So she's got 410,000 miles on her and I'm 65. Every repair that I've made since I have had it in 25 years and 50,000 has either made it look better, ride better or go faster.
Anyhow, what's the general cost for a wrap on these cars? I want to keep it gloss black with flat black hood. I want to keep her looking sinister.

Also - who has done it and what are the pros and cons?

 

For a wrap I bet you'll be in the 3-4000k range roughly. We just had a new F350 with a service bed wrapped and it was 7500. It's not a cheap option at all
Pros quick.
Cons depending on how long it's on and the environment where you live they sometimes do not come off without just ruining the paint underneath.
Con guess depending on how you look at it about 5-7 years in the sun and it degrades just like base coat paint when used like a work truck with minimal care.

 

I've decided against wrapping it. I spoke with the owner of a local shop in Woodstock, Ga - and I'm digging the direction that we're going in. He won't paint the whole car, nor does it need it as the paint is still in great shape on the sides; sure there are a few spots that will be attention. I'll be taking the front and rear clip, headlight covers, hood to him. I'll leave him the car for the rest.

 

I had been polishing out swirl marks in my all black TA using PC & Menzerna for yrs & kept her waxed = swirl marks continued to return no matter how careful

Finally solved the problem by having an extensive paint correction for the entire car to remove all swirls & then wrapped in 10mil PaintProtectionFilm & Ceramic Coated = 2 fold improvement. The PPF not only protects the car from future damage due to rock chips/swirls/etc but by its properties it completely hides any swirl marks PERIOD that were present even after the paint correction - forever

The car is now like looking at glass & absolutely perfect & due to ceramic coat now maintenance free with no more waxing & any dirt/etc simply washes off with pressure washer = better appearance than when purchased new

PPF can either be in clear which just lets original color come thru, or it can be matte which looks just like the 'frozen' paint that are on so many modern vehicles like BMW & Mercedes. So, you could get the gloss black/flat black hood appearance you want

Now IDK what the condition of your paint is but mine was swirl marks only - if yours has other damage then it would need to be painted 1st. You can still do PPF after repaint you just have to make sure car is cured/baked with UV light as it should be with any good repaint & then wait around 3 months before applying PPF. Shop that does my work (I have all my BMW's completely done in PPF/Ceramic coat) guarantees the PPF for 10yrs & the labor as long as its applied. Includes any damage that would happen due to PPF removal of the paint underneath as long as if repainted you follow the directions

There are no premade patterns for the TA's so the PPF has to be applied using large sheets manually, so make sure you are using a very good, accredited shop

Full paint correction + 10mil PPF + Ceramic Coat is not cheap @ 6K plus (I did pay less since I am many time repeat customer), but not sorry I did any of my cars.

Best to do when car is brand new obviously to eliminate having to repair rock chips/etc (my TA had no chips or damage only swirls) but I couldn't be happier with the results on my TA and the fact that basically for its life it is perfect & maintenance free

 

I have mine paint corrected and touched up yearly, I priced locally PPF wrapping mine in clear but they wanted $9000 to do it.

 

PPF is good stuff but it’s not the end all be all like was described above. It can swirl just like paint, it can be damaged, and it can turn yellow. Also there will be bubbles, it’s guaranteed.

Ive made some serious money removing PPF on countless cars over the years.

Nothing will ever shine like a good clay bar + paint correction (we’re talking 2 or 3 stages of polish) each year with a good quality wax or ceramic coating.

 

I just polish and wax mine regularly