They won't come off in the rain, when you wash it and wax shouldn't hurt the stipes. But if you are using an actual buffer you will want to avoid them when you are polishing. Its best to put some 3/4" masking tape right one the edge of the stripe before you polish. That way you wont have to worry about burning them up with the buffer. The only down side to vinyl is that it will eventually fade out, but by then you will have saved enough to paint the stripes on right?
With paint you need to strip the old paint off, atleast the clear then paint it and re clear it. lot of work, lots of money but good quality. Vinyl is much cheeper and easier. If your waxing watch it thoe, you can get white swirls that will be hard to get out. When it comes to painting aircraft paint is always better however decals work too if you need detail or if your in a pinch.
I have noticed when i put flat black or matt black vinyl on cars. When you wax make sure you dont go over the decal, or use a wax that doesnt leave the white residue. It will stay on the decal if you go over it..
The cost of painting stripes will vary alot between shops, but its not always a good idea to go out and find the cheapest place. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to prep/paint work. As for painting the stripes, the clear does NOT need to be stripped off, they will probably just feather out any rock chips and scuff the rest.
If you want stripes with absolutely no edge, then they will proably re-base coat, then mask ontop of that, then mask the stripes after the paint is ready for tape. They will base the stripes, then pull the tape off and lightly sand away the paint edge. Then they will clear it after that, a little color sanding+ polish and ur set. Make sure they do it exactly how you want, make sure you say u dont want them to bury the paint edge and make it smooth
If you can afford it, definately get them painted on. Vinyl is okay, but its a pain the ass for compound curves even for professionals. Vinyl will also fade over time, and seems to want to peal off a little over time (a couple years, depending on the quality of vinyl). With paint, you can run down bumpers and anywhere you want, without a problem. Plus, they're a heck of a lot easier to maintain.
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need advice on vinyl decals? - 
