Not getting paint protection film for your Model 3?

[juanmedina]

Today’s wraps don’t dull the paint at all if you get a good one. I ended using a suntek film, and it actually seems to make the paint look shinier if anything. It really made our MSM S’s paint “pop” when we had it done.



Eh, it isn’t about resale value - you will never get the $$ back. It is about your personal tolerance for chips, scratches and swirls. I probably wouldn’t wrap a silver or white car, but since I picked blue, it will show all those imperfections way more. So now I no longer have to be uber careful while washing my car now to avoid swirl marks. And when I got a few door scratches recently in my work parking lot, I was immediately relieved the marks were only in the film. We even occasionally take the cars through (gasp!) automated car washes with no ill effects.

All my cars are black and yeah you have to be careful washing them and use clean and quality towels and products to keep the paint in good condition. I actually enjoy doing that and I am probably spending less than 1k over 5 years.

Nothing looks like properly polished car paint. PFP takes some of that away. But agree with what you are saying i think it makes sense for the front of the car.

 

[ElectroCat]

Always keep a car 15 to 20 years, have found that a layer of dirt shields the paint from all kinds of damage and makes it less likely to be stolen. Rain always gives it a good wash plus a hand wash with soap once a year.

 

[pikachu]

When I was thinking of getting Blue, I was leaning towards getting ppf on the front of the car. But now since I configured White, I think we’re just going to skip spending the money on that.

We actually have Xpel Ultimate on the front of our red Mazda CX-5 after purchasing it brand new almost 5 years ago. We did it because the hood of our red Mazda 3 we had traded in for it was littered with rock chips, pretty terrible. So far the Xpel has held up great and we plan to keep this car until the Model Y rolls around. So for the price 5 years ago, it served us well.

But on a white car, and with current Bay Area prices, I’m less inclined to get it. I’ll be watching this thread and doing some research for DIY coatings that will somewhat help with paint protection but I think that will be the extent of my investment in it.

 

[Boourns]

I’ll be watching this thread and doing some research for DIY coatings that will somewhat help with paint protection but I think that will be the extent of my investment in it

Also wondering if there's anything that might cost a couple hundred bucks at most and is DIY-able that is worth it.

 

[bomquito]

Anyone has a DIY video that shows how to do it? I would love to try to do it myself. A link where I can purchase the wrap is also greatly appreciated.

 

[Boourns]

Anyone has a DIY video that shows how to do it? I would love to try to do it myself. A link where I can purchase the wrap is also greatly appreciated.

You can buy xpel straight from the manufacturer. Paint Protection Kits - XPEL

 

[Jason Bourne]

CQuartz, Opticoat, etc. have no effect on the underlying paint's adhesion to the sheetmetal. They are surface coatings with different degrees of bonding to the exposed paint for environmental protection (dirt/birds, etc.) and shine. They have no effect and no resistance regarding stone chips.

Agreed. But I decided PPF wasn't the right choice based on what my wants are.

 

[Railhawk52]

If you are on the fence it means you don't really need it. You are just looking for justifications to convince yourself to wrap it. Like you said it's the same car whether it's wrapped or not. I personally don't baby my cars so wrap is out of the question. For some, it's a must. When I sell or trade in the car no one cares about the perfect paint under the wrap.

You’re right, I was leaning towards not getting it and now after reading through all the comments and getting a good night’s sleep, I’m gonna save my money.

I’ll just make sure I keep the car clean and shiny. I typically enjoy washing and waxing my car now anyways.

For me, I think more people pay attention to whether or not your car is washed and clean looking. Unless they go real close, they probably wouldn’t see any chips or small dents. The PPF would be there more for me than for them. Not worth the cost to me.

 

[juanmedina]

Anyone has a DIY video that shows how to do it? I would love to try to do it myself. A link where I can purchase the wrap is also greatly appreciated.

http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eB...ategory=50457&pm=1&ds=0&t=1519152955000&ver=0

You can also get bulk film on eBay as well and cut yourself. If you decide to pull the film to move it around after squeegeing the film because of debry or because of alignment try not to pull too hard the film because it will stretch. After you pull the film apply a little bit of heat to get back to shape. Also while you are squeegeing it will look amazing but after you are completely done you will see some bubbles and sometime it will look like crap. Don't worry and just leave the film where it is and put the car on the sun. If they bubbles are water bubbles they will go away on their own; most of them are.

 

[fseir]

Leaning toward getting the front end done. Does anyone with partial front-end coverage wish they had done full coverage? The difference is about $600 where I'm at, but I keep thinking how annoying it would be to get a rock chip right above where the film ends.

Also, does wrapping the headlights prevent them from getting hazy from UV exposure?

 

[Devanish]

Until last month I had my BMW 335i since 2007 when it was as new as the Model 3 is now in its production life. In the early years I once washed it by hand and scratched the hood horribly due to a small rock stuck in the fibers of my wash mitt. For the last 9 or 10 years I've winced at the scratch whenever I noticed it. Now that my Stoicism and Buddhist practice has been made stronger by that lesson I'm just going to go ahead and paint protect the M3. But if you don't want to do that....it will very likely result in a good opportunity for personal growth.

 

[Msjulie]

Being from the east coast, now on the no-snow-mostly-sunny west coast, I thought my days of having to get a clear mask chip protection were over. Learned the hard way, there's plenty of sand and bugs and stones that chipped the front of our previously-new car and the paint underneath (white) shows quite obviously to me... so the Model 3 got the 3m business on the nose, front bumper, mirror backs etc. For me, a bit OCD about paint chips etc, it was worth it and then some

Your milage may vary

 

[juanmedina]

Leaning toward getting the front end done. Does anyone with partial front-end coverage wish they had done full coverage? The difference is about $600 where I'm at, but I keep thinking how annoying it would be to get a rock chip right above where the film ends.

Also, does wrapping the headlights prevent them from getting hazy from UV exposure?

Wrapping headlights can provide some UV proctection but it also can create other problems like delamination and increased internal headlight temperatures which can lead to the housing failure. You can apply a sealant yourself that last 6 months or a ceramic coating that will last 2 years to protect from UV exposure.

 

[fseir]

Wrapping headlights can provide some UV proctection but it also can create other problems like delamination and increased internal headlight temperatures which can lead to the housing failure. You can apply a sealant yourself that last 6 months or a ceramic coating that will last 2 years to protect from UV exposure.

Thanks! Delamination doesn't sound fun. I'll look into the ceramic coating.

 

[fseir]

Being from the east coast, now on the no-snow-mostly-sunny west coast, I thought my days of having to get a clear mask chip protection were over. Learned the hard way, there's plenty of sand and bugs and stones that chipped the front of our previously-new car and the paint underneath (white) shows quite obviously to me... so the Model 3 got the 3m business on the nose, front bumper, mirror backs etc. For me, a bit OCD about paint chips etc, it was worth it and then some

Your milage may vary

I know it's early, but any regrets about not wrapping the full hood?

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Also wondering if there's anything that might cost a couple hundred bucks at most and is DIY-able that is worth it.

I just picked up 5'x50' of 8mm clear PPF from China on ebay for $320 using the recent 20% coupon. I'm going to try it after some paint correction on one of my older (beater) cars first, and if it works out OK, I might try it on a 3 if/when I get one.

 

[nvx1977]

just reiterating that the ceramic/glass coating does create a lasting gloss (no need to wax for years), but it does nothing to prevent microscratches (swirling) on the clear coat or rock chips on the paint.

Personally, I'm ok with normal wear and tear on the paint job. If I sell this car 5-10 years from now, a perfect paint job is not going to have much effect on people's perception on depreciated value (battery concerns are going to trump paint condition).

From more than 5ft away, you'd have to really strain to see rock chips. As long as the car is overall still glossy, I'm happy.

 

[T34ME]

I just picked up 5'x50' of 8mm clear PPF from China on ebay for $320 using the recent 20% coupon. I'm going to try it after some paint correction on one of my older (beater) cars first, and if it works out OK, I might try it on a 3 if/when I get one.

Ohhhhhhhhh, buyer beware! The cheap stuff from China on Ebay is thinner, inferior adhesive, and poor quality control than products like 3M or Xpel. Check out this video:

 

[Msjulie]

I know it's early, but any regrets about not wrapping the full hood?

It's actually about 1/3, I'll try to take a picture if it stops raining! Also headlights, and a bit on the rear bumper to help keep loading damage down..

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Ohhhhhhhhh, buyer beware! The cheap stuff from China on Ebay is thinner, inferior adhesive, and poor quality control than products like 3M or Xpel. Check out this video:

I'll make sure to try to install it sooner than later so I can use ebay's 30-day return/money-back policy. That video's informative, but I think it's in a what not to do when installing PPF way.

If you watch the install, he uses short strokes with a fair bit of force to get the slip solution (SS) out, and the parts of the wrap where he points out the creases/marks appear to be the same parts where he used the heat gun to pull the wrap straight and get the SS out, which I think just deforms the PPF and is why he saw those creases later.

OCDetailing has some videos of them wrapping a 3, and they seem to be using long/smooth side to side or bottom to top strokes, so the PPF can gradually adhere to the surface and I guess be more likely to lay uniform/flat instead of bunching up. They only use a heat gun on an edge after all the PPF above that edge is flat, the SS has been pushed out the top, they've run a microfiber(?) cloth under the edge to try to get any last bits of SS, and even then I think the heat gun is only used to evaporate any water that's still around, not to physically reshape the PPF.

Also, a lot of what he saw seems to be associated with poor installation, independent of the PPF used.

Vendor - What Paint Protection Film Should Not Look Like

Granted, I may still have problems with this PPF, but if I did what he did I'm guessing I would have problems with any PPF.