datechboss101

The naïve inner car enthusiast within me spent $320 out of the $1750 insurance check for Diminished Value for repairing and painting my OEM rims to Gloss Black. Honestly, it came out well and blends in perfectly with the Black Copper Pearl. Only thing now left for me to do is to permanently delete the chrome and other trim pieces that isn't black.

BLEXV6

Looks great. One of the reasons I picked the A-spec model. Love the colour of the rims.

mrgold35

I know you are planning to do a chrome delete. Are you also going to de-badge or blackout the emblems? I ended up de-badging the "MDX" and "SH-awd" on the rear, blacked out the fender "Hybrid" emblem, and left the front/rear/rim Acura emblems alone.

Might need to PPF and/or ceramic coat your MDX if you want the pristine look to last with darker colors.

datechboss101

I am doing an ASPEC conversion hopefully this year (a buddy up in NYC has an ASPEC and has a body shop) since I didn't fix my half destroyed rear bumper.

Yessir. There will be no chrome left on the exterior, and some interior pieces will turn from aluminum to black. The door handles will also be chrome deleted too. My MDX is currently on wax (I also clay barred and waxed the headlights and tail lights), but I was debating either a PPF or ceramic coat, with paint correction. Only issue with darker colors is when the sun hits it at a great angle, it shows so many micro abrasions.

mrgold35

I purchased my Fathom Blue Pearl MDX off the transport before it was ready for the dealer's lot. All it took was one bay wash for prep at the dealership to scratch up the paint. The color correction took longer with my MDX since the damage was the entire painted surface. You will have to do the same color correction for PPF or Ceramic coating anyways. I can be a lot of time and work with ceramic coating to always foam cannon, 2 bucket hand wash, and dry with microfiber wash only (especially in winter). Picking a high end PPF with self healing scratch repair in the sun and hydrophobic properties just like ceramic coating will help more than just hand washing/waxing/clay bar alone (still need to clay bar PPF once a year or so). I did SunTek Ultra+CQuartz Finest on my MDX and XPEL Ultimate+Ceramic Pro on my RLX.

datechboss101

Yeah, I am planning to get it done while I am getting FlyyAir air ride system installed and having my tire guy put on aftermarkets. Last time when I personally clayed and waxed mine, it took a better half of the day (this excludes the roof).

jdpdata

PPF is the only way to prevent scratches. Ceramic coating doesn't do a thing for protection, it's waste of money IMO. Why some people think Ceramic coating is the magically cure all for scratches is beyond me. Both of my Acura were PPF with XPEL Ultimate directly after purchase. I did minor paint correction myself before installation. Afterward just added a couple coats of high quality hybrid wax. I'm good for 6 months protection. I do maintenance washes every couple weeks, it's so easy to do once the car is properly protected.

Neighbor kid just got a black Jeep. He's washing in direct sunlight and using a single bucket method with cheap dish towel and dish detergent! I cringe at all the swirl marks he's adding to the poor car

datechboss101

There'd be alot of cringes on me then; but at least I make sure to wash out my wash brush before and after each wash. Been using Chemical Guys soap for like 2 years now, and haven't used Maguires or any other brand. How much did the XPEL PPF cost you?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

damn, you crazy...you dont think this boss of a car is a feasible real estate client car?
I was thinking you had some old ass falling apart MDX, but this is one of the nicest cars to cart around clients...
LOL you crazy man

jdpdata

Here's cost for XPEL PPF. Very important to find an experience installer, don't just go for the cheapest. My installer does high-end supercars for at least a decade now. He's a perfectionist like me.

RLX PPF $1600:
-Full front-end (hood, fenders, bumper, headlights-Side mirrors
-A-pillars-rear luggage and bottom of trunk lid-also did Exoshield windshield protection $350
-3M tint two front windows $80
-car already came included PPF on all door cups and edges

MDX PPF $900
-1/3 front-end (1/3 hood, 1/3 fenders, full bumper, headlights)
-Side mirrors
-all door cups-all door edges-all door inner scuff areas-rear luggage area-also did 3M Crystalline film windshield and two front Windows tint for $700. Cut down on heat in-car tremendously. Highly recommended.

mrgold35

PPF cost will depend on the competition in your area, type of PPF, how much will you need to cover, how many hours of color correction, and how much experience the PPF person has (trim before the edge novice for noticeable edge -vs- tuck under/behind the seam expert for invisible edge). It came out around $3800 for me:
- color correction with de-badging
- XPel Ultimate PPF on entire hood, entire front fenders, front bumper, up the pillars on either side of windshield, LED HIDs, side mirrors, and rear bumper.
- CQuartz Finest ceramic coating on the rest of the painted surfaces

datechboss101

Welp, my bad for not slapping a pic of her on my PFP, just didn't find the right pic to put. She isn't in the best shape still, cosmetically. I need to fix up one of the side mirrors that I damaged back when I still had my learners (this was my first brand new vehicle and was technically the vehicle I drove other than our 99 Accord, which was super clean for its age). It has a ton of botched touch up paint jobs, very noticeable, and some paint chips. The most bothersome other than the botched touch up jobs is the micro-scratches (paint swirls) that can be seen at the perfect angle.

I just didn't think it was feasible after reading through the IRS section, but before that, I thought it was, yet I had doubts if this was way tooo flashy. Since, I am going for a murdered out look on the exterior and with a roof box and air ride alongside aftermarket wheels, idk how I would be perceived as, since she will no longer be stock. Plus, this is the ONLY SUV I prefer to drive, since its my favorite. However, I have budgeted to not have her final form come out this year.

I am pretty sure I got a list of things to do first before I bring the final form:
1) ASPEC conversion for the bumpers (my current rear bumper is half destroyed)
2) Full detail w/ paint correction & PPF w/ Ceramic Coating
3) Air Ride system (I got a quote from FlyyAir for $2999 OTD)
4) New Rims and Tires (definitely will have to keep the gloss black rims color, but debating either HRE or Vossen or Rotiform or AG; might go with Michelins for tires, since the MDX is sooooo tire sensitive).
5) Exterior chrome delete



My tint guy quoted me $200 OTD and does the darkest legal tint limit allowed in the state of Florida. I do have the beige interior (huge compromise for me when we bought her brand new; parents didn't like the blue color, but then it was me driving this majority of the time), so, its something I need to fix (looking at color change in the near future).

I looked into Avalon King for its DIY kit of Ceramic Coating, thanks to Ed Bolian from the VinWiki channel. I had glassparency windshield kit installed on the MDX, as well as my previous daily (2016 Rogue) and the oldest car we had (1999 Accord). I live in car culture central, so its easy for me to find a shop at a reasonable price. I think my tire guy might have a plug for me to call for the PPF and Ceramic Coating.

mrgold35

Additional ceramic coating for my rims for muck/brake dust protection. I also did Ceramic Pro for all interior surfaces (carpet, seats, armrests, etc...). It has a 3 year minimal warranty; but, you have to re-do the driver's seat every year because of normal wear/tear for about $35 a pop. Trying this out because summer time heat of +100 degrees and getting inside window hazing (I really hate that). So far, window hazing has been reduced a lot, seats/carpet look factory new, a lot less dust/dirt compared to using petroleum or natural oil based conditioners, clean-up is just a wipe down with a microfiber towel and ceramic booster soap (same soap for exterior), and the coating is stain resistant.

datechboss101

Even for wear and tear on my driver's seat, I am already loosing the beige color on it. And I have switched to a microfiber rag and to Chemical Guys APC and its not getting any better from the initial Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and APC/Maguires 3-in-1 leather cleaner/conditioner. I'm going to try ceramic coating on my interior surfaces once I get the interior color swap to happen.