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The Cost of Paint Protection Film Near You
We get asked all the time, “How much will it cost to get good-quality car dealership paint protection applied to my car?” Our answer is usually, “It depends.” You see, a quality Paint Protection Film installation could range from a couple of hundred dollars to several thousand dollars depending on a number of different factors. We want to make sure that our customers are satisfied with what we can offer them for their cars, so customer loyalty is important to us.
In the video above, we break down those factors and give you some ballpark figures to help you know what to expect.
If you’re looking for an expert Paint Protection Film installation in Charlotte, NC, we’d love to hear from you.
Learn more about Exclusive Paint Protection Charlotte – PPF, Ceramic Coating & Window Tinting, and schedule an appointment today.
1. What is the condition of your vehicle?
Every PPF installation begins with prep work on the car because a vehicle’s paint has to be in flawless condition before any permanent protection is applied.
Now, you may be saying, “My car is straight from the dealership. It’s already in perfect condition.” Well, the sad reality is that dealerships don’t always do the best job of caring for a car’s paint. We get cars in our shop all the time that come straight from the dealership and already have a host of paint defects and swirl marks. And when a car like that shows up for permanent protection, whoever installs that PPF is going to have to spend a lot of time preparing the paint before they can put any film on. The first thing your Paint Protection Film installer is going to consider is the condition of your vehicle. They’ll then determine how much they need to charge for prep work. That could range from $0 to $450 or $800+ depending on your market and the condition of your vehicle. Dealerships should be taking good care of the cars whilst with them and they have motor trade insurance to cover themselves just in case something does happen, however, paint is not something that will be seen as a massive deal as it is not ‘damage’ to the car, so there may be issues when leaving the dealership even if well cared for.
If you want to see an example of a car straight from the dealership that required extensive paint correction before we could apply protection, read this article.
2. How much coverage do you want?
Probably the most important factor in pricing is the coverage you want for your vehicle. Some car owners only want Paint Protection Film in the vehicle’s most vulnerable areas, like the front bumper, hood, rocker panels, and rear wheel arch. Other car owners want every external surface protected with Paint Protection Film. Obviously, the price is going to vary significantly for those two types of car owners.
The amount of coverage you want is going to affect a couple things for your installer. It’s going to impact his material cost. Most shops will be using software from their film manufacturer that lets them select the make and model of your vehicle and the kits you want on your vehicle. Then that will tell them what their material costs will be.
The amount of coverage you choose will also impact the amount of labor required for your PPF job. Different shops have different strategies for pricing labor, but a common method is to take a percentage of the material costs, since that’s reflective of how many square inches of film are going to be applied and therefore how much time it’s going to take.
3. What’s the difficulty rating of your vehicle?
Another factor that could make a difference in your Paint Protection Film installation price is how difficult it will be to apply Paint Protection Film to your specific car. Paint Protection Film obviously is a two-dimensional piece of material that has to be shaped or molded around a three-dimensional object. It has to be manipulated to go around all of the curves and contours of your car.
That means that cars with very dramatic design features or very sharp contours are more difficult to install PPF on, and therefore take more time. This factor could be another piece in determining the labor cost of your PPF job. Not all shops do this, but some shops (in addition to using a percentage of overall material costs) will factor in the installation difficulty on your specific vehicle. And usually their software will give them an installation difficulty when they select the kits.
4. Do you want additional protection services?
Lastly, a lot of Paint Protection Film shops sell other services or products that you may want to bundle with your Paint Protection Film. The most common are Window Tint and Ceramic Coating. If you are interested in those services its nice to have it done all in one place, but of course, that is going to impact your total bill.
Ballpark Figures for Paint Protection Film Cost
For some ballpark figures, jump to 3:06 in the video at the top of this post, or visit our Paint Protection Film Options page.
Learn More About Paint Protection Film
To explore pricing for your specific make and model, head over to our Paint Protection Film Options page. If you want to know more about the history and technology behind Paint Protection Film, read our article on the subject. Contact us if you are in Charlotte, NC and you’re looking for a quality Paint Protection Film installation.
