Clear wrap / PPF

[wcorey]

My understanding is to fully wrap a model 3 is hideously expensive. Further, if one is going to get a ceramic coat this needs to be done after any PPF application. I recently got a quote for a ceramic coat. I had mentioned to the guy about a PPF first, specifically nose and A pillars. He said something I had never heard or read prior. "The problem with PPF is road debris would 'melt' into the film. I can't imagine that applied to kicked up pebbles or stick fragments but bugs and the associated bug guts. For people who have experience with PPF is there any remote truth to that?

A related question. What would be the going rate, your experience, in a nose only or nose and A pillars only?

 

[Rockster]

Around here, a full wrap is about $3k or $4k. I did it and am glad. Yeah, the price stung a bit but it's great having the entire car wrapped. From my experience having two Teslas wrapped for a total of more than six years, his comment about road debris melting into the film is hogwash. It gets pretty hot here in Texas in August and I've seen no evidence of any such behavior.

 

[JasontheBeaver]

I agree with Rockster in that if you get a high quality PPF like Opti or Xpel there won't be any "melting" of debris onto the surface, especially if you apply a ceramic coating that is designed to bond to PPF, like Opti-coat.

 

[C141medic]

I’d find another shop. Doesn’t sound like the person who told you that about PPF has had any experience with PPF. Ceramic alone won’t prevent minor road debris or scratches whereas PPF will.

The cost of a clear bra, in my area, can range anywhere from 1K to 1.5K

 

[outdoors]

No melting

85k in miles on both S and 3 in last 15 months. Both have Xpel full PPF. While expensive. I would put my car up against many new cars with no miles for looks. Ceramic is on my 3. Can't say I would again on that part with the miles I put on. Pretty diligent when it comes to keeping them clean. I have a 2 gallon sprayer with Optimum No Rinse (ONR). No bucket system here. As in I treat each area with spray and use a continuous new towel method which my wife hates.

Cost.

Talk to each installer you are considering. Walk over the car. Ask what they plan on doing on each area. Wrap edge vs. not..... Cheapeast not always, and often not the best outcome if you care about how the car looks.

 

[AutoElegance]

My understanding is to fully wrap a model 3 is hideously expensive. Further, if one is going to get a ceramic coat this needs to be done after any PPF application. I recently got a quote for a ceramic coat. I had mentioned to the guy about a PPF first, specifically nose and A pillars. He said something I had never heard or read prior. "The problem with PPF is road debris would 'melt' into the film. I can't imagine that applied to kicked up pebbles or stick fragments but bugs and the associated bug guts. For people who have experience with PPF is there any remote truth to that?

A related question. What would be the going rate, your experience, in a nose only or nose and A pillars only?

We are an hour and a half north up in Massachusetts and we install Xpel. We have never had any issue with or heard of something "melting" into the film. We have done many full wraps and full nose wraps on model 3's as the Dedham distribution center isn't too far away. If you'd like to give us a call at 1-978-413-9086 I can run you through our specific pricing so you have some more local comparisons.

- it is true that the ceramic has to go over the PPF. But this is only because if you don't, the ceramic will do it's job and prevent the PPF from sticking well enough to the car.

 

[SMAlset]

Any detailer who says road debris melts into PPF should be avoided at all costs. Both our cars are full wrapped, Model 3 also has ceramic coating. Had on one car since early 2017. Nothing like that observed and never read anything like that Ever. Suspect the guy either doesn’t install PPF or isn’t good at it and instead tries to sell people on ceramic which is so much easier to apply. But honestly if you want protection from road chips and scratches, you want PPF, and go for a high quality, thickest one that you can afford if you plan to keep the car a long time especially. The labor can be as much or more than the material, but a bad install will look horrible as long as its on the car and can start to peel, etc. Ceramic just makes cleaning the car much easier. Helps protect paint or PPF from bird/bee poop staining. Important to understand the difference.

The only thing I can even think of that even remotely, and I say that very loosely, to explain a comment about melting is maybe the guy was talking about Xpel, and some other manufacturer’s film, as being self-healing. If you get a rock chip or light scatch in the film, the film will self-heal when in the sun. How that guy would interpret that to then embody debris in the “cut” I don’t know. Best guess I could come up with — but that comment certainly gives a totally off-base impression.