Painting your Cybertruck

[Cybergirl]

This sounds like heresy, but is anyone planning to paint their Cybertruck? I'm not talking about wrapping with vinyl or PPF, but with good old fashioned primer and acrylic overcoats. Granted, it's an almost permanent process, so not to be undertaken lightly, but there are advantages to painting over other methods.
1) Painting the Cybertruck may cost less than wrapping since the steel is already bare and abraded.
2) Paint will last longer than a vinyl or PPF wrap.
3) You can get paint in any color you want.
4) Some would say a good paint job looks better than a wrap.

If maintaining the bare stainless turns out to be a nightmare, I think I'd look into painting it, but I'm not sure what problems doing so would introduce, if any.

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[SlegMD]

Never. Probably the initial interest of this vehicle, for myself, is not worrying about the fragility of paint. Defeats the purpose completely.

 

[lowtek]

Wrap > Paint

 

[Woodrick]

Wraps do have an advantage over paint, in that they may be able to be removed cleanly.

There's a lot of wrap colors available, including completely custom.

But to each their own.

 

[Cybergirl]

Wraps do have an advantage over paint, in that they may be able to be removed cleanly.

There's a lot of wrap colors available, including completely custom.

But to each their own.

The jury is still out on how the stainless steel will stand up to dirt, weather, bug juice, finger prints, washings, scratches, road salt, etc. If I don't wrap it on day one, and after a year my CT looks blotchy and streaky despite efforts to keep it looking like new (there's already indications that it might), what will I do? Wrap it, sand it, paint it, ignore it, sell it? I'm thinking that painting might be a good low maintenance option. It may not matter that paint can't be removed as easily as a wrap if what's under the paint or wrap is ugly.

 

[CyberJerry]

My plan is to enjoy the stainless for awhile, then pick a cool PPF wrap. It will feel brand new again.

 

[charliemagpie]

The CT SS is a blank canvas, and by sheer weight of numbers, everything that can be done will eventually be done.

Spray cans can be used to personalise trucks. Can't be that hard to remove if they wanted to.

We are used to neat cars, but what if new car fashions arise? It could get crazy out there.

 

[cvalue13]

The jury is still out on how the stainless steel will stand up to dirt, weather, bug juice, finger prints, washings, scratches, road salt, etc. If I don't wrap it on day one, and after a year my CT looks blotchy and streaky despite efforts to keep it looking like new (there's already indications that it might), what will I do? Wrap it, sand it, paint it, ignore it, sell it? I'm thinking that painting might be a good low maintenance option. It may not matter that paint can't be removed as easily as a wrap if what's under the paint or wrap is ugly.

you have a very reasonable and conservative view here

on one hand, there are some folks who are genuinely of the mindset that “I don’t care how my truck looks, no matter how blotched, stained, or tarnished” and I say good on them, they’ve found their safe place

on the other hand, there appear to be some folks who have in mind the SS will be simultaneously blemishproof and pristine, and this second group I think has some recalibration coming


While a bit pithy, there’s truth to the fact that it’s called “stain-less” steel not stain-proof.

What’s more, the material was selected and used primarily to avoid corrosion, not aesthetic blemishes.

It’s paint that is used to make something nearer to stain-proof, though at the expense of the fragility of the paint finish (eg scratching).

So while removing the paint does eliminate the issues of paint scratching and blemishes, it also unveils a surface that is merely stain-less.

And paint, aside from avoiding staining, also is a good material for removing any stains that do occur - sanding, buffing, and glossing (wax etc) are relatively low-intensity efforts.

Conversely, I see folks flippantly say “I’ll just refinish the stainless.” Some of those folks might know exactly what they’re getting into with that effort. But others might not even know what they’d be getting into to refinish a relatively easy material like paint, much less bare stainless.


All-in-all, I think the two *safe* camps are (a) those who truly don’t care what the stainless looks like, and (b) those prepared to take advantage of paint for the reasons paint was introduced in the first place.

In the middle are a bunch of folks who I’m not certain aren’t just imagining, without experience, what they could be in for.

Meanwhile, personally, I can’t help but wonder if a lot of folks live in zones of particularly dangerous and errant shopping carts - seems a whole lot of consternation around door dings, compared to my own experience.

But more to the point: it raises for me a strange tensions on this topic: so, you’re driven crazy by a tiny paint scratch created by a shopping cart or door ding, but you’re *not* going to be bothered by Stainless with blotching, oil marks, water stains, etc?

Which is it?! Do we require our vehicles to look good or not?!




all that said, a quality paint job may or may not surprise some in terms of cost compared to a good wrap job. Will be interested to learn what a quality paint shop says about the effort and outcomes to painting a surface that wasn’t made for accepting paint. Some of the waviness in the stainless could really pop with a gloss applied, absent some decent prep work.

 

[Cybergirl]

you have a very reasonable and conservative view here

on one hand, there are some folks who are genuinely of the mindset that “I don’t care how my truck looks, no matter how blotched, stained, or tarnished” and I say good on them, they’ve found their safe place

on the other hand, there appear to be some folks who have in mind the SS will be simultaneously blemishproof and pristine, and this second group I think has some recalibration coming


While a bit pithy, there’s truth to the fact that it’s called “stain-less” steel not stain-proof.

What’s more, the material was selected and used primarily to avoid corrosion, not aesthetic blemishes.

It’s paint that is used to make something nearer to stain-proof, though at the expense of the fragility of the paint finish (eg scratching).

So while removing the paint does eliminate the issues of paint scratching and blemishes, it also unveils a surface that is merely stain-less.

And paint, aside from avoiding staining, also is a good material for removing any stains that do occur - sanding, buffing, and glossing (wax etc) are relatively low-intensity efforts.

Conversely, I see folks flippantly say “I’ll just refinish the stainless.” Some of those folks might know exactly what they’re getting into with that effort. But others might not even know what they’d be getting into to refinish a relatively easy material like paint, much less bare stainless.


All-in-all, I think the two *safe* camps are (a) those who truly don’t care what the stainless looks like, and (b) those prepared to take advantage of paint for the reasons paint was introduced in the first place.

In the middle are a bunch of folks who I’m not certain aren’t just imagining, without experience, what they could be in for.

Meanwhile, personally, I can’t help but wonder if a lot of folks live in zones of particularly dangerous and errant shopping carts - seems a whole lot of consternation around door dings, compared to my own experience.

But more to the point: it raises for me a strange tensions on this topic: so, you’re driven crazy by a tiny paint scratch created by a shopping cart or door ding, but you’re *not* going to be bothered by Stainless with blotching, oil marks, water stains, etc?

Which is it?! Do we require our vehicles to look good or not?!




all that said, a quality paint job may or may not surprise some in terms of cost compared to a good wrap job. Will be interested to learn what a quality paint shop says about the effort and outcomes to painting a surface that wasn’t made for accepting paint. Some of the waviness in the stainless could really pop with a gloss applied, absent some decent prep work.

What's more objectionable, blotchy doors or wavy fenders? There may not be a perfect choice. We're all going to have to decide which side of the aesthetics line we want to reside, or more likely let reality decide for us.

 

[Cybergirl]

I have to wonder, though, why I have an LG stainless steel refrigerator that doesn't show finger prints while my neighbor's Samsung does. What's different here? Is mine coated with something the wards off stains? Can I have my CT treated to?

 

[Woodrick]

I have to wonder, though, why I have an LG stainless steel refrigerator that doesn't show finger prints while my neighbor's Samsung does. What's different here? Is mine coated with something the wards off stains? Can I have my CT treated to?

That is already, AFAIK, one of the things that they've done. They aren't going to let the Cybertruck sink because of fingerprints.

 

[Cybergirl]

That is already, AFAIK, one of the things that they've done. They aren't going to let the Cybertruck sink because of fingerprints.

What evidence do you have of that?

 

[Woodrick]

What evidence do you have of that?

I remember them talking about it.

But do you really think that the team didn't think of it? It's one of the basic problems with stainless, as you said.

But with all the discussing that we can do, let's just wait and see. I haven't heard of the YouTubers making a big deal out of yet. The forums and press seem to make a big deal out if though (as usual).

 

[JBee]

I remember them talking about it.

But do you really think that the team didn't think of it? It's one of the basic problems with stainless, as you said.

But with all the discussing that we can do, let's just wait and see. I haven't heard of the YouTubers making a big deal out of yet. The forums and press seem to make a big deal out if though (as usual).

There's heaps of videos that show fingerprints on the CT. One of the OCD videos even compares the wrap with the plain SS.

Personally I'd wrap it after a while of using it. 10years for self healing ppf is good enough I think.

I like this one atm for the most similar to the original look wrap. Makes it look even more "rendered".

 

[Ezman]

There's heaps of videos that show fingerprints on the CT. One of the OCD videos even compares the wrap with the plain SS.

Personally I'd wrap it after a while of using it. 10years for self healing ppf is good enough I think.

I like this one atm for the most similar to the original look wrap. Makes it look even more "rendered".

Thanks for this post, this was actually pretty cool.

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