I feel your pain. My 4.0 and 6rs lives in Sweden. Brought pre cut XPel in tubes back from the US to my installer in Sweden. The stuff he uses is ok for every color except white.

 

Here's why I don't do it:



This is on a 911 I'm borrowing from the dealer while my GT4 is in the mechanic's shop. It seems that you've either got to get the entire car covered or do nothing. Partially covering the car means that you'll have lines on it like the one in the picture. Entirely covering the car is expensive and I think it wouldn't look as good as the paint alone. I'd prefer a few paint chips that I can fix as necessary.

For now, I'm staying naked.

 

Those lines are why most people do full hood and fender. Then no lines. And you don't have to do the entire car.

 

Where do you go on the back of the car, behind the rear wheels, to avoid lines? If you do part of the car, do you end up with it looking like it's painted in two slightly different shades, as the wrap ages?

 

You post a picture of probably the worst job ever of a clear bra to convince yourself that the money will not be well spent ???
Your only fooling yourself
Not trying to be a d#*#k but if you saw my car you would be getting it in a second
To each his own good luck for whatever you decide
Regards
Ed

 

If you're not trying to be a d##k, why the tone? I'm not trying to convince myself of anything and I'm not trying to fool myself. I'd be happy to go with a wrap if I could understand how to: a) not cover the whole car; b) avoid lines. Despite what you might think, I don't have a preconceived notion of wrapping a car. There's plenty of things I do feel passionate about; this isn't one of them.

 

I owned two cars in Colorado which did not have paint protection on the front clip, and those bumpers were terribly rashed by stone chips by the time the cars were sold. For any car I purchase new, some form of protection is always put on the car within the first few hundred miles. If I lived someplace where decomposed granite wasn't spread on the roads for 5-6 months in a year, it would certainly be a different story.

 

Bud
Again not trying to be a d$%K.... There was no tone intended ....
I was just responding to your post
(not unlike many I have seen here on Rennlist, i.e. you are not alone being skeptical about PPF and which one is best)
If you really take the time and get the low down, it's a no brainer ..
You have to see cars that are done right, and you will see the light ( actually you will not see anything, is its done right.
Is it cheap? Certainly not... but for the piece of mind and the protection it provides, its worth every penny ...
Again not trying to be a D*&^ \, if i was, I would have just ignored your post and not said anything...
Good luck

 

No worries!

Any thoughts on my questions above? What did you decide to do? Cover the whole car? Thinking about it some more, I'm not totally opposed to the idea but if I could do it without lines, I'd probably prefer to just cover the parts the really need it for the track.

 

If you just do the front clip: full bumper, fenders, full hood - and have the edges wrapped - you will not see lines like that.

Those quarter hood clear bra jobs are a relic - they never look right. I remember getting one about 10 years ago on the recommendation that they were invisible. Not the case.

 

You'd wonder why they even still offer them. I see them all the time and they look terrible.

Would you do anything on the GT4 from the front wheels back? Or just do the front?

 

I'm considering full front clip. On the fence about rockers. I've heard everywhere from $1500-2200 for both.

Still not 100% sold on it, though. Beyond the lines (which is really a non-issue with proper installation), film does seem to change the surface texture and I've seen it give an orange peel look sometimes. Some people are more sensitive to that than others. In the end, nothing looks better than naked paint. Can you keep it pristine is the question.

 

I am in the process of full car Xpel on my Spyder. The savings on psychiatrist bills is worth it alone. But hey, that's the way I roll...

 

Naked paint looks better for sure, no way around that. Xpel on my white paint is pretty clear to the point that I'm not bothered by it. It's very close. On darker colors, Suntek is maybe a better option.

I was not planning on getting PPF when I bought the car. That said, the front wheels shoot rocks at the rocker panels, particularly the area right behind the front wheel. So I changed my mine despite the downsides to getting film. Did full front, rockers, and some behind the rear wheels.

Unless you are trying to homogenize the texture on all painted surfaces, I think wrapping the entire car is a huge waste of $$.

 

Do you have an diagrams that show what parts you did or pictures that show the end result?