Why Buy a Red Van When You Can Wrap a White One?

Another white van arrived at our workshop for Young Bros Civil Engineers, and another red one left.

This time it was a Vauxhall Combo, joining the larger vehicles we have previously wrapped as part of the company’s distinctive red fleet.

It may be considerably smaller than the Vauxhall Movano we completed for Young Bros, but the approach remained exactly the same: strip it down properly, prepare every surface carefully and wrap the complete vehicle, including the roof.

The video follows the whole transformation, from the white Combo rolling into the workshop to the finished red van being walked around at the end.

A smaller van still deserves the full treatment

A Vauxhall Combo naturally uses less material and takes less time to wrap than a large panel van, but that does not mean cutting corners. The van was stripped down so the vinyl could be properly installed around its fittings, edges and openings. This produces a much neater finish than simply cutting around everything while it remains on the vehicle.

We also wrapped the roof. It is easy to overlook the top of a van, particularly when most people view it from ground level, but leaving it white would have made the colour change look unfinished from upstairs windows, elevated roads or anywhere else the roof could be seen. Once complete, the Combo looked like a red van rather than a white van with red sides, exactly as it should.

Why wrap a white van into your company colour?

Finding the right vehicle is not always as simple as choosing the make, model and exact colour you want. Stock availability, lead times and price can all influence the buying decision. Restricting a vehicle search to one particular factory colour can make that process harder, especially when several vans are being added to a fleet over time.

Buying a readily available white van and wrapping it into the company colour gives Young Bros a consistent red fleet without relying on every suitable vehicle being available in red.

Depending on the vehicle and how it is being purchased, it can also be more practical and cost-effective than ordering a special factory colour. The graphics and branding can then be produced at the same time as the colour change, creating one consistent finish across vehicles of very different shapes and sizes.

What happens when the wrap is removed?

The benefits of a colour-change van wrap are not limited to the years when the vehicle is in service.

Provided the original paintwork is sound, the right materials are used and the wrap is professionally fitted and removed, the vinyl also acts as a protective layer over the factory paint.

When the Combo eventually reaches the end of its working life with Young Bros, the red wrap can be removed to reveal the original white van underneath. A neutral-coloured vehicle with well-preserved paintwork may appeal to a wider group of potential buyers than one permanently painted in a company colour.

We have seen this ourselves. When we removed graphics from another customer’s van after five years, the material came away cleanly and the original factory paint underneath was still in excellent condition.

See what happened when we removed van graphics after five years

A consistent fleet, whatever the vehicle size

This Vauxhall Combo now sits comfortably alongside the larger vehicles in the Young Bros fleet.

The size and shape may be different, but the red finish and familiar branding make it immediately recognisable as part of the same company. That is one of the main advantages of fleet wrapping: each vehicle can be treated individually while still maintaining a consistent appearance across the business.

Talk to MOBAD about colour-change van wraps and consistent fleet branding.