3M or Equiv Clear Film Front End Protection...Options?

Coach Hill · February 4, 2014

Lee,

Bruce and Reid do a fantastic job with the clear bra. They are going to do my Denali as soon as it arrives. If you haven't been to their shop, just drop in one day and look at a vehicle they are working on. I believe they used to use the 3M material and have recently switched to the Xpel ultimate. That is the same price they quoted me for my truck. If you go through the dealer, they will just have them do it and charge you like $200 more than you can have it done yourself.

By the way, I'm in Mt. Airy if you want to compare notes on our trucks (if mine ever gets built)!

LeeDowney · February 4, 2014

Lee,

Bruce and Reid do a fantastic job with the clear bra. They are going to do my Denali as soon as it arrives. If you haven't been to their shop, just drop in one day and look at a vehicle they are working on. I believe they used to use the 3M material and have recently switched to the Xpel ultimate. That is the same price they quoted me for my truck. If you go through the dealer, they will just have them do it and charge you like $200 more than you can have it done yourself.

By the way, I'm in Mt. Airy if you want to compare notes on our trucks (if mine ever gets built)!

When did you order your truck and from where? You know, I shopped several dealerships. Flow in Winston-Salem was about $3,500 higher on the same exact truck that I ended up getting. My Denali has everything but the break box and driver alert package. I ended up buying from Vestal GMC in Kernersville. They through in a $400 Line-x bedliner as well. I could not believe how much cheaper they were on the same truck. I thought about having mine built but after reading forums telling me dealerships say 7-10 weeks but it's usually closer to 16 weeks, I just had Vestal locate my truck and put it on a rollback here.

I've had mine for nearly 3 weeks with 1k miles on it. No significant problems really. My rear tailgate won't lock/unlock with the key. Will have that fixed on the 1st service. Love the ride and quietness of the cab. Enjoy your truck. Let me know when it arrives. What color did you order? My favorite color if I were ordering would be that Iridium. Man, that's a gorgeous color.

CorvetteOJ · February 4, 2014

Neither. Xpel Ultimate.

There is a member here CorvetteOJ getting his done today with xpel ultimate, maybe he'll chime in with how it came out.

here is a link to coverage areas and pricing. http://www.xpel.com/products/paint_protection_kits.asp

Yea Brent, I just found this thread. Yes, I did meet with my local Xpel guy yesterday. As a matter of fact we met at a fancy building housing a local Doctor's private collection of mostly classic automobiles. He had two Ferraris in there that had clear bras on them. One was a 3m bra that had been there for a few years and the other was the Xpel ultimate my guy had installed a couple months ago. You could see the line on the 3m but I swear I had to look and inspect the Xpel for a long time before I could tell where the line was, and then only by looking at a certain angle. I was overly impressed. He has to order the kits I want, but hopefully he will have it in time to install by Friday, if not, Monday of next week. I am getting the entire bumper, the leading edge of the hood, the A pillars, and the leading edge of the roof covered. Total cost $750, and worth every penny to me.

Lee I have four chips on my bumber, two of which are about the size of a dime. I posted the entire story in a previous thread. My dealer's body shop did the same thing for me, touched them up, but I made four trips to the body shop before they got it built up enough to sand, buff, and polish. You should see them now. I was sick when I first saw them, but I'm good now. I will let you guys know how it works out when he gets it done. Good luck with yours Lee. By the way, thanks again Brent for your advice and counsel, I appreciate it more than you know.

brentadams646 · February 4, 2014

Yea Brent, I just found this thread. Yes, I did meet with my local Xpel guy yesterday. As a matter of fact we met at a fancy building housing a local Doctor's private collection of mostly classic automobiles. He had two Ferraris in there that had clear bras on them. One was a 3m bra that had been there for a few years and the other was the Xpel ultimate my guy had installed a couple months ago. You could see the line on the 3m but I swear I had to look and inspect the Xpel for a long time before I could tell where the line was, and then only by looking at a certain angle. I was overly impressed. He has to order the kits I want, but hopefully he will have it in time to install by Friday, if not, Monday of next week. I am getting the entire bumper, the leading edge of the hood, the A pillars, and the leading edge of the roof covered. Total cost $750, and worth every penny to me.

Lee I have four chips on my bumber, two of which are about the size of a dime. I posted the entire story in a previous thread. My dealer's body shop did the same thing for me, touched them up, but I made four trips to the body shop before they got it built up enough to sand, buff, and polish. You should see them now. I was sick when I first saw them, but I'm good now. I will let you guys know how it works out when he gets it done. Good luck with yours Lee. By the way, thanks again Brent for your advice and counsel, I appreciate it more than you know.

No problem!! Glad I could help, xpel is really a great product. Those touch up areas will really disappear once the clear bra is applied!

For anyone located in Houston, Texas. I used to work for a shop called EVS Motors. They do outstanding work and only use the best quality products including Xpel Ultimate. Talk to Ted and let him know Brent sent you and he'll take care of you!

EVS Motors

12320 Bellaire Blvd

Houston, Texas 77072

713-588-2308

Coach Hill · February 4, 2014

Lee,

I couldn't get a good deal through Flow either. In fact, they are just a little too arrogant for me. I talked to about 10 different dealers, including one in Virginia and one in West Virginia. Davis Chevrolet/Buick/GMC in Lexington kicked all of their butts in price. In fact, they ordered me a Sonoma red Denali 4wd with the 6.2 and everything else except driver alert and rear seat dvd for around $2500 less than the other dealers wanted for the same truck with the 5.3. I ordered it on the spot as soon as he told me the price. He laughed and said "I must have beaten everyone else's price." I knew I would have to wait, but that wasn't really a big deal to get the truck exactly like I wanted it. I actually found them through the TrueCar thing on the internet but yeah they were great. It was New Year's Eve when we ordered so I'm thinking probably sometime in March when it arrives but that gives me time to prepare for it. Already had some things I wanted to do to it, and now I'm learning some new things on this forum as well.

I have seen on here and heard in person that it costs more to order a vehicle, but that was not my experience with this dealer. They literally told me they would prefer to order exactly what I wanted as the vehicle wouldn't be sitting on the lot for "x" amount of days and them having to maintain it. It surprised me to hear that but it actually makes sense if you think about it.

Bill791 · February 4, 2014

I just did my 2014 silverado with Suntek and love it. Very easy to do and self healing

GMC-AT · February 4, 2014

link? more info?

Bill791 · February 4, 2014

I got it on eBay the guy will pre-cut it you can look at suntek.com for info and what pre-cut they do

Sox Fan · February 4, 2014

suntekfilms.com

LeeDowney · February 4, 2014

Lee,

I couldn't get a good deal through Flow either. In fact, they are just a little too arrogant for me. I talked to about 10 different dealers, including one in Virginia and one in West Virginia. Davis Chevrolet/Buick/GMC in Lexington kicked all of their butts in price. In fact, they ordered me a Sonoma red Denali 4wd with the 6.2 and everything else except driver alert and rear seat dvd for around $2500 less than the other dealers wanted for the same truck with the 5.3. I ordered it on the spot as soon as he told me the price. He laughed and said "I must have beaten everyone else's price." I knew I would have to wait, but that wasn't really a big deal to get the truck exactly like I wanted it. I actually found them through the TrueCar thing on the internet but yeah they were great. It was New Year's Eve when we ordered so I'm thinking probably sometime in March when it arrives but that gives me time to prepare for it. Already had some things I wanted to do to it, and now I'm learning some new things on this forum as well.

I have seen on here and heard in person that it costs more to order a vehicle, but that was not my experience with this dealer. They literally told me they would prefer to order exactly what I wanted as the vehicle wouldn't be sitting on the lot for "x" amount of days and them having to maintain it. It surprised me to hear that but it actually makes sense if you think about it.

Derrick. Yeah, I found the same experience at Davis GMC in Lexington. I actually work in Lexington so they would have been right down the street for me. And you're right, they beat everyone's price. I ended up going with Vestal because they could actually get the Denali I wanted in a matter of days vs ordering it for the same price they quoted me at Davis. If you bought from them, you saved some bucks. I found the same experience as you did with Flow GMC in Winston. They were arrogant and acted like it I should be thankful they're willing to sell me a truck. It was a complete turn off. I ride by there all the time and see people buying GMC's from them and I wonder why people don't shop around more. Flow has the Lexus dealership on Jonestown road. I figured since I was trading in a 2013 GX, they would give me the best deal since they have a dealership 2 miles away owned by the same company. WRONG. They offered me $46k. Davis and Vestal (who don't owned a Lexus dealership) offered me $50k for the vehicle. That and along with them coming off sticker by $5k through rebates made a world of difference.

Well, glad you bought from Davis. I know they did you right. My salesman was Mike Ferrell. Great guy. Make sure you post some pics of it when it arrives. I haven't seen that color on a Denali.

Coach Hill · February 4, 2014

You got it! Mike Ferrell! That's him. If you work in Lexington, I'll be sure to give you a heads up when it comes in and maybe you can go by and check it out on your lunch break or something. It will likely be the next day before I am able to go pick it up.

Cheers

The Duke · February 4, 2014

I have had four new vehicles protected with 3M invisible bra, starting with a new red 2006 Charger and now have a 2012 Sierra Denali and a 2013 Yukon Denali. The first thing that I do when I buy a new vehicle is have the 3M installed before I start driving it! I have no chips on either Denali. I get the complete front end, hood piece, front fender edges, door edges, door handle buckets, inside door sills, and rocker panels front to back. I also have my headlights and foglights done. They are gaurenteed against breakage! I love it and consider it a great investment! When I sale or trade my vehicles the buyer or dealer loves it too! They will even do your mirrors if they are painted. Two of mine were but both present one's are chrome. Use a 3M certified installer and everything is gaurenteed for five years! You can find your closest installer on 3M's website.

LeeDowney · February 5, 2014

I have had four new vehicles protected with 3M invisible bra, starting with a new red 2006 Charger and now have a 2012 Sierra Denali and a 2013 Yukon Denali. The first thing that I do when I buy a new vehicle is have the 3M installed before I start driving it! I have no chips on either Denali. I get the complete front end, hood piece, front fender edges, door edges, door handle buckets, inside door sills, and rocker panels front to back. I also have my headlights and foglights done. They are gaurenteed against breakage! I love it and consider it a great investment! When I sale or trade my vehicles the buyer or dealer loves it too! They will even do your mirrors if they are painted. Two of mine were but both present one's are chrome. Use a 3M certified installer and everything is gaurenteed for five years! You can find your closest installer on 3M's website.

Yeah, everything I've read about the quality 3m products have been good. When I look at my local Xpel installer here in Winston, his whole website is all about how great 3M products are. He only installs Xpel now. Guess he hasn't updated his website. Not sure why 3M was so great yesterday but today everyone says it's crap. I'm not looking to keep my truck for 20 years. Maybe 5-8 years. Oh well. Thanks for your input on the 3m film.

brentadams646 · February 5, 2014

Yeah, everything I've read about the quality 3m products have been good. When I look at my local Xpel installer here in Winston, his whole website is all about how great 3M products are. He only installs Xpel now. Guess he hasn't updated his website. Not sure why 3M was so great yesterday but today everyone says it's crap. I'm not looking to keep my truck for 20 years. Maybe 5-8 years. Oh well. Thanks for your input on the 3m film.

If you had a color like silver, red or pearl white or something along the lighter colors 3M will be fine. Where 3M will not be good, is black or white, those colors will show either the excessive orange peel effect the 3M film has or the yellow color tone of the 3M (even when brand new). I'll try to find a pic of yellowing 3M from our shop.

Oh and another thing to mention, is xpel's templates roll edges. Unless your dealer/installer tweaks the 3M templates the will most likely not roll the edges like xpel.

The Duke · February 6, 2014

If you had a color like silver, red or pearl white or something along the lighter colors 3M will be fine. Where 3M will not be good, is black or white, those colors will show either the excessive orange peel effect the 3M film has or the yellow color tone of the 3M (even when brand new). I'll try to find a pic of yellowing 3M from our shop.

Oh and another thing to mention, is xpel's templates roll edges. Unless your dealer/installer tweaks the 3M templates the will most likely not roll the edges like xpel.

The first car that I had the 3M installed on was my 2006 C

harger with the metallic three-step ToRed paint, which I think is as bad as black, and I sold the car to the guy who does my service work and it still looks as good as new! I have had the 3M on a silver Denali and now on two white-diamond Denali's and have nothing but good to say about it on these three colors. The only people that I have heard knock the 3M, is people that either sell something else or have never "owned it!"