rdmustang

My order for a BGTS is in. I want to cover it in Xpel Ultimate (definitely would appreciate any opinions around Xpel vs other brands or what areas should be covered). My issue is that I'm buying the car about 4 hours away and driving it back. Couple of questions:

1. Dealers won't allow the car wrapped until after purchase, right?

2. Any harm driving the car home and having it wrapped near home? Should I instead try to have it wrapped local to the dealer? There are more authorized installers near the dealer (not sure how much that matters) but this would probably mean a second trip.

3. Any other options/suggestions?

iliveoncaffiene

1. The dealer is under no obligation to do anything for you before the purchase. But you can definitely try to swing for it in negotiations that they will truck it somewhere local, or do it in-house.
Simply put: it's possible but you have to ask.

If you're really worried about chips in the interim between purchase / install, just bring a roll of blue painter's tape and tape up the front/rockers. If I were that paranoid, looking like crap for a day until you have the bra installed would not be a huge deal.
There's also these products:

They are basically "temporary" Xpel. Painter's tape is obviously the cheapest option

CaymanMatt

My dealer is getting my Cayman wrapped today but we won't pick it up until next week. We pay when we close on the car.

manifold danger

It's all in the level of peace of mind you want, and how obsessive-compulsive you are with your paint as it relates to the level of patience you have with orchestrating a complex chain of events.

You "could" have the car wrapped before you actually take delivery; assuming the dealer will comply. My guess is it will be a tremendous headache unless the dealer has experience with this sort of thing and perhaps has a pre-established relationship with a local authorized installer.

Or, you could drive the car a few hundred miles and correct any blemishes that happen along the way prior to applying the wrap. Depending on the comfort level you have with your local detailer, this may be a more desired option.

Worst case scenario, think of it this way... many cars live for a few thousand miles before they get wrapped. There's also plenty of prep work that's going to have to happen regardless prior to the wrap going on; any detailer worth their salt will take care of what needs to be done before applying the wrap; whether the car has 2 miles or 2000.

Something else to consider is how soon after the car was painted at the factory are you taking delivery; typically the paint will need to "gas out" for ~60-90 days before any wrap should go on it anyway.

HelpMeHelpU

I did the blue painters tape on a new GT4 a few years ago. Took a while, and surely more than a single roll, but I did it. And abracadabra alicazam I had a Mexico Blue GT4 that looked like an oil painting--it was really pretty cool.

Would I do it again, probably not.

CaymanMatt

From the Xpel FAQs:

Can XPEL paint protection film be installed on a brand new vehicle?

Yes. Factory paint is fully cured before the car ever leaves the assembly line.

manifold danger

So... I'd look for a couple other sources to corroborate this. This is an XPEL faq, I'm some random dude on a forum... I'd look for more direct information from a manufacturer. It's totally understandable that there is technology and methodologies available to a manufacturer that aren't available to a body shop, totally get that- but it's still an industry standard to allow 30-90 days for cure on new paint before sealing it up. This applies to wax/sealant as well.

I'm not saying take my word as gospel, I'm only going off information I've gotten from detailers/body shops. But it seems like a pretty important thing to confirm.

GregWormald

My car was 2 months old when it arrived in Australia. AFTER I had it Opti-Coated I noticed a very subtle pattern of marks (sort of like faint fresh snail tracks) around the openings of the boot and bonnet. The detailer said he's seeing a bit of it in different brands, it's in the clear coat. Easily fixable and quite cheap. I talked it over with the dealer and while they would pay we agreed to leave it alone in it's original paint until I figured out how much it bothered me--it was very subtle.

A few months later I had a serious look and the marks were gone. We've wondered how long the paints take to fully cure, stop out-gassing, and shrink to final thickness.