SkitsversuS

Hey all,

I've done a ton of research online and visited all the highly recommended shops around my area (Long Island, NY) about PPF and ceramic coating for the benz. Every shop is different, none were alike in terms of which product they say is best, what lasts the longest without issues etc, im just trying to get the best product I can for my car.

In short, the 18' I ordered will be black as many of you already know if youve read my previous posts so I will be putting film on the entire car to help eliminate swirls rather than just doing the high impact areas. All shops install XPel Ultimate and Suntek Ultra which is the two id go with. Some tell me one is better than the other but its up to me to decide. All quotes are literally within $100 or so of each other which includes..

Entire car wrapped in either Xpel or Suntek, including headlights and tail lights.

Ceramic pro or Quarts on windows, wheels and exhaust.

$6500 give or take is what im getting from them. Some say ceramic cant be put on top of the film, other say its fine. Most of this is just really confusing so if anyone can let me know what they ended up doing it would help out a lot. Really appreciate it.

NYCSoiL

For $6500 you can repaint the whole car and even save some $$

SkitsversuS

No question it's insanely expensive but it is what it is. If I want a black car and have it looking great all the time this is the way to go.

DVision44

Price seems a little high. Full xpel on my car was $4000... i don't recall but i believe i was quoted another grand for the ceramic coat but have not done it yet... i went to Eurotech Motorsports in Mahwah NJ. May be worth the ride for you...

SkitsversuS

Ah thats a great price but It would be tough to drive there and leave my car with them for a week.

Wonder why they're quoting me so high, prob bc its a benz

munis

In terms of coating, I think the general consensus is cquartz> Opticoat> Ceramic pro. The main differentiating factor is the prep work for any kind of coating. In my observation, go to someone who is an installer for cquartz finest reserve. Car pro really does hold them to really high standards.

Star4life

i hope you plan to keep the car for a while. i looked into wrapping the front high impact portions with xpel but got the quote and realized it would cost more to put xpel on than to take the $$ loss on a few chips + ding repair on the value of the vehicle when I go to sell it.

Unless you cant stand to see normal wear and tear on a daily driver I dont understand the point. Now if this is a six figure car that can retain value, sure i could see spending that much for a protective wrap, but not on a 50k car which will be worth 30-40 in 3 years, i would just enjoy it. but hey just my opininon and i dont drive on gravel roads or behind gravel haulers

cenzo86

Have you thought about just doing the nose of the car? That way it will prevent rock chips and bug stains. Expel is not going to keep the doors from getting dinged in a lot, and the superficial scratches that it does protect against, are usually able to be rubbed out anyway.
Mercedes paint is known to be pretty thick and tends to have a lot of orange peel. That doesn't bother me one bit, but are you going to go through the expense of wrapping the car in plastic and not doing a paint correction on that deep black paint?
I personally do not care for the clear bra thing. I tend to opt for a vile of touch up paint. My dad was taking his new toy to the dealer last month to do expel on his hood. Ferrari of Long island was actually cheaper than anyone else. I suggested he leave the car alone, drive it and not to worry. He ended up picking a chip on the way to get the wrap done. Fiy, Giallo Modena touch up costs the same as everything else from paintscratch.com.
So you are getting a black car. You will have to be a slave to the upkeep of the paint. But over time the cost of professional detailing, waxing, and washing is going to be a mere fraction of that Expel job.

SkitsversuS

While I understand it's very expensive, the idea behind it is that I will be protecting the paint, and since it's black the fine scratches and halos you'll see after a couple washes drives me nuts. Xpel will eliminate that problem unless obviously it's a deep scratch or ding. If the car wasn't black I'd only get the front done on high impact areas.

I am buying the car, and I loaded it up so it's around $70k.. I'd rather spend the extra few thousand and have the peace of mind it's protected.

Some say ceramic can go on top of the film others say it can't, either way it will definitely be on the windows wheels and exhaust tips for much easier cleaning.

Gungaslow

How long do you normally keep your cars? If you trade them in every 5 years or less it's not worth it

SkitsversuS

I'm straight up buying the car. Plan to keep it as long as possible and if I do sell it before it's life is over it's just another selling point.

FinallyOwnMerz2K18

Just had my GLC 300 done with just 24" of hood. I never thought of this but does anyone have this ever done without doing the whole hood? Doesn't grit or dirt get stuck at the edge of the PPF? and get scratched anyway? Maybe I should just get it taken out, if it's going to do that and when you do take it out, lets say a year later or so, will i see a difference between the paint with no film & with film? I can actually see the end of the film, but is that normal?
Quite a big dilemma for me.
Help!

SkitsversuS

Interesting you bumped this thread. Yesterday I went to the shop of choice (Xclusive Autoworks LI, NY) to finally discuss what to do with PPF and ceramic. My car is white I didn’t end up getting the black, and to save some money we came to an agreement. Getting a full paint correction, Suntek Ultra on front bumper, hood, headlights, mirror covers, rockers back to the rear tire on back bumper and then Cquartz on the entire car including windows, door trim and tires. $3400, hell of a lot cheaper then doing the entire car.

The owner of the shop, Will, actually is the one who pointed out that since I’m getting the rockers done, water and dirt will inevitably run down my doors onto the seam of the PPF and it will get dirty and you’ll notice the line. He said as long as you stay on top of cleaning the car it won’t be a problem. Worst case and it starts to stain from neglect, they trim a very small layer off the top. They also hit it with alcohol and ceramic to help seal it as much as possible. I was a little worried since I’m not doing the entire car the seams would be an issue but I think if installed correctly you’ll be fine.

FinallyOwnMerz2K18

What do you think of taking it off completely, would that be a problem? I just don't know if I can stay on top of cleaning the car. I would rather lose a bit of money than having to worry about the grit hurting the paint in the middle of the hood or having 2 different color on the hood.

SkitsversuS

I don’t see any reason to take it off, it’s protecting the front end from rock chips. There won’t be any color differences bc film manufacturers haven’t had UV protection in their products for over 10 years bc of the problem you’re worried about. If it was installed properly no dirt or grit is gonna just sit on the seam and cause issues.

Take a picture of it next time it’s daylight and post it here so I can see the dilemma

FinallyOwnMerz2K18

took a picture sideways. just rinsed the car last night & this is what it looks like today

TunaTaint

Vincent what shops did you go to ? I am in LI also lmk

SkitsversuS

Still hard to tell from this picture, which side is covered by PPF, right side? .. it may be worth having a good shop do a paint correction and spend the extra to get ceramic on it. Without it when the cars dirty it’s gonna show it a lot more.

SkitsversuS

I’ve went to 4-5 shops mostly in Nassau, all do high end work but they’re all pricy af, rude, didn’t take the time to explain things, have a ton of people working on the cars etc, except Xclusive Autoworks in Massapequa. A close friend of mine told me to go see Will and I’m glad I did. Small shop that focuses on 1-3 cars at a time, Will is super cool and very passionate about his work. I brought my c43 in and he explained exactly what the best for the money was. He’s not trying to rip anyone off and the work is flawless. Definitely go check him out.

FinallyOwnMerz2K18

Vincent, The left side has the Suntek PPF.

SkitsversuS

Anyway you can take a clearer picture, maybe a little further away?

sean1.8t

Wraps have 10x's the upsides to a re-paint though. Exterior paint is a dying concept/practice

Mecca

agreed for wraps that are different colours or finishes. But not sure of all the extra benefits protective wraps proved vs repainting. Interested to hear some feedback though.

Also, can’t wait until these get cheaper. Would be awesome to change car colour every year if desired...for like $600 vs $6000+

coladin

I think you made a wise choice and i agree that doing the whole thing is overkill. What you covered is about right and you could always do the doors and stuff later.

I did my Z06 with Xpel Ultimate and CQuartz Finest and car looks fantastic, no swirls and hardly had to wash it. Just California Duster and a quick detailed does the trick. Even the rims have CQuartz Finest. It is garages alot and not driven in the rain, my C43 is for that!

I did have my dealer wet sand alot of my car as the orange peel is horrendous.

sean1.8t

See, that's the biggest of the benefits. This is especially for brand new cars that are wrapped from the start, but you get to preserve the paint in mint condition, but also you get to preserve the original paint which is a HUGE selling point for the next buyer.

And you just made me think of something. You're last sentence there kind of solves itself. The $5-10k wraps are amazing. Even though they will last forever if maintained properly, doesn't seem that most people keep them on for more than a year or two. So I figure, what are the prices for the cheap ones that only last a year or two? Maybe not an entire car for as low as $600 but I bet there's places out there that are in the $1,000 area. So who cares of it's going to start peeling after a year, it breaks down quicker, or it's not a durable? When it starts to look like **** in a year, then great! New cheap wrap time