Every installer has their film preferences. My installer ranked them in the following order:

XPEL Ultimate
Suntek
3M

On coverage on my white car, I did half hood, nose, and mirrors with XPEL, and it is barely noticeable unless you fixate on such things, which some do. You might find yourself under attack as I did when I posted that opinion here.

I also did a a half hood on LeMans Blue C6 Z06 (closer to your blue than white), and didn't think it was terribly noticeable either. My installer wanted to charge nearly double the price of the entire job to do the whole hood.

 

A previous car was an R53 Mini. It has a pretty slab-like nose, and encourages you to overtake making stonechips pretty much inevitable. Getting the front bumper and bonnet repainted was cheaper than having sticky-backed plastic fitted.

This on a car that was noted for having a good paint finish straight from the factory, with no 'orange peel'.

 

Ultimately, how much you cover becomes a function of how much you are willing to spend to protect your 90K investment from flying debris.

Full Hood, Bumper, Fenders and Mirrors with Suntec PPF should run less than $1500 Installed. If you want to save a few hundred dollars, you can go the foosh route and do half the hood, and then... you'll have to look at the film line across the center of your hood for the next few years and wish you hadn't taken the cheap route. Even more so the first time a stone hits higher up on the hood.

I've seen a number of posters here also comment that they've discovered chipped paint on the rear deck / spoiler, which makes perfect sense, since the spoiler lifts to a position nearly perpendicular to the airfoil that passes over the car. The spoiler becomes a prime target for slightly heaver debris that has managed to pass over the hood and roof, but gets caught in the "spoiled" air flow created by the raised spoiler at 70mph. For this reason, my PPF installer will be doing my rear spoiler as well, for an additional $60.

I am undecided about the rear rocker panels, and will evaluate this further once I take possession of my car and have the Velocity AP lowering springs and Wheel Spacers installed.

Lastly, I would strongly suggest that you make sure your chosen installer "Wraps" all the edges that can possibly be wrapped. I know Xpel's film patterns for the F-Type include additional material for wrapping nearly the entire Hood, as well as the tops of the Fenders. And experienced installers can and will use one mfg's template to cut another mfg's film, assuming they have access to more than a limited number of patterns. So while I have not seen Suntek's patterns for the F-Type, a quality installer can cut the Suntek film using another mfg's pattern if necessary. FYI: Wrapping the edges takes a bit more time and skill to get right -- don't let the installer talk you out of the extra work to do the job right. I've heard more than one "lazy" excuse for why some installers avoid doing this.

 

One additional comment directed at your statement (in bold) above.
A good PPF such as Suntek or Xpel is less noticeable, the more you hide visible edges and seams. In other words, the film itself is rarely detectable! What people with a keen eye will notice first are the exposed edges or seams, which then draws their attention to the presence of a film. So a hood that is done with a half bra, and without the edges wrapped will be more easily detected and apparent than a full hood with wrapped edges.

 

All great tips aJAGMan, thank you very much!

 

True but having original paint is an advantage in resale - and also a strong indicator to the buyer that the car has been cared for properly. Typically the person who installs a clearbra, is also the person who parks away from other cars, avoids potholes, follows the service schedule, observes break-in procedure, etc.

 

How did the clear bra work with the M5 as a matter of interest?

 

Perfectly. You can't tell its there. The only way someone will notice it is if I show them where the hidden seams are.

I'm wondering whether to use the same matte clear coat clear bra on my R Coupe? Not sure if Matte white will look good. Jag owners seem to be a more conservative bunch than BMW owners so it may be harder to sell if I wrap it in a Matter clear bra. Also it will be more expensive since I would have to wrap the whole car - with the BMW I only did the front end, rockers and rear bumper.

 

My charge was $1395 for half-hood and would have been $2100 for full hood. Jagman hasn't taken delivery of his F-Type car yet, so may be quoting $1500 based upon his experience with other cars. According to my guy the F-Type takes a lot more time because of the complexities of the nose.

He also wrapped all edges, and I believe my $65K investment is protected adequately. Chip are rare everywhere else.

And oh yes, despite what some say, I don't look at the seam every day and experience regret because I'm not looking for it, and I don't see it, although there are no doubts in my mind that certain individuals would spend inordinate amounts of time staring at it.

To each his own . . .

 

My installed has given me a firm quote of $1500 for full hood and all the other bits I am doing. And he is widely regarded as the best installer in the city - he does all the cars for the Ferrari dealer.

 

Actually, you're probably right, but you have to collect quite a few of those and look at them over a considerable time period before making the decision to take your car in for paint.

 

As you know, I have intentions of getting "filmed" one week from tomorrow - bumper, full hood, fenders and side mirrors. Given the recent thread about that awful "keying" incident - and I'm not one to overreact (although "keying" ******** are everywhere) - is it overkill to consider wrapping doors, rear quarter panels, etc.?

Thanks!

 

I've got 2 questions, does the film protect from keying? and I'm assumming washing the area filmed is much easier?

 

The film is not going to protect against a serious vandal. You should focus on rock/road debris protection and let insurance take care of the rest.

 

Sound advice, thank you!

 

I agree with this.
Rocks and general road debris will be assailing your car with absolute certainty, and the paint protection films were created for minimizing the adverse impacts of normal everyday driving conditions.
Vandals with a purpose are not so certain. you may be victimized, you might not, and since this occurrence is far less predictable, I would not be filming my entire vehicle to ward against it.

 

I pick up "my own" F-Type V6S tomorrow (Friday) after dropping it off on Monday with an installer who texted me Monday night "monster job", using Suntek film on full hood, fenders, bumper, grille, side view mirrors and, lastly, rockers. While this remark didn't exactly inspire confidence - I have reason to believe he's a professional with an excellent reputation (I'll let you know) - and leaves me a bit nervous about the finished product, I'm crossing my fingers!

If you're interested, I'll post a few pictures. (by the way...my guess is the final bill will total just north of 2k).

 

Wow. That's nuts.
I have heard from more than one installer with direct experience filming the F-Type, that the job took longer than usual. Its possible the F-Type has some unusual detail that takes more time. It's also possible your installer is posturing for a tip, which of course would be a personal choice.

 

Could it be that in reality that in Ferris Bueller style that extra time is driving the car - that or simply starting it up and fixating on the exhaust sounds (in some sort of trance) in lieu of working on the car?

I think not. Of course not. I shudder the thought! (Joking of course).

My guess is, based on an early and brief conversation, was that between the contours of the car (he did say something along the lines of [to better wrap the film] popping out the hood vents (oh boy) and possibly the size of the hood?

Dunno but I will soon find out (and let you know).

P.S. If it were a detailer working for someone, naturally I would tip him (and generously at that) but being that he's basically a one-man shop and the owner at that, that's not what he's bucking for. My "tip" - assuming he's done a great job - is letting others know, including a few owners and GM's of dealerships I know. With pleasure...IF he's done a great job.

 

My installer who has been doing it for 20 years said it was one of the worst noses in the industry to wrap. He said it took him twice as long as most cars.