ba2sy

iTrader: (1)

I am planning to get Paint Protection Film Xpel or 3M (physical damage) and EcoShield Paint Protection (chemical-like damage) that makes water bead on the paint. But do you guys think it can be applied to the film? Is there a change in how often you wash your cars with the film vs w/o the film? Do you guys put something else on top of the film like opticoat or something like that?


https://www.ecoautosolutions.com/eco...d/#prettyPhoto

rjmalm

The Infared paint is very soft and easy to scratch. Rock chips show up as white spots and look really bad. I got one on the center of the hood on my 1st road trip. Bottom line, I went for front PPF and coating instead of any sealer or wax.

I 1st picked XPEL, but my local XPEL expert would not do my new RC-F last spring since the paint character was unknown at the time. He recommend that I have Lexus subcontact the PPF install so if any errors happened they would be funded by Lexus. Lexus used AutoBahn and it took several tries to get the 3M pro PPF on the front curves with no wrinkles or defects but AutoBahn got the job done pretty well. Removal of the 3M to fix the wrinkles did not damage the soft paint like the XPEL guys was afraid might happen. 3M pro has a 7 year warranty and XPEL has a 10. Be sure to look every inch over when yours gets done and document anything you find.

I got PPF on the front and have bikini bra PPF up about 15" on the hood and did the rocker panels under the doors up to the front wheel where you get splatters. Wish I would have done something with PPF behind the rear wheel to avoid tire gravel scars on the paint. Even the gravel scars on the PPF are not pretty. They leave little white scars that can not be fixed without some touch up paint. PPF on the front below the grill would be nice as well. I have scars/pits in the metal colored paint there as well after 12k miles.

Remember, PPF scars can not be corrected like clear coat can unless you remove the PPF and replace it.

So after delivery, I had the car paint and PPF coated with Ceramic Pro Lite. After 3 months I had some spider web scratches, and had the paint corrected and Ceramic Pro Sport applied. But Lite and Sport do not protect very well from washing scratches, just makes it very slick and glossy. So last week I had the Lite removed (took 2 levels of correction) from the painted areas and 4 layers of Ceramic Pro 9H applied and then 1 layer of Lite. Sidebar: I have 2 layer of 9H on the wheels and 2 of Lite over it. I should have used the 9H from the start but the factory paint was not great and it took several months to get Lexus to fix it. If I put on 9H to protect from scratching it would have been money wasted since it needed wet sanding to fix the orange peel on the rear of the car. Bye the way I did test the self restoring paint feature on the spider webs. Some improvement but not that great. The CF clear coat on the roof holds up much better than Infared clear coat. I have some pictures of PPF wrinkles, scars, even paint chips etc if your interested.

After learning about this paint for 6 months, I finally got educated on paint maint and now will only use a power washer to rinse, then foam lance to soap, sponge off and then rinse with DI water or soft water and then blow dry and not do any towel dry. I also stopped the daily use of a EZ Waterless wash for a quick dust clean ups. It does not lift the dirt like a foam lance or foam cannon and it contains some wax. Waxing over the Ceramic Pro results in a problem. The surface will not be as slick as the Ceramic Pro itself. Dirt/dust sticks more to the wax. My detailers recommended no quick detailing spray as well, just 50/50 Alcohol H20 for small area clean ups (finger prints, bugs, etc) between washing. They advised no California Duster as well even if you vacuum it after usage.
You can read about my detailer and services/products at scottsdalecardetailing.com.

jsmacks

I'm planning on getting the full XPEL paint protection as well after researching the various brands (3M, Llumar, XPEL). Direct from the XPEL site, this is what they say about caring for the film:

How to Care for the Film

"How is care of XPEL ULTIMATE different than other films?"
XPEL ULTIMATE Paint Protection Film requires less maintenance than any other brand of film on the market. Our general care instructions are:

Wait 48 hours after installation to wash your car
Remove insect or other stains with bug and tar remover
Stubborn stains can be removed with 99% isopropyl alcohol or lacquer thinner. Take care to keep these chemicals off the vehicle’s paint
Seal with XPEL Flawless Finish Paint Protection Film Sealant at least once every 3 months to preserve high gloss
Light scratches in the film will self-heal in 20-30 minutes at room temperature. In colder conditions, or to accelerate the process, pour warm water (120°F) over the affected area


That being said.. after talking it over with the dealer/detailer, we made the decision to apply the XPEL to the front bumper and do the rest of the car in the 9H micro-ceramic. His advice was that although the XPEL is an awesome product, you will still see a slight lack of depth compared to the uncoated parts. If it's a super deep gloss and shine you want with basic paint protection, then this is the way to go. For full and absolute protection, go with the full XPEL application. It's a give and take. From what I read and saw with the micro-ceramic sealant, it does provide decent chip and scratch protection. I love that USB too much.. I want that pantie dropping high gloss, high depth..

5x coats of this, each individually finished before the next coat is applied - http://www.nanoshine-group.com/9h.html

ba2sy

iTrader: (1)

Rjmalm and jsmacks, thanks for the extremely detailed info. So, in summary, Xpel Ultimate plus Ceramic Pro 9H is the way to go... I got a quote of $5980 plus tax for the whole car's body then plus 20% for Xpel Ultimate and plus 20% for Signature Wrap...

What's a signature wrap?

rjmalm

Maybe "signature" is to roll wrap the panel seams so you dont see the XPEL edges?

I dont think Creamic Pro 9H is put on the Xpel. Might defeat the self healing property. Maybe only need Lite so make it really slick and glossy. My detailer does not put 9H on my PPF, just on the wheels, plastic, and paint. Then all is covered with Lite.

You could contact Chris at detailBoss for 2nd opinion.
7701 E Gray Rd Suite 107
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Phone: 480-823-5858 or 480-823-6003
E-mail: detailboss@scottsdalecardetailing.com
They charge $3k for 2 level correction and full car 4x Ceramic Pro 9H and 1x Lite (takes 9 hours, 2 people) . I think I remember 1x Lite was about $300-$400.
They just started doing wraps so would have an knowledge about coating wraps.

I never got a quote from AutoBahn on full car 3M or from http://shanestintandclearbra.com for XPEL Ultra at
623-933-1547


8581 W Kelton Ln #211

Peoria, AZ 85382

Shane is an XPEL and 3M expert install.
This is what he sent me for a partial cover.
Full coverage kits include the full hood, full front fenders, front bumper, back of mirrors and I will include the trunk step for you. Suntek would be $1200 and XPEL Ultimate would be $2000. To add the rocker areas it would be $150 per side. If you just want the door entry area covered it would be $15/door.
Splash areas would be $30 corner. Please keep in mind that all of our prices do include installation, and also include tax. So the quoted prices are true out the door prices.

I only got partial coverage quotes. I notice a large range of prices across the country. Function of marketing, amount of prep, skill of installer.....
I think prices are lower in California where there are more installers. (both good and bad).

Be sure to go look at their work, look at the complicated areas to wrap, look for wrinkles and look at all the panel seams. Take a bright LED flashlite or only look at
their work in the sun.

jsmacks

Wow.. I was quoted $1850 for the bumper wrap with the XPEL and the full car treatment with 5x 9H. That includes the wheels, headlamps, everything.

rjmalm

You can go to this site and enter your year, make, model for RC-F and see the piece price and add them up and see the patterns that exist. Dont know the Ultimate adder. These are not WRAPs but are cover to the seams.....
I am not sure you can really wrap the thick XPEL.



http://smartshieldprotection.com/about-smartshield/

da mayor

iTrader: (2)

having clear paint protective film makes washing and the shine easier for the car.

ThaDRD

I had the entire car done in Xpel Ultimate for $3200. I love it. You can apply any kind of wax or sealant on top of it, but I don't bother. Just regular hand wash and detail spray.

jsmacks

Those that have it: Honestly, how well can you see it? What about when you compare coated vs non coated areas?

rjmalm

Pure paint can be corrected to be nicer looking, but it requires careful maint. Besides paint correction you can use touch up like DrColorChip and polish after cured.

Film will scar (white or ding) and all you can do is put touch up paint on it and I would not try to polish the spots.

One should really look at an example PPF to paint seam in person for the product you might get.

With non corrected factory paint you might not even notice the difference since the reflections are not perfect in both cases. The film will always be a little worse due to the thickness. Older films were much worse and often this was a function of how smooth the film is based on the backing paper on the roll it was on.

I will attached a image that I took today. Hood has been corrected at least 2 levels so current reflections are much better than factory paint reflections. Has not been washed for 6 days since it takes 10 for the coating to fully harden.

ThaDRD

If you are talking about Xpel, nobody can tell unless you are right up on it and even then you might have to point it out. Xpel is quite glossy, but nothing would be as glossy as no PPF, paint corrected with something like Opticoat.

I went with Xpel on the whole car because I didn't want to chase scratches around anymore and it offers protection from rock chips.

BTW, if you go with PPF, do paint correction first. Otherwise, you are just sealing in imperfections.

ba2sy

iTrader: (1)

Where did you do yours? Entire car for $3200 is really amazing. The lowest quote I got is $4500 so far. How is it now?

@everyone: thanks for the great info. By the way, do you guys know how good Suntek is? They told me it has a glossier look on the car, less thick than Xpel.

RCFormante

iTrader: (1)

I paid about $5K to wrap my car completely in Suntek PPF-C, at first I wanted XPEL Ultimate, but my installer told me that Suntek film is good for darker colors because of the gloss it provides, so I went with that.

Suntek PPF-C provides more gloss but the adhesive is not as strong as XPEL Ultimate, that's the downside of it, both films have self healing properties.

johnnyreb

I wouldn't recommend buying the Sun-Tek self healing off of ebay for the RCF. I did for the front end, hood, mirrors & side panels & it was a Horrible fit. I would imagine because the front end has so many intricate pieces & curves to it, my guys couldn't even use the bottom pieces of the front end cause they fit so bad (they tried heating & stretching but it just was way too many gaps around the front end & the hood). But, i have to admit they did refund my money -20% re-stocking fee which i felt was fair. Reason i even tried ebay was cause there's Nobody around here that you can purchase it from & install it.