Unlocked vinyls that you buy??

All Auction House and Storefront designs are locked, they cannot be unlocked.

The vinyl packages and designs you buy off of the storefront are always locked. To receive designs unlocked, you have to have been gifted the design. For this you need 2 things. You need the owner of the vinyl added to your friends list and you need their approval to use their design(s). Some people pay millions of CR to get one unlocked design, though, so be prepared with a lot of money in advance before attempting to obtain a well-done vinyl/design.

Okay, these people are both wrong. To use a vinyl design on a car, make sure you have the design specific for that car. For example, if you download a vinyl meant for a Shelby, you can't put it on a Dodge. After buying a vinyl, here is what you do:

1. Get into the car you want to put the vinyl on.
2. Go to the Paint section.
3. If using just a design (not something that covers the entire car), go to Apply Vinyls, select the location, and select load a vinyl group. Then, you can change the size, but usually nothing else.
3a. If you are using a full-body vinyl (livery), go to My Designs, find the one you want, and load it. It may take off any paint, rims, hoods, etc you already have on your car.
Once loaded, you are all set. You can change the color of your car or whatnot using a design, but not a full body vinyl. Hope this helps.

Perhaps the confusion is that you can USE locked vinyls and designs but you can't EDIT them. They don't need to be unlocked to apply to your cars.

Cheers...