My new '17 F-Type convertible will arrive at the end of the month. I'm thinking about having it wrapped to protect the paint, but I know basically nothing about wrapping or the costs. For those who have wrapped their F-Type or have looked in to it, what are the upsides and downsides of having a car wrapped? Do you have to wax a wrapped car? What's a ballpark cost figure for having an F-type wrapped? How much would a (tasteful) stripe add to the cost.

 

Do you mean clear paint protection film (as opposed to a color changing wrap)?

Plenty here have done it, they will chime in I'm sure, plus there's the question of which brand of film works best....

 

I had my F type wrapped with a clearbra from Xpel. Whole hood wrap around the edges, mirrors and front nose cone. Cost was $1,500.00 Canadian and I'd do it again.

Downsides? well the only one I can see is the cost. People say you can wax the wrap to keep it looking nice; I haven't tried it yet.

Dave

 

I had clear film applied to the leading edge of the hood, it cost me only $200.

I think original poster asking about whole-car colored wrap. I personally wouldn't do this, as such wrap would only detract from F-Type's good looks.

 

Wrapping the whole car could run from $3-5k depending on location and film. My investigation led me to Xpel. I had the entire car cQuartzed and then wrapped the entire front of the car back to the doors, the rocker panels, the lower fenders behind the rear tires, and the spoiler. Entire project came to $3k.

 

A full wrap job will run roughly $3000. It will not have the same depth of color as a quality paint job. So it's not cheap. That said, it's the cheapest way to change the color on the car and you can get any color and any finish. It also only takes a day or so and is completely reversible.

If you're only worried about protecting the paint, most people get the leading edges halfway up the car done (hood, mirrors, headlights). That should run anywhere from $5-1500 depending on how much you want to protect. Personally I'm not a fan of this because the seam is always visible.

 

I heard a full wrap job is even more if it is done properly. $3k usually just covers wrapping the full exterior. But to do it properly you also need them to remove the doors and do the door jambs, and stuff like that. That pushes the cost to $5-6k.

This is what it looks like when done cheap.


To do it properly the vehicle's doors and bumpers must be removed. Sometimes the trunk too.

 

One way to do a wrap which retains the depth of color is to do a matte clear wrap. This basically converts the existing paint job to a matte finish and is a bit like applying a matte clear coat except it is a wrap and removable.

 

Sorry I wasn't specific enough. I'm talking about clear paint protection film. I definitely like the British Racing Green color. I just want to protect it from road debris.

 

Your only option to protect against chips is a clear bra. Xpel ultimate is the most popular product.

Your other option is a semi permanent coating like OptiCoat Pro or CQuartz Finest. These provide remarkable shine and make the car very easy to wash without spots, swirls, bird poop stains, Etc. but they are not hard enough to protect against rock chips.

 

Good idea. Normal pricing is $1400 or so for hood, fenders, bumper, headlights.

 

As I mentioned, the entirety of my car has been cQuartzed and the front and lower portions fully wrapped with xPel Ultimate. From any distance the sheen and shine is the same and much deeper than a naked car. Best of all... no swirls. The rockers in front of the rear wheels, however, are picking up substantial road rash. I'm guessing every 2 or 3 years I'll have to get the rockers re-wrapped. Beats the heck out of repainting.

 

I went by a couple of local shops that apply protection film on high end exotic sports cars. Both offer Xpel and SunTek. They both told me the same thing independently without me asking. They said that SunTek looks better on darker colored cars and is less noticeable than Xpel, but they'll install whichever I want because they both work well. I looked at a couple of Ferraris and couldn't even tell a difference between the panels that were covered and the adjacent panels that were not. But, we were inside. Does anyone here have experience with SunTek?

 

I have suntek applied to my IRR. Been very happy with it. You can't tell it is on. Only downside is that the sheets aren't big enough for the entire hood, so on the very corners near the mirrors there is a line. Xpel I believe has a template that can cover the entire hood in one sheet.

 

Both XPEL and Suntek can't cover the entire hood. However a talented installer can stretch the film by a few inches to make it fit. My install has no seams at all.

 

+1. Also, can't tell the difference between the xPel over cQuartz and the cQuartz only panels on dark green.

 

Never had a car wrapped before either...I wanted the whole car done, as the UK roads are covered in small stones, and the F is quite a gravel magnet!

After a lot of digging around the internet we went for Xpel Ultimate clear.

The installation was very expensive and time consuming as we had the film custom fit rather than templated to wrap around all the corners of all the panels with an overlap of around ⅜''.

It certainly is protecting the paint. Have used the warm water method to smooth out many dings on the bonnet, lower rocker panels and front wings.

It's easy to care for; after a run and to ready it for a show, I use a damp MF cloth to wipe it down and get rid of any brake/tyre dust, and just use a Quick detailer to buff.

Needless to say, the paintwork is as good as new so far. Compared to the cost of the car, it seems like a pretty worthwhile addition if you like to keep your cars in good shape.

FWIW - We had our first FT treated to gTechniq crystal lacquer and EXO, which didn't impress me much, although I do use their C5 wheel armour which I can recommend.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I'm picking it up today.

 

Hi Tel
how much did it cost and where did you get it done
cheers

 

I'm having my entire front, full hood, side rockers, mirrors, and panels in front of rear wheels done this coming weekend. Car will be washed, iron x-ed, then clay bar, polished, xpel ultimate and then entire surface cquarted (uk). Edges of film are rolled under wheel wells, hood, etc. Hood is one piece I'm told. Total cost $2k. My detailer does the cquart over the xpel, not under. He says waxing cquart can be done but he doesn't think it adds much gloss. I'll post photos when done.