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Acho
Member
Definitely worth doing at least the front of your car (hood, bumper, fenders) to avoid rock chips. Only con is the cost (just paid $1,700 for XPEL on my new MS). But the sloping front on a tesla looks like a rock magnet, so probably worth it if you are not leasing.
Someone scraped my Model S over the weekend. What you see in this picture would have been a $750 to $1000 repair. Thanks to my SunTek, though, the paint scuffs wiped off with rubbing alcohol in just a moment.
EV-lutioin
Active Member
For me it has been all positive, except the cost. The guys I used for my Model X in Fremont quoted $7,400 to wrap a Model 3 with ClearGuard (the best wrap available). If anyone knows a legit wrap company in the Sacramento area... please let me know so I can explore some more reasonable quotes.
What about a color wrap, to make a model 3 more unique (just another color, not fuscia or neon orange or anything)? How much do they cost, can you tell it’s wrap not paint, and does it protect the car like Xpel etc?
Acho
Member
This is going to upset some people but here we go.
I will answer in reverse order.
First - color change wrap material is about 3 times thinner than paint protection film. That said the protection is not as good as dedicated paint protection film but still protects the paint.
Second - there are two color change wrap approaches - color change and deep color change. The first one is when you can not see the original paint color when all the doors /including hood, trunk, gas cap and etc. / are closed. If any of them is open the original paint color will be visible. By the way this is most popular choice. Deep color change is when the wrap goes deeper into door jambs so when you open door or trunk you can't see the original paint color. By rule of thumb on ICE cars the engine bay is not wrapped for obvious reasons. Deep color change is way more expensive since going deep requires more time, skills and disassembling of the car. That can bump the price a lot.
Third - I hate when sime places when see tesla increase the price trough the roof. Tesla is not harder to wrap, it in sime cases is easyer than other, way cheaper cars like HHR. The normalnprice for non special color /like chrom or chameleon/ should be: for MS ~$2600 and for M3 ~ $2400. MX might be a bit more than MS but not by much. Please keep in mind that different markets has different rates for labor but the film price is the same.
Advice: when you shop for car wrap try not to tell them it is tesla at the very begeining. Just full size sedan for MS or mid size sedan for M3. If they quote you different price for MS than similar size ford ask them why /there is no difference in the process/
Hope this helps not to be ivercharged because of the "T" in the middle if the steering wheel
P.S. Beware of low prices!!! They indicate that no brand name film is going to be used or the installer is not trained /inexperienced/ or both
It's already saved me money. It's pretty amazing how tough the stuff is (XPEL in my case). 3 years in and the paint job still looks new.
If you're uptight about the appearance of your car; if chips and whatnot bother you, then it's highly recommended.
Thanks, that's helpful. I was thinking of getting blue and having it wrapped in British Racing Green. I nearly got the now-gone green on my Model S, but it was too dark - almost black. If it had been the green I remember from a friend's TR6 I would have ordered it.
dgentsch
Member
EV-lutioin
Active Member
If you don't mind, how much did it cost? I am shopping around for installers and I am not sure what a reasonable price is for a full wrap.
dgentsch
Member
HankLloydRight
No Roads
There's also the option of dipping your cars with peelable auto paint like Plastidip (DYI) or Autoflex (pro shops).
See: DipYourCar - World Famous Peelable Auto Paint
It's less expensive that wraps, and is available in (nearly) infinite color combinations (pretty much anything you can think up, they can mix).
Here's my experience with Autoflex and my P85+:
Dipped my car: Autoflex Matte + ZTA Hypershift + Blueberry Juice
See: DipYourCar - World Famous Peelable Auto Paint
It's less expensive that wraps, and is available in (nearly) infinite color combinations (pretty much anything you can think up, they can mix).
Here's my experience with Autoflex and my P85+:
Dipped my car: Autoflex Matte + ZTA Hypershift + Blueberry Juice
Saved our paint already twice--once a wooden fence post which tore it but saved the paint and the other probably someone else walking past with something in their hands and just scuffed it. Wiped it down and it rehealed to look just fine. We went with Xpel Ultimate which is their thickest film. Your paying for the skill of the installer, time being worked on in the shop (full wrap probably count on it being close to a week, whether it's a pre-cut film, if it's edge wrapped, how much you wrap and thickness of film used. Also included in our estimate was a return visit in a few days/week to check the edges and eliminate any small bubbles before they set.
I suppose the only negative IMO would be wish it were less expensive but don't regret spending the money we did for the job we got.
I suppose the only negative IMO would be wish it were less expensive but don't regret spending the money we did for the job we got.
HankLloydRight
No Roads
dgentsch
Member
its 3M 1080 Satin Vampire Red. I'm picking it up tomorrow and will snap some pics.
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