[Bearded_Seamonkey]

Hello everyone. I have an order for a 2022 ZL1 1LE. I'm currently getting estimates for PPF. I have show cars and I love detailing my cars and making sure they look nice. Now that I have read that XPEL and other brands make a clear wrap that essentially protects from swirls, chips etc. I almost can't believe it.

My first quote was $7500 for the entire car...or...$3500 if I do full hood, front fenders, side mirrors, front bumper, headlamps, roof/a-pillar and rocker panels.

It is a lot of money but I plan to track the car once or twice a year and this completely seems like a worthy investment.

What is your opinion on:
a) how well this stuff actually protects (too good to be true?)
b) is it a waste to have the entire car wrapped
c) any reason not get it installed

Thanks everyone

[JitteryJoe]

Damn, for 7,500 couldn't you just repaint the whole car with some extra clear coat?

[Jaxcam02]

$2000 is max I would even consider for full paint correction and leading edges PPF.

And I got that price quoted for my Silverado from the best guy in town down here using the best quality XPEL plus "5-year" ceramic coating.

I ended up learning how to do paint correction and PPF on my own. Spent about $500 in buying the tools and materials to do it myself on 3 cars now. Including ceramic coating after everything was done.

[DaveC113]

IMO, the entire car is well worth it for exotics. Leading edges are worth it for any car with some exceptions, depending on how and where it's driven. I wouldn't call a total wrap a waste, it's just expensive and for a ZLE it's about 10% the cost of the entire car... getting up there for sure, but it'll make it somewhat more valuable and will prevent damage that would lower it's value. Hard to say... It also is self-healing, so scratches will just go away when you leave it in the sun, pour hot water on it, etc... even pretty large scratches, so when you wash the car you don't have to worry about anything. There are some pretty amazing YT vids showing the self-healing action.

It will prevent a vast majority of rock chips but not all. There are thicker heavy-duty options for areas like in front of the rear wheels, I think std PPF is 6 mil and the HD version is 10 mil.

Congrats on the new ZLE, it's an amazing car!

[DaveC113]

Originally Posted by JitteryJoe

Damn, for 7,500 couldn't you just repaint the whole car with some extra clear coat?

But if you're driving it in situations where it'll get rock chips then you'll just get more rock chips right after you re-paint it. PPF can prevent a vast majority of damage so your car doesn't always have rock chips. And how bad does it have to get before you spend big $ on re-painting.

PPF is FAR more durable than paint. In some situations this is well worth it.

[DaveC113]

Originally Posted by Jaxcam02

$2000 is max I would even consider for full paint correction and leading edges PPF.

And I got that price quoted for my Silverado from the best guy in town down here using the best quality XPEL plus "5-year" ceramic coating.

I ended up learning how to do paint correction and PPF on my own. Spent about $500 in buying the tools and materials to do it myself on 3 cars now. Including ceramic coating after everything was done.

There is also a wide variety of install quality. Some shops remove all the body panels they can so they wrap around them, this is far more labor vs simply slapping it on the car.

I did it all myself as well, but it was a PITA and took a long time. Many people will not get decent results either, it takes some mechanical aptitude.

[JitteryJoe]

Yeah, if it self heals itself to an extent in the heat that definitely seems worth it. I did not realize that.

[NotFast]

Maybe it depends on your goal? Despite only having a 'lowly' LT1 - I immediately realized that my bigger wheels and summer tires were going to kick up rocks. I added mud guards but also spent the money to get the lower rocker panels and behind each wheel covered with Xpel.

[Bearded_Seamonkey]

Originally Posted by DaveC113

IMO, the entire car is well worth it for exotics. Leading edges are worth it for any car with some exceptions, depending on how and where it's driven. I wouldn't call a total wrap a waste, it's just expensive and for a ZLE it's about 10% the cost of the entire car... getting up there for sure, but it'll make it somewhat more valuable and will prevent damage that would lower it's value. Hard to say... It also is self-healing, so scratches will just go away when you leave it in the sun, pour hot water on it, etc... even pretty large scratches, so when you wash the car you don't have to worry about anything. There are some pretty amazing YT vids showing the self-healing action.

It will prevent a vast majority of rock chips but not all. There are thicker heavy-duty options for areas like in front of the rear wheels, I think std PPF is 6 mil and the HD version is 10 mil.

Congrats on the new ZLE, it's an amazing car!

Thanks for the reply. This car is an exotic for me! I wouldn't consider this for any other car, but this is my mid lift crisis dream car. I plan to drive this car as much as possible. I don't need anymore "show" cars that just sit in the garage.

The idea of using the car and protecting it sounds great. One of my concerns is that if I only get impact areas done, then if I wash it a lot, and swirls begin to develop on the non-ppf areas, that will drive me nuts as well...but more than double the price for the entire car is hard to handle too. I know the swirls aren't as bad as the chips but if I decide at this point, maybe I take part of my down payment, and put it towards ppf rather than just the car loan.

[pauly1119]

The stuff works awesome but is very expensive. My car was done already when I bought it and was 6500. It saved my hood from a good size rock that fell from a dump trucks several months ago. Zero damage and I was doing around 80 on the highway.

[Bearded_Seamonkey]

Originally Posted by pauly1119

The stuff works awesome but is very expensive. My car was done already when I bought it and was 6500. It saved my hood from a good size rock that fell from a dump trucks several months ago. Zero damage and I was doing around 80 on the highway.

Music to my ears!!! (not that you got hit by a rock of course)

[Trak-Toy]

I did the leading edges on my ZLE to include the rear quarters. I also had it paint corrected (though it didn’t need much as it was virtually brand new at the time) and 5 yr ceramic coated. I added the ACS rock guards and called it a day. I don’t think wrapping the entire car is worth the extra money IMO. Also, the hood is already wrapped from the factory so there is nothing to do there. Nothing has impacted the front or sides of my car (yet!..fingers crossed) and it doesn’t seem too likely. I also had the PPF put along the outer edges of the doors so when they open and could potentially strike a car parked too close to me there will no no damage to either vehicle. My PPF guy did that for free with extra material he had. just an idea of something to ask for. If I was to do it again, I would also get the windshield done with the PPF specifically designed for the windshield. These ZLE’s appear to have very soft glass and get pitted very easily from small rocks kicked off the highway. Just my 2 cents worth.

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

I recommend PPF on the full front (including splitters and side air intake), full hood, full front fenders, side mirrors, and the lower half of the fenders/quarter panels in front of and behind the rear tires. I have XPEL PPF in all of those areas plus at the rear edge of the doors and in the door handle recess area. It wasn't cheap (but still way less expensive than your quote), but it was completely worth it to me thus far. My car is new and I was completely paranoid the first week while driving it around without PPF.

The tires in the ZL1 don't stick out as far as the ZLE, so you may consider going higher on the rear fenders, and doing the side skirts and lower 1/4 of the doors as well.

The XPEL PPF is pretty tough - and if any segment gets any damage, you only have to pay to have that portion re-done, and not all of the areas. The stuff is incredibly clear. You can't tell it's on the car unless you see a seam, or can see the difference in orange peel between the PPF and the paint. There's a slight difference in orange peel but you'd never notice if you didn't know exactly what to look for. It doesn't tint the color at all that I can tell.

For the uncovered parts: If you wash your car properly it should minimize swirling in the paint - I always use a steady flow of running water with a microfiber wash-mit. I never rub the car with a wash mit without spraying water on the area I'm rubbing at the same time. It works very well minimizing scratches.

[2SS Capt]

I did the red areas in XPel PPF and I think it cost me around $1600... WELL worth it, 4,000 miles and no stone chips...