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New cars do not remain new cars when you drive them. Enjoy the ride.
But it is painful to see when you are detailing the car.
On my car the vents have a few marks, but nothing too bad.. yet. I do have the side skirts since I have the level 3 Aero with the Z07 package. I also moved my splash guards from my 2014 Z51 over to the Z06 when I traded up.
The wheels though, I don't think anything will really help that. I had a 2015 Mustang GT with the PP and the black wheels as my daily driver and the paint on the wheels were pretty trashed in 8 months / 12k miles. I won't get black wheels again due to the chipping and the swirl marks.
Personally, I think things like Xpel are not worth the relatively expensive cost to have it applied.
I'm with you on this one, but everyone has a strong opinion on it.
Personally, I am still debating if I want to have my exposed CF roof covered with a film. There is no touching up that part, and when the exposed roof panel on my 2014 was replaced under warranty the cost of parts and labor was approaching $6k.
I'm with you on this one, but everyone has a strong opinion on it.
Personally, I am still debating if I want to have my exposed CF roof covered with a film. There is no touching up that part, and when the exposed roof panel on my 2014 was replaced under warranty the cost of parts and labor was approaching $6k.
You'll probably spend as much to have your exposed CF roof covered.
Not saying people who pay the price to have Xpel or other protections applied are wasting their money. I totally get why people do it.
It's a personal thing. Personally, it's not worth the price, but that's me.
Unless you plan to cover the entire car in 3M plastic, then it really makes more since (to me) to just accept the fact that it's a car and you are going to have rock chips and flaws as you drive and enjoy it.
Most people never notice this kind of damage and it goes without saying that it's the price of ownership when you decide to drive your Corvette vs. preserving it as if it's a Faberge Egg or something.
Again, this is MY personal point of view and I arrived at it after carefully considering putting protective film on my new C7 as well.
At the end of the day, I chose not to to have this done as my inexpensive approach hasn't failed me in all of this time.
My post isn't a critique of Xpel or against anyone looking to protect their ride. I'll let my post stand as an alternate point of view for anyone considering having this done to their car as it isn't exactly cheap depending on what you want protected and whether you apply it yourself of have it installed.
All of that said, I'm considering doing this my headlights and nothing more. The rest of the car I can fix myself as the chips happen.
Last edited by Chemdawg99; Apr 24, 2016 at 02:19 PM.
For some of us who dd their Vette, clear bra is required. My commute is through the sandblast canyon alley known as the Ortega Hwy. in SoCal. If you saw the debris that exists on that road you'd cringe just thinking about what it does to paint finishes. Luckily, the PO spent some bucks clear-bra'ing 75% of the car and it looks great after many months of commuting - in fact, hasn't changed at all since I started commuting with the C7. The exposed CF top is cleared as well and is well-protected from the stones that hit it. Most people have no idea that so much of the car is clear-bra'ed - with the right installer, the bra is virtually invisible and does not change the shine or color of the paint. Plus, there is no chance of working swirls into the clear coat due to washing/polishing.
I recently added a set of G3 Carbon Flash skirts to minimize the rocker abuse (yes the rockers are clear-bra-ed) and, of course, for looks and I had Xpel applied to those before the install to protect from the massive amounts of debris they would see. After a couple of months, there isn't a single blemish on them - no paint chips that would already exist without the bra.
I had Xpel applied to my previous dd, a 2011 Mini Cooper S, and put 100k miles on in 5 years on the same commute route. I had the entire front, headlights and mirrors done on that car and it looks really great after all those miles - I can't tell you the rocks the Xpel saved the paint from, along with road gators, bugs, etc. After over 5 years, there is minimal discoloration and no new paint job required. There are some scars in the clear bra from traumatic encounters with rocks, etc., but the Xpel is surprisingly tough.
If you're going to clear bra a car, try to get it done ASAP before driving it much to minimize the chips you will inevitably start racking up. IMHO, it is totally worth the money compared to the frustration a caring owner is bound to experience once the chips start to accumulate.
This is all, as always, JMHO.
The Mini Road Warrior after several years of the Ortega. The Xpel for the entire front and mirrors was ~$500 total. Imagine the cost of a paint job in comparison.
Side skirts and powder coat your wheels. Those are signs that you are enjoying your car, stuff happens, starts as soon as you drive it off the lot. Dr Colorchip will work wonders and is a cheap fix.
I wasn't fond of side skirts, but pulled the trigger to protect the rear brake ducts. They're a must on a Z06, and they don't look bad, which is a plus.
Our 2007 Z06 was trashed in that area. My wife drove it so there were no burn out or speeding with it. When we picked up or C7 in January we parked it until I was able to get side skirts, and even at that we waited until the Xpel was put on them. No dings, except the 2 or 3 from driving it 100 miles home from the dealer where we got it.
Grrrrr!!!!
