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Paint Protection - Film, Ceramic, Wax

Paint Protection


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Goin2drt

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First and foremost it is a talent to be able to apply PPF and if you think you can do it as a newbie who never has, you will waste a lot of time and money. Either pay for a pro or don't do it at all.

I have received a couple of quotes here in SoCal, bunch of great installers.

To do a detail, paint correction from the dealer, and PPF (Xpel) everything but the roof and rear it will be $3,800 to $4,200. Depends on who I go with. The more expensive guy will do a better job for sure. Both will look good but the more expensive route will remove mirrors etc to not have a cut line.
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taysdad

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It didnā€™t go well. I started with the grill and had too many bubbles that would not go away. So, I said ā€˜thatā€™s enoughā€™ and am taking it to the guy who did my Lexus and JK.
Oh well. I thought I could do it, but realized that Iā€™d only be happy if it was perfect and I wasnā€™t going to be close.

Good luck
Nothing ventured nothing gained. Good try. It is wise to know when weā€™re in over our heads. Thanks for keeping us updated.
 

taysdad

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I was hoping I might be able to leverage the collective wisdom here for some advice on PPF pricing.

Iā€™ve been soliciting bids to have my new 2 door rubicon wrapped in either a Suntek or Xpel PF film. Specially, I want to get the grill, full hood, front and rear fenders wrapped.

Does anybody have an good estimate of what is a fair price to pay from a quality installer I donā€™t want to go to somebody just because theyā€™re cheap - I want a good job.

Any advice on what I should expect to pay would be much appreciated.

Michael
Just following up on what I have learned so that others can hopefully use the information too.....

I had several bids from qualified installers all using either XPEL Ultimate Plus or Suntek Ultimate PPF. To wrap the grill, full hood, front and rear fenders (flares plus full fenders) rocket panels, A pillar, and headlights ranged from $1600-2485.

I the added both doors (full wrap) - I have a 2-door. The prices then ranged from $2100-2600 (my top bid just dropped his price to be more competitive with the other bids when I talked with him about adding doors to his bid).

I havenā€™t completely decided who to go with yet. My two bids are 2400 and 2600 respectively so price wonā€™t be the deciding factor. One installer uses Suntek and the Other Xpel. Both are very highly regarded and the best around by all accounts. I am leaning towards the higher bid just because the interactions with the owner have been so good (not that the other were bad, but one was clearly more enagaging and excited about working on another JL Rubicon (heā€™s done three already).
Iā€™ll keep you posted.
Feel free to ask me any questions.
 

maybatch2000

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I just had my full front end including my painted frontflares, hood grille side fenders and rear flares covered in suntek ultra for 1600 bucks. I had the whole Jeep covered in ceramic coating with a 2 year warranty for additional 550 bucks.
 

Rubi-Zero

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Both are good films to protect the paint. Suntek has a glossier finish, where as Xpel has a slight orange peel to it, when you compare them side by side. If you have a darker color you may want to lean towards the Suntek film. But again, both are great films.
 

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Capt-Zoom

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Wax, door edge guards, and a mopar bug deflector. Worked on my tj
 

aCeMedic13

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384C6C03-7E55-4845-9A8B-87ED6BA9C3CD.jpeg


5C7D4C52-2914-43EC-82E7-4BB17307B573.jpeg


For those of you wondering about the ppf over decals.
 
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Arkewn

Arkewn

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384C6C03-7E55-4845-9A8B-87ED6BA9C3CD.jpeg


5C7D4C52-2914-43EC-82E7-4BB17307B573.jpeg


For those of you wondering about the ppf over decals.
Seems clean and not noticeable from your pictures. I was hoping not to have them have to remove and replace decals. Thanks for sharing! Overall happy with the results?

I'll be talking to installer this week I hope about getting the front half done professionally. Then see what my raw cost for film would be to do the sides/doors myself.
 

Dynomite1371

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As much as I love the idea and look of this protective coating, for $5/$6K you could literally have a reputable shop paint the whole jeep! (as good if not better than it was for the factory.
 

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taysdad

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I am taking the Jeep in tomorrow to get the grill, full hood, front fenders and flares, doors, rear fenders and flares, A-Pillar, door hinges, and headlights covered in Xpel Ultimate Plus. I went with the best installer I could find (vehicles heā€™s covered have won top prizes at several local car shows). Iā€™ll let you know how it turns out.
 
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Arkewn

Arkewn

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First professional quote I got was right around $1500 for the front hood, grill, fenders, and a-pillar. They don't have a pre-cut template machine so it's all by hand. I could tell they knew what they were talking about but even he seemed to want to set expectations about what they could actually cover with wrap and ensure good long lasting coverage. While comprehensive and likely adequate there is no such thing as a complete front wrap (at least this price).

This is about $500 more expensive than tintzoom pre-cut kits. I still want to do the doors as well but front first. Hard to argue that $500 isn't money well spent in time, hassle, and results - but damn this adds up fast!
 

Bearded_Dragon

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So I got my first real scratch down the entire driver side, some areas I can see primer. Anyone actually put Xpel through a trail with lots of trees? I'm guessing Xpel wouldn't have helped in this situation.
 

XPEL

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So I got my first real scratch down the entire driver side, some areas I can see primer. Anyone actually put Xpel through a trail with lots of trees? I'm guessing Xpel wouldn't have helped in this situation.
Bearded_Dragon,

So we may not have used a tree, but we did use a parking column in a parking lot to scrape against a vehicle with XPEL on it. Check out the video. The film more than likely would've saved your paint 100%. The film may have to have needed to be replaced, but it depends on how deep the scratch is.

 

GhostDivers

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As much as I love the idea and look of this protective coating, for $5/$6K you could literally have a reputable shop paint the whole jeep! (as good if not better than it was for the factory.
Great information throughout and I totally get the benefits of PPF. Iā€™ve been detailing our cars for decadesā€¦not professionallyā€¦just the crazy guy that likes taking care of this stuff. Those that weā€™ve kept for several years still look great, factory paint has come a long way since the 80ā€™s.

But, while others may not notice from a glance, I seen the nicks, minor scrapes, etc. I like the idea of the PPFā€™s (Iā€™ve done the door sills & hinges on the JL), but Iā€™m wondering the same thing @Dynomite1371 ā€¦(and Iā€™m asking as I do not know the answer)ā€¦is there a downside to at some point in the future just having the hood/grill/A-pillar, whatever) repaired & repainted when it gets to that point?

Do get me wrong, not having to live with paint scratches/nicks for years is awesome.

Also, is there any longer term downside to the paint using PPFā€™s as in when they are taken off/replaced in a decade (again, asking as I do not know the answer)?
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