Who all has done xpel type films

[Hardtopz28]

I'm thinking about doing ppf or just doing ceramic coating or both. Just wondering what people are doing to protect their vehicles paint. The car gets about 250-750 miles a month. I don't know if the ppf is worth 1400 bucks. Any help will be greatly appreciated

[ForTehNguyen]

I did full bumper, full hood, headlights partial side sills in xpel. Its worth it to not to have to worry about driving behind certain vehicles and getting chips. Just overall less anxiety driving the car and I can enjoy it more. Considering the viper is hand painted and it takes 150 man hours to paint the car, its definately worth buying. When I bought mine used from cali, you could see pitting and clear coat damage in the lower lip from the previous owner that didnt have PPF. When the xpel was applied, couldnt even tell there was any clearcoat damage, everything smoothed out and looks new.

ceramic coating is merely a permanent wax and will only protect against light scratches and not rock chips. I never considered ceramic coating because of this.

[1of1TA1.0]

I did both the full car xpel and the ceramic coating. My purpose is for track protection. It has been great. It has major saved the paint multiple times from objects and has proved worth it. Definitely not cheap. The ceramic has made it extremely easy to clean as well. I would do it over again. Only negative, with stock exhaust, it has wrinkled the area around the cat. (the cat has also burned the paint so it's way hot). After I do an exhaust they are going to warranty replace that piece of the clear bra.

[Scott_in_fl]

Search is your friend. Addressed several times, with the end consensus always being that PPF is worth its weight in gold (ceramic coatings are nice for gloss, but not protection). Moreover, users on this and most other forums tend to prefer Xpel Ultimate.

[txA&M08]

Ceramic is not meant to provide protection from scratching, bird shit, bugs or sun damage, but allows you to clean the car without touching it. Water beads off a properly applied ceramic better than anything else you can put on your paint, so washing is much easier. Just blast with a soap cannon, then power washer, then use a leaf blower to blow the water off. Done right, it means no scratching/swirling.

[Vipes]

Xpel Ultimate offers good protection for the street but not the track.
A ceramic coating offers good protection from swirl marks but little to no protection on the street.

My whole car is coated in Xpel Ultimate film but when the car goes to the track it gets an additional 4 layers of tape (2 layers of blue painters + 2 layers of black gorilla tape) on top of the film on the critical areas. The Xpel will protect most of the normal street driving chips but you're in for a surprise if you think it will stop track rocks/debris from being slung at your car from a sticky tire at 130 mph.

[Wagnut ACR]

I did Xpel Ultimate and ceramic over the entire car. It's already saved my hood when a truck threw a bolt my way. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Worth every penny. 32369

[ClayR]

I've done three full wraps. It is great stuff.

[camarochevy1970]

I did Xpel Ultimate and ceramic over the entire car. It's already saved my hood when a truck threw a bolt my way. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Worth every penny. 32369

I had a similar experience last week, my Suntek saved my hood in a construction zone. I may someday have to get the ppf on the hood redone, but it's cheaper than a repaint

[ssjcreeper]

Xpel Ultimate here. As others have said, totally worth it!

[white ACR]

I,ve done my ACR Extreme also with X-PEL--Dave

[38D]

MyACR-E also has full xpel. Definitely worth it so I can drive worry free.

[Hardtopz28]

My car is black and I just don't want anything to happen to it. It's has sentimental value to me. I can't set it up in my garage cause these cars were made to be driven. Like it is now ,I'm scared to drive it lol. Thanks for the replies it has a appointment next Monday for xpel ultimate

[nwa_viper]

Suntek PPF and CQuartz Finest on mine.

[ForTehNguyen]

black cars will benefit from PPF/ceramic coatings the most

[Lost me beer]

I have the Suntek on the bumper, partial hood, lights, rockers, mirrors, window frames, and behind the rear tires. Cost me $1350. Cannot see where the lines are, except the top of the hood is barely vis. Like mentioned above, it is well worth the piece of mind alone.
Troy

[Terminator02]

Good info and agree asked often. I wrote a lot previously on topic.

Answer is dependent on your goals. Want the dopest wettest best paint? Paint correction, then the best nano your money can buy which is now CQuartz Reserve. Def thicker and harder than professional and pro and using special light curing. If you are versed in coating application grab CQuartz UK for 80% of the quality. Note, not even the best will even prevent light scratching. Had my 15 black GT nano coated and warned the 2 micron increase in clear is marketing BS (microns are unit of thickness described usually regarding clear). Our cars are light om clear which makes them more scratchable but look much prettier. Our old gen 2s had thick clear...hard paint...not as pretty. I Tried lightly using a cheaper micro fiber cloth in a pinch once and it scratched my clear...even if on the nano coating it's still not certain until another correction is due. Your oil on your hands messes with the clear which is why it's best to ppf door handles. Nano just watersheds, makes waxing irrelevant if that isn't your thing and washing much easier.

PPF is the best paint protection. Suntek is thicker, shows a bit of orange peel consequently but arguably better protection. Expel is thin clear and I'd only go with Ultimate for warranty alone. Roof to rockers full suntek on x5m, expel ultimate on viper. Both have advantages. Honestly I am not sure how suntek will better prevent chips. If it's breaking through xpel there's a dent and chip. If it's breaking through expel it will likely break through suntek but maybe leave a smaller chip? Who knows.

Best thing is to combine all 3. First at least a correction as even these hand painted awesome ones from Prefix do benefit from a small correction from someone with the eye to see this stuff, then nano coat most are damn good then add ppf to front fascia, partial hood, partial roof, rockers door handles, side mirrors and rear of rear tires. Spend 3k total (if you go cheaper on correction and nano coating) worry less but know nothing is fully protective. My X5M has minor issues but that's daily driven through MI seasons. Without ppf...RIP. oh yeah also don't buy into the "good for 2 yrs with standard nano coat package." That's arbitrary af. How do you drive, how many miles do you drive and how do you care for car are SERIOUS factors so no way can the companies say it lasts X long generically or XX long if you spend more for gold or Ultimate. It just means you get more coatings on your ride you may not even need to begin with. General rule is nano quoted for 2 yrs is likely good for 5 on well maintained cars not driven hard 15k a year

[13COBRA]

I have the XPel on my entire car...it works great for tracking. I have 0 paint chips in the front bumper. Only paint chip on the car is on the driver mirror base, about 1/16" from the beginning of the clear wrap.

I'm close to needing to redo it though, the edges in some areas are starting to come up.

[Drummerviper]

Use it on all my cars

[ForTehNguyen]

suntek has a new film, Ultra, that is their 10 year warranty option to compete with xpel. Supposedly more glossy and hydrophobic than xpel

[jdsapp]

I had full front XPEL ULTIMATE installed on my Gunmetal Pearl 2013 Viper SRT, at XPEL Dallas. It looks fantastic, makes the car much easier to wash (at least the part that is covered!), protects against rock chips, and also against random debris you may encounter in the road. My husband and I were driving one night and a small piece of flat metal flew up from under a car in front of us. It hit the hood and definitely would have messed up the paint if it weren't for the XPEL. I really like it.

[Arizona Vipers]

I had Sun Tek installed, and my side sills melted my first track session. Same thing with my friend's ACR with Xpel. Melted sidesills first session.

[512BB]

I put Xpel all over the ACR-E and am super happy with it. I also put the ceramic coat on top of the Xpel (don't ask me why)! I wouldn't recommend ceramic coating on top of Xpel or other protective films, one because it's redundant and two because the ceramic coat will reduce/eliminate the self healing properties of the Xpel as it is a very stiff material. If I do it again, I'll just go with Xpel.

[stradman]

I had Sun Tek installed, and my side sills melted my first track session. Same thing with my friend's ACR with Xpel. Melted sidesills first session.

Yes my Expel "cracked" along the sidesills

[13COBRA]

I had Sun Tek installed, and my side sills melted my first track session. Same thing with my friend's ACR with Xpel. Melted sidesills first session.

Wow. Mine is in good shape still. The only issue I had was on the driver side it peeled right above the exhaust exit. The previous owner had the exhaust installed and the driver side was tucked just a hair too tight to the body so it let the exhaust stay in the side sill and really heat up.

[Jack B]

I had Sun Tek installed, and my side sills melted my first track session. Same thing with my friend's ACR with Xpel. Melted sidesills first session.

What does your exhaust system look like cats/mufflers/??, just trying to understand where the heat is coming from.

[FSTENUF]

3249732498
I have done both my Gen V's and all of my other rides as well as my company trucks. Expel all the way

[FSTENUF]

3249932500
Complete wrap

[bassplayrr]

I have a SunTek/22ple combo on my black car and couldn’t be happier. For now, I have the SunTek on my full hood, front bumper, side sills, mirrors, and behind my rear tires. The 22ple is on everything. I’m so happy with the results that I’ll be going back and having SunTek applied to everything not already covered, and having the 22ple reapplied to the new SunTek panels.