Partial, three-quarter or full wrap
Coverage is the biggest single lever on price. A cut-vinyl livery — logo, web address, phone number and a couple of accent bands on a white panel van — uses a fraction of the material and bench time of a printed wrap and is the most common specification for trade fleets in Glasgow.
A three-quarter wrap prints the flanks and rear doors while leaving the roof and bonnet bare. A full wrap covers every visible panel, including bumpers, door shuts and mirrors, and takes considerably longer because of the recessing and post-heating involved.
What else moves the number
Vehicle shape matters more than size. A flat-sided Luton box body is quicker to cover than a small van with deep corrugations, sculpted door skins and roof bars, even though it has more square metres.
Film grade matters too. Cast vinyl conforms to curves and stays dimensionally stable for years; calendered film costs less but shrinks back off complex contours. For a fleet that will be on the road for five to seven years, cast is usually cheaper over the life of the vehicle.
Prep is the invisible line. Vehicles arriving off site with tar, wax or old adhesive need decontamination before any film goes on, and old livery has to be removed and the residue cleaned. That is time, and it is why a same-model van can quote differently from the one beside it.
Fleet pricing and rollouts
Fleets are priced differently to one-offs. Once a livery is designed and cut files are proven on the first vehicle, every subsequent unit of the same model is faster, so per-vehicle cost falls across a batch.
Rollouts are usually staged so a set number of vehicles come through per week and the operator never loses more of the fleet than they can absorb. Booking that schedule in advance is what keeps the per-unit rate down.
Getting an accurate quote
Send a vehicle list with make, model, body style and wheelbase, plus artwork or a logo file, and say whether existing livery needs removing. That is enough to price accurately without a site visit in most cases.
For mixed fleets we quote per model group so the numbers stay readable, and we hold the design so future additions to the fleet match the vehicles already on the road.
For full detail on how we specify, produce and install this work, see our Vehicle Wrapping, Van Signwriting & Fleet Livery service page, or read the rest of our signage guides.
