PPF on new car

[HoweBank]

I hope I have not opened pandora's box here. especially since I'm informed it has been discussed in other threads.

all good points made. and thanks for input. just my deliberations really.

I see the considerations as

* alternative coatings v ppf comparison

* I have experience of ppf pulling lacquer off car (lotus exige) when removed and yes comments regarding scratching of car paint when ppf applied are valid. When applied extensively and with a heavy hand, it can look like freddie crugger detailed your car.

* costs of install of ppf not eactly cheap (only ever had to patch repair mine) and also ppf does deteriorate through time. i.e. fade yellow and still suffer scratch/chip to lesser degree than bare paint

possibly leaning to a coating that can be maintained periodically given some of the suggested costs which I find eye opening. no insults to those who do this work as an ocupation intended

 

[FlyNavy01]

FYI ceramic coating does nothing to protect the paint. It just keeps the car clean, like a long-lasting high end wax. The bonding strength of paint to the car is orders of magnitude greater than the strength of the adhesive on PPF, so I'm very surprised anyone has ever had paint-lifting problems, unless it was a re-spray or poorly done paint job.

I've had XPEL Ultimate Plus on my daily driver for 4 years and 45k miles and it's done a fantastic job. It's self-healing and warrantied for 10 years against damage and yellowing.

 

[kitkat]

More down to quality of firm doing the work I’d say?

Personally , I think so yeah, but you have to take a close look at the industry to realize that the materials cost is high and the majority of the cost is labor and PPF on an entire car takes a lot of time. Making good profit from a PPF shop means getting cars in and out. That’s where corners start getting cut and mistakes start happening.

 

[kitkat]

FYI ceramic coating does nothing to protect the paint. It just keeps the car clean, like a long-lasting high end wax. The bonding strength of paint to the car is orders of magnitude greater than the strength of the adhesive on PPF, so I'm very surprised anyone has ever had paint-lifting problems, unless it was a re-spray or poorly done paint job.

I've had XPEL Ultimate Plus on my daily driver for 4 years and 45k miles and it's done a fantastic job. It's self-healing and warrantied for 10 years against damage and yellowing.

I’ve seen oem paints lift from removal even with a steamer to loosen it all up — you can’t really guarantee paint quality from the factory. Also stuff gets repainted at the factory all the time.

Everything else you’ve said I agree with.

To explain it even more for those here reading — ceramic coats are like ~2 microns thick. They’re meant to level out a surface with existing imperfections and make them flatter so they look glossier. PPF is roughly 100 times thicker than a ceramic coat. 2 microns isn’t going to do anything to protect your paint.

 

[Wolfram]

Makes zero sense….. most Supercars have PPF…. It’s simple to remove & update as well, so hardly a barrier to purchase?
Lamborghini come with it as standard & can be ordered from the factory with Ferrari & Porsche….
I’m still not going full car for Emira, but that’s purely down to cost of PPF vs. Car value, only makes sense to me on front only…. £200k+ supercar it’s a must surely?

Mine doesn't, neither will it, neither would I have bought it if it did.

I've yet to see a PPF job on any car that even approaches invisible, and visible film lips around corners, edges and details irritate me far more than an occasional stone chip would.

I've heard bad things about the quality of Lamborghini factory PPF. Ferrari 'factory' PPF isn't at all - it's a kit sent to the dealer to install. I would also be worried about film going straight onto factory-fresh paint that may not have fully cured. PPF does not last forever, and when it does have to be removed you might be in for a mess if it lifts any paint.

IMO leave it alone - I spend most of my time looking at the interior. Because I'm driving it, not staring at it!

 

[r1lee]

I am definitely PPFing or Wrapping the car once received. film protection is one of the greatest things invented for protecting the finish.

 

[jamesbxxx]

Look close enough and you'll always see ppf edges unless panels are removed (no thanks!). I guess if folks were prepared to drive around with the black "car bras", then ppf is an amazing improvement. But keeping the paint tip top for the next buyer is like keeping the plastic on the seats or the wrapper on your new phone. Naked with a good polish + ceramic coating for me.

 

[r1lee]

Look close enough and you'll always see ppf edges unless panels are removed (no thanks!). I guess if folks were prepared to drive around with the black "car bras", then ppf is an amazing improvement. But keeping the paint tip top for the next buyer is like keeping the plastic on the seats or the wrapper on your new phone. Naked with a good polish + ceramic coating for me.

That is a stretch to be honest. Car bras were cool back in the day, but they left huge amounts of scratches.

No one uses the plastic that covers the screen from the manufacturer, since that looks horrible. But a fair amount of people use a screen protector (be it Film or Tempered Glass). PPF has more benefits then not, I didn't think this was the case either, until i decided to bite the bullet and have it done on my current car.

1. You can barely see the film, but you are right, its there. Unless you pay considerably more and have it tucked.
2. It protects against the majority of potential stone chips, That's all you can ask for.
3. Self Healing (it's amazing)
4. You can still Ceramic coat the film, in the case of Suntek reaction(it comes built in).
5. If done properly (and especially tucked), i highly doubt you can tell if the film was on the car unless you felt it.

 

[kitkat]

That is a stretch to be honest. Car bras were cool back in the day, but they left huge amounts of scratches.

No one uses the plastic that covers the screen from the manufacturer, since that looks horrible. But a fair amount of people use a screen protector (be it Film or Tempered Glass). PPF has more benefits then not, I didn't think this was the case either, until i decided to bite the bullet and have it done on my current car.

1. You can barely see the film, but you are right, its there. Unless you pay considerably more and have it tucked.
2. It protects against the majority of potential stone chips, That's all you can ask for.
3. Self Healing (it's amazing)
4. You can still Ceramic coat the film, in the case of Suntek Ultra (it comes built in).
5. If done properly (and especially tucked), i highly doubt you can tell if the film was on the car unless you felt it.

For #1 and #5 -- tucking is absolutely the answer and most pre-cut templates allow for creation of tabs to tuck the material, but some surfaces require disassembly to tuck the material, and some surfaces still can't be tucked even with disassembly.

 

[r1lee]

For #1 and #5 -- tucking is absolutely the answer and most pre-cut templates allow for creation of tabs to tuck the material, but some surfaces require disassembly to tuck the material, and some surfaces still can't be tucked even with disassembly.

this is true, my LC500 panels are so tight in many areas that you would not be able to tuck it even though its been disassembled.

 

[DJS]

Does anyone know the real benefit of ceramic coating ppf surely it won’t make the car glossier, will the only benefit be that it helps you keep the car clean?

I’m really stuck on the fence with these options as my Emira will be precious to me but then again will I just sell the car in 2 years time.

 

[kitkat]

Does anyone know the real benefit of ceramic coating ppf surely it won’t make the car glossier, will the only benefit be that it helps you keep the car clean?

I’m really stuck on the fence with these options as my Emira will be precious to me but then again will I just sell the car in 2 years time.

Some PPFs come with a coating already, some don't. PPF texture isn't perfect so some coatings will help make PPF look better. Having a smoother surface is what keeps your car cleaner and makes it glossier.

Is the car really all that precious to you if you're selling it in 2 years? Figure out your real intent with the Emira before you figure out if you want to pay $5-7K for PPF. If I were to put myself in a mindset of selling the car within 2 years I'd probably assess what the chances are of me causing enough damage to the car in 2 years where it produces a $5-7K drop in value over a car with PPF. But maybe your mindset is car flipping and value preservation?

Figure it out

Video on some PPF in the mean time:

 

[ADC]

I reckon the biggest benefit I'm expecting from PPFing my car with one of the latest generation of products is that I can ham-fistedly give it a quick wash (and maybe even let the kids help) without losing my mind worrying about swirling the hell out of everything... just chuck a bucket of hot(ish) water over at the end, and watch all the scratches just disappear

I just don't have the time or patience to be as careful and anally retentive as I used to be when cleaning cars. Ceramic coatings are great in that respect, but the extra carefree awesomeness afforded by a self-healing film is going to be sah-weet!

 

[DJS]

Some PPFs come with a coating already, some don't. PPF texture isn't perfect so some coatings will help make PPF look better. Having a smoother surface is what keeps your car cleaner and makes it glossier.

Is the car really all that precious to you if you're selling it in 2 years? Figure out your real intent with the Emira before you figure out if you want to pay $5-7K for PPF. If I were to put myself in a mindset of selling the car within 2 years I'd probably assess what the chances are of me causing enough damage to the car in 2 years where it produces a $5-7K drop in value over a car with PPF. But maybe your mindset is car flipping and value preservation?

Figure it out

Video on some PPF in the mean time:

Fair point, I think I’m leaning towards a good ceramic coat to keep the cost down and the only reason I will sell the car in 2 years is if I fancy the new all electric Lotus Elise if that’s what they call it . This car will need to beat the looks of the Emira which is going to be very difficult.

 

[Eagle7]

Some PPFs come with a coating already, some don't. PPF texture isn't perfect so some coatings will help make PPF look better. Having a smoother surface is what keeps your car cleaner and makes it glossier.

Is the car really all that precious to you if you're selling it in 2 years? Figure out your real intent with the Emira before you figure out if you want to pay $5-7K for PPF. If I were to put myself in a mindset of selling the car within 2 years I'd probably assess what the chances are of me causing enough damage to the car in 2 years where it produces a $5-7K drop in value over a car with PPF. But maybe your mindset is car flipping and value preservation?

Figure it out

Video on some PPF in the mean time:

Based on this video, it looks like 3M did the best job overall, especially on the marker test compared to XPEL.

 

[r1lee]

My mistake about Suntek ultra having Ceramic built in. It was suntek Reaction.

 

[Johnson]

So this is my fun car for life (presumably another 20-30 years). What do people recommend? I’m thinking partial PPF with a high-quality Kamikase ceramic…

 

[PaulP]

Life is too short to have to look at the big paint chip on the front hood that reminds you of that drive where you got stuck behind some dumbass pickup in the passing lane with 33” tires and no mud flaps that kicked up a rock and left a big gash in the hood. Every. Single. Day you see that paint chip. PPF whole car for me not a second doubt and it will probably cost 7-10K USD here for full paint correction and whole car PPF

 

[Eagle7]

Life is too short to have to look at the big paint chip on the front hood that reminds you of that drive where you got stuck behind some dumbass pickup in the passing lane with 33” tires and no mud flaps that kicked up a rock and left a big gash in the hood. Every. Single. Day you see that paint chip. PPF whole car for me not a second doubt and it will probably cost 7-10K USD here for full paint correction and whole car PPF

Lol. At first I thought "Do you live near me?", then no, they're everywhere. Sorry to say, but pickup truck drivers are the worst class of drivers on the road. They're the most aggressive, the most reckless, and the rudest. They push and shove their way around in traffic and it's up to everyone around them to get out of their way. They're the ones who will pass traffic in front of them by going out on the shoulders, either left or right, and spraying dirt, rocks, sand, gravel all over everyone, so they can get around whoever is in front of them, because you know... how dare anyone else be on the road!

What's surprising, at least in this area, is how often the person behind the wheel is a woman. They seem to be the ones with the worst attitude, and the most aggressive.