grey67

So I keep seeing the post from the vinyl wrap guy and I was wondering what the forum thinks about that particular service. I'm toying with three different options:

* clear vinyl wrap
* matte vinyl wrap in a blue that would match the Scuba Blue color of the car
* ceramic coating (clear, but supposedly offers a host of benefits)

As far as I can tell, the first two will run roughly the same cost (since it's really the same amount of work, just using different films) while the third option is probably going to be a lot more pricey.

Thoughts/personal experiences on any of the above options?

Bknewtype

I had my r8 vinyl wrapped and its a great way to change the color of your car without needing to repaint. Maintenance is a lot easier as u dont need to worry about swirls or scratches. But around edges u might see some imperfections as no job is ever 100% perfect

If by clear wrap u mean xpel or suntek paint protection its the best way to protect your paint while retaining your original color. Most costly as well. Comes in a stealth film to make it matte too

Ceramic coating is the cheapeat as it only serves as a thick layer of paint protection. Does not protect against rock chips. I wouldnt do ceramic unless u have the front covered and just want the rest of the car ceramic

grey67

Interesting - thanks for the great info.

It wouldn't occur to me that color change wraps would be the least expensive. I didn't realize you could do a matte clear option - will have to explore that!

Bknewtype

are you looking into vinyl wrap or paint protection film wrap? they are 2 diff things


vinyl wrap material is very cheap. while it does have a certain level of protection, its also one of the weakest. I would not get vinyl wrap if the sole purpose is to protect the paint. but a great trade off if you want to color change the car while serving a little protection. a roll of vinyl is around 600$. its the labor that's expensive


paint protection films, such as suntek and xpel , are more expensive because of the way its installed its not as easy as vinyl. but it serves as the best protection against rock chips and the film is self healing as long as the damage isn't heavy enough. they do indeed come in a matte film , but would be a lot more costly vs a matte wrap


here my a5 just has the front bumper wrapped in suntek clear paint protection film


the r8 is completely vinyl wrapped


the TTS complete front end, including mirrors, has suntek paint protection film


the RS5 has xpel stealth paint protection film

grey67

is that with the matte clear film? cause it looks amazing.

Bknewtype

correct, the last one is xpel stealth, which is a paint protection film with a matte finish. it looks awesome. my friend has a prism silver rs5 with the stealth and its amazing.


its also the most costly, I believe it was around 4500 to do the full car in full xpel stealth

f1point0

Great info. What are you thoughts on xpel vs suntek?

Bknewtype

Think of xpel as coke and suntek as pepsi. They are pretty much the same, serve the same purpose but one is advertised heavily and more expensive cause of it. Xpel film is a bit cloudy and suntek is more glossy so pick ur posion.

I personally go with suntek cause its cheaper and does its job. Plus according to theninstaller it's a lot easier to work with

f1point0

Suntek it is. Thanks!

grey67

It is VERY difficult to find a suntek installer. AFAICT, their web site doesn't list installers, just distributors.

XPEL installers are apparently all over the place. But dayum that film be expensive. I calculated a ballpark cost of over 3K just for the cut film if you want a full car wrap, plus figure another 2K or more for install. Ouch!