The Giveaway Model 3 Is Done — Here's Everything We Did to It

Back when we started this project, we put the colour decision in your hands. You weighed in on YouTube, X, Facebook, and Instagram and the result wasn't even close. Gloss Sierra Green Metallic. A full colour change from bright white to a deep, metallic green that turns heads before you even get close enough to see the details.

That choice set the scope for everything that followed. And the scope was not small.

Why We Took the Whole Car Apart

A colour change wrap isn't just film on paint. When you're going from white to a dark metallic green, every gap, every door jamb, every inner door panel becomes a problem. Leave them white and the contrast is visible in panel gaps. 

So we went all in. Doors off. Fenders off. Bumpers off. Door jambs wrapped in satin black. Inner doors wrapped in the green. The car was disassembled to the point where, as Tony put it, you could have parted it out.

The hinge colour that was the one call we made differently. Painting them would have locked the next owner into black hinges permanently and honestly, we were a bit short on time. A smart call to leave them, and one less variable for whoever wins this thing to deal with down the road.

Tony spent around 50 hours just on the colour change!

The Wrap: Arlon Gloss Sierra Green Metallic

The film is Arlon's Gloss Sierra Green Metallic, a deep, shifting green with enough metallic in it to change character depending on the light. In direct sun it's vivid. In shade it goes darker and richer. 

The PPF: Defense+ Gloss, Full Vehicle

Once the wrap was complete, Eric took over and laid Defense+ Gloss PPF across the entire car. 8mil self-healing film over a full colour change wrap, that's the level of protection that makes the finish last.

Eric put in another 12 to 15 hours on the PPF. When you add that to Tony's wrap time, you're looking at 60+ hours of skilled labour on a single vehicle. That's what a properly finished build actually costs in time, even when the people doing it know exactly what they're doing.

The Ceramic Coating: Defense+ Paint & PPF, Glass & Leather

The last step was a full ceramic coating with our Defense+ lineup:

• Defense+ Paint & PPF Ceramic Coating — applied over the entire wrapped and PPF'd exterior
• Defense+ Glass Coating — every glass surface
• Defense+ Leather Coating — interior protection to match the exterior

Three coatings. Every surface covered. Nothing left unprotected.

At this point, whoever wins this car is getting something that was done right. Not just detailed and cleaned up, actually protected, from the paint to the glass to the seats.

The Result

After more than 60 hours of work across the wrap, PPF, and ceramic coatings, the car is done.

Over 610,000 km on the odometer. New battery. Full colour change. Fully PPF'd. Fully ceramic coated.

It looks like it rolled off a custom shop floor, because it did.

How to Enter

The giveaway draw is July 6. Winner announced July 10.

Every purchase of $25 or more at driveprotected.com gets you entries, including our Defense+ Ceramic Coatings, which are available now and ready to go on your own vehicle.