I have been spinning myself up over this topic for the last couple weeks. I've talked to installers, watched Youtube videos, looked at professional detailing sites, read reviews and have less clarity now that I know more. I've been quoted from $149.00 to $1,500.00 from local companies. The major difference was in the "prep". The expensive guys want to do paint correction which is ultra fine sanding and polishing the clear coat. They will tell you the only worse paint job than a Tesla is Latex Paint applied with paint brushes by a Kindergarten class. Now I've washed mine a couple times and the paint appears flawless. As a personal judgement I'm not sure paint correction is necessary for a daily driver car. But, you do you.
Next comes the "As seen on TV" claims from the manufacturer's. Some of these strain credulity. I've seen plenty of muddy buckets of water thrown at hoods, and surprise the water beaded up! Reminds mo of an old county fair trick where they squirt lighter fluid on a fender and toss a match on it to show how well the Wonder Wax protects the paint. I think most of these suppliers bought a 55 gallon drum of this stuff, diluted it, put it in a fancy bottle. Then put it into the hands of a Vince from Sham Wow wannabe and head to YouTube to market the stuff. Where are the quality suppliers like Meguire's and Mother's? Why aren't they pitching this stuff? Are they in the pocket of "Big Carnuba"?
Ultimately I decided to do XPel Ultimate PPF on my front bumper, headlights and rocker panels (because Boston). Then I will buff it out with Chemical Brothers polishing compounds like prepping for a quality wax application. I'll finish it with Avalon King Armor Shield IX DIY.
I chose Avalon King strictly because their website had believable information and good support videos. I placed an order and got a confirmation email from Eric stating "I wanted to say hello quickly, as I'll be your primary contact for any questions or support you may need with the application."
I thought that was a nice touch.
I'll let you know how it turns out.
