Your opinions and advice. - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

Z4me · 04-30-2013, 08:53 AM

Hi first off I would like to thank all the regular posters on this part of the forums. You guys/gals are awesome, I have learned a ton from all your advice and opinions.

Ok a little background first.

My car has about 3,500 miles on it so fairly new with not to many dings yet from debrey hitting the car.
I do not have a garage at my house so the car is exposed to the daily elements. I have not used a cover at all due to possibilty of introducing
swirls to the clear coat.
I have purchased some cleaning supplies, but have not at this point invested a lot of money. But at the point of doing so over the next few weeks, I have more the basic items.

So i'm at a cross roads and trying to figure out my next move. I am planning to have xpel placed on the areas where it's needed most. But I was also thinking of first getting the whole car detailed really well by a professional. Then having the whole car protected by expel, this would help to keep the clear coat protected for a long time. I'm not sure if this would help against the UV light or not, or if it would then be safe to use a cover.
I know its going to cost a fair amount of money but I have a big tax refund check coming that would take care of the costs. Got the wife approval for the project (she's becoming a car nut too lol), but just wondering your opinions if this is worth the cost of doing the whole car or not.
Would you just get the more exposed area's to debrey done and place the money into more cleaning supplies and other items for the car?
In hind sight for some of you owners would you have done this to your car when you first purchased it if you had the funds available.

Thx for your opinions I love this car and I'm a bit paranoid about protecting that clear coat and finish.

lscamaro · 04-30-2013, 11:09 AM

I think your money would be best spent in getting the areas that are more prone to damage covered with xpel and use the rest of the money for cleaning supplies. Truthfully, I would save the money you're going to spend on the detailer and learn how to do it yourself. If you don't want to do this, I would look into the professional detailers and make sure you know he does good work. There's a lot of "professional" detailers out there that do terrible work. You could probably get yourself a pc or griots, some polishes, pads, and anything else you may need for under what you'd pay a professional. It's completely safe so you can start with doing some correction on the front bumper, and when you're done with that, get it covered. And so on and so forth.

trm2 · 04-30-2013, 11:44 AM

I did get the Xpel on the front and mirrors only. I did make sure I had it polished out first, but I already had the supplies.

CamaroDreams07 · 04-30-2013, 02:49 PM

Here's what I would do and why.

First, I don't recommend applying PPF to the whole car. That's unnecessary. I would find a detailer and talk to him about doing one of two options, and the cost differential:

1. Fully prep, clay, and polish the entire car
2. Prep, clay and polish only those areas you'd apply PPF to (front clip, hood, rear quarters)

If it's significantly cheaper, go with option 2.

The reason I differ from lscamaro in the DIY vs pro is time. You won't develop a solid technique with a buffer quickly. And time is the enemy with rock chips. So get those areas professionally detailed so that you can get the PPF on there ASAP. The reason why I prefer option 2 above is that, aside from saving you money, it will then allow you to cut your teeth in detailing on the rest of the car, where time isn't really an issue.

My #1 regret for this car was that I did not invest in PPF for my quarters and front bumper. My quarters look sandblasted after 40K miles. I strongly urge any new Camaro owner to protect these areas as the design of the car makes it exceptionally prone to rocks and debris.

Z4me · 04-30-2013, 03:41 PM

Great advice and pretty much what i was thinking.
I have a very good detailer, so I'll get a quote from him as far as prep for the parts of the car the expel would be added to and also the cost for preping the whole car. I'm more concerned about getting this done right the first time rather then going cheap and having to get it done all over again.

I actually enjoy detailing my car. Wash, claybar, wax, detail spray and tire cleaning items. I have not tried yet polishing, sealants and glazes but I will
over time. Last fall I did my first full detail took me all day and my wife thought I was nuts, till we went to the car show the next day and got alot of complements.

The nice thing is the installer of the expel is just down the street from the detailer.

I'm planning to get the front end, front and back quarter panels the mirrors, the area around the door handles and possible the front hood.

The ZL1 tires are very wide and soft so they tend to grab alot of crap on the roads.

Adam's Polishes · 04-30-2013, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z4me

Great advice and pretty much what i was thinking.
I have a very good detailer, so I'll get a quote from him as far as prep for the parts of the car the expel would be added to and also the cost for preping the whole car. I'm more concerned about getting this done right the first time rather then going cheap and having to get it done all over again.

I actually enjoy detailing my car. Wash, claybar, wax, detail spray and tire cleaning items. I have not tried yet polishing, sealants and glazes but I will
over time. Last fall I did my first full detail took me all day and my wife thought I was nuts, till we went to the car show the next day and got alot of complements.

The nice thing is the installer of the expel is just down the street from the detailer.

I'm planning to get the front end, front and back quarter panels the mirrors, the area around the door handles and possible the front hood.

The ZL1 tires are very wide and soft so they tend to grab alot of crap on the roads.

Good plan.

The black ZL1 vert we had here for awhile only had 600-700 miles and in that short of time the gills already had a couple of chips.

ec1990 · 04-30-2013, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z4me

Great advice and pretty much what i was thinking.
I have a very good detailer, so I'll get a quote from him as far as prep for the parts of the car the expel would be added to and also the cost for preping the whole car. I'm more concerned about getting this done right the first time rather then going cheap and having to get it done all over again.

I actually enjoy detailing my car. Wash, claybar, wax, detail spray and tire cleaning items. I have not tried yet polishing, sealants and glazes but I will
over time. Last fall I did my first full detail took me all day and my wife thought I was nuts, till we went to the car show the next day and got alot of complements.

The nice thing is the installer of the expel is just down the street from the detailer.

I'm planning to get the front end, front and back quarter panels the mirrors, the area around the door handles and possible the front hood.

The ZL1 tires are very wide and soft so they tend to grab alot of crap on the roads.

Another area that I have done is the bottom end of the door jambs, but the main part to get is the front bumper. Know that Xpel splits the front bumper into 2 parts, upper and lower. The upper is just the area above the lights and where the hood scoop is on the SS before the hood.

ChadG · 05-01-2013, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamaroDreams07

Here's what I would do and why.

First, I don't recommend applying PPF to the whole car. That's unnecessary. I would find a detailer and talk to him about doing one of two options, and the cost differential:

1. Fully prep, clay, and polish the entire car
2. Prep, clay and polish only those areas you'd apply PPF to (front clip, hood, rear quarters)

If it's significantly cheaper, go with option 2.

The reason I differ from lscamaro in the DIY vs pro is time. You won't develop a solid technique with a buffer quickly. And time is the enemy with rock chips. So get those areas professionally detailed so that you can get the PPF on there ASAP. The reason why I prefer option 2 above is that, aside from saving you money, it will then allow you to cut your teeth in detailing on the rest of the car, where time isn't really an issue.

My #1 regret for this car was that I did not invest in PPF for my quarters and front bumper. My quarters look sandblasted after 40K miles. I strongly urge any new Camaro owner to protect these areas as the design of the car makes it exceptionally prone to rocks and debris.

If you like the look, I'd recommend getting quarter flares - I put them on right when I got my car and have never had any problems with chips anywhere other than the front of the car. I agree with CD07 that the protective film will save the front bumper and the front of the hood/quarter panels in front of the front wheels. I personally like the look of the quarter flares, and the protection they have provided for rock chips on the gills/rear quarter panels has been exceptional - I literally have none after almost 30k miles. My apologies for the poor phone picture quality but I just wanted to show you the quarter flares, they were a really easy self install.

Z4me · 05-02-2013, 10:36 AM

Intersting so the quarter panel in front of the tires are more prone to damage then behind the tires? I was always under the impression it was the reverse, is this do to them sticking out more and thus more prone to flying debrey on the roads from other cars etc. ?

So probably the best cours of action if you better protection of the paint is to do both the front and back quarter panels around each tire within a certain distance from the wheel well edges.

Opinions?

04-30-2013, 11:09 AM	#2
lscamaro Drives: 2011 CGM Camaro LS A6 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 10,305	I think your money would be best spent in getting the areas that are more prone to damage covered with xpel and use the rest of the money for cleaning supplies. Truthfully, I would save the money you're going to spend on the detailer and learn how to do it yourself. If you don't want to do this, I would look into the professional detailers and make sure you know he does good work. There's a lot of "professional" detailers out there that do terrible work. You could probably get yourself a pc or griots, some polishes, pads, and anything else you may need for under what you'd pay a professional. It's completely safe so you can start with doing some correction on the front bumper, and when you're done with that, get it covered. And so on and so forth. __________________ Click Picture for Build Thread

04-30-2013, 02:49 PM	#4
CamaroDreams07 Drives: Slow V6 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: East Lansing, MI Posts: 9,361 View My Garage	Here's what I would do and why. First, I don't recommend applying PPF to the whole car. That's unnecessary. I would find a detailer and talk to him about doing one of two options, and the cost differential: 1. Fully prep, clay, and polish the entire car 2. Prep, clay and polish only those areas you'd apply PPF to (front clip, hood, rear quarters) If it's significantly cheaper, go with option 2. The reason I differ from lscamaro in the DIY vs pro is time. You won't develop a solid technique with a buffer quickly. And time is the enemy with rock chips. So get those areas professionally detailed so that you can get the PPF on there ASAP. The reason why I prefer option 2 above is that, aside from saving you money, it will then allow you to cut your teeth in detailing on the rest of the car, where time isn't really an issue. My #1 regret for this car was that I did not invest in PPF for my quarters and front bumper. My quarters look sandblasted after 40K miles. I strongly urge any new Camaro owner to protect these areas as the design of the car makes it exceptionally prone to rocks and debris. __________________ [B]

04-30-2013, 03:41 PM	#5
Z4me Drives: 2013 ZL1 IOM Vin #169 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,953	Great advice and pretty much what i was thinking. I have a very good detailer, so I'll get a quote from him as far as prep for the parts of the car the expel would be added to and also the cost for preping the whole car. I'm more concerned about getting this done right the first time rather then going cheap and having to get it done all over again. I actually enjoy detailing my car. Wash, claybar, wax, detail spray and tire cleaning items. I have not tried yet polishing, sealants and glazes but I will over time. Last fall I did my first full detail took me all day and my wife thought I was nuts, till we went to the car show the next day and got alot of complements. The nice thing is the installer of the expel is just down the street from the detailer. I'm planning to get the front end, front and back quarter panels the mirrors, the area around the door handles and possible the front hood. The ZL1 tires are very wide and soft so they tend to grab alot of crap on the roads. __________________

05-02-2013, 10:36 AM	#9
Z4me Drives: 2013 ZL1 IOM Vin #169 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,953	Intersting so the quarter panel in front of the tires are more prone to damage then behind the tires? I was always under the impression it was the reverse, is this do to them sticking out more and thus more prone to flying debrey on the roads from other cars etc. ? So probably the best cours of action if you better protection of the paint is to do both the front and back quarter panels around each tire within a certain distance from the wheel well edges. Opinions? __________________

04-30-2013, 08:53 AM	#1
Z4me Drives: 2013 ZL1 IOM Vin #169 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,953	Your opinions and advice. Hi first off I would like to thank all the regular posters on this part of the forums. You guys/gals are awesome, I have learned a ton from all your advice and opinions. Ok a little background first. My car has about 3,500 miles on it so fairly new with not to many dings yet from debrey hitting the car. I do not have a garage at my house so the car is exposed to the daily elements. I have not used a cover at all due to possibilty of introducing swirls to the clear coat. I have purchased some cleaning supplies, but have not at this point invested a lot of money. But at the point of doing so over the next few weeks, I have more the basic items. So i'm at a cross roads and trying to figure out my next move. I am planning to have xpel placed on the areas where it's needed most. But I was also thinking of first getting the whole car detailed really well by a professional. Then having the whole car protected by expel, this would help to keep the clear coat protected for a long time. I'm not sure if this would help against the UV light or not, or if it would then be safe to use a cover. I know its going to cost a fair amount of money but I have a big tax refund check coming that would take care of the costs. Got the wife approval for the project (she's becoming a car nut too lol), but just wondering your opinions if this is worth the cost of doing the whole car or not. Would you just get the more exposed area's to debrey done and place the money into more cleaning supplies and other items for the car? In hind sight for some of you owners would you have done this to your car when you first purchased it if you had the funds available. Thx for your opinions I love this car and I'm a bit paranoid about protecting that clear coat and finish. __________________

04-30-2013, 11:44 AM	#3
trm2 Drives: Model S, Vette, Volt & Equinox Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Ohio Posts: 334	I did get the Xpel on the front and mirrors only. I did make sure I had it polished out first, but I already had the supplies.