Wrapping, Coating, etc - investment or waste?

[Thp3]

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.

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.

I’m fully wrapped (XPEL Ultimate) and love it. I had the sensors cutout just to avoid possible interference and I avoided the B-pillars. But no ceramic. Ceramic is just a hydrophobic coating. It repels water and looks nice in the rain. From the car shows, ppf and ppf with ceramic are very very hard to distinguish. PPF looks great, protects from salt, sand and crap from other vehicles tires that often hit my Model 3.

If you like water to bead, then put wax on top of the ppf. Meguiars makes a hybrid ceramic wax that is inexpensive and probably almost as functional as the ceramic pro coating. But the $600+ for ceramic was beyond my interest. The full ppf cost me $4k including door sills. But the electric car could last a long long time, so I think it was worth it.

Just sayin ‍

 

[SteveD]

I have had my M3 for 7 months and 8500 miles, got PPF on the hood and fenders and did the ceramic coating. It was expensive and I have wondered whether it has been worth it. The car looks great after washes (hand wash only). But I have noticed a couple of paint chips which is what I thought PPF was supposed to prevent. Most of the miles are highway miles. I'm disappointed with the cost versus benefit at this point. I do love my car and looking nice is important but it remains to be seen how things will look in a year. I will update later.

 

[Fernand]

I just finished washing and waxing my M3. You know, what we used to call The First and Last Wax Job.
Looks really slick, but I think I'm going to need getting myself wrapped when these pills wear off.

 

[jerry33]

I have had my M3 for 7 months and 8500 miles, got PPF on the hood and fenders and did the ceramic coating. It was expensive and I have wondered whether it has been worth it. The car looks great after washes (hand wash only). But I have noticed a couple of paint chips which is what I thought PPF was supposed to prevent. Most of the miles are highway miles. I'm disappointed with the cost versus benefit at this point. I do love my car and looking nice is important but it remains to be seen how things will look in a year. I will update later.

It's not 100% immune to chips because rocks come in different sizes and sharpness, it does prevent most of them. I've found the big benefit is when someone rubs up against your car and leaves a nice smear of paint. A bit of bug and tar remover cleans this up. Of course, that's only if you've covered the entire car. Six years, 121K miles later, the paint on my car still looks great.

 

[Raechris]

I think it depends how clean of a person you are. Some people don't mind their car becoming a trash bin and others speed to the closest bucket of water when a bird poops on it, keeps a microfiber close to the center screen for fingerprints, etc. the former shouldn't waste their money, the latter will appreciate it.

 

[AustinPowers]

If you don't care about shiny and looks, save your money, you can buff anything out upon resale.

No, you certainly can't.
We sold our VW Touran a couple of weeks ago after seven years of use, much of which was driving on the Autobahn. The whole front of the car was so covered in rock chips etc., almost none of which would "buff out" at all.
That was one reason why I decided to go with a full wrap of Xpel Ultimate Plus for our Model 3, because it will replace the Touran as our family hauler.

 

[Jimmy 1]

No, you certainly can't.
We sold our VW Touran a couple of weeks ago after seven years of use, much of which was driving on the Autobahn. The whole front of the car was so covered in rock chips etc., almost none of which would "buff out" at all.
That was one reason why I decided to go with a full wrap of Xpel Ultimate Plus for our Model 3, because it will replace the Touran as our family hauler.

You are correct about rock chips. I was referring to coatings and paint protection to scratches and swirls. I personally would never own a car without cermaic coating and Xpel, but that is just me.

 

[OCR1]

Question for those who have been doing ceramic coatings: Have you been taking the car back for annual inspections? If so, what do they charge for the inspection and what do they do?

I’m taking my M3 in on Monday for paint protection and ceramic coating with 5 year warranty but I’m required to bring the car back for annual inspections for the warranty. It seems a bit excessive.

 

[Jimmy 1]

Question for those who have been doing ceramic coatings: Have you been taking the car back for annual inspections? If so, what do they charge for the inspection and what do they do?

I’m taking my M3 in on Monday for paint protection and ceramic coating with 5 year warranty but I’m required to bring the car back for annual inspections for the warranty. It seems a bit excessive.

I do, they put another coat on top. It is a basic detail plus the added coat. Maybe $200. Keeps your warranty.

 

[Slumpey326]

I am just wondering how most people are chrome deleting the trim, badges, etc. Are people painting them? vinyl? plasti-dip? I really like the dark look all the way around so looking for insight please.

 

[jonotastic]

I am just wondering how most people are chrome deleting the trim, badges, etc. Are people painting them? vinyl? plasti-dip? I really like the dark look all the way around so looking for insight please.

Vinyl Wrap

 

[Slumpey326]

Vinyl Wrap

what about the badges, vinyl wrap too?

 

[jonotastic]

what about the badges, vinyl wrap too?

Yep, at least the shop I go to does.

 

[Slumpey326]

cool. trying to find a well-known customization shop in south florida that has experience with chrome delete for teslas.

 

[Jimmy 1]

cool. trying to find a well-known customization shop in south florida that has experience with chrome delete for teslas.

Where you located?

 

[raven66]

I had a loaner Model S that had PPF on the entire front of the car. There were a few chips on the hood that went through the PPF. Really makes you wonder if it is all it is cracked up to be. To repair you would have to remove the PPF, touch up, then replace vs. just touching up.

 

[duanra]

Question : I am planning to get my bumper protected (ppf). There are a few scratches and chips on it. If i get it painted before, will it show ? Can one usually see the difference between factory paint and a paint job ?

 

[joebruin77]

The self-healing properties of PPF are truly amazing. Check out this video, especially at 1:20 or so. I love how the guy cringes and his heart rate speeds up when he purposely scratches his paint.

Yes, PPF is expensive, but I love the thought of minor scratches or key marks on my paint just disappearing with the heat of the sun.

BTW, my Model 3 was hit in a parking lot a few weeks ago. Two unexpected benefits of the PPF. First, my insurance company State Farm covered the replacement cost of the PPF. So yes, it cost an extra $800 to replace the PPF for the two sections of the car. However, insurance covered it so no extra out of pocket for me. Second, because the paint was not damaged (thanks to the PPF), my car did not have to be repainted. I got my Tesla back in just 3 days.

As for sealants on top of the PPF, I first tried the Xpel paint sealant, but I found that no matter how careful I was, some of the sealant would find its way to the seams of the PPF. So now I use Optimum OptiSeal every 3 months. And I just received a bottle of Optimum's new Hyper Seal. This is supposed to be like Opti Seal on steroids. It contains SiO2 and last 3 to 4 times as long as the Opti Seal.

 

[Plastic6]

I have wrapped a ASTON Martin in matte white. Car looked fantastic but after a year there wear rock chips, ring scratch’s that required repair as paint would have. Then it was time to trade the car in and I lost money because of the wrap. Some people didn’t want to even take it in. They had no idea what the surface looked like under the paint and said they would have to explain that to anyone that would buy it. I have chose not to wrap my cars anymore and I pay a local guy to come to my garage once a year and detail them all at $150.00 per car.

 

[KenC]

Well, I'd never wrapped a car before, but, I thought I'd give it a go on the Model 3. Ordered a 30" front hood piece, front quarter panels, and mirror covers, from Invisiblemask.com, using 3M Scotchgard Pro for $200. The hoodpiece was easy, given how flat the hood is. I got the oversized piece, so I had to wrap around the edge to the underside. Had to wait until it dried to get the extra ⅛" to stick. The quarter panels are a bit tricky, but not too bad. The mirror covers are the hardest! You really have to pull and stretch the material. Now that I've done it, I went ahead and ordered the door wrap, another $400. And that was going to be it. I didn't really plan to do the front bumper, given that I'm concerned about the paint on metal parts, and not so much the plastic. Not to mention the bumper is quite curvy, and thus going to be harder than the hood. Anyhow, I've convinced myself that I can do the front bumper and so I'll order it as soon as I do the doors this week, another $200, probably.

Attached a pic of the front hood and quarter panels installed. You can see a hint of how far up 30" covers. A few bubbles in the lower left, that I'll pop with a needle.