INSTALL CLEAR BRA OR WRAP? PROS & CONS?

[Brownw01]

I just had optimum gloss coat applied over the weekend. The guy did all the prep work, some light paint correction and applied to car, jambs and wheels. Cost $250 said it should last a year or two. Looks great.

What company did you use?

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[Endokendal]

Just letting you know XPEL ultimate has a 10 year warranty and the standard XPEL which is very similar to 3M Ventureshield has a 5 year warranty.

I'm getting the XPEL Ultimate installed today... about $500 for front bumper, 24" of hood and front fenders, and fronts of mirrors. I'll post a review after I pick it up tomorrow and again after some time living with it. Also getting the windows tinted... don't understand why the car didn't come with factory tinted glass, since most do these days... can anyone explain that to me?

 

[thewiz8807]

Could I have Opti-Coat applied to my vehicle and then have XPEL Ultimate applied to the main impact areas over the Opti-Coat?

 

[Endokendal]

According to the optic oat guy I was talking to, he said yes. The optic oat needs to bond with the clear coat/paint, so it is better to do it first and then the xpel.

 

[markology]

I paid $1200 bucks to do my Lexus - I would never do it again.

I did the front bumper, 18 inches of the hood, headlights, mirrors.

The reason I won't get it again is very quickly it looked bad - when it gets hit it leaves this opaque chip in the bra and the bra becomes very visible. Over time it just looked horrible.

What color car did you have? I have a black car.

 

[Blk2015GT]

What color car did you have? I have a black car.

Black will show every little defect in the clear wrap, especially when it gets hit with a rock. One reason, besides not shelling out $1000-1500, I elected against it.

 

[markology]

Black will show every little defect in the clear wrap, especially when it gets hit with a rock. One reason, besides not shelling out $1000-1500, I elected against it.

Have you had it clear bra on a black car before? Or know of someone with such a set up?

I have seen a clear bra on a black car. yes, the line is more obvious, but only if you really look for it. I'm just wondering about the long term effects, like what you mentioned, the damage. Do the damages indeed show more?

My concern is that without the clear bra, the damages will be MORE obvious. First owning a black car here. :(

 

[Matador91]

Putting XPEL ulitmate on my car has been one of the best investments. Granted I install film for a living, but I wouldn't go without it. Knowing I don't have to worry about rock chips, and never having to polish the front of my car is also extremely nice.

 

[Blk2015GT]

Have you had it clear bra on a black car before? Or know of someone with such a set up?

I have seen a clear bra on a black car. yes, the line is more obvious, but only if you really look for it. I'm just wondering about the long term effects, like what you mentioned, the damage. Do the damages indeed show more?

My concern is that without the clear bra, the damages will be MORE obvious. First owning a black car here. :(

That's what I would be afraid of is the strikes will be obvious on a black car when the film get marred.

Putting XPEL ulitmate on my car has been one of the best investments. Granted I install film for a living, but I wouldn't go without it. Knowing I don't have to worry about rock chips, and never having to polish the front of my car is also extremely nice.

Well I mean if I could do it for cost of product/film ($100-200?) and my time, and redo it every time it got marred or something, for that cheap then hell why not. Little different when it's $1000+ per application.

IMO the retail cost is not worth the benefit. You can have the bumper or hood resprayed for much much less than that, and it is only myth that respraying a panel really devalues it on trade-in. These aren't $100k+ exotics where that matters to collectors and such.

 

[Notes]

Putting XPEL ulitmate on my car has been one of the best investments. Granted I install film for a living, but I wouldn't go without it. Knowing I don't have to worry about rock chips, and never having to polish the front of my car is also extremely nice.

Did you only do the front or a full wrap? Been thinking to do a full XPEL ultimate wrap on my hopefully soon delivered 2015 EB Black. Reason for a full wrap is mainly because I don't like washing cars and car-washes messes up the paint to much & of course rock chips.

Found a few installers in my country but haven't asked any quotes yet for the pre cut XPEL ultimate and installment. Also wondering if its worth detailing and clear-coating first before adding the film?

Thx

 

[markology]

That's what I would be afraid of is the strikes will be obvious on a black car when the film get marred.


Have you had experience with this issue on a black car? I've been looking around the internet, and can't find anything on this.

 

[markology]

Putting XPEL ulitmate on my car has been one of the best investments. Granted I install film for a living, but I wouldn't go without it. Knowing I don't have to worry about rock chips, and never having to polish the front of my car is also extremely nice.

Have you had experience with black cars? My concern is that the damages on the clear bra will be more obvious on a black car. Do know anything about this?

Also, is it really true you don't need to polish the clear bra? What kind of maintenance does it need then? Wax? Wash? What about bird stain, tree sap, and others? Do we need to clean it right away?

 

[Notes]

Personally I think if the car is detailed, paint corrected and coated before adding the xpel it might stay like this. The film can be washed & waxed afterwards as well.
Although my dealer didn't recommend a black car to wrap since the paint & clear-coat is thinner than the metallic colors.

I would love to see the finisched result of Matador91 though!

 

[markology]

Personally I think if the car is detailed, paint corrected and coated before adding the xpel it might stay like this. The film can be washed & waxed afterwards as well.
Although my dealer didn't recommend a black car to wrap since the paint & clear-coat is thinner than the metallic colors.

I would love to see the finisched result of Matador91 though!

Note,

So your dealer explicating say they don't recommend wrapping a black car? Did you ask about the mars being more obvious on a black car? Just trying to see if this is a real concern.

Thanks.

 

[Notes]

Note,

So your dealer explicating say they don't recommend wrapping a black car? Did you ask about the mars being more obvious on a black car? Just trying to see if this is a real concern.

Thanks.

Not sure if they will be more obvious, but black cars are always difficult to maintain... car-wash swirls etc. that's why I wanna do it in the first days. (If my budget allows it of course...)
Edit: Without the Xpel film he didn't recommend me a black one either as his initial question was if wash my car very often... I said no, I wash my current black car about once a year ;-)

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