Many of us want to protect our babies (yes, the organic ones too) and I am talking about our cars. For me, it is my new 2017 Model S. For about six months now I have been researching what is the best way to help protect my paint and on the front of my car's body. I wanted buy a product that would last, have a strong defense against bug splats, bird bombs, and rock bullets (along with starches, and paint fading) . Over and over I see and read about so many people going with Xpel. I was all set on doing that too for my car, and just wanted to make sure it was the best option out there. I am glad I did.
I came across some people talking about 3M's scotchgard paint protection Pro and dug into it more. I found out that they offer the same 10 year warranty as Xpel (it was seven with 3M), however if installed by a certified dealer they also offer the insurance protection of up to $3,500.00. This covers replacement and repaint should it ever be needed. I thought this was all good and everything, but I needed to see how good the film really was. So I found a video on YouTube that sealed the deal for me. Here is that video...
It was a no brain'er from there. I looked into it more and found out Xpel is just an older version of SunTek. Don't get me wrong, all films are good, but if I was going to pay thousands to protect my car, it needed be the best.
Living in the Houston area, I called 3M to find out who their local approved authorized dealer was. They only had one. I was shocked on this, because I found like ten dealers for Xpel. I asked 3M why there was not more, and they said most customers do no like the price. I did not care, what is another thousand or so more dollars to keep the stress level down?
They referred me to Midtown Motor Trends in Downtown (Mid Town) Houston.
Here they are on Yelp...
Midtown Motor Trends - Fourth Ward - Houston, TX
I sent a message to they through Yelp, and about an hour or two later Mike gets back to me. He assures me that 3M is the best as they also are a certified installer for Xpel too, and that he and his team have been doing installs for many years, and only 3M has given his clients the best results. I felt comfortable with what Mike had to say and also looked at his work from the pictures online. I chose to have the whole front of the car protected with 3M Pro and the back bumper. I also had the windows tinted there too with 3M's Crystalline. Lastly, I had the rest of the car painted with Ceramic Pro. If the cost was a bit more affordable I would have just had the whole car wrapped, but he told me I could always get the rest of the car done at a later time.
Mike and his team are awesome, he took the time send me pictures of the process. See the attached pictures.
What I like about it is they use computer cut patters that 3M provides, and 95% of them wrap around the edges. Looks very finished and seamless.
Here is a picture of the car finished be wrapped.
I am very excited to see how the whole thing turns out. I will update this post with the final pictures.
I hope this post was helpful. Let me know if you guys have any question or thoughts.
I came across some people talking about 3M's scotchgard paint protection Pro and dug into it more. I found out that they offer the same 10 year warranty as Xpel (it was seven with 3M), however if installed by a certified dealer they also offer the insurance protection of up to $3,500.00. This covers replacement and repaint should it ever be needed. I thought this was all good and everything, but I needed to see how good the film really was. So I found a video on YouTube that sealed the deal for me. Here is that video...
It was a no brain'er from there. I looked into it more and found out Xpel is just an older version of SunTek. Don't get me wrong, all films are good, but if I was going to pay thousands to protect my car, it needed be the best.
Living in the Houston area, I called 3M to find out who their local approved authorized dealer was. They only had one. I was shocked on this, because I found like ten dealers for Xpel. I asked 3M why there was not more, and they said most customers do no like the price. I did not care, what is another thousand or so more dollars to keep the stress level down?
They referred me to Midtown Motor Trends in Downtown (Mid Town) Houston.
Here they are on Yelp...
Midtown Motor Trends - Fourth Ward - Houston, TX
I sent a message to they through Yelp, and about an hour or two later Mike gets back to me. He assures me that 3M is the best as they also are a certified installer for Xpel too, and that he and his team have been doing installs for many years, and only 3M has given his clients the best results. I felt comfortable with what Mike had to say and also looked at his work from the pictures online. I chose to have the whole front of the car protected with 3M Pro and the back bumper. I also had the windows tinted there too with 3M's Crystalline. Lastly, I had the rest of the car painted with Ceramic Pro. If the cost was a bit more affordable I would have just had the whole car wrapped, but he told me I could always get the rest of the car done at a later time.
Mike and his team are awesome, he took the time send me pictures of the process. See the attached pictures.
What I like about it is they use computer cut patters that 3M provides, and 95% of them wrap around the edges. Looks very finished and seamless.
Here is a picture of the car finished be wrapped.
I am very excited to see how the whole thing turns out. I will update this post with the final pictures.
I hope this post was helpful. Let me know if you guys have any question or thoughts.
