Bought Tesla Paint Armor, but now want to apply Opti Coat

[Pollux]

Excited beyond all reason! Taking delivery August 11 of green/tan P85+, fully loaded. Including Paint Armor, factory-installed.

After weeks of reading everything I could on these forums, I now think I want to put Opti Coat Pro on the whole car to protect that delicious, soft paint.

I tried to delete the Paint Armor from my configuration but of course by then it was too late. Ouch!

So what should I do? Strip off $950 of factory-installed, customized Tesla Paint Armor; then apply Opti Coat; then re-wrap from scratch?

Or just try to apply Opti Coat where the Paint Armor isn't?

Or just trust in the Tesla Paint Armor and abandon for now any Opti Coat and/or additional wrap?

Thanks in advance for advice.

Alan

 

[simplesolar]

you can apply opticoat over the paint armor which will help pro long its life.

 

[Pollux]

No weirdness results from some sections of the car being Paint+Armor+Opti Coat while others are Paint+Opti Coat and still others might be Paint+Opti Coat+additional paint protection film?

 

[PhilBa]

You ought to be able to get the armor taken off your order because it's the local SC that uses a 3rd party installer so it happens at the very end. It hasn't been done yet.

I dropped it from my order and got a full piece of xpel on the hood and it looks, uh, well I can't really see it. That's the point! I recommend getting a 3rd party to do a more complete wrap on your car. I got all the stuff that faces the wind done and it was about $1500 so only about 50% more than the Tesla incomplete job. Personally, I prefer xpel since it is self healing with just heat.

 

[Pollux]

Thanks, @PhilBa! My Delivery specialist claims that Tesla now does it in the factory. I'll chase this discrepancy further, as I prefer your answer.

 

[highedu]

Most detailers actually suggest getting the paint armor done first and then to do the opti coat. that is what I am doing.

Provides better protection...

Thanks, @PhilBa! My Delivery specialist claims that Tesla now does it in the factory. I'll chase this discrepancy further, as I prefer your answer.

 

[astrotoy]

I had the Opti-Coat Pro put on (by a pro) after I had the Paint Armor. Seems to have worked fine. I think he didn't put on the Opti-Coat over the Paint Armor.

 

[gnelson]

I had Opti Coat applied over factory paint armor. I am completely satisfied with both.

 

[Pollux]

Thanks, folks. You're making me feel better.

@gnelson - did you also have opti coat on the sections of bare paint, not just the sections covered with factory paint armor?

 

[Pollux]

Hi, folks,

I decided to completely remove the paint armor and Opti Coat all the paint underneath. One sad surprise: the guy who removed the paint armor reported that it was already starting to peel in places on the front bumper. :-(

Full report here: Opti Coat Installer in Boston area? - Page 2

 

[wdimagineer]

I had Opti Coat applied over factory paint armor. I am completely satisfied with both.

As did I. Looks fantastic! Sorry to hear though that the paint armor has already started to peel away.

 

[Mikey]

Anyone have any shops they recommend in the Sacramento, CA area for protecting the paint? Picking up car next week, so I want to have professional wrap car with opti-coat. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Pollux]

Sorry, dunno, I'm based in Boston.

you might want to try posting in the regional forum for your area.

 

[Mikey]

Okay, thanks. Will do.

 

[VirtualE]

Mikey, did you find anyone to apply Opti-Coat on your Model S? I am in sacramento too, and my detailer does not apply it.

 

[MoeMistry]

Anyone have any shops they recommend in the Sacramento, CA area for protecting the paint? Picking up car next week, so I want to have professional wrap car with opti-coat. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

I'm partial to XPEL Ultimate film at the moment as I feel it's the best technology and warranty available today.

Visit Paint Protection Film - XPEL Technologies Corp. and locate an installer in your area. Do your homework and visit their shop to see their work.

 

[gnelson]

I have no issues with the Opti-Coat over the paint armor. The paint armor looks fine, and I feel the installation was good. The paint armor seems to be useless in preventing rock chips however. I have also seen doors with XPEL that have been scratched. I suspect there is no magic bullet. I thought about getting XPEL on the hood and the doors, but I didn't like the look of the film as it wrapped around the door edges. I also was not impressed with seeing scratches penetrating the XPEL door film on another Model S.

 

[ACDriveMotor]

You ought to be able to get the armor taken off your order because it's the local SC that uses a 3rd party installer so it happens at the very end. It hasn't been done yet.

I dropped it from my order and got a full piece of xpel on the hood and it looks, uh, well I can't really see it. That's the point! I recommend getting a 3rd party to do a more complete wrap on your car. I got all the stuff that faces the wind done and it was about $1500 so only about 50% more than the Tesla incomplete job. Personally, I prefer xpel since it is self healing with just heat.

Hey PhilBa, where did you get your XPEL done? Was it a partial plus wrap? Looking into my options.

 

[Pollux]

I should mention that after Opti Coating (which involved first removing the Tesla factory-installed paint protection film), I took the car to Jeff Orlinsky at Wheel DynamiX in Natick, MA. He covered the car in Xpel from the front to the back of the rear doors, which is everything that faces the wind and then some. Unlike the factory-installed film, I can't easily see the Xpel that Jeff's company put on the car. I have to go to the edges of the body panels and then look carefully to find the plastic edge. I think the film has already been a tremendous help on Boston roads, as I hear objects striking the front and sides of the car. And the rear, too, which means that I'm going to go back to Jeff soon to get the remainder of the car wrapped in Xpel.

One nice implicit compliment: when I brought the S to the Watertown SC for a second run of the delivery experience (having a 9 year old kid present at the first delivery experience didn't turn out to help my powers of concentration), the delivery guy was surprised when I told him the car had the paint protection film. He told me he didn't think it did. We had to trace the outlines of the plastic at the very edge of the body panels for him to see for himself. Maybe he was used to seeing the Tesla PPF.

I ordered a fully-loaded P85+ and after two months with the car the only thing I'd do differently is to not order the Tesla factory-applied PPF. Maybe it's continually improving, so maybe it's a different story today. But it covers less, leaves a visible line across the hood, and at least for me was already showing trouble signs when the Opti Coat installer peeled the film off only a few days after I took delivery of the car.

 

[CarlK]

May I ask why you put clear film on top of the Opticoat? Isn't that defeat the purpose of why you want the Opticoat in the first place? I always thought Opticoat is to be put on top of the clear film if there is one.