What exactly is Paint Armor?

[sp4rk]

I've been doing research on wrapping and Paint Armor.

From what I read, it sounds like paint armor is not what I thought ... I thought it was a spray on coating. Sounds like it's a relative to wrapping.

Is that so?

When I look in the online store,
Model S Paint Armor Tesla Motors
it looks like it could resemble a 3m clear wrap?

 

[100thMonkey]

yes, it's a plastic wrap that is placed in the areas most vulnerable to rocks and scratches. it's not a bad deal. the reason I decided to not go with it is because we've had it on several cars and it only covers half the hood and for some murphy's law reason, we seem to always get that rock or scrape in a spot where it isn't protected. Our plans are to shell out the extra $$ and have the entire car wrapped. one side advantage of a good full wrap is that you don't see any lines. the best wraps wrap behind the edges of the panels, hiding the lines.

 

[sp4rk]

yes, it's a plastic wrap that is placed in the areas most vulnerable to rocks and scratches. it's not a bad deal. the reason I decided to not go with it is because we've had it on several cars and it only covers half the hood and for some murphy's law reason, we seem to always get that rock or scrape in a spot where it isn't protected. Our plans are to shell out the extra $$ and have the entire car wrapped. one side advantage of a good full wrap is that you don't see any lines. the best wraps wrap behind the edges of the panels, hiding the lines.

I am doing it, not to protect the car, although it will provide unintentional protection, rather to change the color to Burgundy red, aka Sig red.
So mine is being delivered sans paint armor, and I'm planning on a full (color) wrap on arrival.
Brilliant!

 

[hvb]

yes, it's a plastic wrap that is placed in the areas most vulnerable to rocks and scratches. it's not a bad deal. the reason I decided to not go with it is because we've had it on several cars and it only covers half the hood and for some murphy's law reason, we seem to always get that rock or scrape in a spot where it isn't protected. Our plans are to shell out the extra $$ and have the entire car wrapped. one side advantage of a good full wrap is that you don't see any lines. the best wraps wrap behind the edges of the panels, hiding the lines.

Where are you getting your wrap done? Brianman had his done at Metropolitan in Bellevue (and it looked great) but I'd prefer someplace on the west side. Any suggestions?

 

[sp4rk]

Where are you getting your wrap done? Brianman had his done at Metropolitan in Bellevue (and it looked great) but I'd prefer someplace on the west side. Any suggestions?

I'm no where near either of you so can't help. Visited a couple of shops locally (radius 70 miles) from Chicago.

 

[contaygious]

Should I do a full wrap on my white s? Still wondering ift is cheaper to detail once a year vs. 2500 or so wrap. Also I don't want it to yellow up my white.

 

[dsm363]

Should I do a full wrap on my white s? Still wondering ift is cheaper to detail once a year vs. 2500 or so wrap. Also I don't want it to yellow up my white.

The Avery Nano Fusion film is warrantied a lifetime against yellowing. Detailing it once a year won't help with rock chips and I believe you are still supposed to detail or wax your car after the film is applied anyway.

 

[agileone]

Anybody, has considered/bought third party DIY solutions like XPEL : Pre-cut XPEL Paint Protection Kits

I did not buy the Tesla option, because I'd rather have more extensive coverage, particularly for the hood...

 

[Dborn]

Anybody, has considered/bought third party DIY solutions like XPEL : Pre-cut XPEL Paint Protection Kits

I did not buy the Tesla option, because I'd rather have more extensive coverage, particularly for the hood...

My cousin owns a sign/vehicle wrap business. Having watched how the job is done, you would be crazy to do it yourself. The car needs to be perfectly clean. it often needs 4 or more hands on each section, and then squeegeeing carefully to remove fluid bubbles trapped under the film. In summary you need to know what you are doing and be doing it all the time. On a car at this price range, it needs to look REALLY good.

 

[maxjamie]

paint armor

I am few days from finalizing the config. on my S. Had a visit to Dania Beach FL showroom and service center past weekend and the manager had commented to "request" for a full hood armor coverage when finalizing. (as he mentioned some of the cars were arriving with full and some half hood coverage) I searched and read about this and it appears that TM does not offer full hood coverage as a factory option. Is that correct? I'm ordering Blue ext. and I gather from many posts that dark color does not show the hood line all that well and most seem "satisfied". Still debating if I should lood into aftermarket or go with factory??

 

[brianman]

If Tesla is doing the paint armor themselves, I'm not sure you have an option for full hood coverage immediately. You can always go to a 3rd party to redo the hood to get full coverage.

If Tesla is contracting out to a 3rd party, the 3rd party is sometimes open to expanding the coverage to full hood (for a fee).

Hope this helps.

 

[NEWDL]

TESLAs kit is precut and they do not have the ability to do a full hood last I checked. My recommendation is that you order the car with it is talked from tesla and have an aftermarket company do the full hood and front of the fenders for you once you have the car.

I would let tesla do the nose and grill, it is quite intricate.

 

[bosgig]

I'd recommend against getting the Tesla paint armor on a dark color unless you plan to wash your car frequently. The dirt tends to pool up at the seam on the hood where the paint armor ends and it looks awful. Either get the full hood done elsewhere or don't get it at all.

 

[teslasguy]

@Maxjamie I got my Blue P85 mid-December with Tesla installed paint armor. Not happy at all with the hood application. It looks like two different paint jobs in the hood. Deep rich and shiny look under the armor and the rest of the hood looks dull in comparison. Also can see ripples in the armor at
Certain angles. I was at the service center other day and tech agreed. He said they are no longer installing the armor at the factory, but are leaving up to the service centers to contract with local installers. In fact there was a local installer there at the time applying it to a new S and he saw the ripples in mine and said it looks like orange peel. Not sure what that is. The armor and the edge of it are very noticeable. I'd like to get it stripped and have the whole hood done.


P1117 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[goaliemanshark]

Tesla has a local installer in San Carlos who called the paint armor "Star Shield"

 

[DavidWexler]

Today's water-based clear coats are not as tough as they used to be. The first time I closed the frunk, I left finger prints right in the clear coat. So I buffed them out and applied paint protection film. Paint prortection film can be applied in small sections or in full sheets. The problem with using the small sections is you see the seams and they show even more when dirty. TM's kit uses many small sections to protect the car's clear coat from scratches and nicks. I went with Self Healing Paint Protection Film - XPEL ULTIMATE Paint Protection Film and covered the full hood, both bumpers, fenders and rear quarter panels and all four doors. I also covered the mirrors, door sills, the brow and the head and fog lights.. Not a full cacoon, but just about. You really have to look hard to see any seams. Now I close the frunk and don't worry about damaging the paint. I also don't worry so much about road pebbles and roadside branches scratching the paint. It looks great and the film is supper tough.

 

[Man_Utd]

Today's water-based clear coats are not as tough as they used to be. The first time I closed the frunk, I left finger prints right in the clear coat. So I buffed them out and applied paint protection film. Paint prortection film can be applied in small sections or in full sheets. The problem with using the small sections is you see the seams and they show even more when dirty. TM's kit uses many small sections to protect the car's clear coat from scratches and nicks. I went with Self Healing Paint Protection Film - XPEL ULTIMATE Paint Protection Film and covered the full hood, both bumpers, fenders and rear quarter panels and all four doors. I also covered the mirrors, door sills, the brow and the head and fog lights.. Not a full cacoon, but just about. You really have to look hard to see any seams. Now I close the frunk and don't worry about damaging the paint. I also don't worry so much about road pebbles and roadside branches scratching the paint. It looks great and the film is supper tough.

How did it cost you for the paint protection? Ballpark figure.
The film looks pretty cool.

 

[contaygious]

The Avery Nano Fusion film is warrantied a lifetime against yellowing. Detailing it once a year won't help with rock chips and I believe you are still supposed to detail or wax your car after the film is applied anyway.

I meant getting the rock marks fixed as well.

 

[contaygious]

OK I just got a quote for 7,500 from premiere for full body wrap. I'm also driving to LA next week so I need to do it ASAP if I decide to. This seems like a crazy price for a wrap. Thoughts?

 

[gaswalla]

A guy in OC on the official TM forums will do the front 1/3 of the car for 1500 (hood, fenders, grill, bumper, a-pillars, mirrors). Here in SD, friend of mine did the WHOLE car for 3k.. I did the front 1/3rd and the rear for 2k... it took 2 days, I didn't want to drive up to OC