To Have Xpel Applied or Not?

h8dirtycars

h8dirtycars

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I was wondering if anyone has the Xpel (or any similar product) applied to their cars, and do you like it. I called a place today, and they gave me some prices over the phone for application to my 2017 MKX. He gave me prices for partial front, full front and totally covering the car. Pretty expensive, but I already have a nick on the front bumper and one on front of the hood. And I'm not covering the whole car, about 6 grand for that.
I asked how to maintain it, and he said just like I would without it, just don't use a wax with petroleum in it. From researching here on Autogeek, I now know that the petroleum distillates are necessary to keep the wax pliable, so to speak. So I guess the second part of the question is, what is a good wax that doesn't have PD's as an additive.
Thanks in advance for any info.
 
•I have XPel on several vehicles:
-Full front/hood; (as well as other
vehicle-specific areas known to be
prone to "chipping").

•I use XPel's Sealant
for PPF sealing/protection.

•I use Meguiar's D114
to clean PPF.


Bob
 
FUNX650 said:
•I have XPel on several vehicles:
-Full front/hood; (as well as other
vehicle-specific areas known to be
prone to "chipping").

•I use XPel's Sealant
for PPF sealing/protection.

•I use Meguiar's D114
to clean PPF.


Bob
Click to expand...

So you use the sealant and don't wax? As well, before I journeyed into possibly doing this, I bought Chemical Guys EcoSmart RU wash. I should be ok with that, yes?
 
I have Xpel on front, hood,mirrors and rocker panels. I also use their recommend sealant, it works good with no bearing on the self healing effect. 32 months with 35,000 miles and the Xpel has held up well and as promised
 
Lease or own.
If own, what's your goal for the application.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of Xpel on lower rockers, lower half sills, etc - IF the bodylines, trim allow it.
Anything beyond that, IMO, they just belong on exotics, primarily for resale value.

IMO, films suck on light colored cars like white or silver.
No one will tell you upfront, but they are porous...
I've had films on a good handful of my cars in prior years, mainly cause I was young and had to have it, to keep up with the joneses....
Again, it's BIG money for the installer....
And the final disclaimer. All of these installers, if you are using a good one that tucks it, removes stuff to get it proper wrapped, etc - they are literally using blades to freehand cut this stuff. You can have the most expensive install in the world and IME, if you remove it, you will find at least 1 cut in your paint. Not so obvious to the eye when you have film sitting ontop of it.

FWIW, one of my current daily drivers have film on them. That's because the trim bodyline on the door allows it. On the latter, it would have to be the whole doors, which I'm not a fan of , aesthetics wise...
I would never do the hood, or frontend, but again, this is subjective just like people and their LSP choices
 
h8dirtycars said:
I already have a nick on the front
bumper and one on front of the hood.

And I'm not covering the whole car,
about 6 grand for that.
Click to expand...
•IMO:
-Yea...you probably don't really
have to cover the entire vehicle.

-Covering just these areas will suffice
(Full fender/mirror kit---optional):

Search Coverage Options - XPEL

IMG_24183.JPG


IMG_24173.JPG




Bob
 
chefwong said:
Lease or own.
If own, what's your goal for the application.

Own.

My car is kind of a weird silver, Lincoln calls it Luxe. My goal is to keep the road damage off the front of the car. I've taken one road trip so far, approximately 400 miles round trip and have maybe 2 nicks on the front. One on the hood, one on the bumper. I'd like to keep the car in as good condition as possible for the duration, which will be about 6 years. Then of course start over. I appreciate the advise and learning that come from this forum.

If I have it done, it will be the entire hood because I don't want to see a line, which he told me I would see when looking from the back of the car will be noticeable. Also just the bumper and side mirrors. I think that'll provide the protection I'm looking for, for the amount of highway driving that will be done.

As far as the installer, I have two that I have narrowed down, both trained by Xpel, seem reputable, and from my limited knowledge, seem to know what they're talking about.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks FunX650.

If that's the price for just the film, then the installed price doesn't seem so bad.
 
I have had EXPEL in my Miata for about 3 years, works great. I just bought a Caddy CTS V-Sport and received an EXPEL quote and 3M quote. My installer said 3M is now as good as Expel. If so, the main difference is 3M is a well capitalized company vs. Expel. A 10 year warranty may not mean much when the company is only has a ~$50 million market cap.
 
h8dirtycars said:
I was wondering if anyone has the Xpel (or any similar product) applied to their cars, and do you like it. I called a place today, and they gave me some prices over the phone for application to my 2017 MKX. He gave me prices for partial front, full front and totally covering the car. Pretty expensive, but I already have a nick on the front bumper and one on front of the hood. And I'm not covering the whole car, about 6 grand for that.
I asked how to maintain it, and he said just like I would without it, just don't use a wax with petroleum in it. From researching here on Autogeek, I now know that the petroleum distillates are necessary to keep the wax pliable, so to speak. So I guess the second part of the question is, what is a good wax that doesn't have PD's as an additive.
Thanks in advance for any info.
Click to expand...

For the front of the car yes .personally I would not go any further to much delicate maintenence 6k seems a little high.Suntek is a good product as well and cheaper.The downside to Suntek is if it's on the car for 4 years or more you are not going to be able to remove it if you had to.
 
Thanks for the info guys. FYI, I'm going on the 30th to have it put on. Doing the Xpel, and went to the detailers shop to see his work and speak to him. Very professional, a good representative for professional detailers. I'm probably going to have him do my glossy pillar trim panels as well. They need to be fixed with a DA buffer and then Xpeled. It's amazing what a trouble spot those are. While I'm eventually going to buy a machine, I think that's one area best left to someone with experience. Especially after extensive research, YouTube vids, and even calling Meguiars.
 
h8dirtycars said:
Thanks for the info guys. FYI, I'm going on the 30th to have it put on. Doing the Xpel, and went to the detailers shop to see his work and speak to him. Very professional, a good representative for professional detailers. I'm probably going to have him do my glossy pillar trim panels as well. They need to be fixed with a DA buffer and then Xpeled. It's amazing what a trouble spot those are. While I'm eventually going to buy a machine, I think that's one area best left to someone with experience. Especially after extensive research, YouTube vids, and even calling Meguiars.
Click to expand...

Well, everyone has to do whatever they feel is right. Personally, I don't see the point in film. I take more than the normal amount of care with my cars, but I don't buy museum pieces. At some point in time I trade them in for a new one. By that time, I've eaten most of the depreciation and the trade-in value would not be one bit better if I had protective film installed on the car. Automobiles are bad investments and high-priced options make the equation worse. From a few feet away, a well maintained car without film will look as good as one with film. And I'm not convinced that film will eliminate every bit of road damage, and if the film is marred, is that any less noticeable? A paint nick can be made nearly unnoticable with touch-up paint. Can the same be said for film?
 
I haven't heard a bad thing yet about the PPF. Like you said, everyone does what they feel is right, and I feel this is right for me. I'm ok with spending the money and think it'll provide the protection I want on the highway. I already have to put Dr. Colorchip on a few spots and it bothers me when I get a chip so I'm trying it. As well, this is the first car I've owned that I can really pine over like this, and had wanted to be able to do so for years.
As far as trading it in after some point in time, maybe I will and maybe I'll keep it for some time. Either way, I guess I'll find out the answers to the points you made over time.
Oh, and additionally, when your the owner of the car, you're usually closer than a few feet away. And it's not so much how others see the car, but how I see it.
 
PPF is definitely a personal thing, and situational.

I had it on my Cayman GT4 (full front) for the last 18 months, which I just traded in without a scratch (Xpel Ultimate).

There is a slight difference in texture of course, but you have to have a detailer's eye and be looking for it. On metallics you might notice some 'dark spots' if the installer stretches the film more in one spot during install. I took about a week to get used to it being on and then completely forgot it was there. I chose to apply Optimum Gloss Coat afterwards. It worked very well.

The protection from these films is undeniable. The ability to seamlessly repair chips (at least in metallics) just isn't there yet, and film looks an awful lot better than a chipped hood or fender.
 
Thanks PorscheFan. Going on Thursday. The DrColorChip worked pretty good, but even with light, small chips, multiple applications are necessary.
Glad I wont have to do that again.
However, I still don't know if I should have him do the front half of the fenders, which is included. Don't want to see the cut line. If he doesn't do the fenders, he offered to put a luggage strip on the back bumper just under the lift gate.
Regardless, I'm glad to have the full hood, bumper and mirrors protected.
 
My advice would be full panels or nothing. The cutlines will plague you. Moreso later when they start to get dirt and dust trapped there and become more prominent over time.

I wish I had a luggage strip on the back of my sedan... only a year old and even 101 couldn't get all of the scratches out!

Good luck! The film is only as good as the installer, and the care they're prepared to put into your specific job. Let them know up-front that you're picky. Good luck!!
 
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