How necessary is clear film?
 

I just took delivery of my new Z06 with the Z07 package. So far I love it. Only put about 50 miles on it so far.

I was fold these cars cars will sandblast the lower panels quickly due to the Cup 2 tires picking up every stone, etc.

i also plan on doing a couple of track days a year. Stone chips probably a certainty.

Thoughts? The film and ceramic coating is probably a $3500 ordeal. Not cheap.

Thanks in advance!!

I only had one regret about Xpel....



it's that I didn't have the WHOLE CAR WRAPPED... very important if chips and road rash drive you nuts when the light catches the car at angles especially if you go to wipe it down or wash....

I must be lucky I have not been plagued with any chips on the sides.
A few on the nose but I have 27,000 miles. I did order the side skirts and the GM splash guards put them on before delivery. Which seems to the ticket

I'm having the whole front and sides done with xpel this week.

Inner fender well lip paint and just above my lower rear air inlet are toast.. Cup 2's are sticky bad

Bought mine second hand.. it has some tiny rock chips I would want to repair if I was to clear bra so its pointless. Also it doesn't protect 100% from rock chips.. My buddy just had a rock hit through the clear bra, now he's out the repair/touchup cost and the new clear bra cost.

The only time I would get the whole car done was if it was new from the factory so I knew it was clean under it. Otherwise it seems cheaper to me to just repaint the whole bumper or the pieces that are chipped when it is too much for you to bare to look at.. Its only $500 to repaint a full front bumper.. Where as a whole wrap is $5-6000+... You could get that thing repainted every 12 times for that price...

I guess I don't get the point of clear bra..

The only reason for the film is to keep your car looking pristine.
If you don't care, don't bother.

Spend thousand$ and hope to keep your car scratch/chip resistant. When selling you get what the car is worth.

Without wrap you get a few hundred less.

You are right!
 

Spend the money and do the front and it will keep the front looking nice, however like the man said when you go to trade it in it will only count for a couple hundred dollars. Is it worth it? I did mine, just the front end, hood and front sides. One rock chip would drive me nuts.

Never used to think about doing it being in the detail business, but driving between the Jersey shore and upstate NY the road debris is everywhere, road construction everywhere, that is why I had this Z06 100% wrapped, every painted surface, every spoiler and vent, those no tread tires find every stone on the road and throw it down the side of the vette, where as my other cars I only do the front bumper, or under the trim line.

My ZO6 is due in today and the Xpel install is this Wednesday. I have had an amazing experience with it on my 2014. Clean-up is fast and the film is very hard to notice. The paint looks like it did at delivery. You will not regret it. On prior Corvettes I would spend hours touching up rock chips and you could tell as I am not a professional painter. My son accidentally knocked over his bike and it hit the car without leaving a mark.

If you drive in anything other than a straight line and/or at speeds above cruising around speeds, then your rear quarter fender flares and rear brake ducts/lower rocker areas are going to get chipped up.

You can: Ignore the chips and drive it; respray the rear quarters at some point down the road; or, try to mitigate with clear film.

Up to you.

For me, it isn't about resale values...
It's about my baby looking like sh!t that bothers me.;)

3500 is a bit steep for ceramic coating AND clear bra. Unless the clear bra is a FULL WRAP. Ceramic coating shouldn't cost more than 800 bucks (even though I spent about half that). I would say even with a full clear bra wrap + ceramic coating, you shouldn't be charged anything above 3k but hey, that's still quite a bit of money haha.

My tint guys charge about 1.8k for a full clear bra wrap and about 1200 for just a kit of it. The reason it's expensive is because of the prep work needed. Need to be stripped down to paint, paint correction done and stripped again from the chemicals used for paint correction and use rubbing alcohol to clean again. Only then they can apply the film. The main problem with clear bra is that so many shops do it and only very few actually do it right. I am lucky to have my tint shop because they do it right, their shop car had the same clear bra for 9 years now... Never met a single person who wasn't happy with their work.

All of the hype, passion, and angst related to wrapping your car or putting protective clear film on it depends on what it'd be like without it.

The consensus seems to be without it, you're a hillbilly who doesn't mind driving around with a bunch of rock chips.

The only problem is I have no film and no chips (I did pick up 2 on my rear vent at the track before adding side skirts though). At least none on the front.

So like a lot of things it depends on where you live. I also have a singular rock chip in my windshield from a truck, but film wouldn't have helped. I bet in dustier environments like the midwest maybe it makes a much bigger difference.

Around here, at least, I contend we don't need it. If we did, I'd repaint the nose and add it. But never saw the need.

I wrapped my whole car because it was black. I love that I don't have to worry about swirls on my paint😎 It is costly but would do it again.👍👍

Getyup, how does wrapping prevent swirls? I'd look into it for that alone if true, but I'd think the wrap material is "soft" enough to develop swirls just like the clearcoat itself is, no?

I don't believe so.
The plastic is actually pretty tough, which is how it protects against chips, rocks.
Another thing is bugs don't stick nearly as much with it on.

Dave, if you only see 2 chips on a rear brake duct without huge splash guards installed and no xpel on them? Come find me at Carlisle I'll brake down each one of 100 or more that are actually there lol.. Just depends on angle lighting and eyesight...

Nah. I get your point, but even if it were literally true, I'd feel the same - this car is a street car and it's not going to stay Pebble Beach quality.

I have cars where that matters, and the solution is simple: trailer it.

Put more simply, I either drive them or trailer them. I don't pretend my street car is in the trailer league. And neither is a wrapped car until you remove the wrap anyway, so...

[Brief silence]

Before hitting "Submit" I ran out to check I'm not crazy, got out my brightest lamp and a bottle of Adams detail spray, and there's no damage (on the front) that I regret. It could happen any time, any drive, I get that. Still, no bras for this man. To each their own!