thecajunboy

Ouch! Got a quote for a full wrap with Xpel Ultimate for a hair under $5K. Even more depressing is the sum of the DIY pieces from the manufacturer webstore is just about the same price.

syzygetic

I did XPEL on the front, and Ceramic Pro on the whole car. I've got the same "black" predicament, and this combination works.

The Ceramic Pro seems to do a good job keeping a hydrophobic coating on the car, though I can't say more than that. Because dirt washes off more easily, it's also harder to cause swirl marks... can't comment on whether that's because the Ceramic Pro truly increases the hardness of the surface, but hey, my car gets washed sometimes and has no swirls, and I got a good deal on Ceramic Pro, so I'm ok with it.

The real recommendation from me is: don't XPEL the whole car. XPEL doesn't look like paint. It looks fine at 10 ft, but it really doesn't look good under inspection, and it gets dirty and scratched, just like paint. Unlike paint, it heals in sun, so it ends up repairing itself to a mediocre look at all times.

Doing just the front in XPEL is great, since that's better than rock chips would look, but doing the whole car is a bit unnecessary and will look a bit of a shame.

phefner

Thank you!

Scooby921

I agree. I have XPEL on the front bumper, rockers, and around the rear intakes. It's good for reducing rock chips on the bumper, but it doesn't look quite right to me. The film doesn't polish up the way the paint can. It doesn't reflect light the way the paint will. My bumper looks a solid dark blue while the hood (no film) will catch and reflect light on the metallic flake and look all sorts of different colors.


I think it would be better to do a multilayer ceramic application. You'll get the same glossy look from the paint, and the extra layers add years of protection and also build up some thickness / resistance to stone chips with the hardness.

Maverick787

DannieK

I had my '16 Spyder completely covered with Xpel Ultimate. I agree with all the above comments. If I had to do it over again I'd go with Xpel or equivalent only on the most exposed sections. Besides the excessive cost, dirt accumulation, paint looks better, etc., a multi-application of ceramic looks great and has a lot less headaches with it. I've got a GT3 coming up for delivery. I'm going with a combo of 3M and ceramic.

Cs981dc

I have a '15 981S Standard Black Color. Completed a full detail (ie pain correction, etc) then Suntek Ultra PPF done to front bumper, full hood, mirrors, head lights, rockers, and door edges. Got it done ~3 months ago. Can't go wrong with Xpel Ultimate either. They all have some level of "self-healing", non-yellowing film, etc that is significantly improved from previous generations. Mine came with a 10 year warranty (doubt it will last that long anyways!).

My only advice is to find a Very Reputable Installer (even if it costs more) as I had many initial issues with mine (i.e. poor edges, debris showing, headlight OEM clear-coat peels off). Fortunately, almost all were fixed but still not "perfect". Regardless, since mine is a daily driver, protection was #1 priority for PNW elements. Love the ability to wash it (Live in condo, so I use Optimum No Rinse Wash) without worrying much about "scratching" as the heat from the Sun really does "self-heal" on the PPF areas.

kskpsu

thecajunboy

How coincidental that a black Mustang would show up in this thread. That's a really sweet ride there. I was geared up to purchase a new black GT and found the Cayman just days before.

yachtfund

Seems like you're getting a good deal on the full car wrap. Might be worth getting ceramic coating on top of it. Helps get the dirt just slip off easier. Keeps the car looking cleaner without a whole lot of work

Black Bart

I had the entire Cayman (non-metallic Black) fully wrapped in Suntec film from front to back, saved me several times from real damage, and zero swirls from cleaning. Have done 36,000 kilometres now. Can you ceramic coat on top of the film??

itsujack

You sure can, I just had the GT3 fully wrapped and ceramic coated. Wish I had done the same with the Spyder when I had the paint corrected a year ago.

Black Bart

Wow!!! Not much more I can add!!

hf1

Cover just the front then quartz coat the whole car. The trick with a black/dark car is to MINIMIZE touching it as much as possible. So to keep a black car pristine and swirlmarks-free, do a full detail 1x to 2x a year depending on usage combined with touch-less car-washes after every few drives or buy an electric water compressor and a foam cannon and touch-less wash it yourself between the details.

When I used to enjoy hand-washing my cars, no matter how careful and pedantic I was with the method (two buckets, clean sponges, MF towels, etc.) swirls would appear on my black car after just a couple of washes. The lesson: Just don't touch it.

Someone mentioned water-less washes on a black car. Sure, if you want swirls everywhere...

thecajunboy

I'm pretty sure that's the first thing I learned about this car. Still haven't brought it in for Xpel. Just waiting to schedule, and will only cover the front end. I'd really like to cover the whole thing, but at my price point on the car, full Xpel price, and my intended usage, it's not making sense to me. I can live with a few swirl marks here and there, I think.