Paint Protection Film (PPF) and Wrap for your Emira

[Magma]

I think at minimum the car needs a detail.
Then it just gets better protected as you go up. Ceramic, PPF, PPF+Ceramic.

There is some validity in doing nothing and respraying it before selling but I couldn't personally live with the blemishes and the car not being nigh 'perfect'. it would affect my overall joyful experience.

The real truth on how robust the paint is will take most of this year and several hunded UK owners reporting back on it. It might be too late for some but this is all just down to personal wishes and finances of course.

I'll try on this thread then . You mentioned the paint being "thin." Can you tell me how this was concluded if not with a paint depth gauge?

 

[Evotion]

On the basis of my scratch, 2 chips and what a Lotus person told me - 'that it could ideally need with protection.'. it certainly is nowhere near the bullet proof paint on an Aston/Bentley for example.

Could be inconsistency.
We need more data from MANY more owners before I/we conclude that it really needs help.
I can just go on my experience and the quote.

The orange peel bit is due to the lacquer NOT the paint. The paint itself looks lovely and always looked amazing to me. I was horrified what was discovered on the actual detail prep.

Did Harry not go over it with a paint depth gage?

 

[richbrown]

I think at minimum the car needs a detail.
Then it just gets better protected as you go up. Ceramic, PPF, PPF+Ceramic.

There is some validity in doing nothing and respraying it before selling but I couldn't personally live with the blemishes and the car not being nigh 'perfect'. it would affect my overall joyful experience.

The real truth on how robust the paint is will take most of this year and several hunded UK owners reporting back on it. It might be too late for some but this is all just down to personal wishes and finances of course.

Thanks and makes sense

 

[Magma]

On the basis of my scratch, 2 chips and what a Lotus person told me - 'that it could ideally need with protection.'. it certainly is nowhere near the bullet proof paint on an Aston/Bentley for example.

Could be inconsistency.
We need more data from MANY more owners before I/we conclude that it really needs help.
I can just go on my experience and the quote.

The orange peel bit is due to the lacquer NOT the paint. The paint itself looks lovely and always looked amazing to me. I was horrified what was discovered on the actual detail prep.

Did Harry not go over it with a paint depth gage?

Appreciate your reply. I don't remember Harry doing any paint measurements... Again, it does take a special type of tool to measure paint depth on composites, fiberglass, etc. They are much more expensive and most people won't have that type of gauge. But a high end detailer may.

 

[Evotion]

It would be interesting to hear the feedback of a current Emira owner who takes his Emira to a professional detailed for an inspection and see what they say.

Can somebody do that? Too late for me!

 

[Magma]

It would be interesting to hear the feedback of a current Emira owner who takes his Emira to a professional detailed for an inspection and see what they say.

Can somebody do that? Too late for me!

I'm a hobbyist detailer so this kinda nerdy stuff interests me.

 

[Evotion]

If you have an emira, do over 1000 miles, and go over it with one of those white light things...

 

[TomE]

It would be interesting to hear the feedback of a current Emira owner who takes his Emira to a professional detailed for an inspection and see what they say.

Can somebody do that? Too late for me!

The first UK customer car was reviewed by a professional detailer. He thought the paint was good - good but not brilliant and had some orange peel. It was a Dark Verdant car.

 

[Evotion]

It is more likely the lacquer that is not perfect but mileage on the paint does not seem to be friendly. More data to come hopefully.
Will be nice if nobody has to do anything to the car and only worry about a a few blemishes down the line if they sell it.

Certainly, I don't think you would ever recuperate the cost of full PPF.
Need more data on which panels really get the worse of the rash.

 

[Magma]

It is more likely the lacquer that is not perfect but mileage on the paint does not seem to be friendly. More data to come hopefully.
Will be nice if nobody has to do anything to the car and only worry about a a few blemishes down the line if they sell it.

Certainly, I don't think you would ever recuperate the cost of full PPF.
Need more data on which panels really get the worse of the rash.

What do you mean by "lacquer?" Is it the clear coat you're referring to? Clear coat is definitely not lacquer.
Due to environmental regulations, most automotive paint is now water-based, which does make them softer than paint used to be. Many people complain about chipping and scratching on new vehicles. Lower cars seem to be more vulnerable, for obvious reasons.
Yes there are cars with "harder" paint and some with "softer" when comparing vehicle to vehicle and manufacturer to manufacturer. Porsche is said to overall be a softer paint where as BMW is harder.

 

[Porter]

Those of you putting PPF on the car... please consider letting the paint fully cure and harden for a month before doing anything more with it like paint correction or overlays. The curing process is not immediate on these modern paints.

 

[TomE]

The cars were painted many weeks before customers received them

 

[Porter]

The cars were painted many weeks before customers received them

Are you sure about the most recent ones? Aren't the folks who have done pick-up in the last month getting cars right off the end of the production process? I thought they were doing factory PDI for factory delivery now as well, with no trip to BCA Upper Heyford. I could be mistaken.

 

[Evotion]

Even if there were painted later on, the delay on PDI and logistics might be a month anyway!

 

[TomE]

Are you sure about the most recent ones? Aren't the folks who have done pick-up in the last month getting cars right off the end of the production process? I thought they were doing factory PDI for factory delivery now as well, with no trip to BCA Upper Heyford. I could be mistaken.

Ade‘s was at BCA for a long time. They are still working through the backlog of cars built and held for fixes for the issues found on the early cars.

They’ll catch up in the next month and yes then there will be a shorter interval and the factory collection cars are PDI‘d on site. But the panels are painted before the chassis arrives from sub-assembly, so I expect the paint will be a minimum of 3 weeks old when you collect it.

 

[Porter]

Ade‘s was at BCA for a long time. They are still working through the backlog of cars built and held for fixes for the issues found on the early cars.

They’ll catch up in the next month and yes then there will be a shorter interval and the factory collection cars are PDI‘d on site. But the panels are painted before the chassis arrives from sub-assembly, so I expect the paint will be a minimum of 3 weeks old when you collect it.

The cars being delivered now don't show any evidence of being stored outside. For example the ones delivered in Dubai have perfectly spotless brakes. Are you sure Lotus isn't already caught up?

[edit] Now that I've written that, I realize that maybe that's the difference. Cars bound for overseas markets would bypass BCA entirely because the receiving dealer would PDI.

 

[TomE]

Exactly, non UK cars go straight from Hethel to the outbound port.

 

[SteveB]

Even if there were painted later on, the delay on PDI and logistics might be a month anyway!

All panels are painted as individual parts and assembled after painting. The panels for one car are hung from a custom trolley and all painted at the same time in the new spray facility at Hethel (which avoids any slight colour differences that might occur if panels were painted separately with different batches of paint). From memory of the factory tour the panels are oven baked and it would make sense if Lotus allowed sufficient time for curing to complete before fixing the panels and doors to the chassis. Consequently delivery time after completion of production may have little bearing on paint curing.

 

[HdoBadr]

Hey guys, I was offered a suggestion from one of my friends to try Topaz PPF, does any one has an experience with the brand? Topaz or Xpel?

Thanks

 

[Emirahep]

Hey guys, I was offered a suggestion from one of my friends to try Topaz PPF, does any one has an experience with the brand? Topaz or Xpel?

Thanks

Topaz are a detailing company who correct the paint (machine polish it) then apply the PPF. I had a car done at the original Topaz in West London. They have just bought Reep midlands and so expanding (other Reep operations still Reep). Xpel is one of the most popular brand names for PPF. Others include Profilm, Suntek etc. I also had a car done at Reep and they were great.

So Topaz (or Reep or Elite….etc) would apply Xpel PPF (or Profilm etc).

Lots of discussion about ceramic coatings on PPF or not. My understanding is that most top notch PPF is then coated with a ceramic coating like GTecniq Halo. The point of that is to improve its hardness to resist paint swirls and to improve its hydroscopic properties to make water and dirt run off and make it easier to clean.