Totally agree... I dropped it off at 7AM and picked it at 5pm while they had just finished it up. The product is under warranty from xpel as they are an authorized retailer

 

Pick up the car tomorrow and trying to schedule the XPEL wrap for Saturday. I am undecided as to what parts to cover. I plan on covering the full hood, fender, mirrors and trunk lid (includes spoiler). Is it really necessary to cover the bumper? Isn't it plastic? I am more inclined to have the doors done as they constantly get nicked in the parking lot where I work.

 

The front nose/bumper is by far and away the place where you will get vast majority of rock chips, and you are guaranteed to get them without the film. When the paint chips off the plastic bumper, you will see the unpainted bumper color (black) where a rock has removed the paint. If you film nothing else, do that. The same is true of the rocker panels below the doors, which are also black before being painted.

The film will NOT protect against most door dings, unless someone is being very careful and just resting a door softly against your car. If it's a careless door opening on your car, which most are, it will simply dent the metal under the film. The film will either rip or go into the dent.

 

I just received a quote of $2200 to cover the same exact parts with XPEL and they said it would take two full days! This is the top rated auto film installer in Orlando but not sure why it is almost twice the amount and twice the time required as your installation.

 

I did full hood, front bumper, fenders, side-view mirrors - lights - rocker panels and used Suntek (based on the opinions on this Forum and [re] darker colored cars; I have Stratus Gray) and the cost was roughly $2,000.

Granted, in the state of Maine my options are rather limited to those skilled in the application but I got the name of my guy from Suntek. He's been in the business for over 25 years and I think he did a great job (which took him several days to complete, plus an overnight "curing"). He did say, he was glad the job was finished largely, I suspect, due to the curves of the car and since I'm sure he wanted to do an outstanding job...which took time and care.

Overall - I have a few microscopic "spots" in the hood which he thinks will disappear once heat/sun hits it - I am quite pleased (and for a little added protection).

 

That's about what I was quoted for those same parts. THEBIGCAT's $1400 and several others in that same range claimed on this forum are unbelievable deals, and certainly not the norm in most places as far as I can tell. But, he did produce his invoice. No way I could find that price around here.

 

print them the invoice I uploaded and see if they'll match the job, tell them you have a business meeting in charlotte anyways so if they aren't going to match it you'll just have the car taken care of while in Charlotte

 

Found an Xpel dealer in business here for 20+ years. For $1,600 will do
full hood, fenders, mirrors, bumper, headlights, rockers.

 

~ the product is only as good as the installer. be certain to fully inspect another prior customers car with the product installed.


the installation is truly an art.

 

Exactly right. My guy was very expensive compared to many of the quotes I've seen here. I've used him on other cars in the past, and there was no negotiating. He's booked weeks in advance for a reason.

I had a bargain basement job done some years back, and it was horrible.

 

I've got some references plus he's doing a detail first, then coating, then film. If I don't like the first 2 I'll move on.

 

I would do the coating after the film so the film is protected by the coating.

 

My fear with installers is they get lazy and cut the car while the cut the film. But maybe these days it's not an issue because some of these films come pre-cut for certain cars?

 

You'd want to do the coating after the film... I'm doing the opticoat next month and the xpel folks said the coating is applied after and not before

 

Well..not being an expert on this I've been told both ways.
One installer, the most expensive and Xpel trained, etc. Said he does it before AND after.


Some say it will cause a problem with adhesion if you do it before and others say not if you do it right.


The installer I'm using says to wait at least 48 hours for the coating to completely cure before installing the film. Then he will coat the film.


So I'm not really sure which way to go. Think I'll contact Xpel.

 

Just to give you an idea of the caliber of the installer who did my car, here are some photos of his work. I ended up paying $1600 because I added the trunk lid to the package.

So $1600 for hood, fenders, bumper, rocker panels, area above the rocker panels up to the door, part of the rear bumper, door mirrors and rear decklid including spoiler.

Atlanta Protective Films did my Jaguar, my Frozen (matte-satin) Grey M5, and my previous M5. Here's the gallery of the work. You can't see the film in any of these photos but it is there.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/atlantaprotectivefilms

You will see a boat load of Ferrari's in his gallery. Gives you a kind of idea of the caliber of installer you get for the price I paid in Atlanta.

 

Heck of a resume, and great pictures! (I'm in Atlanta on business for a week early Jan; flying but perhaps I should be driving?).

 

Personally I don't understand why you would do it before. It's obvious that films are manufactured to adhere to paint and not sealant. If the film was designed to adhere to a sealant they would have to test it against lots of different sealants. They only test it on paint. I have done the coating on Opticoat before myself. And it went on fine. But I still wouldn't do it again because I didn't think there was any benefit at all - was just a waste of money doing the hood, it could compromise long-term adhesion (I only kept the car a year), and quite frankly the film would benefit from Opticoat on the outside to shield the film from naphtha, kerosene and other products which can cause it to yellow.

As for adhering the coating to the film, the coatings are tested on clearbra and since XPEL is one of the leading clear bras, they are almost all tested on XPEL.

 

Another question you guys may be thinking is if I buy my car out-of-town how do I get the car to the clearbra without getting a chip on the way (like the thebigcat did).

Here's the solution. It won't look great, but it will prevent chips on the way. I used this once before.

http://www.trakktape.com/index1.html

 

Stealth is right. One of the first things my installer does is give the areas to be filmed a thorough bath with Dawn dish soap, which strips wax from the paint surface. He said that was important for getting good adhesion. I would be very concerned that the sealant could cause problems with the bond to the paint surface.