Hi guys,
Is it recommended to detail the paint when it's brand new, 2017 MY. Or is it a waist of money. Any advantages in doing a (paid service) deatail to a new car? I wish to protect the paint so it stays new looking. Is there a product that can do this?
Or should I wrap the cars high risk areas with clear wrap. Which brand name of clear wrap is best.
Thank you for your advise.

 

Search for "xpel" and you'll find plenty of discussion. That seems to be the preferred clear film, for those who choose film.

 

If you mean paint correction, no I wouldn't do it. A coat of Adams paint sealant followed by a coat of their Buttery wax is something you can do yourself and your car will look flawless. Wash it yourself 2 bucket, pressure washer with foam cannon to keep it looking great. Adams H2O guard and gloss when drying will keep it looking perfect. Always use high quality clean Korean micro fiber towels.

Expel film will save you work over time, but very expensive.

 

Thanks guys. Yes, I did a search on this forum and learned that there are two brand names for the clear bra application; EXPEL and SUNTEK. I located a EXPEL dealer near me but SUNTEK doesn't seem to have a dealer in the NJ region. It's mostly located toward the West coast and south west region of the states. Is there a SUNTEK dealer in the NJ/NYC area?
Thank you....

 

I bought my F-Type a year ago and felt it was worth it to do paint correction and wrap it right away. The dealerships are not careful about washing cars and often there's visible swirl marks in a new car off the lot. I think it is worth wrapping it in Xpel or Suntek to protect against dings and rock chips, which accumulate and are expensive to fix.

The decision to wrap depends on how long you plan to keep the car and how obsessive you are in noticing little paint imperfections. If you plan to re-sell the car in say 4 years, I would say it may not be worth wrapping it.

If you do decide to wrap, definitely do paint correction beforehand so the paint defects don't become "permanent" under the wraps.

I initially only wrapped the front with Xpel, but ended up wrapping the rest of the car entirely in Suntek. My detailer does both and showed me a comparison of the two. I was happy with Xpel, but Suntek appears to have a little less graininess in reflection up close. The difference may not be noticeable from a few feet away.

I am glad I wrapped the rest of the car because recently I lightly scraped the rear fender and it took off only part of the wrap and did not damage the paint. So it's an easy fix. My detailer said he would fix it for free. I have also gotten rock chips from highway driving once a week.

I don't think there is a single right answer for everyone, but personally I felt wrapping the entire car was worth it for me. And I am happy with both Xpel and Suntek but prefer Suntek. Feel free ask me for more details.

 

Before taking delivery of my "R", I did a ton of research on Paint Protection Films (PPF). Xpel Ultimate and Suntek were the two clear market leaders at that time, some 18 months ago. The most difficult part of researching this topic is every installer has a different opinion, and that opinion directly correlates to which mfg. a given installer has the best relationship with. Xpel charges their certified installers a licensing fee, and their film cost more money than the others, so there are a lot of installers who shy away from the increased cost and promote Suntek or 3M products over Xpel, even though Xpel seems to be universally crowned the best PPF in terms of real protection, durability, fade resistance and product guarantee.

Certain personalities lack the marketing savvy to "sell" a more expensive price point, so instead of having to continuously justify that higher price point and upsell the many virtues of Xpel, they take the lazy route and offer a cheaper product because they find that to be an easier sale.

I don't recall what color your car is, but anything other than Black, Xpel is far and away the best PPF you can get. The sole reason I isolate Black, is there is some indication that Xpel Ultimate film has a very subtle "orange peel" texture, that some can identify best on a Black car, though it is nearly impossible to spot on every other color... Suntek films reportedly contain less of this orange peel effect, thus some will argue Suntek offers more clarity, especially on a black car.

I own an Ebony Black F-Type, I still chose the Xpel Ultimate because of all the other advantages this film has to offer. Whatever orange peel that may be present can only be seen in a certain light, viewed from a certain precise angle, and then, only if you go out of your way to search for it. In no way is it blatantly visible and certainly not a distraction of any kind.

 

I respectfully disagree with the above narrative. Factory paint is far from flawless. In fact, in some instances, it is downright horrendous.
Jaguar's F-Type factory paint line is turning our a very average to marginal paint job.

I have taken delivery of two brand new F-Types. Both were driven directly from the dealer lot to my detailer, barely 5 miles away. The detailer performed paint correction and protection service on each. Different for each car, but I personally witnessed a profound array of imperfections in both, including foreign particulate embedded in the clear coat, air bubbles, paint runs at certain edges and/or corners causing an excessive build-up of paint, and sizable patches of orange-peeled paint, an indication of faulty paint nozzles or an excessively heavy application.

Further, if you allowed your dealer to "Prep" your vehicle for delivery, there is an excellent chance the porter who washed your car did you a grave disservice. Sadly, these people are not well trained in how to care for new paint, they don't keep their towels or sponges clean and free of abrasive particles, and many dealers have a mini-wash machine, complete with rotating abrasive brushes. Fine swirls and spider-web striations are quite commonplace in dealers' newly delivered vehicles.

If you plan to film your car, why would you apply a protective film over the top of a flawed paint surface? If that is your intent, why apply a film at all? Any flaws beneath the film will forever be preserved for you and everyone else to see. The old adage is applicable here: garbage in - garbage out!

Have your vehicle serviced by an experienced and highly regarded detailer who specializes in paint correction and protection. They will address most if not all the imperfections, polish and level the surface inconsistencies, and professionally apply a measure of protection you simply can't achieve on your own, especially without the proper tools or when using off-the-shelf paint conditioners.

Then, when you have the PPF applied -- best if done without relocating the vehicle -- the clear film will be applied over the most flawless and pristine paint surface... now further protecting and preserving the flawlessly prepared surface underneath the PPF.

 

You right, I am thinking of my Aston Martin. The paint on it is "flawless", they are color sanded and buffed at the factory and it looks like liquid.

I have a 2003 Jaguar in Ebony since new and it has an extremely good paint job, not as perfect as the Aston, but close. Maybe they were more careful back then, but it has no orange peel either.

I have thought about getting my car wrapped and I know they need to do a certain amount of paint correction on any car when done properly. But I just enjoy keeping my car looking nice myself. I keep it garaged and covered and it's not a daily driver.

Your also right about off the shelf, most of the products sold a auto stores like Pep Boys etc are garbage. Wasting your money.

 

I would agree with with this. The graininess I was referring to is the "orange peel" effect but I don't think it's detectable unless you are up close and looking for it. I did a lot of research about wraps when consider it a year ago. I think Xpel and Suntek are virtually indistinguishable. There were reports of Suntek yellowing over time after several years, but my detailer who installs both says this is no longer a problem. FWIW, I certainly cannot tell the difference between the areas wrapped in Xpel 16 months ago vs the Suntek areas wrapped a few months ago, even up close.

I would recommend researching your installer. You want someone that has a lot of experience and not just the cheapest. Make sure they offer "edge wrapping" and doing the entire hood in one piece instead of combining pieces so you can minimize seams. Would also recommend treating over the wrap with a hydrophobic coating like Cquartz Finest, Opticoat, or Modesta. It helps the water bead off and makes washing much easier.

If you go through this trouble, would also recommend hand washing with the 2 bucket system or finding a detailer that washes using the 2 bucket system. Otherwise swirl marks will appear. Most high volume car washes, even hand washes will cause swirl marks unless they use the 2 bucket system.

 

As an alternative to Cquartz, I would recommend MegaTrend by Nanoskin. MegaTrend is a more recent introduction in the coating market - so not as well known - though it is routinely being rated higher than all others.

My detailer recommends applying any glass, quartz, ceramic, or carbon & tungsten coating prior to installing the PPF, and his reasoning is sound. If you apply these coatings over Xpel for instance, you immediately defeat the self-healing properties of Xpel, AND Xpel has been known to void its warranty if someone makes a claim and Xpel elects to inspect the vehicle. Here in So. Cal, the Xpel regional product rep is apparently quite active and involved with his certified installers, thus he is inclined to inspect warranty claims.

Instead, if you choose to have one of these coatings applied before installation of the PPF, then you are further enhancing and protecting the actual paint. In the case of MegaTrend, it quite noticeably enhances the color, richness, depth, and gloss level of the painted surface. It also makes the surface considerably smoother and slicker, so bug guts and tree sap are removed far easier and water sheets right off the car. Of course the slickness will not be a benefit to those areas covered by PPF. However, the more you enhance the painted surface prior to applying the film, the better the film will look.

 

Whether to apply the coating or the wrap first has been debated extensively. The argument to have the wrap underneath the coating is that having the coating under the wrap defeats the purpose of the hydrophobic coating, since it will never see water under the wrap. Hence you lose the benefit of the hydrophobic coat and never see the water sheet off or the ease of removing bugs and tree sap. Having the coating over the wrap many argue adds a further layer of protection on top of the wrap. From what I have heard from research on the web and speaking with my detailer, it does not defeat the self-healing properties of the wrap because any rock chip or scratch would have to penetrate the coating first before reaching the wrap. As long as the scratch or rock chip does not reach the paint surface, the wrap should still be able to heal.

 

I would agree I have had two brand new F types in the last 30 days (one metallic paint one not), both paint jobs were flawed and the finish was in bad shape. The black car was terrible (some detail person at the dealership had no clue what they were doing),the while car (it had 5 miles on it and was untouched by the dealership) was better but still took me 11 hours of claying, washing, waxing, and polishing to get it right. I have had clear film on cars (have xpel on the C7) before and if you plan to keep the car awhile it can be a good way to go. I am somewhat obsessive (comes with the territory) and my garage is better stocked than most detail shops (I have actually trained some detailers) in my area at least.

 

I had mine paint corrected (lots of minor swirls) and then added GTechniq Crystal Serum + two layers of GTechniq EXOv2 (for extra hydrophobic property and shine).


The work and result can be seen here:


» 2014 Jaguar F-Type R Krokeide Bilpleie


This was done before I learned about how good wrapping products have become, and how well they are to protect the paint on long term basis. However when I asked a very well recognised expert in the field of wrapping about the possibility to wrap my car, he said he would not wrap a car that had been treated with that kind of ceramic coating.
The main reason was that in his experience the wrap would not stick good enough to the paint, and the risk of some of it to come loose was too high. And it was a too big job to polish out the coating, as it bonds too hard to the paint (you need to grind it off).


After some high speed driving on German autobahn (150 mph+) I very much wish I had know about this earlier. The front of my car and the hood has gotten beaten up with minor stone chips (in the hundreds). They are very small (seems like they are caused by sand grits and not real stones, so the OEM paint seems very brittle), but clearly visible up close (you need to be less than 2-3 feet away to see them).
They are too many and too small to be touched up by Paint, but too big to be polished out.
If I had known then what I know now, I would have done the paint correction, and maybe put on some kind of coating (that does not affect the "stickyness" of the wrap), and wraped at least the front and hood (and maybe the whole car).
Then I would have applied a suitable coating that would make it easy to wash/get rid of bugs etc.


The only solution I have now is to repaint the whole front and hood. However this car is ment to be used and it still looks great at all angles (also at the front from a distance of more than 2-3 feet ). There will be more (and maybe larger) stonechips in the coming years, and there is no problem with rust.
I will therefor wait for some years and then repaint either just the front and hood or the wohle car in the original IRR color, and by someone that will deliver a result better than New.
Then I will wrap the car

 

Wow from reading all these posts, sounds like new Jaguars have some crap paint.

 

Well, it might be crap for a US$200k+ car, but for its actual price range, it's pretty decent. It's what the dealer does to it after they get it, that can screw it up. Any car at 150+, regardless of the paint quality will suffer from sand blasting.

 

I am not judging, just what I have been reading from owners on here.

As I see it some are saying has to be wrapped to cover up the crap paint job.

 

Well as far as I am concerned my paint is great, every bit as good as my Porsche was. I decided to clay bar my car after I got it and it felt unnecessary, the paint was already clay bar smooth. I have not found any obvious imperfections in my washing and polishing.
Larry

 

I agree. The swirlmarks on my car was due to "bad" washing from the first owner, and when that was corrected, the paint looked very good. The professional detailer that did the work also complimented the paint work from Jaguar.


However the paint seems a bit on the soft side, and at high speeds it seems to chip a bit easier than what my previous Audi TTS did (also driven at high speeds on German autobahn). That is why I strongly advice (at least) a front wrap for those considering it.

 

I didn't analyze the paint on my Ultimate Black car as carefully as IronMike (Post #7), but it had obvious water spotting and other paint defects after it had been "prepared" for delivery, including the build up of some kind of hard crud build up in the hood vent and lower headlight recesses (still don't know what it was). I decided not to let the dealer try to correct or detail it.

After the guy I took it to for detailing, tinting, and Xpel Ultimate application (front, full hood, mirrors, front fenders, rocker panels) got into the job, he called me and said the crud in the vent and headlight recesses had become permanently "baked" in and that he had badly underestimated the amount of work needed to restore the paint.

He was furious with himself, saying he should have charged me 2x-3x more given the amount of time it took, especially given his past experience with Jaguar's soft and indifferent (for a luxury car) paint application. He had the car for a week. But the crud in the recesses ultimately did come off - with 90 minutes of additional work.

 

I had Xpel applied to my front nose, full wrap hood, mirrors, rockers and behind the back tires as well as a small strip on the rear of the front fender arch and the door edges. it wasn't cheap but I feel much better about the odd bit of gravel on the road, etc. and I've already got some good sized marks in front of the rear tire that would have been paint chips.

Dave