Custom Car Magnets & Magnetic Signs in Sacramento
· Updated
Car magnets are removable business signs: your name, number, and logo printed on magnetic sheet that sticks to a flat steel panel and peels off in seconds. Art Printing Vehicle Wraps prints them the same way we print wraps — real design, real materials, sized to actually read from another lane.
We will also tell you when a magnet is the wrong tool. That happens more often than magnet sellers admit, and finding out after your paint has a rectangle burned into it is an expensive way to learn.
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Custom car magnets are printed on 30 mil magnetic sheet and hold to flat steel panels only — they will not stick to the aluminum, fiberglass, or plastic panels used on many modern trucks and vans. They suit part-time, leased, and personal vehicles that need to switch between branded and unbranded. A 12" × 24" magnet is $65, a matching pair $120. For a vehicle that is branded every day, cut vinyl lettering from $550 costs less over its life and never lifts on the freeway.
When a magnet is the right call
There is a real job magnets do well, and it is not "cheap wrap". It is reversibility.
- You drive your personal car for work. Branded on the job, plain on the weekend and in the neighborhood.
- The vehicle is leased. Some leases restrict permanent graphics. A magnet sidesteps that entirely.
- Part-time or seasonal work. A side business that runs three months a year does not need permanent lettering.
- You are testing a brand. New name, new logo, not sure it is final — magnets let you change your mind without paying twice.
- Rented or borrowed vehicles. A rental box truck for one event can carry your brand for the day and give it back clean.
- Employee-owned vehicles. Staff who use their own cars are far more willing to run a magnet than permanent vinyl.
If one of those is you, a magnet is the correct answer and we will print you a good one.
When a magnet will not work — check this before you order
This is the part that costs people money. Magnets need flat, bare steel. A lot of modern vehicles do not have any.
- Aluminum body panels. Ford has built F-150 bodies in aluminum since the 2015 model year — doors, bed sides, everything a magnet would go on. Nothing sticks. This catches Sacramento contractors constantly, because the F-150 is the most common work truck on the road here.
- Plastic and composite panels. Many bumpers, some van bodies, and most panel inserts are plastic.
- Fiberglass. Common on box-truck bodies, service caps, and utility bodies.
- Curved or body-lined panels. A magnet needs full contact across its whole face. If the panel has a crease, a swage line, or a strong curve, air gets under the edge — and at freeway speed, air under an edge is how magnets leave.
For those vehicles the answer is cut vinyl lettering, which bonds to any painted surface — steel, aluminum, plastic, fiberglass — and does not care about the shape.
What magnets do to paint, and how to stop it
Magnets do not damage sound paint by themselves. Two things they trap do.
Grit. Dirt caught between the magnet and the paint gets ground in every time the vehicle moves. Over months that is fine scratching in the exact shape of the sign.
Moisture. Water wicks under the edge and has nowhere to go. Left long enough it marks the clear coat.
And in this valley there is a third: sun. Sacramento summers put months of hard UV on a parked vehicle. Paint under a magnet ages slower than paint around it, so after a season you can see the outline even with the magnet off. It is not damage exactly — it is a visible rectangle you did not order.
- Take the magnet off at least once a week. Wash and dry both the panel and the back of the magnet, then put it back on dry.
- Never install over dirt, wax residue, or a wet panel.
- Remove before an automatic car wash — brushes catch edges and take magnets with them.
- Store flat or rolled printed-side out, never folded. A crease is permanent and the magnet will not sit flat again.
- Do not put a magnet over fresh paint or a fresh repair. New paint needs weeks to fully cure.
If nobody in your operation is going to do the weekly routine — and on a busy crew, nobody is — that is a real argument for lettering instead.
Sizes that actually get read
A sign that is too small is money spent on nothing. Legibility is a function of size and distance, so the panel you have decides the size you need.
| Size | Fits | Reads from |
|---|---|---|
| 12" × 18" | Car doors, small van doors | Close range — parking lots, driveways |
| 12" × 24" | Pickup and van doors — the common size | Across a street, adjacent lane |
| 18" × 24" | Full-size truck doors, box-truck steel panels | Traffic at speed |
| 24" × 24" and larger | Box trucks, trailers with steel sides | Highway distance |
The design matters more than the size. Phone number large enough to dial from the next lane, one service line, high contrast, no clutter. We lay them out the way we lay out a wrap, because the physics of reading a moving vehicle is the same either way. If you need the artwork built from scratch, that is graphic design.
Pricing
A 12" × 24" magnet — the common door size — is $65, and a matching pair for both doors is $120. Other sizes are quoted from the same per-square-foot logic. If there is no print-ready artwork yet, design is a separate step.
Worth knowing before you choose: magnets are cheapest per sign, not cheapest per year. A set that gets replaced every season because it faded, creased, or blew off costs more over three years than lettering that goes on once.
| Option | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Custom car magnet, 12" × 24" | $65 each | The common door size — reads from the next lane |
| Matching pair (both doors) | $120 | How most vehicles are ordered |
| Cut vinyl lettering | From $550 | Any vehicle branded every day |
| Partial wrap | Priced by coverage | Real presence on the high-impact panels |
| Full fleet wrap | $13–$17 / sq ft | A fleet that should look like one brand |
See your exact price · (916) 532-1891
Looking for car magnets near you in the Sacramento area?
We are on College Oak Dr in Sacramento and print magnets for customers across the metro — Roseville, Folsom and the rest of the service area. Magnets are small and flat, so most orders ship or get picked up without the vehicle ever coming in — we only need to see the truck if you want us to confirm the panels are steel.
Frequently asked questions
Will car magnets damage my paint?
Not on their own. What causes damage is grit and moisture trapped underneath, plus uneven sun fading over months. Pull the magnet off weekly, clean and dry both surfaces, and reinstall dry — factory paint in good condition stays fine. Fresh paint or a recent repair is the exception: keep magnets off it until it has fully cured.
Will a magnet stick to my F-150?
No. Ford F-150 bodies have been aluminum since the 2015 model year, and magnets do not hold to aluminum. Same story for plastic bumpers, fiberglass utility bodies, and composite van panels. For those vehicles, cut vinyl lettering is the equivalent — permanent, and it bonds to any painted panel.
Do car magnets stay on at freeway speed?
On a flat steel panel with full contact and a clean surface, yes. They come off when an edge is not fully seated, when the panel is curved, or when dirt is holding the edge up. Check the edges before every long drive, and remember the vehicle you follow does not enjoy finding a magnet with its windshield.
How long do custom car magnets last?
Depends almost entirely on care and sun. Handled well, a couple of years; left on permanently in full Central Valley summer, the print fades noticeably faster. Magnets are consumables — lettering is not.
Are magnetic signs legal for a business vehicle in California?
For ordinary business branding, yes. If you run under a USDOT number, the required markings must be displayed per the federal rules, and it is your responsibility to keep them legible and in place — some operators prefer permanent DOT lettering for exactly that reason. Check your own operating authority requirements.
Can I get magnets for a box truck or trailer?
Only where the panel is steel. Many box bodies are aluminum or fiberglass, which rules magnets out entirely — that is why most box trucks go straight to box truck graphics or a trailer wrap.
Do you design the magnet or do I need to supply artwork?
Either way. Send print-ready vector artwork and we print it, or we build the layout from your logo and information. If there is no logo yet, graphic design starts there.
Magnets or lettering — which should I actually get?
If the vehicle needs to go unbranded sometimes, magnets. If it is branded every day, lettering: it costs more once and less over three years, never lifts, and works on panels magnets cannot touch. We will tell you straight which one your situation calls for, even when it is the cheaper one.
Not sure which rung of the ladder you are on? Send us the vehicle and what you do — we will tell you whether magnets, lettering, or a wrap is the right spend. Get a free quote.