To paint armor, or not to...

[ZestyChicken]

I got a quote in Dallas of $3,000 for full wrap c XPEL + tinting c llumar window films. Does that sound reasonable? Seems about right to me considering what a pain in the ass this kind of work is, but maybe I'm crazy...

Just to update this. The guy's quote was $2,700 for XPEL wrap and then $350 for window tint. Once I dropped the car off, he tells me it's actually another $1,600 (total $4,300) for the wrap and he gave me the wrong quote. Naturally I was aggravated. I called around and he was the most expensive but the $2,700 was clearly wrong. XPEL's MSRP (including install) for full coverage is $4,130. Obviously shops have their own costs and people can charge what the market will bear. The two other quotes I got were $3,700 and $3,500.

I offered to let the first guy match prices but he held firm. When I went to pick up the car, he cursed me up one side and down the other. Pretty weird. Anyway, that was DFW Clear Bra in Carrolton Texas. Stay away. I'm going with D&D Tint in Arlington. Guy was really nice and can tint my windows as well.

He installs SolarGard tint. Says it's better and cheaper than the ceramic tints. $150 for tinting. Pretty reasonable. Does anyone know much about SolarGard?

FULL Hood / Fender / Mirror Kit - $1,070
Bumper Kit - $530
Door Kit - $1,030
Rear Fender Kit - $670
Rear Bumper Kit - $310
Roof / A-Pillar Kit - $150
Rocker Panel Kit - $250
Headlight / Foglight Kit - $120
(Sorry, diagram not available)

 

[gocken2]

I did some internet research on window tint. Since I live in AZ it's very important to me the heat rejection ability of the tint. Here is a list of the highest Heat rejection tints. SolarGard tint isn't very good for heat rejection. The fist number is % light allowed through (lower is darker) second number is %heat blocked (higher is better). Sorry for the formatting.

Tint , visible light transmission , total solar energy rejection
Huper Optik X-Treme Ceramic 30% , 30 , 63
Huper Optik X-Treme Ceramic 35% , 34 , 60
Huper Optik X-Treme Ceramic 40% , 44 , 54
Huper Optik Drei (metalic) , 35 , 70
FormulaOne Pinnacle 30 , 33 , 57
FormulaOne Pinnacle 35 , 39 , 54
Llumar CTX 30 Charcoal , 31 , 50
Llumar CTX 40 Charcoal , 43 , 47
3M Crystalline CR40 , 39 , 60
3M Ceramic CM30 , 36 , 59
3M Ceramic CM40 , 44 , 53
V-Kool 40 (metalic?) , 42.8 , 64.5
Madico Wincos 30 , 31 , 59
Madico Wincos 45 , 45 , 53
Suntek CXP CXP35 , 33 , 53
Suntek CXP CXP45 , 40 , 50

 

[montgom626]

My limited understanding of tinting is never go cheap. Buy the best stuff you can afford. The cheap stuff can go bad in a couple of years. Something about turning purple, or so much stuff.

 

[jomo25]

Just got mine done. Full front hood and fenders clear bra and SunTek CXP tint, 5% for rear sides and rear window, 35% for front sides. Will consider 3M crystalline for front windshield later.

For those in the PHX area, got it done by Rick at Cactus Window Tint in Scottsdale. He's done at least 3 MS' now.

 

[zero]

Just to update this. The guy's quote was $2,700 for XPEL wrap and then $350 for window tint. Once I dropped the car off, he tells me it's actually another $1,600 (total $4,300) for the wrap and he gave me the wrong quote. Naturally I was aggravated. I called around and he was the most expensive but the $2,700 was clearly wrong. XPEL's MSRP (including install) for full coverage is $4,130. Obviously shops have their own costs and people can charge what the market will bear. The two other quotes I got were $3,700 and $3,500.

I offered to let the first guy match prices but he held firm. When I went to pick up the car, he cursed me up one side and down the other. Pretty weird. Anyway, that was DFW Clear Bra in Carrolton Texas. Stay away. I'm going with D&D Tint in Arlington. Guy was really nice and can tint my windows as well.

He installs SolarGard tint. Says it's better and cheaper than the ceramic tints. $150 for tinting. Pretty reasonable. Does anyone know much about SolarGard?

FULL Hood / Fender / Mirror Kit - $1,070
Bumper Kit - $530
Door Kit - $1,030
Rear Fender Kit - $670
Rear Bumper Kit - $310
Roof / A-Pillar Kit - $150
Rocker Panel Kit - $250
Headlight / Foglight Kit - $120
(Sorry, diagram not available)

Getting paint armor was a must for me... My old lexus is was riddled with rock chips. If you live in an area with little construction then you may think differently. I'm not a big fan of the line the quarter hood leaves, so I went full hood. I had it installed by Sunny at X-pert tint in Houston. Got the Xpel full hood, full bumper, headlights and back side of the mirror done for $1600 + tax. Also had the windows tinted there with the WINCOS 30% all around for another $550. This was a bit cheaper than the Huper Optik and still gives 59% heat rejection. You can get cheaper tint if you like, but be careful it could turn purple with time...and trying to take old tint of your windshield is painful. I really don't ever plan on tinting it again.

 

[Odenator]

I'm just curious why the doors on the side aren't typically wrapped. When you park, your doors are really exposed to other cars opening up and smacking your doors. The S doesn't have any side mouldings to protect the doors from dings. Seems like the wrap might help. Obviously not going to stop a dent, but could prevent scratches/chips, no?

I'm so glad that I skipped the Tesla OEM paint protection and went with an aftermarket full wrap because the only places that have rock chip impacts (in the last 3 months) are the front doors and rocker panel area.

 

[jerry33]

My limited understanding of tinting is never go cheap. Buy the best stuff you can afford. The cheap stuff can go bad in a couple of years. Something about turning purple, or so much stuff.

When going to the feed store to purchase oats you pay the market price and get quality oats. However, you can get the oats far cheaper after they have been through the horse.

 

[bob_p]

Perhaps it's the aerodynamics of the car or the material of the front windshield glass - I seem to be picking up more nicks and chips with my Model S over the first 3 months, than I 've had with my previous cars driving the same roads.

If there was a windshield armor that would offer at least some protection of the windshield - that would probably be a good investment.

Has anyone done anything to protect their windshield?

 

[jerry33]

If there was a windshield armor that would offer at least some protection of the windshield - that would probably be a good investment.

Has anyone done anything to protect their windshield?

I haven't, but Crystalline 90% should do the trick.

 

[mdh]

I was going around and around getting the Tesla PA... I have never had it on a car. I am very glad I got it, here in the Bay Area. It has already taken some battle damage.

 

[roblab]

I have seen many of the MSs with Tesla Paint Armor. Every one of them have a very visible line across the hood, and a couple of the people I know were telling me that they have rock chips ... on the un armored section of hood.

Of all the decisions Tesla has made, going cheap on the hood is one the the least understandable to me. Whole hood paint armor costs a little more, yes. But it does the job, where half hood jobs do not.

And with a custom color, the hood is THE focal point of looking into the color of the car. That's where the shine and polish show best, and the pearl in the paint reflects the light. The hood is where people look first and longest, and dings, chips and lines are the first blemishes noticed.

Blow the whole wad. I spent over $100K on a car, and I want to save a few hundred on the biggest part of it. Huh?

 

[jerry33]

Of all the decisions Tesla has made, going cheap on the hood is one the the least understandable to me. Whole hood paint armor costs a little more, yes. But it does the job, where half hood jobs do not.

The best guess is that they did it this way because that's what every other car manufacturer does. Don't know why they didn't do it differently. Yes, the original supplier couldn't supply wide enough material, but they could have used some other supplier or waited the two or three months while their supplier got up to speed (I understand that is no longer an issue).