Xpel experts, please

I was just quoted $5,500 to fully wrap a GT350R. I seem to recall that about 5K was what I was told.

For all of you that have wrapped your entire car, what did it cost and what are your impressions?

Thanks

5k including cquartz finest coating. Very happy I did it, already had 3 scratches that easily came off and peace of mind re stone chippings

Tomster said:

I was just quoted $5,500 to fully wrap a GT350R. I seem to recall that about 5K was what I was told.

For all of you that have wrapped your entire car, what did it cost and what are your impressions?

Thanks

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I paid $6,000 cash in Canada... thought it was a little expensive considering they were all pre-cut pieces using the printer... but, it was done well and protects the car so well worth it, and the closest installer is literally like 1500 miles away + 7hr ferry ride, so I wasn't willing to double that distance to go to the next available one LOL

To be 100% honest, for the price I paid, and the price you were quoted, that should include 100% custom sheets, i.e cut on the car, with all of the edges wrapped, including badge/hood grill removal, etc.

Biggest benefit, maintenance is a breeze. I bought the XPEL sealant from their website and will apply it a couple of times per year. Washing is super easy, and for light dust I usually just use a quick detailer rather than taking the time to hand wash. Any light scratches in the surface meld away and literally disappear 100% after the film is heated by the sun or in a heated garage.

Biggest aspect is the installer. You can have the best film and have it look like shite if the installer doesn't do well. Mine is almost invisible, and even though the edges aren't wrapped, you really really have to look to see where the film ends. People don't realize mine is wrapped until I tell them, to give you some perspective.

I had XPEL Ultimate installed, in case you are wondering.

It was not specified which wrap he was going to use. I hear suntek has some great stuff out now. Xpel ultimate I hear is thicker than most and maybe that is the way to go, since the triple yellow R will be used on the track.

We discussed this about a year ago when I ordered the other R. he sent me to Xpel's website to look at the cutouts and prices. His pricing is to add up all the pieces you want and that's about how much it will cost. He has a large cutter and would use rolls to custom cut each piece. To get the cutting templates from xpel, I remember he told me that cost money per each template. So he saves money by cutting each piece from a large roll and the labor is built into the price difference between what it costs him to cut vs the cost of the retail cutout.

I agree, all the badges and such will have to be removed. Prep (wash, detail, etc) was all included. Stripes are another concern and I know it has gone round and round. The R has matte black stripes. One piece over the hood, roof, and trunk and the stripes will not be matte black anymore. I hear of people doing only paint and leave the stripes alone, and others using a matte xpel over the stripes. And then there is the whole edge or ridge line if you cover the stripes separately...... arg.......

So I guess what I'm looking for is who has done this and how did you address some of the issues above?

I got your perspective Justin, any thing else you might find helpful?

Thanks

Absolutely do not remove the badges. They will break and you will play hell to get good replacements that don't come in damaged and they are not cheap. I know of 3 guys who attempted removing the fender badges and not one had any success.

5000-6000 is right on the money Tom. It was 5200 to wrap mine.

I likely would not wrap a whole car again. My guy is excellent but there were minor problems that annoyed me. He fixed them but it often required a full day to re wrap a portion. Near the rear wheels a little piece must have come loose. There was grass and pine needles stuck to it. We're talking about 1/2" but those pine needles scratched the car from being beaten against the car while going down the road.

When I got our new cars, I just had the front end wrapped for 1500.

Donkey said:

Absolutely do not remove the badges. They will break and you will play hell to get good replacements that don't come in damaged and they are not cheap. I know of 3 guys who attempted removing the fender badges and not one had any success.

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Not if the guy doing the wrap knows what he is doing. My guy admitted they were a PITA but I'd never have a car wrapped without having the badging removed. If your wrap guy says he can't remove them without breaking them., find someone else.

I asked 4 installers in Miami for estimates, only 1 responded, 7k for complete wrap of a tech pack and no c quartz, seems high but he's in a high rent district, I guess the others aren't interested in work.
I looked at both XPEL and Suntek, XPEL thicker and has a longer warranty, on new installs I didnt see much difference but most were pictures

I'm pretty OCD when it comes to my cars and I continue to be amazed at how many on this forum almost treat it as automatic to wrap the whole car. I understand the benefits but I'm not sure I could ever do it. I suppose if you get a new car every couple years its no big deal, but man. I for one am a big proponent of doing the front cover and other easly replaceable panels. Not sure I could do quarters and roof.

I didn't go with Xpel, but I was quoted a little over $4200 for Suntek (whole car), which I thought was actually a pretty good deal. I ended up not going with them and another place.

For reference I got full Suntek A-pillar forward and Ceramic Pro H over the entire car, wheels/calipers and door jams. That was $3200 and it also included getting the tint done.

Minn19 said:

I didn't go with Xpel, but I was quoted a little over $4200 for Suntek (whole car), which I thought was actually a pretty good deal. I ended up not going with them and another place.

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I used Suntek. My installer said both were the same price and would not make a suggestion. After seeing both, I went with Suntek. To me, the Xpel was more
noticeable than the Suntek. Perhaps the Xpel is thicker and will provide better protection but I wanted mine as invisible as possible. I only did the A pillars forward on our Hellcats. After doing one full wrap on the GT350, I found it was overkill.

Mike02z said:

I used Suntek. My installer said both were the same price and would not make a suggestion. After seeing both, I went with Suntek. To me, the Xpel was more
noticeable than the Suntek. Perhaps the Xpel is thicker and will provide better protection but I wanted mine as invisible as possible. I only did the A pillars forward on our Hellcats. After doing one full wrap on the GT350, I found it was overkill.

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I heard the same and I've been happy with my Suntek. After my track night last week there was a ton of debris being thrown around and it looks great still. I've also heard the warranty for Suntek is the same as Xpel now as well.

Both are great and you really can't go wrong. I think the most important thing is to just get it protected early on with something reputable such as these brands. Installer is key as well. Either will look like shit if your installer is not well versed in applying these. The prep work etc is not easy from what I saw.

Tomster said:

It was not specified which wrap he was going to use. I hear suntek has some great stuff out now. Xpel ultimate I hear is thicker than most and maybe that is the way to go, since the triple yellow R will be used on the track.

We discussed this about a year ago when I ordered the other R. he sent me to Xpel's website to look at the cutouts and prices. His pricing is to add up all the pieces you want and that's about how much it will cost. He has a large cutter and would use rolls to custom cut each piece. To get the cutting templates from xpel, I remember he told me that cost money per each template. So he saves money by cutting each piece from a large roll and the labor is built into the price difference between what it costs him to cut vs the cost of the retail cutout.

I agree, all the badges and such will have to be removed. Prep (wash, detail, etc) was all included. Stripes are another concern and I know it has gone round and round. The R has matte black stripes. One piece over the hood, roof, and trunk and the stripes will not be matte black anymore. I hear of people doing only paint and leave the stripes alone, and others using a matte xpel over the stripes. And then there is the whole edge or ridge line if you cover the stripes separately...... arg.......

So I guess what I'm looking for is who has done this and how did you address some of the issues above?

I got your perspective Justin, any thing else you might find helpful?

Thanks

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Only other tip I would add is to try and get a first hand sight at some of your installer's work. I would like to know how often he works at this, whether it is a part time thing in terms of his business and how meticulous he is in performing his work. I never got to see first hand work of my installer of course, being out of province, but I knew from online that he regularly worked on high end vehicles, Jag's, Porsches, R8's, etc. and that he had a GT4 himself so I knew he was an enthusiast.

I was actually quoted in the exact same manner in terms of the total price reflecting the cost of each individual piece as per XPEL's website, plus mine included 2.5 days worth of installation.

I was also fairly rushed in terms of going to pick up my car/have it dropped off. I had to drive and get the ferry on a thursday, land at port and then drive to the dealer to pick up the car, then drive directly to the XPEL guy friday evening. Since I was out of town, I had the return journey booked for Monday night to get back on the ferry... and my installer had other projects already lined up for monday, so he essentially had the weekend to get it done. I would highly recommend letting the installer know you are in no rush and that you want it done as near perfect as possible and to take his time.

The only other thing you need to be aware of is, there is almost 0% chance that it will be done perfectly. Unless you are in a sealed lab with positive pressure, even with wetted floors and a downdraft (like a painter's booth) there are liable to be dust motes that will get stuck behind the film. I consider my install very, very good and I can still walk around and pick out spots where the tiniest speck of dust got caught behind the film. Probably not such a concern on yellow, but you need to be aware and have realistic expectations, as 100% perfection is not humanly possible IMO.

btown93 said:

I'm pretty OCD when it comes to my cars and I continue to be amazed at how many on this forum almost treat it as automatic to wrap the whole car. I understand the benefits but I'm not sure I could ever do it. I suppose if you get a new car every couple years its no big deal, but man. I for one am a big proponent of doing the front cover and other easly replaceable panels. Not sure I could do quarters and roof.

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Easiest reason in the world. I had my AMG only done on the front end, and the rest of the paint went to shit.. It would irk the hell out of me when I go to wash the car and see swirl marks and micro scratches all over the paint on half of the car while the other half remained pristine... not to mention the detailing needs of the car then would differ from front to back or what have you which would also drive me nuts. But then again, I am VERY OCD and knew I had to get it done the second I got the car or it would drive me mental :lol:

I paid 4500 for a full car. They did a nice job, but they did use a kit on the front that was from the cad file. The rest they did by hand.

I was quoted 3500 just to do the most prone areas, so I said heck with it, might as well do it all. I know how easily it is to scratch the stripes, so I went over them and it looks great.
Super easy to clean and not 1 scratch, chip or anything - YET
Black matte stripes cannot be gone over with PPF without a negative look

OP, thanks for this thread. (Nice name, BTW ) I have been wanting to do my entire car and wondering about this. Mine will live at the track, so it will get sandblasted constantly. I started considering the front end, but the conversation just keeps going. I want to protect the stripes (they scratch easily) and thought, if I just do the front end, the stripes will look different (with vs without PPF). Then juts add this part, then juts this part...and so on.

I ended up thinking the whole car (altho that is a lot of money just to keep it "pretty"). But since I am whatever comes after OCD, I guess I will.

Thanks for the informative comments here, all. :cheers: