ChicagoNB

For those in the Chicago area, I just spoke to Car Guys about getting my car wrapped as they had a deal on Groupon. I'm not sure the Groupon deal is a "deal". The groupon is for $850 to have the whole car wrapped but I have to buy all the materials ($1k for just the material) and the $850 is just for the labor. They don't do PPF first. I didn't see an option to ceramic coat it after it's wrapped but i'm sure that's another $1k. This doesn't sound like much of a deal, nor does it sound as comprehensive as I'd expect. Found one other place that will do the ceramic coating at a cost of $1200. So that would be trips to two different shops to get the PPF and wrap done. This doesn't even include window tint. That's another $500.

To me this seems like not a good deal but since I have no reference point, am I correct that this is no deal. Thoughts? Any suggestions on a shop that can do all of this instead of having to split up the project?

I wish I had a garage so I could at least do some of this myself like doing paint correction and applying some form of ceramic coating before having the wrap installed or after the wrap is installed. Appreciate your thoughts and feedback!!

Chris

mhoran89

a proper vinyl wrap job where door handles and other things are disassembled with a good quality wrap is not going to be any less than $3000

for reference, I just had the full front bumper, hood, headlights, trunk strip, and partial front fenders wrapped in xpel ultimate. on top was a 7 year warrantied coating with a 1 stage paint correction. it cost $3500 and was done by one of the top opti-coat installers in the US and probably the best detailing shop in MA.

detailing, PPF, and vinyl wrap AND CHEAP are like gas station and sushi. they don't go together.

JohnEnglish

$850 for labor is a deal but I would seriously wonder about the quality at that price.

Nikon1

@mhoran89 — If I may paraphrase . . . You get what you pay for if you research it.

— John

ChicagoNB

As I've read other's post about getting their car wrapped, I was just a little shocked that the only thing they do is wrap the car. No prep work. They suggested I get the car detailed at the dealership and then drive it straight to them to wrap. That was the first red flag. Second red flag was no prep work and no finishing work. All they do is just wrap so if the paint is messed up under the wrap that's my problem to live with until the wrap comes off.

lensch09

I spent $6.5k to have the whole car wrapped in PPF - Granted, it's nutty SF Bay Area, California.

But, you get the idea.

-DL

ChicagoNB

Oh I totally get it but they prepped your paint before wrapping it and ceramic coated after it was wrapped. This is nothing like the services that you got when you had your car wrapped. Saying to have the dealer detail it for them to wrap seems like a cop out. I asked about prepping the paint and they said no we don't do that. So most likely I'll be telling them sorry thanks but no thanks. Their gallery of cars they've done looks impressive but as we all know pictures can be very misleading.

synergize

Will a wrap or PPF stick to a car that has ceramic coat on it? The reason I ask is that I was touching up some areas on my car and placed 3M painters tape on an area of the car that had ceramic so I would not get product on that area, the 3M tape could not adhere to the ceramic, it was too slick?

lensch09

Not very well - Ceramic coatings under the films give the film different healing properties, as well (self healing film doesn't heal correctly with Ceramic coating underneath).

-DL

Nikon1

First — Wrapping and PPF are (2) different types of coatings! Wrapping your car applies a very thin & tinted polymer plastic to your car. The object of wrapping is to shift / change the appearance of your car — NOT protect the paint.

PPF application is applying a thicker, much tougher clear polymer over the cars paint with the express purpose of protecting your existing paint finish from UV damage, minor nicks and minor rock damage. A shop that KNOWS what they are doing will completely correct the vehicles paint BEFORE applying the PPF over whatever areas they are applying the PPF material over. PPF, if done professionally, will be almost invisible, even on two adjacent surfaces where only o e surface has the PPF applied.

Wrapping is, in effect, masking your paint; no need to perform color correction and paint leveling prior to wrapping (unless the wrapp is just used to make a shiny paint look matte) as the wrapping material will obscure the paint below it!

— John