Stone Chip protection: good or bad?
Stone Chip protection: good or bad?
Author
Discussion

andy 111

Original Poster:

9 posts

257 months

Wednesday 8th June 2005
quotequote all
Hi!

Need some quick advice!

Going to Le Mans next week so have the Elise booked in for its 1k miles service tomorrow. Had the car for about a month and already have a couple of paint chips :mad:

Should I get the film protection put on at the service before it gets ragged in France next week? Think its going to be around £300. Apart from the price, any down-sides? How much chipping should I expect without it on?

(BTW: the car is silver)

Any advice would be appreciated.

Andy

cuzza

2,042 posts

283 months

Wednesday 8th June 2005
quotequote all
Paint chips hardly show on the silver cars so they won't be that obvious.

For £300 you can get a front clam re-spray when you decide it's that bad.

I have Armorfend on mine (also silver) and it has yellowed in the sun and needs removing which is a pain with bigger bits (mine is only done in front of the rear arches and the air inlet).

In summary I wouldn't bother

Edit>> See you at the PH meet on Friday at Indianapolis corner?

>> Edited by cuzza on Wednesday 8th June 14:26

andy 111

Original Poster:

9 posts

257 months

Wednesday 8th June 2005
quotequote all
cuzza said:
Paint chips hardly show on the silver cars so they won't be that obvious.

For £300 you can get a front clam re-spray when you decide it's that bad.

I have Armorfend on mine (also silver) and it has yellowed in the sun and needs removing which is a pain with bigger bits (mine is only done in front of the rear arches and the air inlet).

In summary I wouldn't bother

Edit>> See you at the PH meet on Friday at Indianapolis corner?

>> Edited by cuzza on Wednesday 8th June 14:26


Thanks for that...yeah definitely at Indy on Friday...hope to see you there.
Andy

bogie

17,100 posts

302 months

Wednesday 8th June 2005
quotequote all
you need to get real Armourfend, rather than the stuff Lotus use - it dosent go yellow.

Saying that, if you already have stone chips, then theres no point - it will look awful on top of them...wait a couple of years, then have a fron spray for £500 ish...then stick armourfend on.

I didnt have it from new on my car - I thought it was too expensive...1 year later (25K miles) and my black car with white undercoat looks pretty peppered....had a bump on the front end with a rabbit, insurance job, so got armourfend after respray - it still looks brand new now 2 years and another 40K miles on.

dss123

351 posts

266 months

Thursday 9th June 2005
quotequote all
A agree with Bogie.

Wait for a re-spray then get it fitted.

It's great stuff, I've had some real knocks in mine, big stones flicked up by lorries etc. Not a mark on her!

I have heard that it can yellow, but I don't really notice on my (orange) car. Guess it would show worst on silver - sorry.


Duncs

octane

205 posts

259 months

Thursday 9th June 2005
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It looks ok until a stone damages the film then its a right mess

Would not bother

TCee

11 posts

257 months

Thursday 9th June 2005
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I agree....stone chip on paint....stone chip on film.....it's looks awful on both so why bother??

dss123

351 posts

266 months

Friday 10th June 2005
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I must have some good stuff then, 'cos my film just does not chip and looks great!

Dunc

P.S its over 5 years old now!

bogie

17,100 posts

302 months

Friday 10th June 2005
quotequote all
neither does mine....done track and airfield days, and 40K miles since fitted...looks like new...unlike the Lotus supplied stuff around the rear wheel arches which is really peepered and rough looking....theres obviously more than meets the eye, when selecting this film

octane

205 posts

259 months

Friday 10th June 2005
quotequote all
well you guys must be lucky with stones then!

Ive had it on 2 cars- both armourfend and it was damaged.

Actually if you think that a stone can smash your windscreen the same stone does no dmage to armouguard??????? come on!

dss123

351 posts

266 months

Friday 10th June 2005
quotequote all
I can only say as I See Octane.

Mine seems resistant to the sort of stones that will cause paint chips, which is the whole point isn't it.

Sure, I guess it would mark if I lobbed a brick at it but all I care about is that my front clam looks spotless (except a rather large number of bugs at the mo!)

I think there must be different grades out there and it is probably sensitive to the paint it's stuck to, humidity when fitted, skill of the fitter, etc etc.

Like I say, guess I've been lucky but based on my experiences I would recommend it.

Duncs

bogie

17,100 posts

302 months

Friday 10th June 2005
quotequote all
well mines been on 2 years and 40K miles and looks like new...if it gets real bad in 2 years time, I will have new stuff fitted - £300 ish.

That sure beats a £500-600 front end respray every year ....if you are not bothered about this then just leave the stone chips...not really a big deal until you come to sell.


...strange about the stone thing though - Ive had 3 real bad chips in my screen that Ive had to have repaired !