I asked Premier about it. They didn't recommend it. I did do the black strips in front and behind the GR though...did the door handle cups, mirrors and rear bumper edge that meets the trunk opening.

 

The lights and dogs are done primarily to avoid them hazing or oxidizing over time. They are plastic. I wouldn't put any film on the glass roof.

 

Thanks! Ahh....another expense, that isn't even a "fun" expense. LOL

 

I will definitely have those done - only 15,000 miles on this car and already can see the hazing starting. I wish they were glass for cleaning purposes!

 

Exactly. It was the worst $1600 I've ever spent lol. Just not a fun mod.

 

Headlights used to be glass. It was a DOT mandate for safety that they move to plastic I want to say in the late 90's.

 

I keep wondering when things like gorilla glass will be used in automotive. Headlights, windshields. Think of the weight savings.

 

I have window tint - what purpose does filming the window tint serve? Saving it from scratches?

Guess I am in the camp of deciding what is less expensive in the long run - finding a really good chip fixer and having the car done once in awhile, or spending the big bucks all at once on filming the car. At least partially anyway. I already have a few chips on this car since it came out of Alaska. They've been touched up for color, but not leveled out, so I'll have to have that done before having any clear bra put on.

 

Before you put any film over them, you'll want to restore the plastic first. You can basically wet sand, polish, then coat them with plastic sealant.

 

I think Laser means that the same shop installed his tint as well.

 

Haha....thanks for re-reading it for me! I guess it could be taken either way. I'm sure that's what he meant, well, now that you pointed it out :-)

 

And the real bummer is - the longer it's put off, the more it costs to get the car ship shape to even put it on....because who wants to put film over unrepaired damage? This blows darts, lol. They should just do it at the factory dammit. Or better yet, make self healing paint.

 

Yep, back in the good old days. I was looking at some car pictures the other day...I think late eighties cars - when rectangular headlights were ALL the rage and wondered to myself, whether rectangular headlights would ever come back into style. Of course, they kinda matched the boxy shapes going on back then.

 

Yeah I had 2 big chips from the 1k mile drive home. If they use a thin film, it'll be okay, but the thicker films will actually bubble up over the chips, drawing more attention to them.

 

I've been wondering about this idea myself. If the vinyl wraps (not clear, I mean other colors) get cheap enough in the future, I wonder if they'll just stop painting cars at the factory someday. They'd either wrap it at the factory or it comes to you raw and the dealer/aftermarket does it.

The idea is the vinyl wrap is your "self healing paint," I'm not sure I made that obvious.

 

Great idea.

 

It's a possibility, but the panels would have to be plastic of some other composite. I mean, if they sealed the metal, they could do it now, but no one would buy unpainted cars, except for the few crazy enthusiasts like us.

 

I think the problem is (not that I really know this, lol) - I'm pretty sure at the factory, the bulk, if not all, of the painting is done by automation and so they have it down, quality control (yeah...well), and the factory paint job probably doesn't cost all that much. Not sure how they would do wraps in an automated environment, and if they sent it out to have it done at the dealer level, well, we all know dealers are not created equal.

Maybe they should just do a paint delete option and charge less for the car for those who would want to do it afterwards at a vendor of choice. That might work :-)

Hmm.......

 

I went with these on the lens covers. Much thicker than the mask and I can't see any hazing whatsoever:

LampGard Headlight Protection
http://www.weathertech.com/lampgard/

 

True - not even worthy to be on a mod list.

I had 3M mask done the first week along with tint and wrapped it in the payment. It's just one of those necessary things. Did it on my new winter car too. Won't go without it in this land of bugs and flying rocks!
(You should see the front of my old pickup after years without anything. )