[bosem123]

Voted for NO here!

My simple logic is that I wish to be in-charge of deciding of what to add as stickers or graphics on my vehicle. I have never quite been able to trust auto manufacturers about the same.

[clementw]

Art is subjective and what appeals to one will hurt another. Some factory sticker work are plain awful, the Swift for instance with some musical notes on it. Is it a car or a amusement park runabout?

Subtle work can elevate the look of the car but very few can pull it off. Never forget the hand drawn lines of the RE Bullets, they will look naked without them after all these years.

[Apex1815]

I would never buy a car with Graphics/ Decals as liking towards such stickers/decals may be momentary. Even if you buy this, over a period of time you may find those graphics as awful.

Maruti Suzuki had launched a special edition of Swift somewhere in late 2016/early 2017 (Football edition with No. 10 decaled on the outerbody and seat cars and some add on highlights related to Football theme).

Initially, I liked the the theme of graphics on that Swift and had even thought of buying the same (as I was exploring my first car in the same segment) but eventually did not go for that. Today after seeing this article I could realize that I took the right decision buy not buying this 10 no. Swift.

[Senna_sempre]

IMO it depends on the sticker and vehicle.
It might be subjective but I actually like the subtle decals of the the Ford Figo S. Without these the car looks too plain to my eyes.
I recently added stripes myself to my car to make it look more sporty. I hope I didn't mess up the looks.

[jbpanda]

Voted for “Depends on sticker and vehicle”. If it is something that enhances the overall look and appeal of the car (like my Abarth Punto), I would not mind buying a stock vehicle with stickers.

[psn]

This is a wonderful thread, and I am sorry but I would like to increase the expanse of this discussion from Stickers and Decals to automotive art.

The reason, I think instead of discussing stickers and decals, we can actually take this discussion to automotive art because, in the end, these stickers and decals are serving the purpose of allowing the owner to individualize his vehicle and express himself.

To begin with, I would like to share with you my profession. I am a partner with a company called Eimor Customs. We custom paint bikes like Harleys, Triumphs, and Royal Enfield's for a living.

When I reached the age of driving and got to share the family car, I remember seeing Autographix stickers for cars, being launched in the market. Many cars in Delhi used to carry them and they were and I suppose still are a rage. You may recall some of those iconic stickers, the boy peeping out of the blinds or bullet holes.

As soon as cars would leave the dealerships they would straight away go to local accessories stores to be personalized.

Not to be left behind, Maruti started to have their own MGA (Maruti Genuine accessories), which had exactly the same accessories which people popularly used to get fixed outside. Decals, seat covers, mud flaps, foot mats, steering cover, music system, anti-theft alarm system, gear lock etc.

In Delhi, as far as I know, Maruti dealerships and a few other company dealerships also started the concept of allowing for personalization of vehicles at dealership levels wherein they would take the OEM accessories from the MGA bin and create a package for the customers.

Further down the line, Maruti allowed personalization through the official website, wherein you could choose the graphics, design of alloys, and even roof wraps. I was not aware, but even the interiors of the car, like dashboard color, A, B, and C pillar can be custom painted.

So in this regard, whether we like the sticker designs of Maruti or not, at least the Indian market got the option through OEM channel the choice to personalize his automobile and make it either distinctive or more suitable to his taste. Maruti in this regard, has done quite a bit and are pioneers.

Today one can personalize his commuter segment motorcycle also, in similar ways. Royal Enfield since 2019 has a Make it yours program. Yamaha too has massive personalization options, including various decals.

Some vehicles, I believe are just not complete without decals\Stickers\vinyl or distinct paint job. Prime examples of that will be a Fiat Punto Abarth, Mini Cooper or Fiat 500, Ford Mustang or a Chevy Camero.

I for one, love how a well-designed Swift looks with some of the decals. Car companies like Hyundai, Jeep, Tata are now also using dual-tone roofs to achieve the same goal. VW is using wraps to achieve the dual-tone effect, while some are using actual paints.

Then there are some cars which need to have exquisite paint jobs with art forms like pin stripping to make them suit each client's taste, like a RR or a Bentley or even Royal Enfield’s.

Legendary Mark Court, Coachline painter, comes to my mind when I write this, or Chennai brothers for Royal Enfield. How can we forget Chip Foose in this?

Mark Court at work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ37QC2xFkQ

Chennai brothers at work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsTIMxeO_ng

Royal Enfield is using pin stripping by Chennai Brothers to achieve that, while others use vinyls to achieve pin striping. Every commuter motorcycle uses stickers, without which the bikes will look absolutely blah, whereas some cars like BMW 128ti are also using vinyls to accentuate their looks.

Not so good Vinyl work by BMW:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws8LEPPNo28

At 7:06-7:10 you can see the vinyl peeling off.

I would also like to highlight, that companies like Harley seldom use stickers and decals except for Harley logos, and when you see a Harley with flames, it is actually hand-painted artwork on the bikes and not graphic stickers.


An official video of custom painting of HD by HD follows:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmKxQ0aiKyo

Slowly, the Indian market is now moving from just decals to wraps, which is also a sticker for all practical purposes.

Then there are some, who are getting custom painting done on their bikes and cars. We have personally seen a surge of such clients since lock-down who are interested in custom painting their cars, bikes, and helmets.

Some work done on Harley and Royal Enfield's





The majority of clients still get surprised by the pricing for such works, but once they come around, it's absolutely amazing to see how they are using this medium to express themselves. it's only a matter of time when the market adjusts to these prices once they understand the artistry involved and skill levels involved in each work, and most importantly the possibilities that it will allow us.

We presently are custom painting at least 4 to 5 bikes per month. Some of the works are as below. This is not for advertising purposes but to share with you the kind of work that is happening in the automotive scene in India.

My own Chevrolet Cruze, custom painted with racing stripes with moke effect in monochrome.





Legal aspect as per MVA on Painting\Decals and Stickers
It is legal to repaint your vehicle to different Colors. There are some procedures one needs to follow to make it legal.
1) First, when you look into your RC book, there is a color field mentioned. This field has to changed, legally.
You first have to take your RC book, along with the color shade sample, to your RTO (better take it to the RTO office,
that issued your RC book).Get a letter of approval from the RTO for the color and go to your work shop.
2) Get your vehicle painted in the same color for which you got your approval. Now, take your vehicle to the RTO,
show the color and the RTO approval letter, pay the necessary fees and get your RC book entry edited by the Authorized RTO officer.
3) Certain colors like Olive Green meant for defence, yellow/back for taxis as per state statute are not permitted.

Come to think of it, in India we have always been big on the personalization of vehicles through art, that is why no truck, bus, auto-rickshaw, cycle-rickshaw on Indian roads are ever the same.

We in India, are still busy discussing stickers and vinyls when the world has moved ahead in automotive art.

[viXit]

When this is the view you are greeted with everyday, HELL YES!

In fact, since all the wind from the highway driving was peeling the stickers off, we got a new set of stickers, polished the paint, stuck them and put PPF on the stickered areas to make it permanent!

Love it!

[Garth]

Voted for It depends on the sticker and vehicle.

Harrier Camo is a perfect example of how if done correctly by the manufacturer, the results turn out great.

[adisan]

No. It should be left to each person to have whatever art pleases them on their vehicle.

If the proposition is to have some graphics from a limited set of options, then many vehicles having the same graphics would cause the novelty to quickly wear off.