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Paint Protection Information

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Auto Paint Guard, Jan 26, 2010.

  1. Auto Paint Guard

    Auto Paint Guard New Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Tampa, FL
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Hello Everyone. I was doing a full frontal on a Prius this past Saturday and wanted to share it with everyone. I also wanted to share that we are celebrating our 10 year anniversary this year so we are giving specials off installs if anyone is interested. If so let us know.

    At any rate the car shown is a full frontal coverage with no lines visible anywhere. We decided to go with Xpel patterns and Clearshield films. Clearshield is a great film for Florida since it doesn't turn yellow and is great for cleaning the love bugs off of. The reason why it doesn't turn yellow as some films do is due to the fact that Clearshield is a non-porous film. By it being non-porous this keeps all of the dust, oils, wax, and acidic juices out of the film. We do strongly believe all films should be replaced at the 4.5 year mark which would be under warranty.

    If anyone has any questions regarding paint protection or need to find an installer I would be more than happy to help.

    Thanks
    Ryan
     

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  2. Auto Paint Guard

    Auto Paint Guard New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I thought this was a great show case on how well paint protection film works on cars. Customer came in today upset that they hit the concrete wall while backing out of the garage. After 5 minutes of pulling the film off, the customer was thrilled that they didn't have to go to the body shop for a re-paint. Enjoy :D
     

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  3. calopt

    calopt New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 24, 2009
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    Location:
    Hayward
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    How Much Do you charge for the Prius 2010 Paint Protection?
    Do you put your film on the whole Prius body?
    Usually, Paint protection is only on the nose of the car.
     
  4. leeb18c

    leeb18c Active Member

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    Oct 6, 2009
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    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I have a few questions too. How much extra do you leave if you're covering the edge? What do you do if it peels or the adhesive is not sticking very well? Thanks.
     
  5. Joe166

    Joe166 New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 19, 2009
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    Location:
    South Florida
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    V
    I hope these films have improved a lot. I had a protective film installed on my Retro Thunderbird when it was new in 2005. It was a product made of 3M film and I bought it at a distributor in North Carolina and had it installed at a fancy car boutique they referred me to in Boca Raton FL, which is about 50 or 60 miles from my home, but they were supposed to be good (and from all the Bentley's and Lamborghinis they were working on they better be good).

    The installation was great, it was beautiful and couldn't be seen except under certain lighting conditions. It served me well, but about 4 years later it started getting a little yellow on the edges and a few months later it started crazing so I called the distributor and they were out of business. I called the installer and they said they were no longer using that product because they had some complaints.

    To make a long story short, I ended up paying about $400 to have the film removed and was without a car for three days. They had to use a heat gun and peel it off in tiny pieces by hand. I would not have done it for $400. The result was that the paint under the film was OK, but the edges caused some small scrapes.

    I would never leave any film like this on that long again. It did a great job of protection, but it just didn't hold up and was a lot of trouble to remove when it got hard.

    I hope this stuff is better. The product I had was not Expel or Clearshield. I think it was called Invinca-Shield. I suppose if I had removed it in three years it might have been fine, but no one told me that at the time.
     
  6. Auto Paint Guard

    Auto Paint Guard New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Hello. These are approx figures so don't yell at me if someone quotes higher or lower. :) However for a good film, good design patterns and a good installer you are looking at approx $500-900 for a 24" Hood, Fenders, Mirrors and Bumper. If you are paying less I would run. hahahah I personally have done so many Prius that I can do them in my sleep so I lower the price to keep them coming in. For full frontals meaning full hood, full fenders, full bumper with all wrapped edges 1200-1500 is the average price. You can also cover doors, roof, pillars and rockers.

    Joe166. Sorry about your experience. If you bought it in 2005 you received the 2nd generation film which tended to crack etc. 3M now has a 3rd generation film which isn't suppose to do that. Out of 6 films that I carry, 3M is the hardest to take off especially if you don't use wax or wait to long.

    In 10 years of business I've learned a lot on what films to use etc.
    This is what I recommend.

    1. Before any film gets applied I always put a coat of wax down and then use a little alcohol around the edges so the film will stick. The wax allows the film to come off 100 times easier down the road.
    2. 80% of the films come with a 5 year warranty. I always tell my customers if they plan on keeping the car longer than 5 years come back to me in 4 years and I'll replace the film. In 4 years the film will come off in 10 minutes.
    3. Most of the films turn yellow for a couple reasons. The film isn't washed on a regular basis, and most importantly people use wax over the film. Most wax has color dyes in them which end up turning the film yellow. I always recommend when waxing the car avoid the bra and use chemicals such as a clear Nano spray wax, Plexus or any clear drying polish.
    4. I've also found that the cars that are garaged kept, the film lasts a lot longer.

    The film protects the paint; you just have to protect the film by washing on a regular basis and avoiding certain wax. Otherwise your paint will be perfect for many many miles.

    I hope this helps.
    Thanks
     
  7. embers

    embers New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2010
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    Location:
    Maryland
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    As a new Prius owner I appreciate this particular discussion. We have decided to protect the paint using a film. My question is do we do both the front and the rear bumpers? Most of you seem to focus on the front of the car and this makes sence (as damage comes primarliy from the direction of travel). However my wife is worried she will back into something (becasue for some reason unbeknownst to me Toyota does not offer parking sensors in the USA) or some shopping car car will hit us. I realize this a personal choice (and perhaps money well spent for marital bliss) but do you all have any experience in how often damage to the rear bumper occurs? Or should we just cover the trunk loading ledge and take the money saved and do the hood, etc up front? Thanks very much for your help.
     
  8. harry r

    harry r slowly turning green

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2010
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    Location:
    NW of chitown
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    tks Auto Paint Guard for the details. I just got an estimate from a local installer and have an appointment for next wednesday. I really appreciate the tips.