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I just bought a grand sport CE, and i feel like I need to protect my paint. I've been told to put a clear bra with protective coating. I got a price of $3800 for the entire car. Seems high, and I do have concerns that putting something that sticks to the paint could eventually harm the paint upon removal. Is there a particular material I should seek out? 3M has a product that they claim is best on the market. I'd like some advice.....any comments welcome, please.
It should be available. I did the front bumper cover, headlights and bottom of front fenders behind the tires; places where bugs, gravel, etc could cause damage. I also replaced the film in front of the rear wheels with Xpel as the factory film there commonly turns yellow with age.
Any PPF of any brand is going to help a lot in terms of rock chip damage. 3M was the original PPF brand a decade or more ago, but fell behind other brands over the years. It's my understanding that their new products are now comparable to everyone else.
XPEL Ultimate is the popular choice these days claiming the best protection. Other brands like SunTek are preferred by some because they believe the clarity is better. My installer showed me 3M, Suntek, and XPEL Ultimate samples installed on my car, and I couldn't tell the difference. I went w/ XPEL Ultimate because what I was shown was a bit thicker. The truth is, any of them are going to provide good protection against rock chips.
They can all look great or horrible depending upon the skill of the installer. The installer is everything when it comes to these products.
I covered the entire nose, hood, front fenders, rockers, mirrors and area behind the rear wheels. Anything more than that is overkill. If you want to do it on a budget, nose, mirrors, and rockers are the most vulnerable.
Lots of good info above, the only thing I can add us to find a great installer. A great installer will add extra to the pattern which allows them to wrap around the edges. I would suggest doing the whole hood versus 1/2. I have the front, rockers, mirrors and around the rear wheels done. Well worth the money for sure. You say it seems high, it sounds like, for the price, they are going to do paint protection which is a necessity before putting on the film.
Agree with everything Foosh stated. I went with the SunTek Ultra, as my installer does both EXPEL and SunTek Ultra and has switched as their top choice, the SunTek due to claiming it being clearer and shiner than the competition. Here is mine...
Lots of good info above, the only thing I can add us to find a great installer. A great installer will add extra to the pattern which allows them to wrap around the edges. I would suggest doing the whole hood versus 1/2. I have the front, rockers, mirrors and around the rear wheels done. Well worth the money for sure. You say it seems high, it sounds like, for the price, they are going to do paint protection which is a necessity before putting on the film.
Yep, I neglected the most important part in bold above. However, I think he meant paint correction is the most important part. The clarity of the film is primarily a function of the brilliance of the paint finish underneath. I had the entire car paint corrected (clayed and machine polished) prior to film.
The installer I've used for years always uses SunTek, so I've had it on several vehicles including my 2017 GS...always been happy with it. On the GS, I basically did entire front end from windshield forward.
Any PPF of any brand is going to help a lot in terms of rock chip damage. 3M was the original PPF brand a decade or more ago, but fell behind other brands over the years. It's my understanding that their new products are now comparable to everyone else.
XPEL Ultimate is the popular choice these days claiming the best protection. Other brands like SunTek are preferred by some because they believe the clarity is better. My installer showed me 3M, Suntek, and XPEL Ultimate samples installed on my car, and I couldn't tell the difference. I went w/ XPEL Ultimate because what I was shown was a bit thicker. The truth is, any of them are going to provide good protection against rock chips.
They can all look great or horrible depending upon the skill of the installer. The installer is everything when it comes to these products.
I covered the entire nose, hood, front fenders, rockers, mirrors and area behind the rear wheels. Anything more than that is overkill. If you want to do it on a budget, nose, mirrors, and rockers are the most vulnerable.
FOOSH, Premier makes a very good line of PPF, as well. Agreed, no need to wrap entire car.
Yep, I neglected the most important part in bold above. However, I think he meant paint correction is the most important part. The clarity of the film is primarily a function of the brilliance of the paint finish underneath. I had the entire car paint corrected (clayed and machine polished) prior to film.
You are correct, darn spell check and not proof reading, thanks
Agree with everything Foosh stated. I went with the SunTek Ultra, as my installer does both EXPEL and SunTek Ultra and has switched as their top choice, the SunTek due to claiming it being clearer and shiner than the competition. Here is mine...
There are a lot of options out there. I researched it a lot and read that Xpel was believed to be the best, but then saw a test an installer did that indicated that 3M was the best, then contacted a reputable installer who recommends SunTek and has been installing it for years. For the particular product he is recommending, SunTek just up'd the warranty from 5 years to 10. I believe I am just going to do the bumper and mirrors and that will be it. I would like to do more but I just recently bought my car and am buying a lot of other stuff for it, so I am not willing to spend more money on this. Reality is (IMO), you can spend a ton of money of the film/installation and if misfortune happens and your car is wrecked/damaged, the money spent is gone and the film will need to be redone again (the installer I talked to was doing this exact thing, redoing a Vette that had been hit). I agree with those that say doing to the entire car isn't needed.
Another key - since you have a GS (widebody) is that you do the rear quarter panels/fender flares and lower brake vent area. The widebody vetts will pepper those sexy rear fender flares. Having the side skirts on the car helps a lot. But if you're already doing clear film anyway, you'll be glad you protected those rear fenders.
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Clear Bra
