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Paint Protection Films

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You can learn to install coatings yourself and save a lot of money. I will certainly coat my Model 3, wheels, trim, paint and even the Xpel.

For many people it really isn't worth it. It is a lot of labor and attention to detail, knowing how to polish out swirls and scratches without damaging the clear coat and then sealing the pristine paint inside a glass coating.

The guy that did mine has a shop with special lighting and special tools, and he specializes in high end cars and owners that are super picky about the end results.

By the time someone learns this, gets the right materials, tools, lighting and setup, and figures this out through trial and error, unless you are planning on doing this for a living, it will be really hard to justify the time, money and effort to do this right on one car.
 
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For many people it really isn't worth it. It is a lot of labor and attention to detail, knowing how to polish out swirls and scratches without damaging the clear coat and then sealing the pristine paint inside a glass coating.

The guy that did mine has a shop with special lighting and special tools, and he specializes in high end cars and owners that are super picky about the end results.

By the time someone learns this, gets the right materials, tools, lighting and setup, and figures this out through trial and error, unless you are planning on doing this for a living, it will be really hard to justify the time, money and effort to do this right on one car.

True, it does take time. But a new car is already in good shape and better be without scratches and at most a few swirls. It really isn't that difficult for a new car.
 
True, it does take time. But a new car is already in good shape and better be without scratches and at most a few swirls. It really isn't that difficult for a new car.
I've done a lot of research about PPFs and ceramic coating and have seen many installation videos - including of some that were taken directly to the installer from the dealership. Some of the things I've learn clearly indicate that a brand new car can still have swirls and imperfections that a good installer would correct before installing either type of paint protection. And it has to be done then, because once film or ceramic is applied, any imperfections can no longer be addressed.
 
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I've done a lot of research about PPFs and ceramic coating and have seen many installation videos - including of some that were taken directly to the installer from the dealership. Some of the things I've learn clearly indicate that a brand new car can still have swirls and imperfections that a good installer would correct before installing either type of paint protection. And it has to be done then, because once film or ceramic is applied, any imperfections can no longer be addressed.

Absolutely, a brand new car still needs some work before installing PPF or ceramic. My point is that it MUCH easier when the car is new. When I take delivery of a new car, I don't even have the dealership wash it - they won't do it right. I take it right home to wash, clay, polish, etc.. I then have the PPF guy come to my house and install the film in my garage.
 
I spent $3000 for SunTek, the roof, the side view mirrors, and everything forward of the A pillars on my Model S. The person I went to was extremely skilled and hand trimmed every piece. The Xpel factory in Austin, TX will do the entire car for about $4000, but they use pre-cut pieces that many say can never fit as perfectly as those installers who manually wrap and tuck and trim around every panel and edge.

If I had to do it over again, I'd consider having the Xpel factory job done. I think I'd rather cover 100% of the car with 98% perfect edges than cover 30% of the car with 100% perfect edges. I don't often find myself swooning over my perfect edges as much as I find myself wishing I had entirely covered the car.

For the 3, I believe we're going to take a different approach. This car must live outside of the garage so I think we're going to adopt a "this is just a car" approach and not worry about clear wrapping it. I may, however, compromise and have someone put something like Opticoat Pro on it, just for the improved paint protection that it offers.
 
I was detailing our daily driver this morning. It is Pearl White, five years old, and 60K+ miles. I was pointing out to her the numerous rock chips on the front fascia and hood. I said we could avoid much of this problem if we clear wrap the front of our new TM3, but it would cost about $2K to do just the front. Much to my surprise, she said she thought it would be a good idea! BAM!

In my opinion, if you plan to keep a car at least for 3 or 4 years and you want to keep it looking pristine, it is worth serious consideration to clear wrap it.
 
An update for anyone interested in PPF:

Received this quote from a five star rated installer in North Jersey. Definitely don't think the price for the full coverage is worth it but may just go with the basics:

"Good afternoon, congrats on the in bound Tesla.
A full wrap on that vehicle typically runs $7900 your price would be $6900 in Xpel Ultimate a bit more for Clear Guard Nano, the job would take 3-5 days.
The basics would run around $2500-3000 - I can probably honor $2500 for the full front and rockers. (Including full hood, full fenders, mirrors, front bumper, headlights, lower doors or side skirts."
 
$7900 to do the entire car?! Holy snap!
How much does it cost to repaint the car??? I'd think it'd be cheaper than that??

I really hope it doesn't cost that much.
Looking at which parts are steel and aluminum, I would defintely want to get the A to C pillars wrapped along with the rear quarter panels. Those are essential especially up here because our winters are brutal.
Then of course you have the standard whole frontal area since it'll receive the most punishment from insects, rocks, transport truck debris, etc.

I'll have to ask my local shop and see what the going rate would be.
 
I have a Nissan Altima daily driver with 180K miles on it. It looks quite amazing. Sure you can find some little chips on the front, but I think it looks like it might have 50K miles on it (IMO). Anyhoo, it's approaching it's end of life for me and the paint has held up just fine. While it is garage kept and I have it clayed and waxed twice a year, I think this is what I expect from a paint job. I think I will just roll the dice on the Model 3 and if it looks worse sooner, I will take the money I could have spent on the protective coatings and just have the car vinyl wrapped and effectively get a new paint job! Just sharing my thoughts (clearly not in line with everybody!) ....
 
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Whatever happened to hand waxing your car??? People just don't wax their cars anymore....they just take them to a commercial car wash and think that's all they need to do. Then they say, "Hey, I need to spend $1,400 on paint protection films because I'm too damn lazy to wax my car every month or more often."
 
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Whatever happened to hand waxing your car??? People just don't wax their cars anymore....they just take them to a commercial car wash and think that's all they need to do. Then they say, "Hey, I need to spend $1,400 on paint protection films because I'm too damn lazy to wax my car every month or more often."
How do you see film and wax as substitutes? The primary benefit of film is preventing stone chips. I don't know of any wax which claims to do that.
 
Here is the quote I got from OCDetailing in Fremont, CA.

"
To do a full wrap in XPEL Stealth or Ultimate is $8k out the door and includes the coating below on top,

My prep work prior to coating and this includes:
http://bayareadetails.com/Paint Correction.html
-Paint correction to remove surface defects and brighten the paint up to the highest possible level
-Removing and polishing wheel barrels (inside) and faces
-Polishing painted calipers (if they are painted)
-Deep cleaning fender liners
-Polishing all glass
-Polishing all metal
-Polishing the light covers
-Deep cleaning the plastic trim around the bottom of car and wheel arches.

The coating application is an addition and that covers:

-CQuartz Finest Reserve on all the painted surfaces IR cured for maximum hardness and gloss
-CQuartz Finest Reserve on all the wheels, suspension, and calipers
-FlyByForte glass coating on all exterior glass
-Car Pro Dlux permanent trim coating on the plastic trim around the car and the windshield cowl to prevent plastic from fading or looking old
We have the option of doing the interior with CQuartz Leather and Fabric protection you could read about here if you like for an addition 500$ and that includes the prep work of a full interior detail. It’ll take 5-6 days depending on condition.

Chrome Delete is $1k in any color for the Model 3. We offer 2 types of Tint 3M Crystalline, and Llumar CTX ceramic. The Crystalline film has a really high TSER (Total Solar Energy Rejected) for all shades. It really just blocks the most heat of any film there is. The Llumar film we carry is top of the line film from them and a ceramic. It does great on heat rejection as well just the lighter the film the less heat blocked where Crystalline is consistent even in very light films.
To do all the side windows in Crystalline we charge $500 or $300 Llumar CTX . If you would like to add the windshield we charge $400 and only offer it in 70% (CA Legal) Crystalline. We do this because of how well it blocks heat even in a clear shade. The massive rear windshield is $700."