I’m about to do the front end, headlights mirrors and door handle inserts, don’t really see a reason to do the hood and rest since I only drove about 5000 miles a year and rarely highway....but that’s just me , I don’t think the hood is going to get beat up unless it’s a specific circumstance...I’d rather do 350 for the front clip than 700 for the whole front end....


but to each their own and it also depends on where you drive. I’m on good roads with no issues so not as worried as if I was on highway all the time or bad roads

 

Chris
my Xpel installer gave me a bottle of Xpel Paint Protection Sealant after he installed the Xpel ultimate film. I used the sealant on the Xpel last year. Since that, I have applied to the entire car and wheels Adams Ceramic Spray (apply with a microfiber applicator after paint is properly cleaned with paint cleaning clay and polished). For maintenance I use Adams spray Ceramic Boost and for use as a quick detail spray I like Adams Waterless Ceramic Spray. You may want to inquire with your installer/detailer and see if he can do a full car paint Prep and detail for you. Then when you get the car back you do the ceramic. It all depends on your level of skill. I have never done a full strength more permanent ceramic coating myself. The Adams spray ceramic is easy to use once the paint is properly prepared and should serve me well. My daily driver Acura RL is 8 years old and has 165k miles. I personally detail it with a polish and carnuba wax twice a year and the Acura still looks showroom new. So I could not justify $2k for a professional detailer to apply ceramic on my Corvette.
Ed
https://adamspolishes.com/collection...ay-coating-kit

 

Thank you all for the thoughtful comments. I will probably do the mirrors as well as full hood and full fenders. Roads here in Mass. near and around Boston, are constantly being repaved with cheap blacktop that doesn't last 3 years and it's unpredictable when you get on a highway or roadway what surprises lie ahead.

I appreciate the comments on after install care of the XPEL PPF Ultimate film, lot's of good advice, especially the "don't over think it"... Man I am great at Over Thinking it. The paint on this car is awesome, spent 99% of it's 5 year life under a cover in a garage, only 5,350 miles on it when I picked it up 2 weeks ago, and the finish and shine were beyond my expectations, so I think I really just have to keep up with the excellent maintenance the original owner was doing.

The almost new Z06 rocker skirts will be here next week and installed next weekend. I am going back to work next week for the first time in 8 weeks, so there won't be much time for driving or working on the C7, just let it sit parked in the garage while the PPF cures/dries, whatever it does.

Ed, as you seem really familiar with Adam's product line, do you use their Wheel Cleaner ? I have applied TW Hybrid Ceramic wax coating to my factory chrome wheels but I'll still need to clean them with a safe but effective cleaner.

 

Several people commented correctly, about the edge line showing if you do a partial wrap of the fenders or hood. Especially on a dark colored car.
Also, little nicks or abrasions on the film over time show up badly with waxing.
Our 2017 is Long Beach Red, actually a dark metallic maroon. Using my two "other" waxes, the problem was so noticeable that I wished I'd skipped the XPel completely. Trying to remove the white from the edges was a PITA and never fully successful. My hood is a full wrap but the front fenders only about the first 1/2.
By chance, I tried the Turtle Wax Ice Liquid (not Spray) wax, which is a wipe on wipe off product. To my surprise, it 99% eliminated the visible edge lines and made the minor abrasions almost disappear. As good or better than no wax at all, in that respect. The Ice Liquid would not be my first choice for a non-XPel car, but it's pretty decent and works great with XPel.

EDIT:
XPel recommends using their Sealant and their bug remover, saying that anything with more than a little bit of petroleum distillates, like most other products have, can yellow the film over time.
I tried the two XPel products and was unimpressed. Since my installer actually recommended the Turtle Wax Ice, and I don't think a little yellowing would show on the Long Beach Red, and at worst I can have the film removed; I try the XPel bug remover first and then if that doesn't work (usual), regular Turtle Wax Bug Remover.

 

Chris

I have used the Adams wheel cleaner and also Adams tire and wheel cleaner. They all work well. With the ceramic coating on my Corvette wheels I usually just use a wheel cleaning brush and car wash soap to clean them. Occasionally I do use the wheel cleaner especially to clean the Red Brake calipers and barrels of the wheels. I live in a high rise, so when I clean my Vette "underground" I use Waterless car wash on the wheels and a Griots microfiber wheel wand and a microfiber detail towel (the wheels come out great, my hands stay ash black for days!).
My personal favorite wheel cleaner is Griots Garage (green) regular strength wheel cleaner. I have used it for years. Seems to be very mild, yet effective.
My parents down in Florida drive a Mercedes S550 and a CLS550. Those Mercs throw off heavier dust than the Vette. For the Mercs the Adams wheel cleaner seems to be best with the heavy grit. My 80 year old car loving dad is always very impressed when I do his AMG Merc wheels.
Ed

 

1) Paint needs to be corrected/polished as perfectly can be be BEFORE any PPF applied !!!

2) I got two small tears in front bumper XPEL caused by ???? where the paint Clear and Base
was also damaged............so you BELIEVERS that think XPEL cant be damaged are Kidding
Yourself until its your time

 

I never thought that XPel would protect our car from all damage, but I expected it to prevent 90% of the stone chips and minor dings that a DD gets.
So far, it has done just that at 30k miles.
We have about a half-dozen places on the front bumper where the XPel has a small scratch or tear. But on our 2009 at the same miles, we had lots of little nicks that I'd spend most of a day touching up every year and they still looked as bad or worse than our current XPel. Underneath the XPel, our paint is still perfect.

 

I had it put on my C7 last summer. I had them do the entire front end top to bottom (not the hood itself), the rear view mirrors and the headlights. Personally, I don't see a lot of value to doing the hood. It is fairly horizontal, so its not going to be affected anywhere close to what I just mentioned. I bought a used 2008 C6 back in the fall of 2012. I didn't know it at the time I purchased it, but it had 3M on it, similar to Xpel I think. Basically the front end and mirrors. I put about 23,000 miles on it before trading for my C7. After driving it for about 7 years, I never had any problems on the hood itself and I am very **** about my cars. Its your car, and you do what you are comfortable with, but me, I have no regrets about not doing the hood. I really just don't think its necessary.

 

I had my entire car done w/ XPEL and absolutely love it ... it was costly, but I truly believe it is worth every penny!!!

 

When our 2009 had about 30k miles one Spring, we were traveling with a group of cars that suddenly drove onto a stretch that had been heavily dosed with salt and cinders during the winter. The salt was gone but the cinders remained. I was back about 5 car lengths but still got heavily blasted with the grit before I could get enough distance from the car ahead. Two other people in the group had the front bumper and hood repainted afterwards, I just did a million little touchups on the front end but it was never the same, should have had it repainted. The hood actually looked worse than the front bumper, perhaps because the soft bumper had a little "give" from the cinders. OTOH, the XPel on our C7 front bumper has a few small scuffs and very small tears, but the hood is almost perfect. Go figure.
Another guy in our club had a big piece of truck tire tread hit his hood, the XPel needed to be replaced but the paint underneath was unharmed.

 

cjatrains:

My installer uses a combo of Xpel and Suntek. For care and such...someone here said "don't buff". Mmmm...yes and no. I've read about an even amount support for both sides. I say you can use a DA buffer with a non-abrasive pad. A pad with no cutting power. And then your favorite glaze, sealant, wax. etc. I was also told I COULD use a light cutting pad and/or light cutting polish to clean up any potential stains or whatnot. I really haven't done that much. I have some of Xpel's care products. They're not bad.

I have the whole front of the car "wrapped". NO half panels. FULL hood, fenders, A pillars, mirror, bumper and headlights. Someone made the comment about "don't believe about not getting damage". The primary reason most of us use the film is to eliminate the rock chips and road rash. The film is NOT indestructible nor immune to other certain hazards. Bugs...bird poo. Clean those off the film as soon as you can. If left on, they WILL etch into the film. When that happens....THIS is when the film fails us. You CAN'T buff out those etchings like you could with paint clear coat.

Example...I recently drove Atlanta to Orlando...and back to Atlanta. In FL, there are these little **** pain in the *** bugs called "love bugs". Their guts are wicked acidic. I washed the car within an hour of completing each leg. The drive back (7 hours on the road)...washed her right after I got home. I STILL had some splatter etching that wasn't there the day before. It happened that fast. Lucky for me...my film is getting replaced anyway due to a warranty claim. Once the new film is on, I'm ceramic-ing the car with Adam's UV Ceramic.

This film does protect...but YOU gotta protect AND help the film too. Don't park under trees thinking your totally safe. Clean off bugs and poo as soon as you see it. Most of us carry a few clean micro fiber towels and quick detail spray. Keep your baby clean...and use a ceramic boost spray. Makes the cleaning WAY easier. Xpel's product is great for that.


....I took a rogue mud flap into the grill at 85 mph on I-75. My Xpel was scuffed bad. Car insurance replacing it soon. BUT, the scuffing is 95% gone now. The film will self heal. Natural heat from the sun...hot water...hair dryer (don't linger on one spot too long).


....holy crap I wrote a lot. LOL.

 

I track my car a lot and had the Expel applied to the areas that get damaged on a car that is riding in traffic on a track.

I had the front splitter, fascia and the hood/front fender covered up to the rear edge of the hood vent. There is little debris that hits past that point on the front of the car, I also had the rocker panels and the side skirts covered and the door side up to the crease near the bottom of the door. I also had the rear quarters and mirrors done. You don't need to do the whole car as there are a lot of areas that don't need to be covered.

Bill

 

I am about to spend a lot of money on the PPC would like to know Xpel vs Suntek which is the best. I have heard one will self help which one is it. I would appreciate all help I can get to make my final decision.

 

This may help in your decision process.

https://ultimatewindowtinting.com/xp...the-difference

 

My C5 had extensive chipping on the rocker panels and also on the fenders directly behind the wheels so I had those areas on my C7, as well as the front of the rear wheel brake vent, covered (in addition to the full front end, A pillars, top, and spoiler). After 20K+ miles those areas still look great. However, I think a lot of the protection is due to the ACS mud flaps (pre-extra wide) and side skirts on my GS so I recommend adding those if you do not already have them.

 

Thank you everyone for the kind words and to the OP for choosing XPEL to protect your Corvette.

Recommended Coverage
- The most common protection package for Corvette is the full front end and rocker panels. This includes the front bumper, full hood, full fenders, headlights, side mirrors, and rocker panels including a piece behind the rear wheels for extra impact protection.



Aftercare
- To clean the film, a good detail spray will work well. You can also use the XPEL Detail Spray found Here.
- To maintain and increase the shine, a good ceramic boost type spray will be best. We recommend using the XPEL Ceramic Boost Spray found here.
- What NOT to use. Do not use anything on XPEL PPF (or any brand of PPF) that contains petroleum products such as naphtha or kerosene. Additionally, avoid products with harsh dyes in them, especially if your vehicle is white or light-colored.



BRAND NEW from XPEL - ULTIMATE PLUS 10
- New this year from XPEL is our ULTIMATE PLUS 10. This film is 10 mils thick instead of the standard ULTIMATE PLUS 8 mills thickness. XUP10 provides more protection and durability.

 

I have 2019 got it last year, getting the full front now, the way roads here in Southern Maryland it's worth every penny......with the full front end i'm getting the rest ceramic coating done to.

 

I would consider wrapping the entire car, not just for protection but maintenance. No swirl marks!!

 

Curious. How much did your wrapping cost you, and how much correction was there? ie new car, almost new, or older.

 

just got quoted $437 to do the front bumper, is that a fair price? Guy said it was just the cost of the materials.

Nearly all my driving, with a random exception, is under 55mph on good roads....thinking about this one just bc i hear the front bumper takes a beating