Cost to wrap a tailgate? DIY or Pro shop

My tailgate has seen better days. I have golf ball size dents, clear coat and down to the metal scratches everywhere on it. It drives me nuts because the tailgate is the ONLY place on the entire truck that's has blemishes.... (Go figure) I really don't want to take it into a body shop because of the obvious reasons ($$$). I've looked into getting a new tailgate replacement and found out they start at $200 (not bad). Even thought of filling the blemishes and plastidiping it haha. My next thought was to vinyl wrap the damn thing. I know the scratches and dents will still be noticable. I plan on doing a little lazy man's bondo work my self and wrapping it. So my question is whats more inexpensive? DIY or Professional? Has anyone been down this road before and can share their experience? Thanks in advance.

 

I would try a junkyard first for a tailgate in better condition...then a cheap respray

 

I'd guess at least $100 to have a pro wrap your tailgate.

 

Having wrapped my hood, I can say it can run 100-200 for a professional wrap. Well worth the money, however. It easily takes 2 people and it can still have flaws after following all of the youtube videos. I'd suggest getting it professionally done and let it protect your investment in a replaced tailgate. I don't think you'll get a lot of points for original numbers on a beat up tailgate. Works great to protect from scratches, etc.

 

Having wrapped my whole truck myself, I’ll tell you this. The scratches and dents will be more noticeable with the vinyl wrap. You will need to fill them in, sand, smooth and paint before wrapping if you want it to look good and last. You will want to let the paint cure for at least 30days before wrapping over it as the paint will need to finish off gassing or the vinyl will bubble and peel. That being said, the tailgate would be an easy piece to wrap, materials will be about $40-50, and I’m not pro but I’d charge at least $100 labor to do it. Not including the prep work. So a pro would charge at least that. If you want to diy and experiment with the vinyl, do it yourself, otherwise I’d find a replacement if you want it to be perfect.

 

If you wrap it, sand it down to smooth out the scratches and uneven blemishes. If you filled in the dents, you’d have to sand anyway.