kymbakitty

So I was driving home from work and out of nowhere came a flat metal object that collided with my car. It looked like it might have been cardboard, but regardless, there was no way to moving out of its path. I knew when it came in contact with my car that it was NOT cardboard.


Anyway, getting a few estimates and so far it has been around $4k. But what I am trying to figure out is whether I have protective film on the front bumper. I cannot imagine that we paid $429 for some film on the hood and two small sections on either side of the front fenders, but it looks like that might have been the case. The auto body shop said we do not have protective film on the bumper. So I thought I would check on this forum first (learned more about my car here than ALL the dealers we visited before buying our car).


Reading the option, it can be construed that the bumper can be done also, but there is no additional charge shown (other than the original $429). So I can see how it would be excluded. I do not remember being offered to do the front bumper, but I certainly would like to now.


Did anyone else get the film and know exactly what it covers? Did anyone get the bumper covered also and if so, was it more than the $429? I may as well do it, but I know the insurance will not cover it if it was not already there before the incident.


I'm just having a hard time wrapping my brain around the cost of $429 being merely the lower part of the hood and just small portions of the left/right fender. If that is the case, what would they have charged me for the bumpers?

Thanks all....


Dawn

Radical350

Feeling your pain, sorry to see this happened.

After one year I have 100 little nicks on the front bumper. I opted not to apply film on mine. Though I drive in a harsh road environment... I had it on my previous ride and it started to show the rock chip artifacts in the film over time. And it is expensive to remove.

Hope your repairs go well.

red93sc

I almost had a similar situation on the interstate, which lead me to add the front bumper protection to mine. I know the factory film has minimal coverage . The additional dealer installed "full protection" is over priced for the lower quality films offered.
I picked up my headlight protection from this Ebay dealer (Drosaid) offering a great price for Expel Precut films.
Then purchased the full front bumper protection Kit from him for a great price. (He will offer deals from the club members, Just IM him my user Id with club lexus). From the pictures of your damage. I think the Flexibility of the Expel Film may have minimized your paint damage.

I know its an after thought, but its a great investment to apply after your paint repairs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Xpel-Ultimat...-/221796644822

tfischer

If you go onto the Xpel site, for example, you will see that the film can be applied to as much or as little of the car as you want. The front third of the hood is usually where everyone starts, but the whole hood can be covered, as well as the fenders, the bumpers, the mirrors (common), the strip of the roof between the windshield and the sunroof, and often the horizontal area in front of the trunk opening (the luggage strip, which gets scratched from things going into and out of the trunk). In other words, from here there is no way to tell how much film you had on your car. If you just got some dealer installed "option," it was probably not much. If you went to a detailer and discussed the installation, then you would have a receipt and would probably remember because each piece has its own charge, and it can add up. $429 won't cover much, so I doubt that you had film on the bumpers.
Hood, front fenders (around the headlights on the RC, and the mirrors are the most common. Get these done by a certified installer when you get your car fixed up, and stay away from that dealer-installed film because you don't know what you are getting.

kymbakitty

Thanks everyone. I got out all my paperwork and it appears that I (over) paid $429 for part of the hood and the front part of the l/r fenders.

But I'm wondering.....are you saying that the film that was showing rock chip artifacts was a bigger evil than the appearance of the bumper had you not had the film? You opted not to get it on your other bumper with personal experience of having it (on other car).

The good news (bad ?) is that the metal object that hit me tore into the plastic so this film would not have changed the outcome in this case. But it certainly lets us know that 1) we did not have it like we thought we did and 2) decide if we want to get it after the bumper is replaced.

I think we need to wait 30 days post paint, is this the case with the non dealer application too?

Thanks!

GearHead69

I did my entire hood, lower bumper, headlights, and mirrors with XPEL. After a year of driving and seeing all the small nicks in the XPEL I had the hood redone under warranty. Guess what, when the XPEL was taken off none of the nicks even made though the XPEL, and the hood was in perfect condition.

Yes, it is expensive, but in my book it was totally worth it.

kymbakitty

Okay, maybe I am missing the obvious here, but do you plan on R&R the film every couple of years or are you just interested in preserving the paint for when you plan to resell it?

If all the nicks are visible to the naked eye, but protected underneath the film, then you still see all the nicks in the paint job. Only you know they are not actually in the paint but you still have a nicked up paint job (to the naked eye).

So why bother unless you are going to replace this film every couple of years. Not a bad idea I suppose...but I guess that depends on how much it costs to have it installed. Unless you are protecting the paint job for the day you sell it and are not really concerned with how many nicks "appear" to be in your bumper. I can understand that too. Just trying to learn here.

I'm getting a quote from Rocky Mountain in Sacramento for a clear protective bra so I'll know how expensive this option is pretty soon--ha!

Dawn

tfischer

The real value of the film is to protect the paint because repairs to is are so expensive. Most nicks to the film to not show up, and if a few do, it's not nearly as conspicuous as a nick in the paint. Some films suggest that they "heal," which probably means they have some elasticity and memory in them.
I used to use a regular car bra, but putting it on and off for road trips was a pain, and you can get a stone chip right down the street anyway. I put the clear film on my RC and love it. I went with the high end Xpel and think it's a great product. After a year and about 7,000 miles, mostly on the highway, it's still very hard to tell that any film is on the car at all.
Highly recommended, but get the job done by an experienced installer, and my suggestion would be to not arrange for that through your dealership. Find an installer, usually a high-end detailer, and deal with him or her directly.

kymbakitty

I'm definitely not going through the dealer if we do get the bra. Not after discovering that we paid $429 for partial hood and just a little of the l/r fenders. Rip off.

There is a very well respected company in Sacramento that does a lot of Lexus work, so I am going to start with them.

Does anyone have a ballpark for the bra? $300....$500....$800?

http://www.rockymountaintint.com/ser...protection.htm

GearHead69

Dawn, the price for doing the full hood, lower bumper, front headlights, mirrors and the gas door with XPEL was $1100. I put it on to protect the paint, and while the film does self heal it is only for low speed hits of debris as when driving on city streets. When driving on the highway doing 70, and a rock hits your car it's impact speed is more like 140 mph, and not even XPEL will self heal from that.

Yes, I see small tears in the XPEL, but I know the paint is good underneath, unless it was a really big rock. I also put it on for when I go to sell the car eventually, as I can take off the bra and the paint will be like brand new.

When looking for an XPEL dealer go to the XPEL website and look up their dealer network. Find one that is very experienced in installing XPEL as that is what I did even if I drove 40 miles and there was one in my own town. Hope that helped.

kymbakitty

I definitely won't do the hood. I see no reason to remove the protective film that I already put on. I have no issues with it...it seems to be working fine.


But I will see about all the other areas--although the gas lid doesn't make sense to me, but the mirrors and headlights do. So I will see about getting the others done.


Fortunately, Rocky Mountain is on that list from the website.


Thanks!!


Dawn

tfischer

As usual, I agree with GH Pete.
When I get a new phone, I put a good clear film on the front, and usually the back as well, made of the same material as Xpel (look at Bodyguardz), as I don't like heavy or thick cases. When I go to sell the phone, I peel off the film and the phone, which has been in my pocket for a year or two with my keys and loose change, looks like new, and I get a very nice price. I'm hoping this process will work for my RC as well.

tfischer

Dawn:
I agree. If you have film on the hood, leave it there. Do the mirrors and the front bumpers. The fenders are pretty low risk, as are the rocker panels. There is no reason to do the door to the gas tank - I've never heard of that getting nicked. Skip the area above the windshield, as that's also a long shot.
The only other area you might consider is the flat top of the bumper at the trunk - this does get scratched a bit from things going into and out of the trunk, and the cost is very small, because it's a simple rectangular piece - they probably use some scrap. I think my installer charged me about $45.00 for it.

kymbakitty

Thanks....what do you think that would cost (what you said above)....maybe $800?


Do I still need to wait 30 days after the paint job?


And by the way, we have already had to R&R a rocker panel. My husband scratched it (really bad) parking. I wasn't there--I have no idea. But it turned out that the rocker panel is one of just a handful of items that come pre painted so to R&R the entire rocker panel was under $1k.


Yeah!