John, my recommendation is to use paint, not vinyl, as you will never get the depth and shine in it that paint provides, it will be more matte in appearance. I coated mine with about a 10% black to clear coat spray with roughly 6-7 coats, wetsanding between each one, and it turned out fantastic. I had vinyl on the last car, and while I liked it, it did not look nearly as good. On the upside, it was cheap, and was not permanent.

If you go this route, I would call around to some tint shops and see what people are charging. You are going to have to pay someone to apply them anyway as vinyl is very difficult to get to lay down well, especially on an area that light will pass through, you want it to be perfect. These guys have this vinyl and will cut it to fit during install, then you don;t have to worry about missing a half inch on one side. They will do it right and my guess is somewhere around $100-$150 per car, for all lenses including the 4 corner markers. If you want less done, the price should go down accordingly.

Good luck, John, give me a shout if you have any questions...