Recommendation for detailer in Columbus Ohio for paint protection film and coating

woodturnerdude said:

I will be receiving my new 70D in late August. I would like recommendations for detailers in Central Ohio that can apply a paint protection film on the front bumper, hood, fenders, and mirrors (basically the front of the car) as well as the rear bumper. I would then like to have paint coating applied to entire car as extra protection of the paint.

Any suggestions for Central Ohio would be great.

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We do have a few installers in the area, click: XPEL Columbus

Both of those installers use a few different companies for clear bra, make sure to ask for XPEL ULTIMATE, so you know you're getting the correct product! :wink:

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, or PM us

Automotive Appearance Professionals on Indianola seem to be preferred for a lot of high-end cars by private owners and a few high-end dealerships like MAG. I didn't initially go that route, but I'm circling back now that I'm having the hood repainted. FWIW, they did a decent job on the tint, however two bubbles and a hair in the rear window which they didn't have an interest in fixing without charge. Also, subwoofer install by them had great results. I had them follow the write-up on TeslaTap so we all kinda cheated there. Wiring portion was great, but a few trim panels had to be re-adjusted. Don't blame them, I rushed them at the end of that day because I had to get the car home to charge for a trip the following day.

Lyon's Body Shop (6148734865) gave a reasonable quote on the hood re-paint and they also suggested a 3rd party they use for clear bra. Once I get that information, I'll be happy to share it on here. Lyons does have experience with Tesla's specifically.

And Silver Linings Detail does the best job on Opticoat. They are an authorized installer of it; Matt Williams / 6144064186


Also, when you get your car, don't forget about Cars and Coffee every Saturday down at the Lennox Theater parking lot. Abysmal EV attendance, we could use you.

I contacted AAP and they are going to give us a group discount of 15% off clear-bra and tinting. I will say that they suggested something called Lumar over the Xpel. I'm not educated enough to know the difference but they were claiming a lifetime warranty as a selling point.

Between what times are these Car & Coffee meetings held on Saturdays?

8-11 roughly. Corvette owners show up early since they are over 70. Subaru guys roll in closer to 11 since they had to get their blaze on first. Lots of nice cars, friendly people (except the mustang owners of course), and good coffee at a discount. You'll see the rare euro cars, some Italian exotics, the nicely modded, the poorly modded, and occasionally the zombie killing car shows up.

Just overall clean, free fun.

I hope I'm not out of line in resurrecting this thread- if so, please let me know and I'll make a new one.

I'm expecting to take delivery of a new Model S by September 30th and the closest big city is Columbus, OH.

I'm looking to add:

- Paint protection coating: Are Automotive Appearance Professionals still recommended in Columbus? Is Silver Linings Detail still recommended for Opticoat? Any other companies that you all would recommend for these services in Columbus?

- Window tinting: Same request- any recommendations besides Automotive Appearance Professions as was discussed back in 2015?

- Front/rear dashcams- Not sure where to start here. I'm somewhat comfortable doing the install myself but if I can find a high quality recommendation I might save myself the time and have it professionally done.

I'm very excited to get the car and want to make sure that it's protection will have a quality install and last for a good long time!

1MoreUsername said:

I hope I'm not out of line in resurrecting this thread- if so, please let me know and I'll make a new one.

I'm expecting to take delivery of a new Model S by September 30th and the closest big city is Columbus, OH.

I'm looking to add:

- Paint protection coating: Are Automotive Appearance Professionals still recommended in Columbus? Is Silver Linings Detail still recommended for Opticoat? Any other companies that you all would recommend for these services in Columbus?

- Window tinting: Same request- any recommendations besides Automotive Appearance Professions as was discussed back in 2015?

- Front/rear dashcams- Not sure where to start here. I'm somewhat comfortable doing the install myself but if I can find a high quality recommendation I might save myself the time and have it professionally done.

I'm very excited to get the car and want to make sure that it's protection will have a quality install and last for a good long time!

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So I did all of the above 4 years ago:
The second day I had my car I took it down to professional eclipse window tint (proeclipsetint.net). The guy there did an excellent job. I haven't had any issues with my tint. Only charged $200

On the third day I took it to esoteric detail (esotericdetail.com). Todd the owner is very friendly and does many exotic cars. I had my car first paint corrected. There were numerous water marks etched into the paint which needed to be worked out. Then they put on XPEL ultimate and then covered it with a protective coating. At the time of my install the XPEL was done by an outside person but since then esoteric is doing it in house. My XPEL install was okay. It's not the greatest. You can see the edges if you know what you are looking for. It still does the job and been happy with the XPEL

As for the dashcam I put in the Blackvue 650. I did the install myself. It is actually pretty easy. It does take a little time but the difficulty level is low.

Come out to Columbus and I am pretty sure Supratachophobia and I would love to discuss more and show you our cars.

Vip said:

So I did all of the above 4 years ago:
The second day I had my car I took it down to professional eclipse window tint (proeclipsetint.net). The guy there did an excellent job. I haven't had any issues with my tint. Only charged $200

On the third day I took it to esoteric detail (esotericdetail.com). Todd the owner is very friendly and does many exotic cars. I had my car first paint corrected. There were numerous water marks etched into the paint which needed to be worked out. Then they put on XPEL ultimate and then covered it with a protective coating. At the time of my install the XPEL was done by an outside person but since then esoteric is doing it in house. My XPEL install was okay. It's not the greatest. You can see the edges if you know what you are looking for. It still does the job and been happy with the XPEL

As for the dashcam I put in the Blackvue 650. I did the install myself. It is actually pretty easy. It does take a little time but the difficulty level is low.

Come out to Columbus and I am pretty sure Supratachophobia and I would love to discuss more and show you our cars.

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Did someone mention my name?

As vip said, esoteric detail is considered really good. Although I did not have opticoat done personally. But I will say that the silver linings company used to actually do the detailing for the service center before they brought it 100% in house.

I just used AAP a few months ago to get my new rear window tinted. They did a fine job as usual. Not sure why vip got a ridiculously better deal than me with another company. Ceramic tint with AAP was 350 on the whole car if I remember correctly.

AAP also did the clear bra up to the doors and I'm super thrilled with that after almost two years. As vip can attest, I did not get it on the first Tesla and regretted it greatly. They talk about the clear bra "self healing". I'm not sure how that is supposed to work, but I do have a scuff or two on the hood, but no chips. Conversely, I have 3 chips in the windshield, so it's definitely been tested over 40k miles.

Come over and visit the official ohio owners club and check out the tint and clear bra in person if you like. Most of us are a friendly bunch.

supratachophobia said:

Did someone mention my name?

As vip said, esoteric detail is considered really good. Although I did not have opticoat done personally. But I will say that the silver linings company used to actually do the detailing for the service center before they brought it 100% in house.

I just used AAP a few months ago to get my new rear window tinted. They did a fine job as usual. Not sure why vip got a ridiculously better deal than me with another company. Ceramic tint with AAP was 350 on the whole car if I remember correctly.

AAP also did the clear bra up to the doors and I'm super thrilled with that after almost two years. As vip can attest, I did not get it on the first Tesla and regretted it greatly. They talk about the clear bra "self healing". I'm not sure how that is supposed to work, but I do have a scuff or two on the hood, but no chips. Conversely, I have 3 chips in the windshield, so it's definitely been tested over 40k miles.

Come over and visit the official ohio owners club and check out the tint and clear bra in person if you like. Most of us are a friendly bunch.

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Thank you both for replying!

Now I'm in for a long long 5 weeks until delivery. The Delivery Experience Specialist sent an e-mail saying that the car should enter production the week of September 11th and be delivered late September. That seems like a very quick turn-around but I'll think positively.

I'm still going back and forth about the type of protection to get for the car...more research to do. At this point it seems like Xpel vs. Opticoat. I'm a little worried about the visible edges that VIP mentioned on Xpel.

Where is this official Ohio Owners Club you speak of?

1MoreUsername said:

Thank you both for replying!

Now I'm in for a long long 5 weeks until delivery. The Delivery Experience Specialist sent an e-mail saying that the car should enter production the week of September 11th and be delivered late September. That seems like a very quick turn-around but I'll think positively.

I'm still going back and forth about the type of protection to get for the car...more research to do. At this point it seems like Xpel vs. Opticoat. I'm a little worried about the visible edges that VIP mentioned on Xpel.

Where is this official Ohio Owners Club you speak of?

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We are around. I think the next scheduled lunch is 9/1 - any preference on which side of town?

Oh, and don't forget Cars&Coffee Saturday mornings.

1MoreUsername said:

Thank you both for replying!

Now I'm in for a long long 5 weeks until delivery. The Delivery Experience Specialist sent an e-mail saying that the car should enter production the week of September 11th and be delivered late September. That seems like a very quick turn-around but I'll think positively.

I'm still going back and forth about the type of protection to get for the car...more research to do. At this point it seems like Xpel vs. Opticoat. I'm a little worried about the visible edges that VIP mentioned on Xpel.

Where is this official Ohio Owners Club you speak of?

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Honestly the edge lines are not that bad. It all depends upon how meticulous you are. If you talk to your detailer who will do the XPEL just make sure they fold around the edges.

Also just making sure you are clear on Xpel vs. Opticoat: Xpel will protect you car from scratches and rock chips. Opticoat will only protect from light scratches but will look shiny and clean. It will not protect from rock chips.
I do a lot of highway driving (100,000 miles in 4 years) my front end does have pits in the Xpel but I can take it off and the paint would be brand new underneath. If you are not driving as much as me then you shouldn't have so many pits.

I should be able to make it to the lunch on 9/1.

Vip said:

Honestly the edge lines are not that bad. It all depends upon how meticulous you are. If you talk to your detailer who will do the XPEL just make sure they fold around the edges.

Also just making sure you are clear on Xpel vs. Opticoat: Xpel will protect you car from scratches and rock chips. Opticoat will only protect from light scratches but will look shiny and clean. It will not protect from rock chips.
I do a lot of highway driving (100,000 miles in 4 years) my front end does have pits in the Xpel but I can take it off and the paint would be brand new underneath. If you are not driving as much as me then you shouldn't have so many pits.

I should be able to make it to the lunch on 9/1.

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Same opinion for me with regard to my nemesis, rock chips. Opticoat isn't going to do a whole lot for those. New xpel for hood is way less than having to repaint on a Tesla.

Well, I'm planning on putting about 20k / year on mine so maybe Xpel is the way to go...but I do like clean and shiny.... I've read that there's a noticeable difference in sheen between areas when the products are combined on different parts of a car. Thoughts?

1MoreUsername said:

Well, I'm planning on putting about 20k / year on mine so maybe Xpel is the way to go...but I do like clean and shiny.... I've read that there's a noticeable difference in sheen between areas when the products are combined on different parts of a car. Thoughts?

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With blue,I have not noticed that. Not vip has black so maybe he could comment.

1MoreUsername said:

Well, I'm planning on putting about 20k / year on mine so maybe Xpel is the way to go...but I do like clean and shiny.... I've read that there's a noticeable difference in sheen between areas when the products are combined on different parts of a car. Thoughts?

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So I have to admit my car is not as shiny and clean as I would like it to be. I used to wash my car myself all the time and it looked good. I had it detailed beginning of summer and it looked very clean. But overall the black does appear dull. Scratches and rock chips annoy me more than not having a shiny car.
What some people do is get the Xpel on their car and then get the opticoat over the Xpel.

I got a quote for Xpel installation (full front hood, full fenders, full bumper and mirror covering with prep and labor) for $1895. Does this seem reasonable? There seem to be only 2 authorized installers in the Columbus area according to the Xpel website so options are limited. I'd then get Opticoat over the whole thing.

1MoreUsername said:

I got a quote for Xpel installation (full front hood, full fenders, full bumper and mirror covering with prep and labor) for $1895. Does this seem reasonable? There seem to be only 2 authorized installers in the Columbus area according to the Xpel website so options are limited. I'd then get Opticoat over the whole thing.

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That does sound about right. I would highly suggest considering getting the rear bumper wrapped also. Lot of potential for scratches to occur when taking things in and out of trunk.

Who gave you this quote?

Performance Auto Spa. The only other authorized installer in Columbus is Toy Barn and they have yet to get back to me on the quote.

I'd like to check out your wraps at the next meetup. Please PM me when you set a time/date. Thanks.