Wrapping, Coating, etc - investment or waste?

[eye.surgeon]

I've been exposed to a crap ton of M3 folks incessantly discussing which wrap, or coating or bra etc they are going to apply. Could you help me understand whether one of these is a no brainer for any new car, or just avoidable bling / overinsurance. I'm only interested in protecting the resale value of the car, don't care about shiny / color benefits. Thanks!

Invariably, the amount of money you spend on various wraps and coatings is inversely proportional to how long you keep the car. To me wrapping a car is like covering your couch in plastic--who are you saving it for? Enjoy it while you own it.

 

[Bigpig41]

As a data point got quoted $750 for 3M on bumper, mirrors, front 24" of the hood/front of fenders.

 

[BryanJ.Greene]

Ceramic coatings are amazing. They are also A LOT of work to apply. A reputable dealer wont just put the coating on, but will do a full paint correction (wetsanding to remove orange peel, compounding and polishing) beforehand, which makes your car look like absolute glass, since all cars have some paint defects, even straight from the factory. Ceramic coatings provide an additional layer of protection on top of your paint that can last up to 2 years.

 

[Tim@adonisdetail]

If you don't care about the car looking good then definitely don't get PPF/ceramic coating. They do nothing for resale value. If you do care about having a car that looks good, is easier to wash, gives off that oily shine, and you would like to reduce blemishes from debris, then PPF & ceramic coating are well worth it.

My experiences so far having my Model 3 for 2 months now, is I've gotten my front bumper scraped by a car in a grocery store parking lot, and a rock the size of my thumb launched and stuck on the front of my bumper. Luckily, I did have my front bumper wrapped, so the scrape was wiped off with no damage under the wrap, and the rock I peeled off and the wrap self-healed with again no damage to the bumper. Both of these cases, had I not done the wrap, they would've caused paint damages. I got my money's worth in just 2 months, and I cringe when I think what might come next.

If you do care slightly about the looks of your car, then please get the front bumper wrapped. At the very least, do the front bumper. Out of all the places on my car, the front bumper is taking the most beating. The hood hasn't had anything happen yet (knock knock), but the front bumper is attracting debris, bug guts, and inconsiderate bad drivers.

As for ceramic coating, I did it to make washing my car easier, and to hold that oily shine longer. There's no debate about it, ceramic coating last a lot longer than wax. If you feel like waxing your car often, then sure, don't get the coating just wax the car yourself. But it's hard to compare to ceramic coating that is thicker, semi-permanent, and has great hydrophobic properties. All of which allows you to keep the car looking good and shiny easier.

Very solid perspective Gavyne

 

[jonotastic]

I'm getting mine wrapped in 3M gloss lemon sting. I was also thinking about Satin Black as well, but wanted more of a pop like the BMW M-cars. I think it's worth it. If you go to a reputable place, it protects the original paint and you can get a really unique look. Just do your research on wrap maintenance as it requires more work than normal paint.

 

[Fernand]

I dunno, some people don't mind spending truly big money on detailing, wraps, etc. Personal preference. It's cool decoration but adds no resale value. I wasted literally several days reading and watching videos, bought some products (thank you Prime Returns) and came to the (strictly personal) conclusion that all the quartz ceramic yadda yadda did was last longer than today's waxes. Some even up to 3 years. But that's a bit like 72 hour deodorant. Sealants adhere best on highly prepped surfaces, many cause nasty hard to remove white residues on rubber/plastic trim, so the application takes a lot of care and time. Dings will happen, and scratches, unavoidable, and that's what touch-up paint is for. The big problem seems to be pooled water spots where the residue eats into the clear-coat. As long as they are there, all the countless sealants and waxes all seem to prevent that as well as the next one.

I like a shiny car, but there's no shine beyond wax shiny. Call me stupid, but I ended up deciding to wash it regularly, apply $10 Turtlewax ICE wax every 2-3 months, because it's fast & easy and OK on plastic and rubber trim, end o' story.

 

[Candleflame]

just curious, if you apply a fresh layer of wax does that protect the car equally as well from front rock chips etc?

 

[Knightshade]

just curious, if you apply a fresh layer of wax does that protect the car equally as well from front rock chips etc?

As PPF? Not even remotely, no.

 

[tiggerlu]

If you like driving a very shiny car, then spend on PPF and ceramic. Yes they work, they’re expensive and they’re sold to people who do not or cannot do their own detailing.

It all boils down to how OCD you want to be. Like other people have said, forget resale value... I don’t think model 3s will be collector cars.

 

[tiggerlu]

just curious, if you apply a fresh layer of wax does that protect the car equally as well from front rock chips etc?

PPF is literally a car condom lol and will not protect against large rocks, dents, car door dings...but it’s a physical membrane.

Wax is literally a layer of wax. Sealants are polymer based coatings that last longer, and ceramic coating is siO2 based and have the most durability due to how they bond to a properly prepped surface.

If you use a good sealant like P+S and a good carnauba was you will get showroom quality, you’ll just have to reapply every few weeks or months depending on what your car endures.

Whereas ceramic can last a few years, and good PPF can “up” to ten years supposedly.

 

[OCR1]

We got our M3 ceramic coated along with the paint correction. It looks very nice and it’s much easier to clean the car. It cost $1,100. I have mixed feelings about whether it was worth it though. I drove a $75K Lexus for 9 years and rarely applied wax to it and the car still looked very nice after nine years. When I had the car detailed for $150 it looked like a brand new car again.

I can’t imagine spending $6K-$9K on a full PPF wrap. At the high end that could be 20% of the purchase price of the car. That seems crazy to me.

 

[jonotastic]

I'm paying $3k for a full 3M 1080 wrap, chrome delete and ceramic pro on the entire car... this is a trust worthy shop that does a lot of Tesla Model 3s in Central Florida. Is it really $6-9k for a full wrap from a reputable shop in SoCal?

 

[Fernand]

Far be it for me to criticize people who are happiest with intensive car finish care. It's clearly an enjoyable hobby.

Here's an interesting comparison of the various wax, sealant, ceramic coatings, in this and in the related videos.

It seems that decent waxes and sealants all last from 6 months to short of a year. You can see how the quartz stuff is gradually coming off too, after 2 years they were all failing. Since the ten dollar Turtlewax ICE and some others were almost lasting a year, I saw no point in paying hundreds for a quartz job to last almost two years, maybe longer if you baby it, to where you aren't even supposed to wash the car normally. I'd rather spend the money on other stuff.

Of course, paying for a thick wrap will add some protection against small gravel etc, but in the end we'll all be using touch up paint here and there, and I'd rather not have to worry about the plastic peeling around deeper dings.

Car finishes get better all the time. The waxes too. Even if I'm only waxing the car a couple times a year, if I keep the paint reasonably clean and use touch-up paint as needed, I'm not sure it'll look a lot different a few years out than if I had pumped thousands into "protection".

The way I read it, it's a huge HUGE business, and that's fine for people who can spare the cash, fully understand the trade-offs, and are into car show looks, but a lot of it seems to be just preying on peoples' anxieties.

 

[gilscales]

I rarely keep cars more than 5 years and keep the car garaged so for me I skip all that as I don't think anyone really pays more on re-sell

 

[Knightshade]

FWIW the vlaue of PPF also depends a lot on how/where you drive.

My Lexus for 7 years looked great with a short, mostly local roads, drive to/from work and no PPF.

Once I switched to a long highway drive it looked like it'd been sandblasted in front in a few months....so the Tesla got PPF, and still looks perfect on the same drive.

"having PPF" won't change resale value really... but "having a car that's clearly needing a repaint" or not will.

 

[Fernand]

Oh, you poor unfortunates who don't own all the wonderful
yard sale level stuff that fills my garage! But you do get to
park cars in there. I wish. I haven't had a clear garage, ever.
Oh, no, wait. When I bought this house, there was a brief time.
It's worthy of a DOE study, with graphs, how quickly people
fill their garage with fishing poles, tennis rackets, broken chairs,
pots and pans, and of course, car care products - lol.

 

[Dana1]

just curious, if you apply a fresh layer of wax does that protect the car equally as well from front rock chips etc?

No, nano ceramic and high quality wax are equivalent (easier cleaning, no rock chip protection). PPF is better.

 

[Deeppurple]

Wrap is even more expensive then most realize if you ever have any accidents or even small dents from parking lots where body work is needed, you'd have to also replace to wrap to match the rest of the car. By Wrapping the car one makes any future body work that much more expensive. I chose not to wrap my Teslas and recently had a small dent in the door, repairing which would require re-wrapping the door. Of-course there are other instances when wrap will save the paint from scratches. In my humble opinion wrap is still extremely overpriced.

 

[jerry33]

My understanding:
1. Doing nothing is free, but depending upon the paint colour, rock chips can show. Best choice for those who only keep the car for a short time.
2. The various coatings are not particularly expensive but don't provide protection either. Best choice for those who don't keep their car long and want to show it.
3. Wrapping is less expensive than PPF but doesn't protect as much and can't be matched (like Deeppurple says). Best choice for people who like to upgrade the look of their car every two or three years.
4. PPF is more expensive, but there is more protection against rock chips and non-denting injuries. Best choice for those who plan to keep their car a very long time.

How much you drive the car also impacts this decision. Few miles and one of the first two options is a reasonable choice.

 

[jonotastic]

Wrap is even more expensive then most realize if you ever have any accidents or even small dents from parking lots where body work is needed, you'd have to also replace to wrap to match the rest of the car. By Wrapping the car one makes any future body work that much more expensive. I chose not to wrap my Teslas and recently had a small dent in the door, repairing which would require re-wrapping the door. Of-course there are other instances when wrap will save the paint from scratches. In my humble opinion wrap is still extremely overpriced.

Wrapping isn't an investment. I agree with what you said, but the main reason a person should wrap their car is if they don't like the available colors. I personally don't like any of the colors as the blue is too dark to be sporty, the red is more of a luxury red than a sporty red, white looks good for girls, black is generic, dark grey is for old folks... I wish the performance model had sport colors similar to how BMW M-class cars have sport colors to choose from.