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How much paint protection is too much?

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I've never had any sort of paint protection on my vehicles, but I have never owned a vehicle as expensive as my soon-to-arrive Model S. My 5yo Lexus certainly has some minor paint issues that possibly would have been prevented with some of the available solutions. I also understand that due to CA regulations the paint quality on the Model S might not be as good as I'm used to.

I've seen some people recommend a full-car Clear Bra ("full wrap") but the costs I'm being quotes are about $5k for this. Perhaps this is a dumb question, but couldn't I just get the whole car re-painted 5 years from now for $5k and possibly end up with better quality than I have now?

I'm leaning towards a $2k option which is a full frontal clear bra and Opti-Coat on the rest. The big thing I know will happen that this will not provide much protection against will be door dings from other drivers, but I figure I could just plan on a whole car repaint in about 10 years if I find it necessary.

Thoughts?
 
I've never had any sort of paint protection on my vehicles, but I have never owned a vehicle as expensive as my soon-to-arrive Model S. My 5yo Lexus certainly has some minor paint issues that possibly would have been prevented with some of the available solutions. I also understand that due to CA regulations the paint quality on the Model S might not be as good as I'm used to.

I've seen some people recommend a full-car Clear Bra ("full wrap") but the costs I'm being quotes are about $5k for this. Perhaps this is a dumb question, but couldn't I just get the whole car re-painted 5 years from now for $5k and possibly end up with better quality than I have now?

I'm leaning towards a $2k option which is a full frontal clear bra and Opti-Coat on the rest. The big thing I know will happen that this will not provide much protection against will be door dings from other drivers, but I figure I could just plan on a whole car repaint in about 10 years if I find it necessary.

Thoughts?

I have the factory installed clear bra, which isn't that great an install job. I will most likely get the whole hood re-done as the rest is ok. I think at the very least rock chips etc should be protected against. You're never going to be able to control door dings you just need to be vigilant about how and where you park.
 
Kirk, it's different for every single person. There is no absolute answer. Some folks are content with the front end and some feel the peace of mind is worth the coin to wrap the full car. Then there are some who don't care for it at all.

It's easy for me to say that you should get the most that you feel comfortable spending money on because I've not had a dissatisfied client who got clear bra(unless they've not reported back and were unhappy), it absolutely provides amazing protection and looks fantastic. But the bottom line is that only you know what you want and no one should make you feel like you need it. Clear bra gives a peace of mind and keeps a car pretty, it doesn't save lives.

I wrote this article some time ago to help answer questions many have in regards to clear bra protection. Maybe you'll find it helpful Kirk.
Clear Bra: Is It a Good Fit For You?
 
If you spend over $100K on a new car why not spend the extra $1300 to do full front paint protection? It paid for itself today already. Gravel truck opened up at low speed and hundreds lightly bounced into the front of my PD. Xpel ultimate. No damage to the Xpel at all but had it been unprotected, there would have been hundreds of little pits in the front bumper and front of the hood.
 
When I got my first Tesla S 2 years ago I thought people were crazy for putting film on the car. I too thought, for that money I will repaint it. WRONG. Check out what it costs to repaint the car.
So with my second S I filmed the front portion to the doors, as I had only experienced chips on the front. Never a door ding because I park where no one will be next to me...ever. And then had the entire car covered with a Modesta.
 
A middle ground option would be a paint coating. I had the MS detailed and a product called Rejex applied. It is a superwax and then some. It brings out the shine extremely well and offers a degree of paint protection. At $375, it is an option that can be reapplied frequently, i.e. every year. So far so good. Not as strong a protection as other options, but a heck of a lot less expensive that allows for repainting in the years to come as needed.
 
I've never had any sort of paint protection on my vehicles, but I have never owned a vehicle as expensive as my soon-to-arrive Model S. My 5yo Lexus certainly has some minor paint issues that possibly would have been prevented with some of the available solutions. I also understand that due to CA regulations the paint quality on the Model S might not be as good as I'm used to.

I've seen some people recommend a full-car Clear Bra ("full wrap") but the costs I'm being quotes are about $5k for this. Perhaps this is a dumb question, but couldn't I just get the whole car re-painted 5 years from now for $5k and possibly end up with better quality than I have now?

I'm leaning towards a $2k option which is a full frontal clear bra and Opti-Coat on the rest. The big thing I know will happen that this will not provide much protection against will be door dings from other drivers, but I figure I could just plan on a whole car repaint in about 10 years if I find it necessary.

Thoughts?


Hmm lessen learn is not to buy car made in CA
 
Interestingly, in Norway almost no one has XPEL on their cars. They say the cold weather screws up the film. It does go to -30C here.
And the Tesla's here look fine (and they do have quite a few), and they have way more salt on roads, and their roads are not so good.
 
I've yet to hear any concerns regarding any temp, high or low having an effect on the Xpel film. The difference could be in the installation during extreme conditions, but that would be installation adjustment, not film already installed. But I'm in more of the extreme heat side, and we do have to make installation adjustments, but heat has no effect on the Xpel film after installation.
 
I've yet to hear any concerns regarding any temp, high or low having an effect on the Xpel film. The difference could be in the installation during extreme conditions, but that would be installation adjustment, not film already installed. But I'm in more of the extreme heat side, and we do have to make installation adjustments, but heat has no effect on the Xpel film after installation.

Dont you think aluminum would contract more when temps hit -30? I talked with a Ferrari owner here who did have xpel, and the film went all sorts of crazy during winter. It could be a bad installer too, but why didn't it go crazy in summer?
 
What? Are you being serious or scarcastic?

There is nothing in the CA regulations that prevent Tesla from painting the car at any sort of reduced quality or whatever. That is a myth and a falsehood started by ignorant people who seem to think that CA is this evil liberal place that must be destroyed...

Jeff

lol both...more on the sarcastic side.....

The CA regulation forced them to use water based paint vs solvent based paint used by foreign manufacturers or certain US states. While spec say there are no quality differences this have been very debate topic for many years. I think CA enforced this water based since 2009, could be wrong on the date.

- - - Updated - - -

What? Are you being serious or scarcastic?

There is nothing in the CA regulations that prevent Tesla from painting the car at any sort of reduced quality or whatever. That is a myth and a falsehood started by ignorant people who seem to think that CA is this evil liberal place that must be destroyed...

Jeff

lol both...more on the sarcastic side.....

The CA regulation forced them to use water based paint vs solvent based paint used by foreign manufacturers or certain US states. While spec say there are no quality differences this have been very debate topic for many years. I think CA enforced this water based since 2009, could be wrong on the date.
 
When's the last time the temp hit -30 in DC?

That was -30C. :)
DC can hit 0F = -20C, and if you are parked in an underground garage, you can get localized -30C.

So its not unthinkable.

BTW, FTR, I am skipping both xpel and opticoat etc.

I just cannot justify the price, and I did bargain the installers down to bare lows. I don't doubt their talent, but its something I can manage to do myself I feel.
I did discover that there are products such as rejex, liquid glass lg-100, kamikaze miyabi, and some versions of opticoat that you can apply yourself.
And they take a load of patience, time, effort, but are not technically difficult to do (like xpel is).

I'm gonna spend the $2k towards the prepaid service option, and do the glass coating myself - yeah it'll take me a week, but so what!
What else am I gonna do with all this time I got! #!@@_Q(*$#!!!!

BTW, here is my detailed post - will update as I go.
XPel, Opticoat etc. alternative for cheapos
 
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That was -30C. :)
DC can hit 0F = -20C, and if you are parked in an underground garage, you can get localized -30C.

So its not unthinkable.

But yes, DC has hit 0F, once in the last 10 years that I've been here. I'll give you that :p.

BTW, FTR, I am skipping both xpel and opticoat etc.

Me too. I realized after getting the car that... I don't care. I haven't washed it yet (it's been raining here a lot lately), my kids climb in the rear seats on their own, I let them eat back there, etc. etc.
 
i just did the opticoat only - anyone know how well that will hold up? So far at 7000 miles everything is looking okay. I wondered if I should have gotten with the clear bra but I'm not a big fan of that.

How about for the inside leather, carpet? I didn't get any protection but I know they make sprayable carpet protectors? Anyone try anything like that? i.e. scotchguard