Protective Paint Film

I had Suntek applied to the wife’s 2017 RX450h about a year and a half ago:

What did you do to your Lexus today?

Still looks good today.

 

I also owned a 2012 Prius C, and found it too noisy, small, and uncomfortable for highway use, which is why I switched to my Lexus.

Like Ray, I went with PPF to protect the front end (the Prius C looks like someone went to town on the front bumper with a weed wacker). I chose Xpel's Ultimate, which is very costly, but I wanted the best option. $2,600 or so for the entire front end (full bumper, full hood, headlights and foglights, both front fenders, and A-pillars and area just before the moonroof, both rocker panels and bottom of doors and bottom of the sides of the rear bumper along the body line).

This film doesn't yellow, self-heals, and has a 10-year warranty (I think Ray's Suntek is the same way). My car looks brand new from the front when washed.

I recently visited a pro detailer, who happens to install Suntek film. He told me the difference between Suntek and Xpel is that Suntek has a much weaker adhesive, designed to be thinner and clearer so you don't see it through the film, which causes an orange-peel effect. The film is mostly for folks who want the best possible appearance, like for going to shows and detailing the car. This also makes installation time-consuming and difficult.

Xpel has a thicker, much stronger adhesive, and offers better protection since it won't come off as easily, but you can see the orange-peel effect more (the adhesive is what you're really seeing). In my opinion, with two cars now covered, I don't see any difference from the factory paint compared to the car after the film.

 

I vote no. Just keep on top of any body damage, get a touch up paint, wash the car semi-regularly, wax once or twice yearly.

 

I wanted to add that my situation is unique. I plan to keep this car until it is not driveable or useable for my work. I also drive 100k miles a year. PPF helps a lot, but in terms of cost, it's usually cheaper to repair chips or repaint for the average driver. For me, it may be cheaper to go with PPF.

 

What happens in case of a fender bender, say if they have to pull out, fill, sand and repaint?

 

Good to see you check in.

How many miles you got on the ct200h?

Still looks great.

 

You'd have to have the film replaced, because the body shop will remove it. They will also remove the film from adjacent panels to color blend.

If it's under an insurance claim, the insurance company will pay for it up to whatever the "installed accessories" amount on your policy maxes out (you can increase it for a premium increase) unless it's not your fault, in which case they pay for everything, which has happened to me a few times now.

Hey Ray! Thanks a lot, I take care of it as much as I can. Right now, I'm sitting at just above 457k miles.

 

I'm removing mine soon that I've had for 7 years. I'll let you know if it was worth it.

 

Goove,

That's excellent that you've found a car in good shape at that age. To maintain that stellar finish you've got, paint protection film is a great option.

The first thing to think about is how much protection you want. As you mentioned you could do full hood versus partial hood. The differences of course are cost, but also the look. The partial hood will result in a seam across the hood and fenders and that can be more noticeable on certain color cars. This also means that the front of the hood where the protection is, and the rest of the exposed hood won't look or necessarily clean the same. What we mean by this is that most paint protection films are very stain resistant and much easier to clean so bug guts, bird poop, and other things will clean off much easier. Most films are also self-healing nowadays and so that means the front of your hood will look smooth every day while the unexposed part of the front end may not. So if it's in the budget, full front is the way to go.

Be sure to protect the headlights so they don't become oxidized or yellow. We would also recommend protecting other high impact wear and tear areas such as the door cups, door edges, and luggage area. The door cup protection helps prevent scratches from fingernails and rings. The door edge protection will help prevent damage to your doors when your passengers open them up into things (which we hope never happens). The luggage area will protect when loading in big bulky items as they can tend to be dropped or slid across the rear painted section of the car.

Once you've decided on coverage amount, you'll want to find a quality installer so be sure to go to the nearest 2-3 shops and ask to see examples of their work. This will let you gauge their workmanship, and their customer support quality.

Hope this info helps, let us know if we can answer any other questions.

 

Raidin,

Thank you very much for choosing XPEL! We appreciate your enthusiasm and would like to show our gratitude by sending you an XPEL Care and Swag Pack. If you're interested, PM us with your t-shirt size and shipping information so we can get the items out to you.