Tesla Model 3 wraps, PPF, chrome delete and tint

Three versions of the same sedan

Model 3 cars fall into three groups. Cars built from 2017 until late 2020 have bright trim around the side windows. Cars from late 2020 through 2023 look almost the same, but the trim came black from the factory. The 2024 refresh, called Highland, has slimmer headlights, a smoother front bumper with no fog-light openings and new taillights. Those changes matter for film: PPF for the bumper and headlights is planned for one shape or the other, and the two do not swap. Tell us the year, or send a photo of the front, and we plan the job around your exact car.

Chrome delete on 2017 to 2020 cars

If your Model 3 still has bright trim around the side windows, a chrome delete makes it match the newer cars. The trim is cleaned, then covered in gloss or satin black film, with the edges tucked so they stay down in summer heat. Check the door handles and the small camera surrounds on the front fenders too: if they are bright on your car, they go black in the same visit. The T badges on the nose and the trunk can be wrapped to match. Nothing is drilled or painted, and the bright trim is still there under the film if you want to sell the car stock.

Where a low sedan picks up chips

The Model 3 rides low, with a short, sloping nose, so road grit hits the lower half of the bumper and the front edge of the hood first. The headlights and the mirror faces take hits too. Behind the front wheels, the tires throw sand and small stones along the rockers and the bottom of all four doors. Full front PPF plus the rockers and lower doors covers most of that damage. Freeway miles on the 605 and the 105 add up quickly, so it makes sense to cover the front before the first chips appear rather than after.

Sedan, not crossover: film and price

Next to a Model Y, the Model 3 is lower and shorter, and it has a trunk lid where the Y has a big liftgate. Less painted surface means less film and fewer hours, so a Model 3 color change or full-body PPF is one of the smaller Tesla jobs. The price still moves with your choices: standard gloss, satin or matte film costs less than color-shift or color PPF, door jambs add time, and chipped paint has to be dealt with before film covers it. A trunk spoiler or other added aero parts change the job a little, so show them in your photos.

Ceramic tint and the big back glass

The rear window on a Model 3 is one large piece that reaches up over the back seat, so rear passengers sit right under it in the afternoon sun. Ceramic tint on that glass and on the rear side windows cuts heat and glare, and California allows any shade there because the car has mirrors on both sides. The front side windows are different: they must pass 70% of light, so the law allows clear film only, and the windshield can take a strip along the top. We install to those rules. A ceramic coating on paint or film is a common last step, so weekly washes go faster.