gangzoom Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Hope everyone is having a good 2015. In a few months we'll be taking delivery of a brand new car (Lexus), which is a first for us. We'll be keeping the car 5-10 years, so I started looking at various paint protection products around. The paint on the Lexus is suppose to be soft, and if its anything like the paint on our Honda, and my old 350Z it's not going to survive well against stone chips. So far there seem to be two options. 1: M3 protection film clear wrap, provides front end protection against stone chips 2: CarPro Cquartz coatings, seem to provide a semi-permeant clear coat, but need to be professionally applied. Both products will cost in the region of £500-1000 to apply, so not a small sum of money. Has anyone used these products?? I'm tempted by the M3 film, since it's a do-it once job, where as the Cquartz requires maintenance etc. Happy new year all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Don't you get a 10 year paint warranty on a new Lexus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev T Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I can personally recommend the Paintshield/M3 type clear film protection, i had 370Z done when i bought it new and there is not a single stone chip to the front, as you say not cheap but it does work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fodder Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Don't you get a 10 year paint warranty on a new Lexus. I thought these paint warranties were for imperfections not stone chips etc. gang wants protection from the latter Can't help answer your question but I do have one for you.... What Lexus have you gone for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilogikal1 Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) 2: CarPro Cquartz coatings, seem to provide a semi-permeant clear coat, but need to be professionally applied. Won't offer any protection at all against stone chips. Doesn't need to be professionally applied, but you do need to know what you're doing to get the best out of any coating. Has anyone used these products?? I'm tempted by the M3 film, since it's a do-it once job, where as the Cquartz requires maintenance etc. Again, not strictly true. The 3M film will yellow over time, the more you neglect it the quicker that will occur... it might be a "do-it-twice-or-so" type job. Cquartz doesn't require maintenance as such, but it will need reapplying every couple of years, but as I said there are (currently) no coatings, including Cquartz, that will offer protection against stone chips anyway. Edited January 1, 2015 by ilogikal1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve916 Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 This might be your only option. You could get it colour coded so you dont notice it so much 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) Would it be cheaper to get "chips away" in every few years if stone chips worry you that much, I had a few on the Zed which I touched in, didn't take long got a quote of a £80 from chips away to fix them. Edited January 1, 2015 by WhackyWill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPhoboS Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 My friend runs this place, and other mates take their Porsches/Lambos/Ferraris/Mac's etc to him. VERY good: http://cgperformance.co.uk/?page_id=751 There are some other products out there - these guys did a friends Speciale a couple of months ago, using Suntek protection, he's very happy with it ! http://www.topazlondon.com/ I hope you've bought an LFA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Personally, I wouldn't bother. Any paint film dulls the finish and you can see the edges as clear as day, which IMHO spoils the car. Sure, some are better than others, but they're all visible and dull. The posh coatings are fine, but I wouldn't go down that route as you can achieve the same results with a bloody good scrub and LSP. Also, as above there's zero protection against stone chips. It's a nice car matey, don't ruin it with films. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I know Envy use Opticoat and Liquid Elements ceramics. From what I've heard it's pretty hard core stuff. Adds a few permanent microns to the paint (essentially becoming a second hard as nails clearcoat) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPhoboS Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Any paint film dulls the finish and you can see the edges as clear as day, which IMHO spoils the car. Sure, some are better than others, but they're all visible and dull. This isn't true from all of the cars I've seen, otherwise they wouldn't have their collections wrapped in the stuff. They typically have the entire car done, extremely difficult to see edges. It's not cheap but a quality product and finish isn't usually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Difficult to see perhaps, but not impossible. Much like a wrap, something else that you can see edges on. Putting any film over the paint affects the light getting to it, and dulls the finish. You cannot get round that, no matter the cost of the stuff used. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 cheers for the advice guys. Think I'll give the film a miss, and wait to see what the paint is like on the car. The CarPro stuff does look good though, but I cannot see my self parting with £400-500 per treatment from a professional detailer.....The kit it self isn't that expensive, so might give it a go my self, but any one who has seen my handy work at cleaning cars knows my idea of polishing isn't really all that good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleR Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 All this protection coating stuff is useless for the price. The kits cost about £50, which isn't that bad if you want to do it yourself, but you'll get better results buying your own products and looking after the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 (edited) cheers for the advice guys. Think I'll give the film a miss, and wait to see what the paint is like on the car. The CarPro stuff does look good though, but I cannot see my self parting with £400-500 per treatment from a professional detailer.....The kit it self isn't that expensive, so might give it a go my self, but any one who has seen my handy work at cleaning cars knows my idea of polishing isn't really all that good As said above, I'd be inclined to save your money and just make sure you clean the car carefully with decent products and wax or seal it occasionally in the usual way. I use this product on my car two or three times a year - it's absolutely brilliant stuff and much cheaper than expensive coatings. http://www.cleanyour...9/prod_484.html Edited January 2, 2015 by sipar69 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomS Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 (edited) "SunTek Premium Self-Healing Paint Protection Film" is what you want! Read quite a few reviews of it and they all come out positive, no idea on price though Edited January 2, 2015 by TomS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPhoboS Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 It's not cheap! It's what my friend used on his 458 Speciale. Honestly the quality of it is extremely good and the car is in a slightly unusual red, Rosso Fiorano a kind of pearlescent cherry red. It still looks the dogs danglies with the film applied to that colour. However, I just wouldn't bother with anything, take care of the car (use whatever products you can, get a rotary polisher etc) and if needs be when it comes to selling, have a front end respray if there are stone chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 All this protection coating stuff is useless for the price. The kits cost about £50, which isn't that bad if you want to do it yourself, but you'll get better results buying your own products and looking after the car. Bearing in mind Tim has to use an air fed respirator when applying the liquid elements stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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