[kevins2]

Update on 3M paint defender. I first tried this on the front of the car and, as experienced by others, the curves were simply too complex to get a good spray angle so I wasn't happy with the results and removed it. I then applied it to the rear fenders and my comments and results mirror what Lippy already wrote in post #40. However, this was just a temporary measure for me and I removed it yesterday and my car is having XPEL self-healing film applied today.

The film removed in a single sheet very easily - just as advertised. No marks on the paint on the passenger side but I had two small stone chips on the drivers side. Fortunately, I was able to touch them up and they are hardly noticeable. The 3M site indicates that Paint Defender offers 80% of the protection of professionally applied film. I've read others say lower numbers - whatever. The question is whether the additional protection would have prevented these two stone chips. Obviously, I can't know for sure, but since the chips were small it is likely that an extra 20% would have made the difference. What is clear is that over time paint defender would not protect the fenders from chips. It was on the car for just over 1,100 miles.

I'll post my results of the XPEL installation in a new thread once I get my car back tomorrow. I'm having the front, rear fender flares and doors covered.

Kevin