Z0Sick6

Hi all,

I am torn on the route to go. My car is about to be done being bayed and off to my dealer. I have a 2017 Z06 - Torch Red being delivered.

I have narrowed down to 2 options for XPEL:

Package 3: Bumper, Hood, Headlights, Mirrors, Rear Quarters, rockers including lower doors where that sharp line comes INCLUDING behind front mud flap area, and behind rear mud flap area. $2745

Package 4: Entire car - excluding top and back roof. $3495

Net difference of $755. I feel package 3 will protect the prone areas - only thing not included are front quarters and the doors.

For what its worth - I am also going to spend money to get the car ceramic coated by me once I get it home.

What do you think?

Also, if going Package 3 - this is a certified XPEL installer that does dozens of corvettes a month - will be perfect install, will I notice a difference in paint from covered to uncovered parts?

Woodson

I didn't do the whole car, but I did do the roof because I'm handling it all the time. Cost was very minimal to add the roof.

Jmcdude

Neither. I would either do the full front clip for $1500, which I did (full hood, fenders, nose, rockers, area behind rear wheels) or the whole car for $4000.

IM3CPO

How bad is it going to bug you if you get a nick/chip in your paint? If it bothers you I would seriously recommend getting the entire car covered. I have gone route #3 you outlined on some cars and while that worked in some instances, its also come back to bite me. For example, I have a 2016 GT350 and got the entire front clip of the car covered, as well as all leading edges and rear fender areas. The only areas I didnt get XPEL on were the roof and the trunk. Well, guess what? I got a rock chip on the roof!

Also keep in mind that your tires will sling up all sorts of rocks and sand which come off the tire with a lot of spin. Couple this with the ability for your car to pull some major G's in a corner and you can get some bizarre rock trajectory.

I personally think you have two options, and they are not the options you listed. I would either do the full front clip of the car (everything up to the A pillar), the side skirts, and the rear quarter OR I would do the entire car.

I decided to get the whole car done. It should be done Friday this week:

Maxie2U

I got my done for $1400.00. And it was not a pre-cut kit. Installer wrapped all edges under limiting the number of clear bra lines.

Entire front end (full hood, fenders, front bumper cover)
Rocker panels (included removal of the GM clear bra)
Mirrors
Door cups
Door sills including the Corvette sill covers
Gas door
And a small 3"x3" applied to where I push the doors closed


Brand: 3M Pro Series

CT Grand Sport CE

As IM3CPO said, "how bad is a nick/chip going to bother you? I went with pkg #4 because I knew that the inevitible chip would bug the hell out of me. My friend said that you can get a lot of chips fixed for $3500, but I knew that I would kick myself everytime I saw it. And I know that everytime I approached the car my eyes would go right to the chip(s).
I had it wrapped at dealership because I picked it up 3/21, a week after most of the northeast got 2ft of snow, and I had a 200 mile drive from NH to CT and didn't want to get a chip before I was able to get it wrapped.

mountainears

Yea, I would have kicked myself if I got a nick in an area that could have been wrapped, so spent the extra bucks.

Also, talk to the installer you are going to use about the opticoat. There is some debate over this but my installer would not do opticoat prior to a wrap partially because it impacts the adhesion. They color correct and polish the car to get it as good as they can and then wrap.

IM3CPO

Technically the best way to do this whole thing is to get paint correction done on your entire car first; they can also do polishing, etc., to make everything look even. Then you want to get the XPEL installed. If you want additional "bling" past that, you can also do certain waxes or ceramic coatings which will add water beading, and make it easier to wash your car in the future.

I would personally recommend ceramic pro if you decide you want to make it easier to maintain the XPEL once its installed.

Zymurgy

Don't know why there is any debate about this. Xpel is very clear on this. Do not apply sealer of any kind before installing film.

RonBurgAM

The first thing you should do is look at front mud guard options. I researched extensively and ended up doing the Extra Long O'Reiley as detailed by gve. After 5k miles, I don't have one nick on the rear two thirds of the car. Side skirts are not enough.

I did the bumper, hood, headlights, mirrors, quarter panels and splitter. I don't notice much of a difference between areas, but all are full panels. No seams except small ones on the mirrors.

PM me if you want to talk through my experience. Godspeed.

Foosh

I'm surprised you'd be so quick to accept everything a supplier says at face value, without questioning the possible underlying motives. They actually don't use language as adamant as you used above, but more of a waffly recommendation.

The simple fact is that some of their less-experienced installers have reported to XPEL they've had trouble with adhesion, and as a result, they issued that "guidance" to make it easier on themselves. I've not seen similar guidance from any other PPF supplier, and there's nothing fundamentally different about XPEL.

A very experienced professional installer does not have any adhesion problems with a sealant or coating underneath, and many of the better installers do not agree with XPEL's advice, including mine who has been doing it for 20 years. He's been quite outspoken about it, and I posted some videos here, that he made awhile back.

I had my car painted-corrected, then CQuartz Finest ceramic coated, with XPEL Ultimate on top. Any film is going to look much better over a beautifully prepared surface. There are zero adhesion problems after a year, driven 10K miles in all kinds of weather. Mine was wrapped around all edges with no seams visible, and that also precludes adhesion problems.

If the XPEL get's nicked or needs to be replaced, the paint underneath will be pristine and still protected. If it does need to be replaced, the film will also come off clean with no residue or paint damage. Ceramic coatings are intended to protect paint, not plastic.

IM3CPO

Your installer may be the exception. For what its worth, I know of no installer (in the area I live) that will apply a ceramic coating under XPEL clear bra. What they do offer is applying Ceramic Pro to give the XPEL hydrophobic properties and make is easier to clean. Again, not trying to say your installer is "wrong"; just that I couldnt find anyone who agrees with him.

intake68

I just had the entire car done so my vote is to do the entire car. The cost isnt much more but cost should only be a guideline in my opinion. If you are committed to wrapping the car to prevent chips or scratches then wrap the car. Maybe you will be okay just going 3/4 but the installer is already there and you completely eliminate the worry of a "what if" situation by doing the complete vehicle.

mountainears

There's the debate I was talking about

My point was mostly that there were varying opinions and to do some research of your own and come to your own conclusions.

I'm with you, I haven't found an installer in the bay area that would put it on before. This does not mean that there isn't beautiful prep work that happens before they put the film on, that is absolutely what happens.

Honestly, there are people that debate the benefit of carbon coatings too, everyone has an opinion. And if there is benefit of doing it on top of the film, which some do as well. Do the research and then what makes you comfortable.

For the record, the installer I used does not use ceramic coatings with his Xpel customers. Preps the surface and does the Xpel and uses Reload on it after that. His recommended after car is no dusters, wash or detail spray. He likes Chemical Bros EcoSmart RU for the detail spray and every couple months a spray down with Reload Spray Sealant.

MacMulkin

Here's my personal opinion...for those who feel it's a waste of money

You're spending A LOT of money on a brand new Z06. Why wouldn't you want to protect it?

Because of the Z06 and Grand Sport's wider fenders, you are MUCH more prone to sand blasting - not just a "a paint chip or two" like one forum member mentioned.

Click on the photos of the Shark Gray Z06 in this article we wrote regarding XPEL Paint Protection. This Z06 had just over 10,000 miles on the odometer:

http://macmulkincorvette.com/2016/12...ible-vehicles/

LoganExplosion

Just lock it up in a garage and do NOT drive it
For the life of me I'll never understand why people spend buku bucks on protecting OEM paint. You could probably get a good respray for $3500. What's so special about the factory paint?? Saving it for the next owner? Thanks!!! Can't wait to rip that **** off and drive the **** out of it

Woodson

Because it looks like crap the whole time except right after the respray.

KGrant

I get that some people live in areas where there's a lot of road conditions that cause damage due to rocks and debris. However, for many as myself, the car isn't a daily driver and the risk is minimal and for me even if it was a daily driver I would rather than not put $3000-$6000 into a rapidly depreciating asset such as a nice car, I rather put that same cash into an investment account and when there's enough imperfection from stone chips than I will get them repaired from the growth of the invested money.

If I see 1 or 2 chips I might get mad for a minute but not mad enough to go pay thousands to minimize the future risk but that's just me. Almost all cars driven in America will have some form of scratch, stone chip, swirl etc so I look at it as just part of car ownership.

There are other ways to protect Your Car

m3incorp

I voted package 4. Your package 4 is a lot cheaper than that package costs in my area.

JonMN

I voted 3, but my actual car has partial hood, partial fenders, bumper, headlights, and sides just up to the lower crease (Style Line?) on the door. I hate paint chips, and this has been enough coverage for me so far (on my other cars too) By the way, Torch Red is VERY forgiving on the film. After having two white cars with film, you should see it just disappears on TR.