Would you buy this ITS?

[lumper]

Tail of the Dragon is on my short list too, it's just the travel involved I'd have to make an event of it and just haven't got around to mapping out the logistics. Personally I was going to start with just Skyline Drive through the Appalachians in Virginia/West Virginia, a lot closer but still fantastic from what I hear. The Tail does have to happen eventually though.

For starters, look into autocross. The season is just now starting, and there are probably still spots available for an autocross "school" near you. My recommendation is the SCCA autocross school, but other orgs like PCA and BMWCCA etc. have their own schools that would work great too if you can grab a spot. Level 1 for true beginners, if you've happened to have done an autocross or two before you could probably skip to Level 2. Expect to pay ~$2-300 for the school but it's a great kickstart to cover the basics and get some seat time under your belt, and typical event fare hovers around the $60 mark. Autocross is also generally not too hard on your car/consumables and very low risk of collision/impact with barriers etc. relative to other forms of motorsport, so it is truly the most accessible path to utilizing your car's true potential outside the limitations of driving on the street.

That all sounds great, BUT, finding time is going to keep me from being able to even think about it right now.
I have a full-time job, I am a singer songwriter and have a band , we took a break for a while but at some point will be back to work, I also was a semi pro disc golfer, and was about to go on tour when I shifted priorities a year ago, but now I hardly get to play so I def want to get some time back on the course as it is good for me and I need to get back in shape, then there is ball golf, my grandsons started playing so I got a whole new get up, clubs,. bags pull carts, you name it and I am about to get back into that so we can play together and go to various courses together, when I can find time, so adding a new hobby, one that takes me away and costs money is going to be a hard one right now.
I have done the Skyline drive ride several times and Taial of the dragon once.
It will have to sit in line for a while as we work out things for our plan and the things I am already p[panning to get back into this summer.

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[lumper]

Cherry brah!

Do you have a color preference?

I did, I really loved Liquid Carbon the best, followed by Tigers eye pearl, followed by white, then lunar silver then Apex Blue.
I bought an Apex Blue Pearl, LOL.

 

[lumper]

Congrats on the blue ITS! I wanted blue #1 but I also love my white car and the silver one before it. The car looks good in any color.

glad you got a 4mi car! That’s awesome and maybe one of the lowest delivery mile cars I’ve heard of!

That to me was the most important part, as this is a once in a lifetime for me and I am buying this car as a reward for myself, I wanted the experience of owning a new Honda motor from the very start and breaking it in myself, well with 4 miles, I got exactly that.
I was so tempted to take the white with only 2 miles on it but the wife made a face so...

 

[Krazydan19]

How far is your drive back home? If it’s a ways. I would stay off big hwys and make sure your using the gear box going thru the gears not just cruising at 70mph. Also to try and avoid rock chips, sounds like your gonna take it easy on break in which could lead to being passed which brings to more danger rock chips. Excited for ya. Shes a pretty special machine your about to pick up.

 

[lumper]

How far is your drive back home? If it’s a ways. I would stay off big hwys and make sure your using the gear box going thru the gears not just cruising at 70mph. Also to try and avoid rock chips, sounds like your gonna take it easy on break in which could lead to being passed which brings to more danger rock chips. Excited for ya. Shes a pretty special machine your about to pick up.

The ride home is 2 hours, lol so I am making a day of it, going too take my sweet time, back roads and a few stops along the way.
I have the break in procedure from Acura, it will be fine.
I'm going another 45 minutes away two days later for tints, so the break in will consist of a series of drives lasting 45 minutes at a time over the course of a week.

I just got pricing from a shop here in Ct that to me looks and sounds great, and they sent me a few pics of a white DE5 next to a white FL5 they just completed, I feel pretty good about it.
Two options for the tint, either 460 or 650 and the full detail, decontaminate and ceramic coating 1800 without taking off wheels to do rims and calipers or interior just the exterior minus the wheels, 2800 for the fukll deal, wheels, interior calipers, etc..
and the black ppf on the roof 750 and clear ppf on the front bumper 750.
These are the first things I plan to do to the car during break in followed by a spare tire kit.

 

[optronix]

I'm not going to go down the route of trying to talk you out of it, and you've already mentioned you've got a lot of hobbies and not much time... but 2800 for detail and ceramic is absolutely outrageous pricing to me. Tint and PPF pricing not bad, but almost $3k for applying ceramic that you could do on your own in your garage or driveway in an afternoon for cost of coating (<$200) is INSANE, sorry.

I know they'll probably tell you they need to do a "paint correction" to justify the cost, but that's not always the case. Mine did NOT need a correction, and without seeing the car it's shady business to suggest all new cars need correction and include that in the cost. Personally I think it's a rip off and I'd like to hear a detailer chime in and try to tell me why it isn't.

Also are you married to the idea of black PPF on the roof of a blue car? I'd save that $750 right there. Or apply the PPF to the hood and fenders, skip the roof.

I'd encourage you to get a second opinion on the quote for everything. $4k for PPF, tint, and detail would be almost acceptable, but only if it included the full front not just the bumper.

 

[Krazydan19]

I 2nd all that. I would ppf the whole front clip, black roof, call other shops too. Save the money on the ceramic coating. Give you something to do in the garage yourself.

I'm not going to go down the route of trying to talk you out of it, and you've already mentioned you've got a lot of hobbies and not much time... but 2800 for detail and ceramic is absolutely outrageous pricing to me. Tint and PPF pricing not bad, but almost $3k for applying ceramic that you could do on your own in your garage or driveway in an afternoon for cost of coating (<$200) is INSANE, sorry.

I know they'll probably tell you they need to do a "paint correction" to justify the cost, but that's not always the case. Mine did NOT need a correction, and without seeing the car it's shady business to suggest all new cars need correction and include that in the cost. Personally I think it's a rip off and I'd like to hear a detailer chime in and try to tell me why it isn't.

Also are you married to the idea of black PPF on the roof of a blue car? I'd save that $750 right there. Or apply the PPF to the hood and fenders, skip the roof.

I'd encourage you to get a second opinion on the quote for everything. $4k for PPF, tint, and detail would be almost acceptable, but only if it included the full front not just the bumper.

 

[egxflash]

I'm not going to go down the route of trying to talk you out of it, and you've already mentioned you've got a lot of hobbies and not much time... but 2800 for detail and ceramic is absolutely outrageous pricing to me. Tint and PPF pricing not bad, but almost $3k for applying ceramic that you could do on your own in your garage or driveway in an afternoon for cost of coating (<$200) is INSANE, sorry.

I know they'll probably tell you they need to do a "paint correction" to justify the cost, but that's not always the case. Mine did NOT need a correction, and without seeing the car it's shady business to suggest all new cars need correction and include that in the cost. Personally I think it's a rip off and I'd like to hear a detailer chime in and try to tell me why it isn't.

Also are you married to the idea of black PPF on the roof of a blue car? I'd save that $750 right there. Or apply the PPF to the hood and fenders, skip the roof.

I'd encourage you to get a second opinion on the quote for everything. $4k for PPF, tint, and detail would be almost acceptable, but only if it included the full front not just the bumper.

Just for reference, FULL car PPF, tint, ceramic coat, and black roof wrap would cost about 6-7k out here in Southern California.

Front PPF, full tint and ceramic coat for $2800 isn’t too terrible a price, but it IS kind of steep if it’s just partial front (like clear bra)

 

[StingertimeNC]

My guy in NC charged me $2700, if I remember correctly, that was for tint, PPF front bumper, hood, b and c pillars, door handle cups and full side skirts. Did a great job.
I should have done the front fenders but I was being cheap!

 

[optronix]

Just for reference, FULL car PPF, tint, ceramic coat, and black roof wrap would cost about 6-7k out here in Southern California.

Front PPF, full tint and ceramic coat for $2800 isn’t too terrible a price, but it IS kind of steep if it’s just partial front (like clear bra)

Right, full would cost about the same here in MD/DC too... but what I'm reading is $2800 for just the coating. 750 for PPF for just the bumper, which IMO isn't enough. Rock chips hit the hood almost as often as the bumper.

Personally I paid $2300 for the full front end PPF. $550 for xpel xr plus tint. I did ceramic myself in a couple hours but I admittedly skipped my wheels and calipers, figuring I'd get to it eventually but never did.

Worth noting, I was quoted north of $4k for full front by a vendor that I'll never even consider using again.

I'll stand firm on my take that $2800 for coating is virtually criminal.

 

[lumper]

I'm not going to go down the route of trying to talk you out of it, and you've already mentioned you've got a lot of hobbies and not much time... but 2800 for detail and ceramic is absolutely outrageous pricing to me. Tint and PPF pricing not bad, but almost $3k for applying ceramic that you could do on your own in your garage or driveway in an afternoon for cost of coating (<$200) is INSANE, sorry.

I know they'll probably tell you they need to do a "paint correction" to justify the cost, but that's not always the case. Mine did NOT need a correction, and without seeing the car it's shady business to suggest all new cars need correction and include that in the cost. Personally I think it's a rip off and I'd like to hear a detailer chime in and try to tell me why it isn't.

Also are you married to the idea of black PPF on the roof of a blue car? I'd save that $750 right there. Or apply the PPF to the hood and fenders, skip the roof.

I'd encourage you to get a second opinion on the quote for everything. $4k for PPF, tint, and detail would be almost acceptable, but only if it included the full front not just the bumper.

You don't have to worry man, you aren't going to offend me, I say lots of stupid things,
I really appreciate your input actually so don't be shy, I need to learn.
I thought it was very high.

I am going to do the tint and meet him, see his shop look at his work, etc.. and see how I feel about it all and go from there.
If I were to do any of the rest, it wouldn't be for a few weeks anyway as I am about to be broke for a minute.

I am also going to try to get another quote or two for the same work to see if there are any big differences from shop to shop, he swore they call around once a month and shop their competitors and stay in the middle, so they are competitive, but Ill test that.

I am a little intimidated about the decontamination and clay bar and then polishing parts, I have never done it, I don't have the tools, so I don't really want to experiment with this car.
But I do want it done.
That part I plan to shop, I called two other places today but neither got back to me.

What he said they do for the 2800, which again, is a ton of money to clean up the clear coat and protect it , was full car decontamination, they do that twice, then clay bar, compound and polish, smooth out the clear coat then the ceramic coat, but also, for the 2800 they take off the wheels and do the calipers and rims, plus the entire interior with interior ceramic.

I don't think I would do that anyway, I can do wheels and calipers, and interior so really, I just want the paint correction part that I don't know how to do.
For now the plan is to go there for tint, check it out in the meantime get another quote or two for the exterior and see what I find out.

I bought a 2000 Chevy Silverado 2500 Z71HD brand new, and two weeks later it was all rusty, I was pissed not understanding what was happening, when I went to the dealer pretty upset they explained to me that it was "rail dust" from travelling by train, and that they can clay bar it out of the clear coat and it would be fine, that was the first I ever heard of that.

I absolutely want this done, so it is just a matter of finding out where I can get it done for a reasonable price, I don't want to go super cheap and have some dude do it in his driveway, but maybe I don't need such a big shop that their overhead causes their prices to be higher if that is the case here.

 

[lumper]

I'm not going to go down the route of trying to talk you out of it, and you've already mentioned you've got a lot of hobbies and not much time... but 2800 for detail and ceramic is absolutely outrageous pricing to me. Tint and PPF pricing not bad, but almost $3k for applying ceramic that you could do on your own in your garage or driveway in an afternoon for cost of coating (<$200) is INSANE, sorry.

I know they'll probably tell you they need to do a "paint correction" to justify the cost, but that's not always the case. Mine did NOT need a correction, and without seeing the car it's shady business to suggest all new cars need correction and include that in the cost. Personally I think it's a rip off and I'd like to hear a detailer chime in and try to tell me why it isn't.

Also are you married to the idea of black PPF on the roof of a blue car? I'd save that $750 right there. Or apply the PPF to the hood and fenders, skip the roof.

I'd encourage you to get a second opinion on the quote for everything. $4k for PPF, tint, and detail would be almost acceptable, but only if it included the full front not just the bumper.

I missed the roof comment, no I am not married to it, just thinking about it, but to me 750 to do the roof seemed really high also.

 

[lumper]

I 2nd all that. I would ppf the whole front clip, black roof, call other shops too. Save the money on the ceramic coating. Give you something to do in the garage yourself.

To ppf the whole front was also really high IMO, I forget but I think it was around 2500

 

[lumper]

Right, full would cost about the same here in MD/DC too... but what I'm reading is $2800 for just the coating. 750 for PPF for just the bumper, which IMO isn't enough. Rock chips hit the hood almost as often as the bumper.

Personally I paid $2300 for the full front end PPF. $550 for xpel xr plus tint. I did ceramic myself in a couple hours but I admittedly skipped my wheels and calipers, figuring I'd get to it eventually but never did.

Worth noting, I was quoted north of $4k for full front by a vendor that I'll never even consider using again.

I'll stand firm on my take that $2800 for coating is virtually criminal.

So, did you do any decontamination and polish the clear coat?
I was under the impression that pretty much every new car would need the clear coat worked on, this was my assumption, but if it isn't necessary then of course I would just go by ceramic and do it myself.

Have you seen the stuff you spray on the car and it reacts with any iron or metals in the clear coat? it bleeds purple wherever it comes in contact with any iron.

IF I could do that to see the state of the paint it would make me feel a lot better.

If I don't need to treat the paint and clay bar and all that then of course I would just do this myself, do a good cleaning, dry the car and apply the ceramic, I have never done it, but it doesn't seem very difficult.
It was all the rest I was concerned about.

 

[lumper]

Right, full would cost about the same here in MD/DC too... but what I'm reading is $2800 for just the coating. 750 for PPF for just the bumper, which IMO isn't enough. Rock chips hit the hood almost as often as the bumper.

Personally I paid $2300 for the full front end PPF. $550 for xpel xr plus tint. I did ceramic myself in a couple hours but I admittedly skipped my wheels and calipers, figuring I'd get to it eventually but never did.

Worth noting, I was quoted north of $4k for full front by a vendor that I'll never even consider using again.

I'll stand firm on my take that $2800 for coating is virtually criminal.

This is exactly why I posted this in here, I need this input.
If I don't need to worry about metals in the clear coat and the clay bar, compounds and polishing then I would absolutely just do the ceramic myself, I make time for things I want to get done, and this is at the top of my list, I had just assumed that all new cars are going to have a clear coat contaminated with iron and other stuff that you want out and that part and the subsequent polishing is what scared me from wanting to do it.
My wife would love to hear I don't need to spend this money.
I'd love to do the tint, the front ppf and if the car doesn't need all the works for clear coat Ill just buy the ceramic myself and some new car cleaning supplies and do it myself for sure.

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