Activity Feed › Forums › Sign Making Discussions › Vinyl › Can anyone identify this reflective tape please?
Tagged: aura, chapter 8, chapter8, diamond-grade, lakeside, reflective
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Can anyone identify this reflective tape please?
Posted by Jean Oakley on February 20, 2023 at 5:17 pmHi all, got a vehicle in to repair O/S rear door. Its had a chevron kit fitted that looks like its come from a company (rather than done as a one off). I don’t recognise the reflective and although i have lots of samples none match. It has larger than normal dots and a square checkerboard design in the background. I actually need to find the company that did it but if i can identify the reflective it might make tracking them down easier. All replies appreciated jean
RobertLambie replied 1 year, 9 months ago 6 Members · 11 Replies -
11 Replies
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Not seen any for awhile, but looks like Oralite (sorry cant find swatch to check)
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Hi Jean
You can source it from Lakeside. Just send them the images posted here and they will give you the correct one. I have some of it on my desk just now at work, I will check for the correct reference code tomorrow.
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I think you’ll find you can’t cut that type of reflective vinyl with an ordinary cutter. If it was me I would order in a complete kit from someone like William Smith and replace the whole rear. The Fluorescent yellow is unlikely to match too as the fluorescence fades over so is unlikely to be a similar shade another good reason to replace the entire rear
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Phill is correct, you will need to ask if the material shown can be cut in a standard vinyl plotter or if it must be cut using a flatbed cutter.Lakeside should be able to tell you that, if not, perhaps provide you with the chevron kit, or the parts you need.. which would probably would be more cost effective and easeir, again like Phill has said.
I have attached some Lakside swatches that i have on my desk, for your reference.
I have included the codes for the red and yellow. -
Hi sorry for late reply, just found all these messages in my junk box😞
I was not wanting to cut this myself just thought it would help with finding the company that produced it.
I tried a different path and called the accident repair centre and got the name and number of the company that brought the van in.
That company told me it was on hire and gave me the hire company number
The hire company told me the name and number of the company that fitted it
They have been helpful and and awaiting a cost and time scale for them to cut and post to me to fit.
Thank you for your input its very much appreciated jean
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I do love my job…..
after all that faffing around the accident repair centre have now decided that the vehicle is now a right off and the jobs cancelled. grrrr
I do love my job 😞
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You can cut some of those reflectives on a normal cutter, Avery do one, and I’m led to believe the Aura range can too.
I’m sure @Graham-Scanlan will confirm as he advised me when I needed some for a job.
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after all that faffing around the accident repair centre have now decided that the vehicle is now a right off and the jobs cancelled. grrrr
@Jean-Oakley
There is nothing more frustrating than your time being wasted, Jean.
Damage repair work is good if the garage is willing to be upfront and pass your costs to the insurance at a decent rate. Just don’t let the garage haggle you on your prices, because if they are, they will most likely be inflating the cost at the other end and giving that to the insurance company along with the repair work. -
Hi Rob, id say 50% of my jobs are accident repair. I deal with a few garages locally one for the past 23 years the other 18 years so all good. If anything i think im far too cheap. Believe both places add a further 20% on top of my invoice and never once been asked to reduce costs. Time to add a bit i think and see if they notice 🤔
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Yes, definitely try to push your prices and even if it is questioned, simply blame covid and the increased costs to you as a business, to survive. You are not lying!
Many years ago we did loads of vans for 2 or 3 Mercedes Garages in Glasgow. (have been bought over since)
In the beginning, everything was to fix “just this bit, and that bit”. Trying to match colours to weathered graphics, match fonts, recreate logos and more. It quickly becomes apparent that the labour on your part gets more and more intensive to solve their problem and still they expect the prices to be kept, keen!
I sat down with them and just outlined what a typical visit to them incurs from start to finish and what the cost was to us. When you are transparent with them, they can see more money needs to be charged.
I requested simple things like instead of fixing half a side, we would do the full side of a van. this way the job and finish looks much better to the customer and any colour shade differences aren’t noticed. same with slight differences in fonts or whatever.
On top of that, vinyl matching/colours, brands etc had a minimum quantity cost. i.e. they may need a metre of a certain red, but you charge a minimum sourcing fee of 5-10 metres. (your suppliers do request this also.) the point is they normally settle for colours close if there is a price difference! and because it’s one side of a damage repair, it’s never noticed and if it is, it goes down to weathering and is accepted. think about it, does a freshly sprayed vehicle panel perfectly match the 5-year-old panel right next to it?
anyway, my point is, when you reduce as much of the leg work as possible, it makes things much easier and quicker. but you also offer a “premium service”, where you will go the extra mile to get colours, logos, fonts etc all as close as possible, but will cost them more! But keep in mind, it’s not the garage that’s paying for this, they just pass your costs onto the insurance company.
Anyway, I’m rambling on, now. 🤣
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