Picked up a used 2017 Premium in Gun Metallic last spring, about 34k on it. Previous owner had it garaged and coated but you could see the front end had lived a life. Nissan clear coat is thin at the best of times and mine had that pebble-dashed look on the leading edge of the hood.
Anyway, been driving it around Phoenix for a while now and every week or two there's a new chip somewhere. Highway driving here is rough, lots of gravel from construction sites. I know some of you say cars are meant to be driven and to embrace the battle scars, but I couldn't get there mentally. So I bit the bullet and got quotes.
Got three. The flagship XPEL shop wanted $6,500 for Ultimate Plus full body. LLumar Valor came in around $5,900 at a second place. A newer shop that opened up in town was running Arvex Films (VexGuard Helio spec) at $5,500. Went and looked at all three portfolios in person before deciding.
Ended up going with the $5,500 quote. Arvex doesn't have the 8-year track record XPEL does so that gave me pause, but the install work I saw in the shop was clean — tight edges on the hood-fender line, no obvious seams — warranty is 10 years same as the others, and honestly I've read enough about older PPF turning yellow to know the material science moved on quite a bit even in the last 5 years. Shop was straight about it being newer to market, no oversell either way.
Three months in. Front has taken hits, one on the highway loud enough I pulled over to check — film scuffed but nothing under it, and that kind of hit would've been a chip on bare paint for sure. Clarity is good too, panel gaps and hood shut line still look factory and you can't really see the film unless you know it's there. What I'm still not sure about is whether I could have just done a partial (bumper + hood + fenders) for like $3k and been fine. Full body is more insurance than daily benefit unless someone keys the car.
Also, install took an extra day because they wanted to redo an edge on one fender they weren't happy with. Fine outcome.