-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
To wrap or not to wrap...
- Thread starter Jond8855
- Start date
I did PPF on the front 1/2 of the car and have no regrets. Saved many paint chips already. Back half did not seem worth it to me, but have debated doing the doors.
I would highly recommend Q Car Care in Burlington, ask for Ben. They did an amazing job, and I am very picky. Also real nice guys over there.
Lasttoy
Active Member
The nose should be wrapped. My hood is clear wrapped, but nose was not. After five yrs and 134k miles it needs to be painted.
I have an antique, i wrapped nose cone with carbon fiber because the paint was so thin, and gone.
I'm not sure about the new cars, but. I had a minor accident on right side. Body shop painter made comments about thin paint.
I have an antique, i wrapped nose cone with carbon fiber because the paint was so thin, and gone.
I'm not sure about the new cars, but. I had a minor accident on right side. Body shop painter made comments about thin paint.
CullinKin
Member
Definitely at least get the front wrapped. I have owned my M3 for 6 months now without PPF and I'm going to post a video with how much damage my hood has taken on... It's pretty astounding. Granted, CO is especially brutal on cars but I have never had PPF on any of my previous vehicles and this has by far taken on the most damage in the shortest amount of time. Call it what you will, I will likely require a repaint of the hood at this point. The quarter panels haven't taken on nearly as much but they have quite a few chips as well.
jkoya
NA2 NSX
SalisburySam
Active Member
I think you’ve answered your own question here in your last sentence, so go for it. Me, I am not doing anything I haven’t done for my other vehicles, including a 1964 T-Bird. Wrapping has not been a desire of mine before, and not today. I briefly considered a wrap only to change color but my wife quickly dissuaded me of that notion on both monetary and sanity (as in “What were you thinking”) grounds.
PPF will protect better than a color wrap.
The costs I've seen for it were just too much for me to justify it since I don't plan on keeping this car for too long. Just make sure you find a good place that does a quality job. Most wraps will look good from a distance but it's the edges of the panels where a high end place will shine.
The costs I've seen for it were just too much for me to justify it since I don't plan on keeping this car for too long. Just make sure you find a good place that does a quality job. Most wraps will look good from a distance but it's the edges of the panels where a high end place will shine.
JasontheBeaver
Jason Barker
As you're learning, there are as many differing opinions as there are people on whether to PPF or not.
I see the long term results and effects of PPF every single day at my detail facility, and here's my take...
it all depends on your personal preference for rock chips vs. shine and cost. Personally, I look at paint for a living so near perfection is my goal. What's worse, a rock chip that has been properly touch-up or decreased shine, increased susceptibility to environmental damage like bird poo, tree sap, bug splatters, etc., and higher and ongoing costs?
(Don't forget to factor in the cost of removing/replacing the PPF at some point. Sometimes once you account for the TOTAL cost of PPF long-term you could repaint the affected panels for less money.)
I look at it like putting plastic wrap on an expensive couch.
Having said all that, I would put Xpel PPF on the front bumper and lower side panels of a Model 3 because it can be done with minimal visible seams/edges and those areas get the worse impacts. The nose is so vertical that it just takes a serious beating, and with it being plastic it doesn't look great trying to touch it up.
If you live in an area that has far more rocks/debris on the roads and your car is constantly getting sand blasted then it might make sense to cover more of the car since the factory paint would be peppered off in a short period of time anyway.
It isn't cheap, so I think it depends on where, how you drive, and how your store is normally stored/parked. Where I live we rarely have gravel or salt on the roads in the winter (we're talking once a year maybe.) The summers aren't too hot. I don't do a lot of freeway driving and my car is parked in the garage at night, so basically my car is only exposed to the elements while I'm working. I also avoid parking under trees or close to other cars. So, my cars usually have a pretty good finish until the day I get rid of them. I guess I'm saying a wrap wouldn't be cost effective for me, IMO. If I lived in harsher climate or a place where I had to park in tight/close parking all the time like a big city I'd give it serious thought.
JasontheBeaver
Jason Barker
I am not an installer (by choice) but anytime someone thinks prices are outrageous it tells me that the installers have not done a good job of educating the client why they charge the prices that they do.
usofrob
Member
I wrapped my Model S to save the money. I didn't use a timecard to record things, but I think it took around 60 man-hours to complete. I think a fast professional should be able to do it in half the time, or do it at a higher quality for more time. 
So, considering you need to have a clear room available the entire time, which is infrastructure cost. So, it makes some sense that it would be pretty expensive.
So, considering you need to have a clear room available the entire time, which is infrastructure cost. So, it makes some sense that it would be pretty expensive.
Both my wife's Model 3 and mine are wrapped. My wife's Model 3 is the cartoon-ish Model 3 that Elon retweeted about a month ago. Mine is the purple/red you see in my avatar.
It's protected the vehicle for months so far and the wrap still looks brand new. Definitely worth every penny. Also, you get to differentiate yourself from the rest.
It's protected the vehicle for months so far and the wrap still looks brand new. Definitely worth every penny. Also, you get to differentiate yourself from the rest.
5_+JqckQttqck
Active Member
Businesses charge what they need to charge to stay a float - also supply and demand. With the rush to get the Ontario rebate, people were booked up three to four months ahead. They charged a premium here in Toronto, 5K to 8K CAD for a full custom wrap. I ended up buying the 3M roll myself and doing it for 2K CAD + some elbow grease / learning to cut the stuff.
Lhshockey24
Member
You're in Boston so I imagine you deal with road salt out there. We drive up to the mountains a lot and I've seen how badly our non-wrapped X has been damaged from rock chips, road salts, loose sediment, etc. It's a lease so the car is trashed, but owning the 3 I'm having the entire front and then only the rear bumper wrapped. These rear tires on all Teslas kick up so much dust and dirt onto the bottom of the rear bumper.
A better reply might be it depends on what you want from the car.
PPF keeps it in near pristine condition. It’s easier to clean and keeps the car young looking.
There were a fair number of YouTube videos on it that I watched and they helped me decide between front and full wrap.
I had cutouts for the sensors and the b-pillars with cameras. I also had the door entry panels done since there is a lot of sand and salt here. That also requires the Toughpro carpet mats to catch the sand, salt and snow. It was a wise choice for my car.
It’s all fun, expensive but still fun.
maglianera
Member
I have owned a lot of different vehicles over the past 20 years or so, and I have never really thought to wrap any one of them until I picked up my 3. I'm not sure what it is about the car, (or Tesla's in general) but it seems like (compared to other car brands) a LOT of owners wrap them. Perhaps its new age, perhaps its the early-adopters in us, but I have pretty much all-but-decided that I will eventually wrap my car. My reasoning is basically due to the fact that I feel the paint quality from Tesla leaves much to be desired. I understand they are a fairly new automaker, but the paint quality is probably the poorest of any vehicle I've ever owned. I picked up my vehicle with about 10 miles on it, and it already had light swirls, orange peel, and even few 'dips' and 'blobs' where it looks like contaminants got in before the clear dried. Was it enough to make me want to return the car? No, but it was disappointing for sure.
I am pretty obsessive over the paint in my vehicles. The first thing I do when I get a new car is clay, polish, ceramic coat and seal. The Tesla was no exception, but I noticed that the clear on this car is really thin. Be careful with D/A or orbitals as you can easily burn through the clear. I removed my emblems and even doing so precisely, and carefully, I can still tell where they once were in the right light, as the clear is just not very hard. The other day I had a few bird droppings that stained the clear and I had to use a really heavy cutting compound to even out the finish, as under an LED you could clearly see where the acid had left it's mark.
I think (just to keep my sanity) I'm going to wrap the car. I was thinking about a simple PPF but from my experience, for the cost of a well-applied PPF you can wrap your car two different times! I received multiple quotes for stealth PPF and it was in the range of $4,500-$5200 (full coverage, not a simple template job) and only $2,500 to do a complete color change with 3M 1080. IMO I can get about the same protection, and if I get sick of the color of the wrap I can change it once more... and STILL have a few hundred bucks left in my pocket over the cost of the PPF. Just my .02
I am pretty obsessive over the paint in my vehicles. The first thing I do when I get a new car is clay, polish, ceramic coat and seal. The Tesla was no exception, but I noticed that the clear on this car is really thin. Be careful with D/A or orbitals as you can easily burn through the clear. I removed my emblems and even doing so precisely, and carefully, I can still tell where they once were in the right light, as the clear is just not very hard. The other day I had a few bird droppings that stained the clear and I had to use a really heavy cutting compound to even out the finish, as under an LED you could clearly see where the acid had left it's mark.
I think (just to keep my sanity) I'm going to wrap the car. I was thinking about a simple PPF but from my experience, for the cost of a well-applied PPF you can wrap your car two different times! I received multiple quotes for stealth PPF and it was in the range of $4,500-$5200 (full coverage, not a simple template job) and only $2,500 to do a complete color change with 3M 1080. IMO I can get about the same protection, and if I get sick of the color of the wrap I can change it once more... and STILL have a few hundred bucks left in my pocket over the cost of the PPF. Just my .02
