How does the Clear Guard compare to Xpell Ultimate?

 

No comparison on the self-healing and if you look at the clarity, Xpel has a lot of orange peel texture

 

Someone keyed this Porsche:

 

X-pel has been my choice, very happy with it

 

If you plan on only hand washing the vehicle with proper techniques then go with a good glass coating (Ceramic). I have tried many and prefer 22ple and Kamikaze Miyabi and ISM for the number one and two choice respectively. As a noobie you will use at least 30ml of coating your first time per vehicle and its best to put two coats. I would highly recommend taking each wheel off and coating both the face and barrel of the wheels which will make them look tons better and make cleaning 10x easier. You only use soap to clean them.

It is best to do a paint correction before applying the coatings. These will last you at least 3-5yrs depending on how you take care of them. I would use Kamikazee Overcoat about once per 3-4 months just to rejuvenate the coatings.

Zaino is for Corvette owners; junk product like so many others

Yes, Ceramic coat on top of the PPF so it will last longer for you. You dont need alot of money for coatings. PS -- $5k for a full PPF vehicle is not reasonable. $9k + (depending on vehicle) is a reasonable figure for that using a quality installer.

S-Tek is one of the highest clarity films on the market and the best to use of all of them. Installers are self contained companies that warranty thier own work and installs. No manufacturer of film would replace film that was damaged or installed incorrectly by the installer. ALL of the responsibly lies on the installer not the manufacturer. So that experience is exactly what should have likely taken place as far as S-Tek is concerned. Now the installer was totally wrong and should have taken care of you as a customer. 3M film is no where close to the quality of ClearGuard, S-Tek, and XPEL. It is a pain to install also.

There are three types of installs --- Pre-Cut by plotter and program where the edges only go to 1/8 of the edge of the panels, Pre-Cut by plotter and program where edges are programmed to be longer and those are tucked underneath the panels, and custom cut where the installer cuts the film to where it is supposed to go. These vary in price due to the extra work involved. Not all edges can be tucked if not doing a custom job.

Installers is where the highest degree of scrutiny needs to be. I have seen brand new McLaren with cut marks all over the edges where the installer cut too deeply. This is not totally common but does happen often enough. The owners never know usually and only the second owner finds out when the film is removed. Sad but true. Experts can cut on the vehicle and be fine, but it takes almost years of practice. I prefer not too, i am not experienced enough so i know when to say when.

The film as explained above can be removed by using steam and pulled TOWARDS you at an angle and it will slowly pop or peel off leaving no glue behind. Panel will be just like when you installed it. However, as also mentioned above, IF there ever was any type of non factory paint work done on that panel it is impossible to tell whether the paint will peel or flake off when the film is removed.

Film is great if you can afford it. If not then ceramic coat the vehicle for a much lower maintenance but better looking vehicle.

Hope all this helps, one of the members listed a thread I wrote above, i might need to look at it as i wrote it several years ago and things might have changed a bit over that time.

In the end, everyone has a preference to what they like installing. PPF installers typically only install PPF and dont get into Ceramic or paint corrections. Some shops do but you have to realize, PPF is where thier money is made so they will sell that as the premier product, the others are add ons that dont necessarily get the same attention.

When i did this type of work ( I do NOT now) I charged 2-3k for a front end wrapped for an Aston depending model or a 1 piece film for a new model Vantage or DBS, 1-2k for a paint correction, and 1-2k for ceramic coatings depending on coverage. So an owner who wanted a very perfect and protected Aston or any other exotic would pay $4k minimum depending on coverage of products. I knew shops that would say they did all that for 3k or less. But the work was no where the same in the end, regardless if the owner didnt know the difference on his own.

 

This stuff is all excellent - and has given me a lot to think about. Right now I am leaning toward a front wrap for rock chips and ceramic coating. Even then, there is so much to think about...things have changed a lot since the old can of simonize

 

You can do the ceramic coating yourself if you have some patience and some experience applying products. 22ple i have found to be the easiest without problems, which there are several when applying that can cause headaches. Make sure you research your installer for PPF and what product they use. Installer is more important than the product. Ask about knife usage on the paint, ask what to expect wen dealing with lift lines, silvering of the glue, dust or hair under the film. Make sure you have them say there will be none on the final product.

 

this is great advice...I had the guy who has done my window tinting for 20 years do my headlights (should have been a simple job...) and left smudges on it that can be seen without thr lights on...

 

We recommend the following for any car owner:

1. Precut vs. Custom -
A) Not all precut installers are equal - look at work in person and do not rely on claims
B) "Certified Installers" to be honest, does not mean much. To get certified from any of the manufacturers out there really only means they took a 1 or 2 day course. Then off they go installing onto cars. History, experience are much more important
C) There is always a debate between precut and custom installations. Precuts are great for quick installs, but generally do not have as great coverage and seamlessness as custom. However, custom takes a much higher degree of installation skill / experience to achieve. One custom installer to another can mean 2 very different results - experience, experience, experience. Do not go by just claims of "xxx" yrs of experience. Many companies would tout 20+ combined years of experience....taking this example.....one company can have 5 installers with a combined 4 yrs of experience to get that "20" years.
2. Films - this makes a whole lot of difference. Some films like 3M and Xpel have a whole lot of orange peel texture. The clearer the film, the more difficult it is to install as films with orange peel texture tend to hide installation flaws.
3. Film's performance: These are things to look for
A) Clarity - look at it under fluorescent lighting. Also darker colored cars show the film's clarity or lack thereof more
B) Self-healing - product like ClearGuard Alpha for example does not require any form of heat to self-heal. Others need a heat source. To be honest, it is not practical for a car owner to pull out a heat gun to blow the film or bring in hot water to pour all over the car to achieve this.
C) Chemical etch resistance - this is very important if you get hard water, say from sprinklers, this can etch into the film.


Hope this helps!

 

Everything said above is absolutely perfect advice. ClearGuard Alpha is one of the top tiered films. I personally just prefer S-TEK who is also the leader in fashion films such as gloss black PPF or matte black PPF. Pre-Cut installations are fine, but it boils down to what is inputted into the computer and how the installer manipulates the program; such as extending the edges to wrap around panels. Not all programs are correct and good to use. 3M pro is good but has orange peel and glue is extra thick. Xpel is another world. It has orange peel also, but glue is workable. However, Xpel runs off name recognition too. From what i had gathered XPEL is now saying they will only warranty thier films IF thier OWN Fuson coating is applied initially, then once per year maintained by the installer. (the coating is junk IMHO; there is no dwell time when installing you have to remove immediately, gloss is less than noticeable) With most good coatings the applicator, within a few hours, hardens up and the more it hardens the higher the silica dioxide content was in the coating. The Si-02 is what helps to create the stellar gloss levels. What most people do not know is that while you can buy a Si-02 coating on Amazon for less than $25 for 30ml, it is a highly inferior product to the one that a boutique maker has for $125 for 30ml. Cheap coatings are cheap coatings. They have very little Si-02 in them and if they have any its a very cheap portion. There are different levels of the Silica used and price can be high for the best. Titanium dioxide is also now starting to be used by the best coating makers on the market. Its all in longevity and gloss levels.

If you have water spotting issues with your current water, please invest in a water filtration system what will remove contaminants and chemicals to prevent water spots. They will ruin your PPF and also cause ceramic coatings to water spot and both are a massive pain to remove. You can get these systems for less than $200.

 

Funny you say that because the Corvette community is exactly where I learned of Zaino. Haha!

 

SheriffDep, you seem to know a lot about this. Can you recommend products for those of us without protective film to protect and shine our cars? For those with protective film, should they use the same thing over the film?

 

Honestly my opinion almost changes per vehicle: rarity, collector, BLACK paint etc.... Rare or sometimes Collector i suggest traditional sealant and carnauba waxes; daily drivers and non special cars or cars that wont need to be kept perfect for 30 yrs can get the coatings no issue. Problem is anytime future scratches have to be polished out, cutting through the coatings sometimes removes more clear than necessary. So just dont suggest that on rare or future collector cars. Hope that makes sense.

My Black DB9 has the softest most easily scratchable paint i have ever seen. So i opted to do Kamikaze Coatings Miyabi x2 and ISM on top of all PPF surfaces, 22ple Trim on all trim black pieces, wheel well liners, 22ple on all metal under tray, muffler, exhaust tips, and for non-PPF surfaces i used traditional sealant and carnauba wax. (AMMO Skin and Creme) I did this so that i could very lightly polish the non PPF surfaces when i wanted and just reapply the protectant on those areas. I used the 22ple pro only Mistico Elemento coating on my RRS. And the 22ple VX PRO on my 1992 Mustang 5.0.

For somewhat normal people i would suggest (this is personal due to experience in using and totally able to be done by you with a bit of practice) is use either 22ple HPC coating, (i am trying the Insanity this week) or the Kamikaze Miyabi ISM combo for your long term protection. MUST absolutely remove each wheel, clean it, and apply the coating to the barrel and face during the coating process. This will allow you to wash the whole vehicle with soap and a microfiber towel only. No degreasers used. This will give you anywhere from 3-5 years or so for protection.

Rejuvenating the coating i would suggest the Kamikaze Overcoat applied to a Gyeon silk dryer towel and do that once per 3 months or so. More if you hand dry you vehicle which i never suggest. I suggest using a dedicated blower to dry them to keep from scratching the paint. 25% of your scratches come from washing the paint, and 75% come from drying your paint. Even using great products you have to be careful. Use a Big Boi or Metro drying machine ( GET THE EXPENSIVE one only, it will pay off in your time, and ease of drying) Goal is to not touch your paint.

Let me know if there is anything else you would like to know. ( Sealants such as AMMO Skin, Blackfire, Pinnacle, and Gyeon and other top of the line brands are mostly all great) I just prefer AMMO products.

Sheriffdep

 

Thanks for taking the time to write all of that up. I had to do a bit of research to figure out what any of those products were but now I think I understand it a lot more. I grew up just using simple liquid wax on my cars and doing that every couple months, which I assume is still fine, but more labor intensive. I'll have to look into doing a ppf on my car first and then setting myself up with a good sealant.

And possibly a dumb question, but is there a reason someone can't use a strong leaf-blower on their car for drying instead of these blower vacs? Is there really that much of a difference between the two?

 

Yes, thanks Sheriffdep for sharing your thoughts. Your philosophy about what cars are best suited for coatings vs. polymer/wax is shared by many within the high-end detailing community (and myself). I just can't bring myself to coat my collectibles, even though my experience with Kamikaze products (Miyabi, Zipang, Stance, and Overcoat) has been exceptional. Have you tried their quick detailer yet?

Playing around a bit last year, I applied Overcoat on top of a polymer sealant. I was pretty blown away by the result. Perhaps its because my sealant didn't have the gloss I thought it did (Zaino), but Overcoat made the paint absolute pop. I really like the look, and since Overcoat is just a topper it's easy to remove. Does it offer the long term protection of a true coating? Of course not. But it looks incredible and there's no real downside other than cost.