Wrap (1 Viewer)

[Moby]

Mentioned this on another thread, but I decided on a full clear self healing XPEL Ultimate Plus wrap on my HE. I decided that after the black GX this would be the best way to fully enjoy all uses of the truck, which will see mild trail time, dumps of snow that need to be pushed off, long stretches of gravel roads, etc. No concerns now about swirls, minor branches, vines, stone chips.

I had a shop that I've worked with for many years on hood wraps and paint protection do the whole truck. They did a phenomenal job. I think they redid the hood alone 3-4 times until they were happy it was perfect. I'll post pics if anyone is interested but you can't even tell it is wrapped. All of the edges are perfect, you have to really look and in most cases feel to see them. Wrapped around the edges of the wheel wells for stone chips and all edges of doors, hood, tail gate, etc. Roof too. My wife, who is done with me buying black cars, says that it has been bubble wrapped.

If you are in the greater Seattle area I highly, highly recommend Benchmark Auto Salon in Lynnwood for detailing, paint correction, hood protection, paint protection and now full wraps. Attention to detail has always been outstanding

 

[04UZJ100]

Pics....

 

[LCHardriver_02]

I am thinking of doing something similar, given the dark blue color of mine... range of cost for this and how high up did you go on the sides?
Pic for color reference...

 

[CharlieS]

Full wrap? Guessing $4000? Prices on this kind of stuff must range wildly depending upon where you live.

 

[Moby]

Full wrap? Guessing $4000? Prices on this kind of stuff must range wildly depending upon where you live.

Way more than that but as you say I suspect Seattle prices come into play. There are a lot of ways to cut corners on this. Not prepping the paint, poor edge control, sloppy fitment, etc. You get what you pay for here. I didn't want to pay 60-75% of what I paid only to have issues 3 years down the road. I've worked with this shop for almost 8 years. I've seen full wraps that they have done in person and had high confidence. My GX's hood and bumper wrap was still perfect after 7 years. This was after I had the Lexus dealer do the hood only to have issues with it a year later (which is when I started using Benchmark).

Pics....

Any particular area?

I am thinking of doing something similar, given the dark blue color of mine... range of cost for this and how high up did you go on the sides?

Full wrap, 100% of the truck, including roof. So not just scratch protection but also pitch, bird crap, etc.

 

[04UZJ100]

Curious to see what the edges look like. Did you do headlights as well?

 

[Moby]

I'll grab some pics of the edges where they didn't pull the badges. The side badges got removed and glued back on top of the wrap but the V8 and T badge on the rear did not (by my choice). Otherwise the edges of the wrap are hard to see because the edges of doors, hood, tailgate, fuel filler flap are wrapped around to the backside. But those 2 badges will give a good idea of the appearance of the wrap and the edge.

I have to say that the edges are way better than even 5 years ago. The high end wrap products have come a long ways (and this one is self healing).

And yes, lights are wrapped. Literally the entire truck.

 

[LCHardriver_02]

@Moby - When you say "way more" are we talking 3-4X? I agree 100% on your philosophy but just was looking at budgeting numbers. I do understand that the prices range, so just trying to understand order of magnatude. Thanks!

 

[Moby]

~2x. It took 6 full days of labor, but there was some extra paint correction that they did first that took maybe half a day. So their hourly rate is actually pretty reasonable. Again, they wrapped, removed, rewrapped, etc. sections until they were happy it was perfect. 3-4 times for the hood alone.

Also, just for clarity, I got the regular thickness. There is an extra thick version call 10 that XPEL says is for offroad and track use and Benchmark does use that as well for some scenarios, but it doesn't go on as well or look as good apparently. I wasn't looking for armor, just a balance between something that is close to impossible to tell that it is on and a high level of protection. Plus I figured at some point either one will tear - and likely as not knowing me if I ran into something that would tear what I got it would be big enough to tear the 10. But just know that you can go heavier/more protection than what I got. I don't know pricing on that but I would assume it is more labor to install from what they described.

 

[Moby]

Extreme close up of the rear inside of portion above lower tail lights and lower tail gate. This is the only section not wrapped and has an interesting edge.

 

[Moby]

Same area from about 12"-16" back. Also note that the lower reflector is wrapped and there is an edge there all the way around.

 

[Moby]

Here is a taillight, also fully wrapped. And yes, I have 2 direct drive bike trainer in regular rotations (I race ultra distance gravel bike and MTB):

 

[Moby]

Last one of the V8 emblem. This is the most obvious on the truck, but it was my call not to pull this emblem.

 

[CharlieS]

Seems lovely. Glad you like it. No way in hell I'd pay $8k to wrap any vehicle. Ever.

I have a front wrap on one of my 911s from a previous owner, and it is nifty.

I can (easily) repaint a car for that money.

 

[LCHardriver_02]

I like the wrap idea, as I intend to see my 200 going through brush and I like the idea of the protection. I probably will not do a full coverage wrap but look into something that protects the front and sides as that’s where I’ve typically seen paint damage.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Seems lovely. Glad you like it. No way in hell I'd pay $8k to wrap any vehicle. Ever.

I have a front wrap on one of my 911s from a previous owner, and it is nifty.

I can (easily) repaint a car for that money.

+1.

Wrap looks & sounds fantastic, but I'm pretty sure a full, quality re-spray of the SUV would run less than half the cost of this wrap.

What's the lifespan on this material? I though I read that some of the wraps have to be removed in 4-5 years to prevent permanent paint damage.

 

[KLF]

...but I'm pretty sure a full, quality re-spray of the SUV would run less than half the cost of this wrap.

Apparently you haven't had a vehicle properly re-painted in a long time. Not some Maaco/Earl Sheib squirt the paint on while you wait.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Apparently you haven't had a vehicle properly re-painted in a long time. Not some Maaco/Earl Sheib squirt the paint on while you wait.

Nope, but I've gotten quotes for a full, quality respray (for a BMW coupe) at numerous high-end paint/body shops (in Vancouver) some 7-8 years ago, and the highest number was under $4000 CAD. Maybe prices have changed, but even if the larger SUV costs $6k CAD, that's still barely over half the price of this wrap. All things being equal, seems like a better deal to me.

 

[c2dfj45]

Beautiful work on this truck. We do full PPF on new G-wagons....they run about $12k. Our guy wants to quit the biz after every one. HUGE jobs. Curious to know how its holds up off road.

Ceramic coatings do really well on top of the PPF....not sure if the Xpel has it built in or not....that seems to be the trend now. The gloss we get out of some of our full clear bra cars with ceramic(usually Ceramic Pro) is next level. Clean up is a snap with it.

It's come a long ways since the days of the small 3M kits!

 

[c2dfj45]

Nope, but I've gotten quotes for a full, quality respray (for a BMW coupe) at numerous high-end paint/body shops (in Vancouver) some 7-8 years ago, and the highest number was under $4000 CAD. Maybe prices have changed, but even if the larger SUV costs $6k CAD, that's still barely over half the price of this wrap. All things being equal, seems like a better deal to me.

Things have went up tremendously in the last 10 years. I have been using the same painter for 20 years and we have gone from $5-6k for a color change full paint job on a BMW(4 door) to up around $10-12k for a non-color change repaint on a straight E36 M3. New gaskets and seals, windows out, misc trim pieces here and there. It's so expensive now to do good paint jobs with quality materials and a painter who stands behind his work.