Everyone loves their colors... so lets chat about paint protection, shall we?

[DailyMoparGuy]

Too much corrosive stuff is on the roads up here. It's November until at least May before it's all washed off the streets by rain. Rust is a real issue here, and it kills many jeeps. People around here can't understand how my old bug is so rust free, even though the paint is gone, and the rubber body seals are rotted. I tell them It's because me/my bug are from Texas. The paint and the rubber baked in the sun for 45 years before I bought it here, but it never saw road salt until a couple years ago, and not on purpose then.

Plus, yeah, I can't stand a dirty car (or jeep truck). It looks cool for about a day after running a trail. But then, it needs to come off and be glossy again.

Oh yea I forgot about all the salt where it snows. I don’t miss that but I DO miss driving on snowy back roads.

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[arskemp]

- For me, I went the DIY ceramic coating route. Too early to tell how long it lasts, went with cquartz uk 3.0.
- I have 3M clear vinyl cut to strips just for the front of the door hinges. So far they've lasted since about April with no peeling issues, but only time will tell.

 

[KidBobot]

1. For either Wrap or Ceramic, I was quoted about $500 to start off with for “paint correction“.

2. Wrap: I was quoted “about $7.5k” for a complete robust clear wrap, and “around $6k for a different brand of clear wrap. After taking samples home to play “scratch and stab” I would have wanted the more expensive one. They really do ”heal themselves”, it’s impressive.

3. Ceramic: The “Ceramic Pro” installers here both quoted me about $2.5k” for the 5-year (“silver”, 2-coat) package with wheels. Tricky to compare because one included wheels, plastic, and and some windshield stuff. The other separated everything out individually. The lower “2-year” package (one-coat) was about $1k less, the higher so called “lifetime” (4-coat) was around $1k more. They encourage an annual “refresh“ for around $750.

Those quotes seem a little high. The XPel Stealth is also a "self-healing" film, and I was quoted $5750 - or the same price for the "ultimate plus ppf". The Ceramic Pro 10-year package was quoted to me at $2250.

I see you're in Long Island... the guys that quoted me the above were the good folks over at TintMax in Great Neck. Might want to give them a shout I'll likely take the 10year package, and have them do the interior (I think I was quoted $200 of $250 for full ceramic interior too).
(ALso these guys CAN also ceramic coat the PPF, but that seems excessive.

 

[Not2Late]

Paint protection? We don't need no stinking paint protection!

It's a jeep! It is amazing how this thing seems to catch rocks and other debris on:

1. The windshield - on my second one
2. The front of the door hindges
3. The front of the rear fenders - although there is some sort of protection/film I noticed there
4. The radiator fins
5. Random chips/scratches as my bigger tires throw up small rocks along the side of body
6. Front of hood
7. frame above windshield

Any other areas I am missing?

I bought a paint touchup stick and cover anything that looks like it got down past the primer. Thats about it.

 

[QuintusMaximus]

Those quotes seem a little high. The XPel Stealth is also a "self-healing" film, and I was quoted $5750 - or the same price for the "ultimate plus ppf". The Ceramic Pro 10-year package was quoted to me at $2250.

I see you're in Long Island... the guys that quoted me the above were the good folks over at TintMax in Great Neck. Might want to give them a shout I'll likely take the 10year package, and have them do the interior (I think I was quoted $200 of $250 for full ceramic interior too).
(ALso these guys CAN also ceramic coat the PPF, but that seems excessive.

$5700 for full ppf? That's a lot lower than I'm seeing in my area.

 

[Holy_Crap]

I was quoted around $2500 to install PPF to the whole front of the Jeep, hood, fenders, grill and windshield frame. I live in South FL.

 

[CFLgladiator]

I guess I'm one of the few that actually did PPF my truck. And it's expensive. I also had a ceramic coat put on top. But here in Florida most trails are tight with lots of scrub and now scratching through them doesn't even phase me.
Also I got to see a BMW that was PPF wrapped that got every panel keyed (and I mean hard) and it even surprised the detailers that none of the scratches made it through to the paint.

 

[CFLgladiator]

Pics

 

[KidBobot]

I still may end up doing it... but forgoing the stealth version. There's just too many nooks, crannies, and protrusions that wouldn't be able to get wrapped - and would show if those remained glossy.

Question - were they able to wrap the rain seam on the roof panels? They weren't 100% confident they could contour it as such. They flat out told me the hinges would only be wrapped in certain places.

Regardless, I'll definitely do the ceramic coat... thinking of the lifetime Opticoat... I know I'd still have to go in once every year or two for maintenance... but man, after seeing the 5-year treatment on our minivan, I'm a believer.

 

[CFLgladiator]

Yes now that you mentioned it, don't do satin/matte. There was a surprising amount of curves they had trouble with. Funny enough I consider the truck just about as square/flat as possible. I don't remember if the drip rails are done, I doubt it. Can't check right now, left truck at work while I'm driving work truck around.

Also I got thick stuff for protection and PPF in general is very thick compared to vinyl so you won't get the nice tight wrap around small radiuses like you do with vinyl wraps. So they have to cut at edges usually instead of wrapping around the lip

 

[CFLgladiator]

Btw I was hesitant about spending the cash on this until I was washing bugs off the front. While trying to delicately remove bug with a thumb nail I dented the paint. Yes dented. After that I realized I better get protection and since I was already dreading pinstripes after some light trails in Georgia, I was doing the whole front and sides. Well wasn't much more for roof and tailgate so...

But ya, with the 5yr ceramic and light paint correction/ prep it was around 10k

 

[polarisTXguy]

We owned a body shop in my younger days. Paint correction will be the death of me as my other toy is a Black car. I made myself get a White Jeep this time knowing it will get wheeled and less stressed about the finish.

 

[CFLgladiator]

Nice toy. Actually white was my first choice and is such the perfect color for the gladiator in the south. Not hot and not worried about light dirt. And I think they look the best with the painted top and fenders like yours. Unfortunately I hate how the white looks with either the top and doors off or with the soft top due to the design of the truck. I got the dual top and Mopar tube doors so the black meshes better and hides some weird design choices.
But every time I touch the truck and burn myself or see a all white truck I regret it slightly lol.

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