Help me feel good about saying NO to Xpel Ultiamte

[Diamond Dog]

I bought my 2011 S5 and there are upgrades I did not count on. Opti Coat being one of them. It is painful to buy these things as you don't really see them as much as new rims, exhaust, etc.

The detailer installs Xpel Ultimate and the price for the partial seems reasonable at 600 bucks or so.. I was going to do that, but the detailer says you will see a line on the hood and it is kind of noticeable and that is why people do the full hood. However that jumps to $1700!!!!

Opticoat and Xpel all price fix in the market and require reporting by dealers so there is no room to negotiave.

$1700 seems like a LOT of money for film. I know the cost of the actual film is no where near this. Kind of like how contact lenses cost pennies to make.

So I don't want the tacky line on my hood, and I can't justify the $1700 even though I like the idea of not worrying about chips and such. Furthermore, I doubt I will keep the car for 10 years.

I recently lowered my deductible at State Farm for comprehensive to a $100 deductible but kept collision high. I barely changed the premium. I figure if I get so may chips that it is unbearable or a big object flies and hits me and dents or, I will repaint and pay my $100 deductible. In the mean time the dealer can always apply touch up paint to cover minor chips for a while. Even if I had to repaint the hood or bumper, seems like it would be less than $1700? State Farm even covers re applying OptiCoat.

When you read about theses films it seems like the technology is still developing. And there is debate as to what it does to your paint after long periods of time. I would take these risks if the film was not so exensive, but for all these reasons, I chose against it.

Thoughts?

[AudiTechS4]

why not buy opti-coat 2.0 and apply yourself?

[FaceSmA5h]

To sum it up. I would not do it on sole fact that your car is approaching 4 years old. I have not seen the condition of your car but to spend even $600 is too much imo. As you mentioned you don't plan on keeping car long and you modified your insurance. Most people here who go w Xpel or any clear bra in general is when their cars are less than 60 days old. Good luck.

[LINDW4LL]

Something doesn't sound right. Just adding the other half of the hood almost triples the price?

[Diamond Dog]

why not buy opti-coat 2.0 and apply yourself?

they say a lot of prep work has to be done before applying Opticoat. Since it was not a new car, there were minor swils and things in the paint. They also say the professional Opticoat is different than 2.0. I have also read posts that it is not that easy to put on if you don't know what you are doing.

[Diamond Dog]

Something doesn't sound right. Just adding the other half of the hood almost triples the price?

Exactly. They say when they have to buy the rolls of film, the price goes up exponentially. I have a problem with what I see as price fixing (what they admit they do and gouging. How much can it be to make film?! All of this makes me want to say "NO" to it.

[NYSpeedRacer]

Pricing is ridiculous on clear bra and etc. it's also market pricing. I got my entire front clip, rocket panels and trunk area clear bra with Suntek with a guarantee against yellowing for 5 years done for $900. A syringe of optician will do about 2.5 - 3 cars...

I would shop around even venture out a little. Think of it as road trip if it can save you $$$


Sent telepathically

[RickFLS4]

I'm happy with Xpel on my front bumper, partial hood / fenders, headlights, door strips and luggage strip and don't think it is worth the difference in price to do the whole hood. I have 2 small chips on the hood above the film over 25K miles and lots of road construction. I took care of those with a touch up pen.

The partial hood solution is most cost effective because it protects the area most susceptible to damage and the "line" doesn't bother me in the least - just keep it clean. The film has a 10-year warranty and well worth it vs. chips all over the high probability areas IMO. I paid $1,000 including tint all around, so about $750-$800 for the Xpel after deducting cost of tint.

With that said, I agree with earlier comments that this is typically done before the car has any chips / with new car, so that alone may not make it worth the investment for you. If you actually see a car with the line and it truly bothers you then I'd skip it altogether rather than spending the $$$ for full hood. The film does take some maintenance to clean and seal to prevent it from turning yellow. It really only shows on white cars (like mine), but it is manageable particularly if you seal it from the get-go. The warranty covers yellowing as well.

Edit: Xpel = Xpel Ultimate above. Also, everything is negotiable when it comes to car accessories and I may be wrong but don't think auto insurance will cover paint chips.

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[LimaSierra]

To sum it up. I would not do it on sole fact that your car is approaching 4 years old. I have not seen the condition of your car but to spend even $600 is too much imo. As you mentioned you don't plan on keeping car long and you modified your insurance. Most people here who go w Xpel or any clear bra in general is when their cars are less than 60 days old. Good luck.

+1..

--Nate

[Runge]

find another place to do it? it looks like the detailer is just buying the 'pre-cut' stuff from xpel. If they want to do full hood (which xpel doesn't sell on their website), it looks like they are going to charge you for the full roll of xpel. (they won't have to worry about finding other people to buy the remaining roll because you already paid for it). Think when I priced it it was 450 for bumper, and 450 for full hood.

[GotRS?]

DDog, not clear why you want to put plastic film over your paint anyway? Professional chip repair is very good and not needed much in OC, and if you have dark paint it's good to keep the original paint finish than a gradually dulling plastic film, imo obviously.

[Oh Snap]

For 1700 you can vinyl wrap half your car, the more complicated half too, I'm not a huge fan of vinyl wrapping but for that much money I'd wrap the car, with same effect, instead of the xpel.

[Diamond Dog]

DDog, not clear why you want to put plastic film over your paint anyway? Professional chip repair is very good and not needed much in OC, and if you have dark paint it's good to keep the original paint finish than a gradually dulling plastic film, imo obviously.

You are right. I will simply post in the S. Cal section for chip repair recommendations, unless you guys want to recommend one in the OC here.

Thank you all for your input. You all saved me $1700. $1700 I will waste on some other mod (ha ha)!

[mmaturo]

I'm on the side of this that I would have done the front. The line in the hood isn't that noticeable on my RS5. The question is will it bug you. I don't even notice it. It has saved my front over and over (I track the car but even highway rocks would have damaged it already). I had a S5 cabriolet that was black that got really peppered that the xpel would have protected it...I used the damage to the S5 to guide where I put it on the RS5. Anyway the chips really show up on black and in my case it was rocks thrown at the car from a semi putting a tire off in a construction zone. It got the entire front, so the bumper, the tips of the fenders and the hood. That's a lot of repainting. To me I would do the $600 and deal with the line if the paint is still in very good shape. If its not then don't bother. The entire hood does not need it as virtually everything hits in the first little over a 1/4 of the hood.

[QW1000]

i have paid considerably less, for FULL front wrap, Full Hood, Both Full Fenders, Full Bumper Cover, Both Lights And Mirror covers.
Call Patric @ Clear Choice, 416-985-5987, he will come to you, i did my S4 in 2011 and i did my S5 2013.
quality is top notch and very reasonable pricing.
tell him Alex sent you.

I bought my 2011 S5 and there are upgrades I did not count on. Opti Coat being one of them. It is painful to buy these things as you don't really see them as much as new rims, exhaust, etc.

The detailer installs Xpel Ultimate and the price for the partial seems reasonable at 600 bucks or so.. I was going to do that, but the detailer says you will see a line on the hood and it is kind of noticeable and that is why people do the full hood. However that jumps to $1700!!!!

Opticoat and Xpel all price fix in the market and require reporting by dealers so there is no room to negotiave.

$1700 seems like a LOT of money for film. I know the cost of the actual film is no where near this. Kind of like how contact lenses cost pennies to make.

So I don't want the tacky line on my hood, and I can't justify the $1700 even though I like the idea of not worrying about chips and such. Furthermore, I doubt I will keep the car for 10 years.

I recently lowered my deductible at State Farm for comprehensive to a $100 deductible but kept collision high. I barely changed the premium. I figure if I get so may chips that it is unbearable or a big object flies and hits me and dents or, I will repaint and pay my $100 deductible. In the mean time the dealer can always apply touch up paint to cover minor chips for a while. Even if I had to repaint the hood or bumper, seems like it would be less than $1700? State Farm even covers re applying OptiCoat.

When you read about theses films it seems like the technology is still developing. And there is debate as to what it does to your paint after long periods of time. I would take these risks if the film was not so exensive, but for all these reasons, I chose against it.

Thoughts?

[QW1000]

personally don't even understand half hood films. especially on the 100k car.
it is as ugly as vinyl bra. YOU know the line is there, and every one else knows the line is there, also every one else knows why!!!

Just my opinion.

I'm on the side of this that I would have done the front. The line in the hood isn't that noticeable on my RS5. The question is will it bug you. I don't even notice it. It has saved my front over and over (I track the car but even highway rocks would have damaged it already). I had a S5 cabriolet that was black that got really peppered that the xpel would have protected it...I used the damage to the S5 to guide where I put it on the RS5. Anyway the chips really show up on black and in my case it was rocks thrown at the car from a semi putting a tire off in a construction zone. It got the entire front, so the bumper, the tips of the fenders and the hood. That's a lot of repainting. To me I would do the $600 and deal with the line if the paint is still in very good shape. If its not then don't bother. The entire hood does not need it as virtually everything hits in the first little over a 1/4 of the hood.

[QW1000]

Scratch that , i thought i still was on Canadian Forum.
since it is in California...
I paid 1400 for full front wrap, and my guy ordered film just for me, with very little extra.
he does work for Dealerships, and assuming he charges then a bit less.
find local guy who does it all the time and save money,
Basically dealer was trying to make their 30% on top what installer charges them.
as for extra prep work, all they do is clean it with alcohol solution.
on the fenders there could more work, to reinstall badges etc..

i have paid considerably less, for FULL front wrap, Full Hood, Both Full Fenders, Full Bumper Cover, Both Lights And Mirror covers.
Call Patric @ Clear Choice, 416-985-5987, he will come to you, i did my S4 in 2011 and i did my S5 2013.
quality is top notch and very reasonable pricing.
tell him Alex sent you.

[mmaturo]

personally don't even understand half hood films. especially on the 100k car.
it is as ugly as vinyl bra. YOU know the line is there, and every one else knows the line is there, also every one else knows why!!!

Just my opinion.

Certainly entitled to your opinion. On my Suzuka seriously its not that noticeable but if you saw the front of my old S5 the white chips marks in the black paint all across it REALLY looked terrible. I would rather have had a line there all day long. Although on the black I may have done the whole hood in the beginning if I had been smart enough then. Obviously on the lighter color of my 5 your don't see any product buildup along the line that would show up on black. My car was just over $70K so you reference Canada not sure if that's what price you are putting to it. My R8 GT however to your point did indeed get a proper full hood that was properly wrapped under the edges that looks great. My point is the car needs something, and to yours yes you can find a better price to do the whole hood. The design of the front on the 5s eats rocks and road debris so something needs to be there and no the coatings out today will not save it.

[RickFLS4]

^ This. I honestly don't understand why the line bothers people so much when you really can't see it. It sure beats paint chips all over the place and periodic resprays. I suspect many of those who hate the line have developed that opinion based in posts from other people forums rather than actually seeing one. I've had it on 4 cars - 2 black, 1 white and 1 silver and hasn't bothered me on any. I usually have to point out the film to people because they don't see it. Based in some of the posts on AZ about it you'd think someone put a line on the hood with shoe polish. Simply not the case.

Resprays will result in driving around with chips most of the time, money spent in multiple resprays (that may or may not match color) and degraded trade value (if you trade in later) when someone thinks you were in an accident because the paint on the front end is thicker.

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[El. Cid]

i had the full hood previously but only half quarters and i hated having to clean the wax out everytime i did the car. On my S5 this time around, I went full nose and very happy i did. Sorry, but imo it's worth it.

[RickFLS4]

To each his own. I don't find it difficult at all to keep the seam clean. Additionally, I had a yellowing issue with film on my white car (subsequently cleaned up), and find the film takes a little more maintenance than paint to clean and seal to prevent it from yellowing, so I prefer to limit the film to the areas most susceptible to chips (in addition to avoiding the cost of full coverage).

[teky929rr]

The place I bought my S5 back in 2009 gave me the contact of the guy who does all their clear bra work. I called the guy and he came to my house from CT and I lived in Central NJ for $850 for the whole full front, side mirrors and door edge. :)

Work was excellent BUT my car is white, so only after a year you will notice it. So if it's WHITE DON'T DO IT!

[scmguru]

I paid less than that for a Xpel full front wrap.. It's either $1k+ for a full front wrap or $1k+ to repaint when the front of your car is all chipped up.

I decided to opt for the wrap and save the paint. Given my car was $80k and California freeways.. it was a no brainer.

[noshadow]

just go full hood, then you don't have all the b.s. about the line.