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FAQs

Common questions and queries about our vinyl stickers.

Can I do a bank transfer?

Yes. Fill your basket and get the final total including postage and transfer the amount using details below. Make sure you contact us to forward a copy of the order and to tell us you have made the transfer. We will process the order once the bank confirms a successful transfer...

UK orders.

Account number 70945409

Sort Code 089250 Overseas orders.

IBAN number GB49 CPBK 0892 5070 9454 09

Bank Identification Code CPBK GB22

Can you help me decide on colours?

We can send out samples of swatches to help you decide. Just go HERE, add to basket, & pay for the postage.

What is the best way to remove decals?

Can I remove decals after I put them on? Yes you can, but you wont be able to re-use them when you have taken them off. You need to warm them up with a hair drier, then you can pick them off. Once you have removed the vinyl, you can clean off the sticky residue with a product like 'Sticky Stuff Remover' or lighter fluid. Watch our video of us removing stickers from our car.

What is the difference between decal, sticker and transfer?

A decal is a sticker but a sticker is not always a decal. A decal is a high quality vinyl 'sticker' sometimes called a transfer because you 'transfer' it from a backing paper onto the vehicle. Hippy Motors make high quality decals that are stickers and are transferred by you. Stickers can be made from paper but a decal never is. We do not class any printed sticker as a decal as printed stickers are not as durable as vinyl therefore are not a high quality, long-lasting, product as we provide.

Can decals come off in a car wash?

No our decals do not but we do not recommend pressure wash, as those things can even put holes in your radiator and even tyres. Other washes, including car washes, are fine and, if the stickers are put on as instructed, they should stay on as long as the car is running but they will, of course, fade over time - usually in 5-10 years you'll notice a change. If you do insist on using a pressure washer Google the best way of doing that without damaging your car as many but here is a good article by 'WHICH'

Do you do wholesale?

Yes we do. If you want to sell our decals, please contact us to find out how.

Every single price on the website is discounted. Please be assured that we do not artificially inflate our prices then pretend we are discounting prices like big retailers rest do. That's not our game with you, we are a small business and don't have the tax breaks or special privileges given to large companies to create big profits, we just do things cheaply in the first place and are grateful for every penny that comes to us. We try our very best to keep every cost down which is why we do not include hidden postage charges in our product prices. We also have our own tax obligations unlike big business as well.

We do a range of larger kits that are cheaper than if bought separately and that's because we don't need to change the rolls of vinyl in the machine cutters as much so we pass on those savings to our customers not pocket the extra. Less time and effort for us, a small saving for you.

We do not include postage in our products to keep your costs down. So rather than increase our product prices to include post we'll be needed our postal charges covered even on large orders.

Will car stickers damage my car?

No, not if removed properly. We've been taking them on and off our car for years and the paint is totally unaffected. We have noticed however that paint does fade with time, sometimes faster than the vinyl. This means when decals are removed you get the original colour of your motor under it from when you covered it up. Some paint resists fading, some fades quickly, our decals are the best quality so they do resist fading but manufactures do use paint that fades. Our own Bongo is one that fades quickly but we kind of like the ghosting effect left by old decals as it kind of tells a story but if you don't like it car paint colour restorers are available to help with that.

Are you really Hippies?

A good question, I'd love more time off working to contemplate this.

Can you give ideas for how to decorate our campervan or car?

If you have come here looking for campervan decal ideas, you can scroll through our massive range of decal ideas (or call them a sticker if you like), blog and Facebook or Instagram to get ideas on how to decorate your own campervan or car. Sorry but we are not a design agency and have no hourly rate for consultations but give us a call if you want to chat but understand that if it stops us from working and serving our other customers we may ask you to try to think what you want and just order it.

Are decals only for cars, vans or campers?

The material is designed for cars, but most hard, non-porous, surfaces will do. Even some flexible surfaces (like PVC) can be coated. The main one that can't is that plastic woven fabric material.

What happens if you get our order wrong?

Just drop us a line and we'll correct it, no worries.

What if I don't like the colours I picked?

Give us a call first because we are a craft business and make our decals to order to your specification so it's not like returning to stock like other on-line sellers. It is, therefore, up to us if we will accept them back and give a refund; we may ask for an additional cost from you as returning stock & remaking is more time for us. We do not buy-in or hold stock because we make to order by hand, so on large orders it is upsetting if you just return them. This is why we offer free samples of vinyl that you can get HERE.

Can you use multi-coloured vinyl?

No, sorry. Just single colour sheets. I would love to, but the manufacturers haven't made any yet.

How long does postage take?

If we get busy (usually during the summer months) it may take a few days to process. At other times we usually find UK orders are delivered within 3 days of ordering. Airmail is 7-10 working days dependant on where you are & how paranoid customs are. We work from home and very occasionally need to take time of work and if we do your order could be delayed longer (but that is very rare).

Some of the vinyl is peeling away at the edges.

Old vinyl goes brittle and can start to crack and peel away at the edges, that is normal. Our high quality vinyl will prevent this but after 5-10 years it will probably start to happen. Before you put a decal on we ask that you clean the surface with hot soapy water to remove grease and wax. If your decal is quiet new and peeling off, this may not have been as well done as required. Also, some cleaning products like 'Back to Black' may be on the surface which will repel a sticker. Any vinyl that has been applied to a plastic coated surface may have this problem. The vinyl is designed to go on metal surfaces, so plastic is always a bit of a gamble.

The decal has come off right away.

When you apply vinyl with soapy water, it's really easy to forget which side is the sticky side, because as soon as it is wet, both sides feel the same. Therefore, if you get it wrong and put the vinyl on with the non-sticky surface against the car, it will come off once dry. Please be extra careful with the flower centres and vines, these are the trickiest. If you put a decal on in cold weather condensation can form quickly on cold metal essentially making it wet which will reduce the 'tack' of the vinyl so it will not stick well.

Why are the decals are not sticking to the surface?

The reasons for this are plenty. The surface must be sound, clean & free from grease before you put the stickers on. Also do not put them on fresh paint. If it still has a paint smell then it's too soon to put decals on. The recommendation is a month on new paint. Do not use wax or other nice greasy stuff before you apply stickers, do that afterwards. Some spray cosmetic products like 'Back to Black' will put a greasy coating on a surface but hot soapy water will remove that. Do not put on in cold weather; condensation can form quickly on cold metal essentially making it wet which will reduce the 'tack' of the vinyl. You can safely use wax or any cosmetic product on top of the decal once it is on.

Signage Vinyl and colour fastness; how long can I expect decals to last?

Hippy Motors started designing, making and selling car stickers back in 2004. We quickly realised that we needed the best quality vinyl and have always bought the industry's best. However, over the years, we started to find a few changes in manufactures specifications. Certain colours were not performing as they should and were fading too quickly. We raised this with our supplier and this is what we found out:

In 2007 changes in UK legislation were brought in to force manufactures to change the formula of vinyl. They took out some nasty ingredients and made the material better for the environment. Unfortunately this changed the materials colour performance and our supplier (and the collective industry) did not tell anyone.

Never trust a decal or signage company that says they use vinyl that is good for up to 10 years because we can assure you the industry cannot manufacture coloured vinyl that will keep the colour for that long any more. If it is printed vinyl, the expected colour fastness is a lot worse and you'll have a white sticker on your car after only 3 years of being in the sun. Some manufactures of vinyl only guarantee it sticking for 10 years but will not guarantee the colour, so we buy the best colourfast vinyl we can get.

Those who are old customers of Hippy Motors and are eagle-eyed will have noticed we have appeared to have down graded our vinyl from 10 years to 7 years because we don't want to fool you.

We found out that vinyl suppliers have always been misleading the industry. 10 years never referred to colour in the first place. It was only ever for how long it sticks to the surface, but the colour could fade after only 1.5 years (for certain colours). So although it would still stick, it would no longer have its original colour. At Hippy Motors, we know that you want colour so now we are using a supplier that rates the colour for 7 years. But, it's not really that simple. The real figures are below:

Black & white - 8 years

Colours - 7 years

Silver & gold - 5 years

Our vinyl supplier is METAMARK UK and they are great; if you want to know more please go to their website.

Are car stickers legal?

Completely, no law exists saying they are not BUT make sure they do not obstruct your vision when driving. If they obstruct your vision in front, rear or sides you will be asked to remove them and an MOT examiner may fail a car if they consider it does. For that reason follow our guidelines on the windscreen wording and do not have it lower than the sun visor as that will be considered an obstruction. Check out the UK Governments guidelines here.

What are the rules on car stickers and car insurance

Their is no reason why putting stickers on your car will make a difference to your insurance policy but before you buy our stickers, give your current car insurance provider a call and ask them if it's OK to add a Hippy Motors sticker to your motor. Most car insurance companies will not care if you have stickers on your van but some will tell you that it's a 'modification' and will make your policy invalid. We have, therefore, taken advice on this and can tell you that a sticker on the car is NOT a modification to the car so please avoid any companies that tell you it is. A modification to a vehicle is only is something that will change the performance of the motor from its original manufactured specification. Fitting a big bore exhaust to a car is a modification as it changes the performance of the car so will invalidate a policy, a sticker saying 'I'm a big bore', however, will not alter a cars performance. A sticker is therefore not a modification so stay away from businesses telling you otherwise as they are an insurance company looking for reasons not to cover a claim when you need it.

We can fully recommend Aviva car insurance. We have had many conversations with them about our car and their staff love Hippy Motors stickers so give them a call. We've used them for years and have never had an issue with their good-value service.

My question isn't here.

Contact us and we will do our best to help you.

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