Who's added paint protection film?

[LonestarHellcat]

For those who added paint protection film, are you guys doing full front end or partial?

My initial plan is to go with the full hood, full fenders, front bumper, door cups, side mirrors and even the top of the rear bumper. Is protecting the headlight worth it?

 

[motorhead]

Just as many horror stories as success stories with PPF. Personally I am avoiding it other than adding some protection in the known trouble spots - the rest is going to be addressed with some touch-up paint.

 

[DGatzby]

I have the entire front bumper and lower bumper, all flairs, bottom of doors and lower rear 1/4, top/front of hood above windshield along with pillars and inside lower door jambs. Absolutely worth every penny, especially the front bumper that would otherwise pit bad and have bugs extremely hard to remove. The front/lower part of the rear flairs? Cover them with ten layers if you can!

 

[StingrayZ51]

I have Llumar on whole front clip, flares, lower half of entire car, whole hood, mirrors and A pillars. Worth every penny for me.


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[Michigander]

if anyone is willing to share, what is a ballpark cost to apply film. I’ve been quoted for the bumper, hood edge mirrors and behind quarters on standard body HC $1700 by the dealer (highest price) and 2 other bids $900 & $725 from local detail shops.

I see online many 3M pescision dye cut kits for around $400 for evething listed above. I’m considering doing it myself as I’ve done lots of auto graphics over the years, seems similar if you just take your time. Maybe I’m missing something, worst case I remove and take to a pro. My fear is wasting 2k on something I could have done better myself, I’ve seen some shotty work and also seen some beautiful jobs however none locally.

 

[Hickster]

I have been in touch with a company from Tampa, Auto Paint Guard, suggested to me by El Rico. They are looking at your auto, driving habits, road conditions, daily driver or not. Then they price the job accordingly. I came up with what I thought was the Hickster greatest project in Florida. They shot me down in 2 emails and cut my price in 1/2. Just when you become an computer idiot and speak to a pro,, well worth the time. Learned a lot. As soon as my paint cures un 40 days it will be in Tampa for a not whole body make over. Just what they have in mind and they do this with the computer machine not free hand. Learned again by asking the correct questions. Where we at again??

 

[DGatzby]

I have the entire front bumper and lower bumper, all flairs, bottom of doors and lower rear 1/4, top/front of hood above windshield along with pillars and inside lower door jambs. Absolutely worth every penny, especially the front bumper that would otherwise pit bad and have bugs extremely hard to remove. The front/lower part of the rear flairs? Cover them with ten layers if you can!

$1,400 I forgot, that also includes windshield protection film.

 

[Confuzed1]

To the OP.....I wished I would of had the front upper/lower bumper done on my first HC. Those seem to me, to be the areas that take the most abuse from rock chips, bugs etc. You can have other areas done of course at additional costs but those areas take much less abuse than the very front of the car IMO. I plan to have my WB RE front upper/lower done before I do the HRPT next year, so I'll be able to say how that works out. BTW, I was quoted 600 to do just the front facia (upper/lower) in my part of the US....may be cheaper or more $$ elsewhere....I should mention I installed F/R rock guards on the flares...

 

[YMMV]

I have XPel Ultimate Plus self healing put on my vehicle. Full bumper, headlamps, half of the hood, half the fenders, mirrors, and part of the rear bumper. Costed either 900-1000 (don't remember). These were also not Pre cut. Everything is wrapped around the edges. This also includes doing a paint correction before applying the film.

Ask if its pre cut, what brand ppf, and if they are going to do a paint correction before laying down the film.

 

[Paladin06]

I had the whole from clip done with clear bra then the entire car done with Ceramic Pro.

 

[Designflaw]

My entire front grille bumper etc. Is down ro half fenders and hood, mirrors on my charger and it's awesome over 2 years. Going to do the same on the challenger and the fronts of the rear flares.

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[Hickster]

Got sum protection,, don't know if it was for paint or not.

 

[VARedEye]

On my wide body redeye I did XPel Ultimate Pro Plus on the full front bumper, full hood, full front fenders, full driver and passenger door and all four wheel flairs. To me these are the areas at most risk for rock chips, especially on the WB. This includes paint correction to the areas where film is being applied, roughly 3K +. I also added Swain rock guards until something better comes along. I had Xpel on my 17 ZL1 and after 20K + miles the paint still looked brand new, too me its worth every penny.

 

[Camsdad]

if anyone is willing to share, what is a ballpark cost to apply film. I’ve been quoted for the bumper, hood edge mirrors and behind quarters on standard body HC $1700 by the dealer (highest price) and 2 other bids $900 & $725 from local detail shops.

I see online many 3M pescision dye cut kits for around $400 for evething listed above. I’m considering doing it myself as I’ve done lots of auto graphics over the years, seems similar if you just take your time. Maybe I’m missing something, worst case I remove and take to a pro. My fear is wasting 2k on something I could have done better myself, I’ve seen some shotty work and also seen some beautiful jobs however none locally.

It’s not as easy as it looks to do. When you start getting into stretching and fingers around contours, one mistake and you’re done. On my Charger I had it done right after I took delivery. It turned out pretty bad. Had them redo it and it wasn’t much better. I ended up peeling it off a year later after it started accumulating dirt and moisture behind it. Figured I’d do it myself with a precut kit. The top of the fascia turned out great. It was down hill from there. The middle of the Charger bumper was a huge pain in the ass and turned out terrible. With what it costs you can pull off the fascia yourself and repaint it or take it off and remove everything and have it repainted for probably $300. If something big (rock) hits it it will tear the film. When they self healing film, it’s for swirls or light scratches. If it gets gouged or torn, it’s not self healing.

 

[EricG]

Just as many horror stories as success stories with PPF. Personally I am avoiding it other than adding some protection in the known trouble spots - the rest is going to be addressed with some touch-up paint.

I don't know of any horror stories when someone goes to a professional installer.

It's your car and white is probably the most forgiving color, but touch up paint looks poor every time to me, and I would highly recommend using the film as opposed to having areas repainted or touched up. Paint matches are never true, and paint work costs so much $$$ nowadays, putting on the film is WAY cheaper in the long run.

 

[motorhead]

I don't know of any horror stories when someone goes to a professional installer.

It's your car and white is probably the most forgiving color, but touch up paint looks poor every time to me, and I would highly recommend using the film as opposed to having areas repainted or touched up. Paint matches are never true, and paint work costs so much $$$ nowadays, putting on the film is WAY cheaper in the long run.

Yes, my colour choice was by design. I also own all of the tools to refinish a bumper (DA sander, two stage compressor, water separator, hoses, guns, a sprinkle of talent, DA polisher, etc) - so for the cost of all that PPF you could buy the same stuff, do some research, take a class, and do the work yourself.

 

[EricG]

Yes, my colour choice was by design. I also own all of the tools to refinish a bumper (DA sander, two stage compressor, water separator, hoses, guns, a sprinkle of talent, DA polisher, etc) - so for the cost of all that PPF you could buy the same stuff, do some research, take a class, and do the work yourself.

Ok so repainting a car yourself and doing some "touch ups" are not the same to me, but now that I know you plan on going that far, sure paint away. I am not a paint and/or body guy, so $1000 in paint protection is by far the best route for me.

 

[motorhead]

Ok so repainting a car yourself and doing some "touch ups" are not the same to me, but now that I know you plan on going that far, sure paint away. I am not a paint and/or body guy, so $1000 in paint protection is by far the best route for me.

My 2007 TBSS is black and has 140K miles on it - still on the original bumper cover and grille - touched up occasionally; ironically the rest of the truck has been repainted. Stone chips don't bother me - so I'll dab a bit of paint on the kitty now and then for the next decade until it garners the need for a bit of elbow grease.

Just wait until you see the all bright orange cone rash I leave down the sides from auto-crossing the car next year!

 

[parttimer]

Pricing should be pretty flat across the board based on areas getting filmed. A full hood, fenders, and bumper should run you 15-1800, just doing a bumper, hood strip and fender strips along with mirrors is between 6-800. Anymore than that, places are just taking advantage of you. A full car is about 3k if you are looking for that much film. Paint work under it may vary, the detailer trade people want an average of $100 for their work, again, just taking advantage of people. The price shouldn't depend on how much driving you do, if it's a garage queen or anything. That is a way to justify the cost.

 

[Matt someone with an SRT]

Headlamps do those! They get chewed up fast with no protection! ... I did Full hood, headlamps, front fascia. 25 percent up the front left and right side of hood to wheel well. And behind rear wheels is a must.