[RandallNeighbour]

OK, quick update. I am now 70% through the installation of the lamin-x kit I bought for the wife's new Lexus. I got the back bumper, rear view mirrors, hood, headlamps, fog lights, fenders, and one easy piece of the bumper done. What I lack is the lower part of the front bumper and the little pieces that go behind the door handles (preventing paint scratches from fingernails).

I'm glad I did the rear bumper first. Most of it is hidden by the trunk lid and that's a good thing. I have air bubbles all along the edge of it despite my best attempt to eradicate them. Plus, the wife tried to shoehorn some folding tables into the back last week (which were never were gonna fit, but she was determined to try anyway instead of using a freakin' tape measure) and the film protected the paint on the bumper. Without it, she would have scraped the crap out of the rear bumper cover. That event alone paid for the entire kit vs. a respray of the back bumper cover.

First of all, this stuff is THICK (Lamin-X product), making it harder to work with than other thinner films sold out there, especially their headlight kit film (thickest material I've ever touched!). It also takes longer for trapped water bubbles and cloudiness in the film to disappear. I was told by Lamin-x that it might take 3 weeks in the sun to rid the piece of the few bubbles I was unable to get rid of during installation.

The way to get this stuff on the car right is to properly prep the car, work in a garage with good lighting, have a high temp hair dryer handy, and then get the car paint and the film very very wet with a solution of distilled water, a couple capfuls of rubbing alcohol, and a drop or two of baby shampoo. The YouTube vids helped me a lot, especially with heating up the material so it can be bent around corners.

Would I try doing this again, kjc2050? Maybe so, maybe not. Now I know what's involved and required for a good job and to do a full kit like I did, it takes a number of hours in a hot sweaty garage. When I get my next car and it has pristine paint on it, I'll probably buy the film kit and do it myself again, unless I'm so flush with cash that I could be making big money selling something on the weekend instead of doing it myself.