, 2019)

Its actually an intriguing question. I would think that technically it would qualify for black, iff every painted surface including trunk was covered. I think it would depend on the car and the details of the trim. But practically, NO, I don't think people who wrap usually do the door jams.

The only person who can answer whether it is worth it is someone who has experience driving in the OPs market. Spending 3K to wrap the car, would take a long time to recoup with occasional black trips. By the time the money was recaptured, the car will probably age out of black.


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## Dekero (Sep 24, 2019)

Making a Prius Black, doesn't make it a black car... It's still just a Prius TURD. But now it's a TURD you spent money on... Just drive Uber x the difference is minimal...


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## ANT 7 (Oct 14, 2018)

Uber Black, or Select as we call it in our market, doesn't require you to drive a black car.

FWIW........


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## Timbrr (Mar 1, 2019)

I can tell you my experience with uber and car color. My truck somehow came with a vin that doesn't decode properly. Even my insurance company and the dmv had to jump through some small hoops. Apparently when it was imported the vin was recorded improperly or something. Anyway, the truck is green but the vin says it came off the assembly line silver. It didn't, it's always been green. Uber wouldn't believe me that it is in fact green, and basically implied that I was lying about the color and if I was driving the wrong color vehicle I would be deactivated. I had to go to the hub to have it changed.


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## JWB (Dec 22, 2015)

This is a pretty old thread, but I was recently curious on the point regarding repainting a vehicle black. I was so curious that I called Uber Support and they said they use the color code from the VIN to verify that it is black. That would mean that repainting or doing a wrap is really not going to work. But I've not taken time to check in with a hub employee. I just noticed this discussion and found it interesting. Sounds like that is not an option for Uber Black. It really should be though because there are used vehicles out there that qualify where perhaps a pro paint job would be appropriate.


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

You can change your car to any color and still be able to drive. Wraps are "temporary" so you don't change the registration. However, because the companies use the VIN number, it will not come up as black in the system. Now if you were to get a painted, you would have to change the registration and therefore it would come up black in the system. Don't forget you also have to have a black interior


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Daisey77 said:


> You can change your car to any color and still be able to drive. Wraps are "temporary" so you don't change the registration. However, because the companies use the VIN number, it will not come up as black in the system. Now if you were to get a painted, you would have to change the registration and therefore it would come up black in the system. Don't forget you also have to have a black interior


Little " secret" . . .















First time I've seen it done was on a '68 Vette.
( G.M. had vinyl coated Cardboard for some interior parts !)

You can even Spray the seats,carpet & headliner !


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Not " JUST " for cars . . .


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## JWB (Dec 22, 2015)

Daisey77 said:


> You can change your car to any color and still be able to drive. Wraps are "temporary" so you don't change the registration. However, because the companies use the VIN number, it will not come up as black in the system. Now if you were to get a painted, you would have to change the registration and therefore it would come up black in the system. Don't forget you also have to have a black interior


Right, but what Uber is saying to me is that if this is done there would be a mismatch between the VIN color code and what the inspection says that may cause trouble with the vehicle being on the Black platform. I called Support about this before my initial post so I think we know this may not be the case of how it works given that I did not speak with someone at my local office, but they said they go by the VIN color code and that at some point it could cause the system to flag the vehicle as not valid for Black. Not even sure how valid that is.


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

Found this as a google search:

Generally, paint jobs range between $3,000 and $10,000. In contrast, you can find a high-quality car wrap for somewhere between $2,500 and $5,000. Since *a good paint job can cost more than double the cost of a professional vehicle wrap*, many companies with fleets choose them over paint.

Most car wraps last approximately *five to seven years*. After five to seven years most vinyl wraps will begin to crack, fade, and peel off the vehicle.


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

JWB said:


> Right, but what Uber is saying to me is that if this is done there would be a mismatch between the VIN color code and what the inspection says that may cause trouble with the vehicle being on the Black platform. I called Support about this before my initial post so I think we know this may not be the case of how it works given that I did not speak with someone at my local office, but they said they go by the VIN color code and that at some point it could cause the system to flag the vehicle as not valid for Black. Not even sure how valid that is.


If you're going to try to get it on the black platform you would need to paint it and not wrap it because with wrapping it you do not need to report it to the DMV. Painting the car you do report to the DMV so your registration is updated because it's permanent. So in order for the registration to get through you would need to paint it versus wrapping it.

They're blowing smoke up your ass about the color being attached to your VIN number. There's nowhere in the VIN number that indicates the color of your vehicle. You can use the VIN number as a tool to track down the paint code but there is literally is no way to determine the color of a vehicle by running a VIN number. If you needed to somehow find out the exact color of your car, you would call the dealer and give them the VIN number. The VIN number would provide them with the paint code number. Now obviously vehicle manufacturers are going to have some sort of internal system that links the paint code number to the their specific color name. Specific manufacturer color names are not generic as in red or black. They are like Galactic gray or sizzling Crimson Adams. So essentially for Uber to be able to tell the color of your car, they would have to call the dealer to run the VIN number to get the color code and then have the dealer tell them the name of the color attached to that color code and every manufacturer is going to be different. Even getting the color code isn't guaranteed to tell them what color exactly the car is. So they'd even have to go further and research the exact manufacturer color name to know what color to classify it as . I could definitely be wrong but I highly highly doubt Uber is calling every Vehicle Manufacturer and having every VIN number ran to get a color code to then look up that color code to see what they should classify the color as. Everyone can draw their own conclusion from this information but I think it's pretty safe to say as long as the registration says black you should be fine. 😁😎


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

Daisey77 said:


> If you're going to try to get it on the black platform you would need to paint it and not wrap it because with wrapping it you do not need to report it to the DMV. Painting the car you do report to the DMV so your registration is updated because it's permanent. So in order for the registration to get through you would need to paint it versus wrapping it.


You in Colorado. Things are different there than California - I bet that can be said about the other 49 states.
In California, the DMV is a tax collection department. That is 90% of their duty. They don't GAF what color your car is - in fact there is nothing on my pink slip or registration that indicates color.
It is a tax stamp.


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## TomTheAnt (Jan 1, 2019)

Daisey77 said:


> They're blowing smoke up your ass about the color being attached to your VIN number. There's nowhere in the VIN number that indicates the color of your vehicle.


This. Times eleventybillion.


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

UberBastid said:


> You in Colorado. Things are different there than California - I bet that can be said about the other 49 states.
> In California, the DMV is a tax collection department. That is 90% of their duty. They don't GAF what color your car is - in fact there is nothing on my pink slip or registration that indicates color.
> It is a tax stamp.


Okay. This Thread isn't so much about the DMV. It's about Uber. So tell me how does Uber determine the color of your guys's vehicle out there? They do put the color of your vehicle in the app correct?


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

Daisey77 said:


> Okay. This Thread isn't so much about the DMV. It's about Uber. So tell me how does Uber determine the color of your guys's vehicle out there? They do put the color of your vehicle in the app correct?


It's been a long time since I drove, and even longer since I signed up.
But, I THINK they ask you for the color, and they ask you to send them a picture.
How do they know if its black because it was painted, wrapped or dipped?
It's black.


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## JWB (Dec 22, 2015)

UberBastid said:


> It's been a long time since I drove, and even longer since I signed up.
> But, I THINK they ask you for the color, and they ask you to send them a picture.
> How do they know if its black because it was painted, wrapped or dipped?
> It's black.


Again, I was told when I called support that Uber uses the VIN number somehow. Then someone explained out here that would be too hard for Uber to do it that way. So then I assumed it's attached to the registration. But someone just above is saying not all states have color on the registration. The sad part is I don't even know who at Uber could clarify how this really works. And even though this may never apply to me, I'm just totally curious on this now.


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