I recently purchased this 3M kit on eBay from chipgardman: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=110097379115. It is considerably more costly than what you found. It may be a case of you get what you pay for, I don't know. This eBay listing is correct, or at least consistent with 3M's own website that this film is 8 mil, not 6 mil as some posters indicated.

I attempted to do the installation myself. I did a pretty good job on the hood and a good job on the easier mirrors and fender pieces. It is a difficult job and takes a lot of time. I totally screwed up the front bumper (It is huge and hard to work with.) and had to pull it off and throw it away. I just received the replacement bumper piece today, so I can try again. When I say the hood was pretty good, there is about 3/8 to 1/2 inch space between the film on the right side of the car and the edge of the hood, and no gap on the left. It is virtually invisible however, and you cannot tell unless you are looking for it.

There are installation instruction files at several websites including 3M, and Steve (chipgardman) will also send a video if request it. Get as many sets of instructions as you can and read them all. Watch the video too. It is not that it is so difficult to install as there are techniques that you have to use to stretch the film over the curves, and you need to be familiar with those techniques before you start. The experts say experience counts, and it does. My inexperience is the reason for the minor problem on the hood, and if I'd paid more attention to the instructions I would not have had the issue. (I may even had had more success with the bumper!)

I did call around for professional installation estimates. In the Northern Viriginia area it was going to cost between $650 and $1,000.

Good luck!

Robin