Model S Exterior: Paint Armor

[brianman]

How did your paint armor turn out? And where'd you take it?

Tesla farmed the work out to Metropolitan Detail in Bellevue, WA.

Looks great (of course just a wash helps that...) but the real test is to see how it looks in a year, or two, or seven. Unfortunately, Seattle only has sunshine when I'm occupied at work -- and even then it's brief. So no pictures of interest yet.

The options and pricing choices were as I described in the previous post. I'm generally a frugal person, and then spend a stack of cash on concentrated purchases. Model S was one of them. After significant mulling over, the Xpel full wrap for the Model S was another of them.

My decision-making process was something like this. Incoming stream of consciousness...

If you're ever going to apply the paint armor, do it early not late. If you don't do any armor, you might regret it if you plan to keep the car for 10+ years (which I do). I'm lazy about keeping my car clean and my impression is that that more lazy you are about it, the more likely the cleaning process itself will do damage to the vehicle's skin when you do finally get around to it. If you do a full wrap, it easily reaches $3k, and perhaps $4k. Metropolitan Detail includes a wax job every three months with the Xpel wrap purchase (product itself carries a 10yr warranty); so that grows the "value" of the wrap purchase somewhat. Finally, the pure financial: it's within available budget (no loans or CC debt required, etc.) and "A year from now will I regret not saving the money more, or not spending the money more?" This round, "just spend it" won out.


@hvb - Hopefully that rambling post was useful, or at least interesting.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

If you do a full wrap, it easily reaches $3k, and perhaps $4k. Metropolitan Detail includes a wax job every three months with the Xpel wrap purchase (product itself carries a 10yr warranty); so that grows the "value" of the wrap purchase somewhat.

Is that $3k -$4k for the full wrap, or $7500 as you mentioned in your earlier post?

What all did you end up getting covered?

 

[brianman]

Is that $3k -$4k for the full wrap, or $7500 as you mentioned in your earlier post?

Again this was a rough capture of a stream of consciousness. No guarantees it makes sense. The $3k - $4k was roughly what I would expect for a 1/2 wrap with the Xpel self healing* or a full wrap of cheaper paint armor material.

I was basically doing a calculation of "how much of a premium am I (over?)paying to go ahead and get a full wrap of the Xpel self healing". My estimate was ~$3,500-$4,500 ($7.5k - ___, where ___ is $3k - $4k).

Note that all of these numbers were based on what Metropolitan Detail was telling me where some other options. I don't have a good feel for how competitive their prices are with other shops in the area.

* Self Healing Paint Protection Film - XPEL ULTIMATE Paint Protection Film

- - - Updated - - -

What all did you end up getting covered?

The don't do the tail lights, rear windshield, the black part of the rear bumper, or the chrome above the window. There may be some other snippets, I forget.

But full hood, fenders, doors, roof, side mirrors, door handles, etc. are covered.

 

[Liz G]

Hi, Can you elaborate on what you mean? Is every edge completely wrapped? I had a quote on a very high end install and the pieces were laser cut and came close to the edges, but did not wrap around all the edges. For example the panels around the headlights were covered very close to the edge but did not actually wrap around.

The installer said he would have to pull off the panels to wrap all the edges and would be much more expensive. Should I find another installer? Or is that the way it is?

The paint armor is actually wrapped around the edge not just up to the edge. There are a few spots on my car where they were unable to wrap the edge because of angles but most of my edges are wrapped. I would suggest talking to multiple installers.

 

[KenEE]

Thanks Liz. To clarify and seek input from others, here is an installation photo from XPEL's website. It shows how the pieces have been pre laser cut. Once in place there will be a 1/16" or so of gap beteen the edge of the material and the panel edge. I saw 10 or so examples of this at a local high end salon and they were all like this. (GTR's, Panamara's, a Lamborghini, etc..)
BTW the quote for doing this XPEL Ultimate treatment over the full front half of my S was $1600. (PM if you would like more info)

I really don't like the faint lines at the edge of the material and so before I do this I want make sure that I can't get the edges wrapped. If anyone knows a shop that wraps the edges in the Houston area please let me know.

 

[hvb]

I am so torn on whether to get after market paint armor. Brianman, is there any way I could take a look at your Xpel job? It could be at your convenience, sometime when you'll be parked outside. I could come by and just take a peek. You wouldn't even have to be there. PM if you're feeling inclined. Either way, thanks for all the info!

 

[shokunin]

I have the full hood, bumper, and fenders, a pillars, lower doors, and entire rear bumper in Xpel ultimate. Part kit and part custom. When they laser cut a kit, they can program and extra 1/4 to 1/2" extra around the edges to allow the film to be tucked around the edges. Most of the visible seams are in the corners where they can't really wrap, but it's small and hardly noticeable. The front bumper has a seam near the fog lights, it way better than having a ton of scratches and rock chips on the hood,

 

[brianman]

To clarify and seek input from others, here is an installation photo from XPEL's website. It shows how the pieces have been pre laser cut.

Mine doesn't look like this at all. They wrap the edges with the 'full wrap'.

- - - Updated - - -

I am so torn on whether to get after market paint armor. Brianman, is there any way I could take a look at your Xpel job? It could be at your convenience, sometime when you'll be parked outside. I could come by and just take a peek. You wouldn't even have to be there. PM if you're feeling inclined. Either way, thanks for all the info!

Sure. Let's discuss in PMs.

 

[KenEE]

Mine doesn't look like this at all. They wrap the edges with the 'full wrap'...

Thanks brianman, Shokunin, and Liz. I'm glad there was a delay so I could get more info. I wrote back and forth directly with XPEL about it as well and they have their own shop in Houston now that can do the wrap.

 

[hvb]

What happens in ten years when the paint armor is removed? Will the car in effect have tan lines from the unprotected paint getting worn and faded in the sun? So would this be an argument for getting the entire car wrapped or not at all?

 

[brianman]

What happens in ten years when the paint armor is removed? Will the car in effect have tan lines from the unprotected paint getting worn and faded in the sun? So would this be an argument for getting the entire car wrapped or not at all?

Generally speaking I would say "sun aging" is an argument for "full wrap > partial wrap".

Specifically speaking, some paint armor material allows (most of?) the light through so that the unarmored and armored paint age similarly.


Also, on the Xpel Ultimate specifically:

"Will XPEL ULTIMATE make the paint underneath the film fade at a different rate?"
No. XPEL ULTIMATE Paint Protection Film allows UV to pass through the film and fade the paint underneath at the same rate as the exposed paint.

XPEL Technologies Corp.: Frequently Asked Questions

 

[EarlyAdopter]

Yeah, most paint protection film is UV transparent so the rate of fading on the paint below should be the same. It's also why it's important to put wax or paint sealer on the whole car, including the wrapped parts, to add UV protection.

 

[Robert.Boston]

The biggest issue with the paint armor is the partial hood coverage. In particular, water beads differently on the covered v. uncovered areas, making the partial coverage extremely visible in many conditions.

 

[teslasguy]

I got the dark blue S in Mid-December (same as ModelS1079) with factory installed paint armor. Not really happy with the hood. Looks like two different paint jobs under vs out of the hood armor, especially in certain lighting.


P1117 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ChargedUp]

Sorry if I missed this. Does the paint armor help reduce swirls on a black car?

 

[bob_p]

Since getting my car two weeks ago, the most frequent comment (other than how wonderful the car looks) has been about the paint armor line on the hood.

 

[mrbry]

Sorry if I missed this. Does the paint armor help reduce swirls on a black car?

I think it basically eliminates swirl marks. If you get Xpel Ultimate put on the car, it's self-healing and any marks will basically go away over time!

I see you're in Irvine, I went to a place in Santa Ana that ended up putting Xpel Ultimate on my whole car, and they've done many other Model S's too it sounds like. I'm very happy with the job they did and also ended up doing some tinting there too.

Info:
protectivefilmsolutions.com
Email [email protected] for a quote.

 

[Benjam]

Since getting my car two weeks ago, the most frequent comment (other than how wonderful the car looks) has been about the paint armor line on the hood.

That's probably because most people do not know what paint armor is and do not understand or appreciate it's benefits. Years down the road, your car will still have a great front-end rather than a sand blasted look.

 

[ChargedUp]

mrby; Thanks for the referral. What color is your Model S? About how much did the Xpel cost to install and what part of your car did you do?

 

[mrbry]

mrby; Thanks for the referral. What color is your Model S? About how much did the Xpel cost to install and what part of your car did you do?

Mine's grey, here's a pic: http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/12327-Debadging?p=264432&viewfull=1#post264432

So I was doofus and did just the front part of the car (full hood, front fenders, a pillar, mirror, nose) + some rockers and random slivers on bottom of doors and it came out to like 2.5K. Then I realized I should have done the whole thing. So I went back and did doors full rear bumper, trunk, and part above the doors. I didn't do the door handles as they said the stuff looks sort of yellowish or something and not great when they tried. That part cost around 2K+. So I'd say about 5K out the door for full car coverage. The only part that's not completely covered are the mirrors due to the curvature. They got as much as they could but there's a "line" at the top part and that top part is exposed. Other than that, it's awesome. Easy to wash, no need to worry about swirl marks, and is so smoooooth (at least for now).