[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by karmatourer

Ditto for Criswell in Gaithersburg. No BS dealer and I've driven 1100 miles each way 2x in a year to trade with them.

What brought me there originally was their great deals on C7s.

Cool! I'll give them a shout tomorrow as well.

[RamAir02]

As I'm reading through the forums and getting up to speed on the 6th gens, it raises another question I don't fully understand.

It seems the clear coat from the factory is crap and there's a process many are following upon taking delivery of their vehicles. Color correction, ceramic coating, etc. What instructions should I provide the dealer in how I want to receive the car and what is the process from there to protect the exterior? Are there generally accepted best practices around this? Thanks.

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by RamAir02

As I'm reading through the forums and getting up to speed on the 6th gens, it raises another question I don't fully understand.

It seems the clear coat from the factory is crap and there's a process many are following upon taking delivery of their vehicles. Color correction, ceramic coating, etc. What instructions should I provide the dealer in how I want to receive the car and what is the process from there to protect the exterior? Are there generally accepted best practices around this? Thanks.

Ok, researching a bit further, it looks like many are doing PPF (3M, Suntek or Xpel) upon taking delivery of their cars and before there are any chips or scratches. Some are also doing a ceramic coating over that, but it looks like most just opt for the PPF.

What I haven't found yet is what paint correction is and why it's advised before PPF. Like, what problem is it solving?

Also, I'm not clear on what instructions to provide the dealer for delivery of the vehicle. Unwashed? No detailing? Why?

Thanks!

[kwav8r]

"Paint correction" is really just buffing out any orange peel and or minor scratches from the factory. Whomever does it needs to know that the clear coat on these cars is thin (likely only 2 coats), so you can't get overly aggressive with it.

Following that it's either the PPF (I did the front end, mirrors, rockers, lower third in front of rear tire, behind the rear tires, doors sills) or ceramic. Some folks swear by putting the ceramic on top of PPF- seems like a waste of money to me but, ehh.

Unless your dealer has a real good body shop I would just opt to take it to whichever detailer/PPF installer you are going to use. Let them do the paint correction, PPF, ceramic, etc., etc.

You'll also want to ceramic coat the rims, makes getting the brake dust off easier.

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by kwav8r

"Paint correction" is really just buffing out any orange peel and or minor scratches from the factory. Whomever does it needs to know that the clear coat on these cars is thin (likely only 2 coats), so you can't get overly aggressive with it.

Following that it's either the PPF (I did the front end, mirrors, rockers, lower third in front of rear tire, behind the rear tires, doors sills) or ceramic. Some folks swear by putting the ceramic on top of PPF- seems like a waste of money to me but, ehh.

Unless your dealer has a real good body shop I would just opt to take it to whichever detailer/PPF installer you are going to use. Let them do the paint correction, PPF, ceramic, etc., etc.

You'll also want to ceramic coat the rims, makes getting the brake dust off easier.

Perfect! That's the info I was looking for. Thanks much. I'll call around and see who is local that can do the paint correction and PPF. Appreciate the tip on getting the wheels ceramic coated as well.

[Old painless]

I would ask for ZERO dealer prep.

Leave the car exactly the way it came off the car hauler, dirty and untouched.

Otherwise, some dealership monkey with a rag and a buffing wheel is going to make a mess of your paint in a attempt to make it pretty for you. Let the shop that is doing the PPF clean your car.

Also, no dealer stickers or emblems any where on the car!

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by Old painless

I would ask for ZERO dealer prep.

Leave the car exactly the way it came off the car hauler, dirty and untouched.

Otherwise, some dealership monkey with a rag and a buffing wheel is going to make a mess of your paint in a attempt to make it pretty for you. Let the shop that is doing the PPF clean your car.

Also, no dealer stickers or emblems any where on the car!

This x2. The dealer will "install" hairline scratches if they as much as touch the vehicle. The clear coat is indeed brittle unfortunately, but not "crap" at all, it's just touchy. Many say this is par for the course with recent cars.

Also +1 on the ceramic coat, both on the paint and the wheels if you want to do easy touchless washes and very easily get rid of brake dust. I didn't do PPF for $4-5-6k because this isn't a Bugatti Chiron after all, and have a few tiny rock chips on the front bumper, but nothing major.

Oh, and don't forget to get big ass splash guards from day 1, otherwise the clear on your quarter panels will look like snow in no time. No, the paint matched GM splash guards won't cut it.

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by Old painless

I would ask for ZERO dealer prep.

Leave the car exactly the way it came off the car hauler, dirty and untouched.

Otherwise, some dealership monkey with a rag and a buffing wheel is going to make a mess of your paint in a attempt to make it pretty for you. Let the shop that is doing the PPF clean your car.

Also, no dealer stickers or emblems any where on the car!

Oh, great! Thanks for answering my other question. Ok, I won't let the dealer do anything!

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

This x2. The dealer will "install" hairline scratches if they as much as touch the vehicle. The clear coat is indeed brittle unfortunately, but not "crap" at all, it's just touchy. Many say this is par for the course with recent cars.

Also +1 on the ceramic coat, both on the paint and the wheels if you want to do easy touchless washes and very easily get rid of brake dust. I didn't do PPF for $4-5-6k because this isn't a Bugatti Chiron after all, and have a few tiny rock chips on the front bumper, but nothing major.

Oh, and don't forget to get big ass splash guards from day 1, otherwise the clear on your quarter panels will look like snow in no time. No, the paint matched GM splash guards won't cut it.

Understood. Thanks for reinforcing this point and correcting my reference to the clear coat as "crap".

So, did you just do ceramic coating on your paint & wheels and no PPF? What's an approximate cost to ceramic the whole vehicle? I know the PPF is several grand....

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by 900RFWN

Give Criswell Chevrolet of Thurmont a try. I picked up my '18 from them without any hassle or games like some of these other dealers. None of their ZL1s get test driven BTW. That was a big plus for my OCD ass.

Thanks again for the heads up on Criswell of Thurmont. I spoke with them today. They have two ZL1 1LEs on the lot (if anyone else is looking!!). Their prices are very competitive, but they're about 3 hours from me. I'd be happy to make that journey, no problem, but I ended up contacting my local dealer again after speaking with Criswell. They came down another $800 and are including the destination fee ($995). So final price is $68k + tax, tags, title fee's. I'm pretty happy with that.

BTW, I was very upfront with Jeff at Criswell that I'd be contacting my local dealer to see if it made more sense to go with them (and if they'd come down a bit more than I had already haggled). He was great and very understanding. If I wasn't able to get a similar deal locally, I would have been very happy to work with Jeff and Criswell.

So, all that said, I'm heading to my local dealer tomorrow to finalize the paperwork.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by RamAir02

Understood. Thanks for reinforcing this point and correcting my reference to the clear coat as "crap".

So, did you just do ceramic coating on your paint & wheels and no PPF? What's an approximate cost to ceramic the whole vehicle? I know the PPF is several grand....

I had the ceramic done professionally on the entire vehicle + wheels + all glass for $1400. NJ is an expensive state as we both know, but I'm not good enough (yet) to try and tackle this on my precious, even though it would've saved me some $$$

(Don't forget the splash guards, or you'll curse profusely later.)

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

I had the ceramic done professionally on the entire vehicle + wheels + all glass for $1400. NJ is an expensive state as we both know, but I'm not good enough (yet) to try and tackle this on my precious, even though it would've saved me some $$$

(Don't forget the splash guards, or you'll curse profusely later.)

Since you're also in NJ, may I ask where you had the ceramic coating done? Also, what splash guards do you have? I was reading another thread about the ZL1 addons ones and they don't fit the ZL1 well. And the ACS ones are only for RS/SS.

[RamAir02]

Welp, here she is! Unwashed, undetailed, 3 miles

Going for paint correction, PPF and (maybe) ceramic coating later this week

[arpad_m]

Mean machine , congratulations