Debating about paint protection

[Ofarlig]

Hello everyone!

I have been reading a few threads on here regarding different paint protection methods and debating what to chose for my car being delivered next week.

In my mind I like the idea of XPEL Ultimate because I dislike swirls in the paint and even though I normally wash very very carefully I sometimes get fed up and rush a bit too much. I also feel it is cool with something self healing .

On the other hand the XPEL Ultimate is around $6k over here while I can get Opti-Coat Pro + for $1300. So I could do the Opti-Coat now and have them detail the car in a year and be well under a third of the price for XPEL. I also live in Sweden so theres salt, grime and cold for a big chunk of the year and my only way of washing is with pressure washers, all things I've heard the XPEL dislike. Damages to the XPEL costs a big chunk of money to replace as well, almost as much as just repainting the damaged part would if the paint gets damage.

Added to this is I need to be realistic and I am a bit of an impulsive person when it comes to cars/technology and things like that so the probability of this car being owned by me longer than 3 years is slim, 2 years would be more like it. So paying $6k to protect the paint for 2 years means that it needs to do a bang up job in making my washing easier.

TLR and questions: How have your XPEL Ultimate/Stealth held up over a couple of years? Is it flawless still? Any problems with salt and grime? Thoughts?

 

[hulk2k17]

Get the PPF. I was involved in a minor hit and run where my car was parked and some jerk parked next to me and scrapped my rear passenger bumper and fender and overall the it looked really bad. I also had a door ding from a previous parked incident. I had the film replaced in the affected areas and the paint was in the perfect condition. Only the film was messed up.

I also had a few rocks hit my car while on the highway and while some left a few slight dimples in the body work, the paint itself and the film were unaffected.

Overall PPF is going to give you much better protection from rock chips and parking lot/door ding incidents than a ceramic coating and it is supposedly to last much longer as well.

 

[artsci]

A surface coating like Opti-Coat (or any thing else for that matter) provides almost no protection from dings, rock chips, or scrapes or just about any other mechanical offense to the paint. As hulkd2k17 advises, I’d go with PPF.

 

[Rockster]

We wrapped the front of our Model S (from the A pillars forward), the roof, and the mirrors. The car still looks brand new after 70,000 miles. We had a car scrape against us and do what would have been $1000 damage to the car, but the paint just wiped off of the wrap with isopropyl alcohol and the slight scratches in the XPEL disappeared after the first hot day. Well worth it. We wrapped our entire Model 3, primarily because it must live outside most of the time.

 

[Ofarlig]

Well I doubt it would be economic to do it to protect it from scrapes or dings. Over here they are rare, I have never gotten one to begin with and I would have to get about 5 or so before the cost from insurance would be equal to it. Are we talking hit and runs there would have to be even more of them as the deductible is lower. I really doubt I would get that many in 2 years after not having a single one for the past 12. If something breaks the film and damages the paint/panel I also would have to pay to replace the XPEL as insurance over here does not cover that. So any actual damage becomes more expensive.

So the things it would protect me against are swirls and chips and by the sound of it it does not protect that much against rock chips if there are dimples even though I have the wrap. If there are dimples in the actual hood I would have to use insurance to have that corrected either way.

I am fully aware that Opti-Coat does not really protect the paint at all apart from slightly against swirls. Opti-Coat would be more for making it easier to clean than anything. I am just debating if there is any economical sense in paying around $250 a month to have XPEL on the car.

 

[Brettski]

[QUOTE="I am a bit of an impulsive person when it comes to cars/technology and things like that so the probability of this car being owned by me longer than 3 years is slim, 2 years would be more like it.” /QUOTE]

Greetings - I think what you said right here really answers the question. I wouldn’t spend the extra money for 2-3 years of protection - even though you’ll be dealing with a couple of tough winters. If the paint can’t hold up nicely that long, something is wrong!

I’d bank the $6k, and consider it to be your next Tesla down payment....

 

[jeffdom1978]

Facebook told me that a product called HydroSilex is a ceramic coating you spray on and wipe off for $59.00. I mean it’s gotta be amazing, right?

 

[Ofarlig]

Greetings - I think what you said right here really answers the question. I wouldn’t spend the extra money for 2-3 years of protection - even though you’ll be dealing with a couple of tough winters. If the paint can’t hold up nicely that long, something is wrong!

I’d bank the $6k, and consider it to be your next Tesla down payment....

Yeah that is mainly the reason I am even debating. If I was thinking of keeping the car for 4 years then sure the XPEL makes a lot of sense but as you are saying, it would be something seriously wrong if it gets completely destroyed in 2-3 years.

My current Audi is now 3 years old and it looks very nice (the visiable rock chips can be counted on one hand), sure there are some small swirls on it but they would buff out easily from a $200 detail. I have heard about poor paint quality though with the Teslas which is kind of why I am asking about it.

 

[Bebop]

The complete irony of XPEL is that I got it to protect the paint and to avoid swirls...but I still have and get swirls on the film....

 

[Darmie]

The complete irony of XPEL is that I got it to protect the paint and to avoid swirls...but I still have and get swirls on the film....

This is not good to hear that's the main reason I was planning on doing this

 

[Bebop]

This is not good to hear that's the main reason I was planning on doing this

I use proper cleaning products and proper micro fiber towels to clean as well. I mean maybe I'm exaggerating the situation. To the average person it looks brand new. And from a short distance away looks shiny and great. I have XPEL Ultimate. To my eyes, I go in with a light and I'm very picky on the details no one else sees. So unless your face is up against the film with a bright light, you don't see anything.

 

[Brettski]

I use proper cleaning products and proper micro fiber towels to clean as well. I mean maybe I'm exaggerating the situation. To the average person it looks brand new. And from a short distance away looks shiny and great. I have XPEL Ultimate. To my eyes, I go in with a light and I'm very picky on the details no one else sees. So unless your face is up against the film with a bright light, you don't see anything.

I'm with you..... I do the whole two-bucket system with good products and good microfibers; my oldest car is 6-years old and it doesn't have a single swirl. Most swirls and paint damage are self inflicted. However - I don't get snow, and rarely get rain....and drive about 5k miles a year. So it's a little easier to keep my car looking new.

 

[Ofarlig]

The complete irony of XPEL is that I got it to protect the paint and to avoid swirls...but I still have and get swirls on the film....

Yeah it's things like that I wanted to hear about if it existed. If I would be paying $250 a month for paint protection it should be more or less flawless. I been hearing about loads of power washer damage creating bubbles and as you said some swirls in it. I won't be spending that kind of money if I have to baby it either way.

 

[Bebop]

Yeah it's things like that I wanted to hear about if it existed. If I would be paying $250 a month for paint protection it should be more or less flawless. I been hearing about loads of power washer damage creating bubbles and as you said some swirls in it. I won't be spending that kind of money if I have to baby it either way.

About the swirls, read my recent response in this thread. I was exaggerating it a bit. I also have a black car too.

It has saved my car from so many dings and scratchs too. So if you drive a lot on the highway, it is something serious to consider. Also it makes cleaning so much easier and the film keeps the car looking shiny all the time.

 

[Ofarlig]

About the swirls, read my recent response in this thread. I was exaggerating it a bit. I also have a black car too.

It has saved my car from so many dings and scratchs too. So if you drive a lot on the highway, it is something serious to consider. Also it makes cleaning so much easier and the film keeps the car looking shiny all the time.

Well I can be very nitpicky, especially if I pay that much money for something. If you don't have the film a light polish for a couple of hundred will usually make it almost like new again.

I kind of decided to just do the Opti-Coat to make it easier to clean and pocket the 6k for now until they release a performance Model 3 that I might want to switch to at that point .