To PPF or not to PPF

[Hell4Leather]

Picked up my car today; raining the whole way home. 140 miles so needless to say the car is filthy. The dealer said not to wash for 3 or 4 days so do I just leave the road grime on there?

 

[Andjons]

It is plainly horses for courses. I have decided to go with doing the front end. The guy doing it noticed a few chips on the nose already, and will touch-up/polish before filming, and then ceramic coat the lot. I'm also fitting the Automotive Passion mudguards front and rear. I'm hoping that will give me the comfort properly to enjoy the car now!

 

[harleyujoe]

I have learned over the years riding motorcycles here in New Jersey not to ride the dividing walls for the debris that flies up
is amazing and hitting you in face and not to ride behind jeeps or big trucks ...So with Emira limited driving and maybe
2000 miles a year on just nice days and more weekdays being retired ..So when I drive it I stay back approx 6 car lengths
and if behind a jeep or truck 10 lengths.....So far with 1000 miles not seeing anything.. I know behind the doors that will get some
stone chips for sure...I have used Dr Stonechip on wife's Mazda and have had very good results after 34,000 miles owning 5 years...


The Botton line to keep PPF looking good depending on your driving conditions..If you drive it every day no matter stone chips
on PPF or painted you are going to find chips ..And chipped PPF does not look good so how many times and cost to change.
I had a 2011 Evora bought used 4 yrs old with 42k mileage and omg was it chipped... Had shop repaint for 1200 dollars ..
But that guy drove it and I am not with Emira so have better chance if luck is on my side and it is luck with Debris flying..
So just saying over years a repaint may not be so bad .
Lets face it we all go different direction on protection...Enjoy Your Emira's

 

[1031ent]

I originally had my car only ceramic coated through the dealer. Everytime I drive I get nervous about rock chips which took some of the fun out of the drive (personal problem). There were some issues with water spots on the front end and since the dealer had to remove and recoat anyways, I instead had them do a front PPF instead. Really glad I did because I don't worry about chips when I drive now. Can't even tell it's on and the car looks pristine (I have an Atlantis Blue which is much darker). The big question for me was how easy or difficult it would be to repair chipped paint and match colors on this car. I hear Lotus doesn't sell touch up paint?

Touch up paint is a joke. Never seen anyone apply it on any paint job, and it looked good.

Better to sand it down and blend within the panel or repaint the entire panel and blend adjacent panels on the same plane.

 

[1031ent]

If can get the windows protected I would do that instead . On my 2nd windscreen due to stones chips, car so dam low stones miss the bonnet and hit dam window instea

If can get the windows protected I would do that instead . On my 2nd windscreen due to stones chips, car so dam low stones miss the bonnet and hit dam window instead

Rock chips in the glass can be filled. Insurance will usually cover 3-4 a year for free. Bonus it also prevents the windshield from cracking.

 

[Andrew25]

The more i think about ppf, the more i can’t clearly see a point in its function. Ok, PPF is supposed to help protect the paint. I can’t stand having a chipped car paint, but wouldn’t it be as bad looking having a chipped/keyed ppf? Sure the paint would be safe, but the PPF will need a replacement, requiring more money and work (and time). At the end of the day, isn’t that the “same” as fixing a chipped paint? Also, as far as i could understand reading the posts on the forum, the xpel pre-cut templates have visible seams that are subject to collect dirt, making it even less appealing. Thoughts on this anyone?

 

[harleyujoe]

The more i think about ppf, the more i can’t clearly see a point in its function. Ok, PPF is supposed to help protect the paint. I can’t stand having a chipped car paint, but wouldn’t it be as bad looking having a chipped/keyed ppf? Sure the paint would be safe, but the PPF will need a replacement, requiring more money and work (and time). At the end of the day, isn’t that the “same” as fixing a chipped paint? Also, as far as i could understand reading the posts on the forum, the xpel pre-cut templates have visible seams that are subject to collect dirt, making it even less appealing. Thoughts on this anyone?

We all have to make our decisions on protecting our investment and each will tell you 10 different ways on doing so..
Some might say just go look at it new in the showroom and walk away..
But I own mine and no PPF on it and agree what looks worst and chip paint of PPF and cost of replacement and removing
PPF few times sure it will affect paint finish at some point...So Dr Color Chip for my touch up...

 

[me73]

I've had full body PPF on both my Emira and Elise. There is a noticeable increase in the gloss of the finish. I could see it right away. The PPF makes it much easier to clean off bug guts, for whatever reason they don't stick to the PPF as well as they do to the paint. It also helps to prevent putting scratches in the paint when working on the engine or just putting things in the trunk. Every time I'd get the Elise back from some work (I do most myself), it would need a polish, which was driving me nuts. All these plus the prevention of stone chips really provides me with peace of mind.

 

[Bimmernate]

The more i think about ppf, the more i can’t clearly see a point in its function. Ok, PPF is supposed to help protect the paint. I can’t stand having a chipped car paint, but wouldn’t it be as bad looking having a chipped/keyed ppf? Sure the paint would be safe, but the PPF will need a replacement, requiring more money and work (and time). At the end of the day, isn’t that the “same” as fixing a chipped paint? Also, as far as i could understand reading the posts on the forum, the xpel pre-cut templates have visible seams that are subject to collect dirt, making it even less appealing. Thoughts on this anyone?

I don't think there's a single person on here that would rather repaint a panel than replace ppf. Repainting lowers car value and is often difficult to get a perfect match.

I do think there are a lot of rational arguments against ppf, but that's not one of them

 

[Andrew25]

I've had full body PPF on both my Emira and Elise. There is a noticeable increase in the gloss of the finish. I could see it right away. The PPF makes it much easier to clean off bug guts, for whatever reason they don't stick to the PPF as well as they do to the paint. It also helps to prevent putting scratches in the paint when working on the engine or just putting things in the trunk. Every time I'd get the Elise back from some work (I do most myself), it would need a polish, which was driving me nuts. All these plus the prevention of stone chips really provides me with peace of mind.

Interesting. I was watching a video on yt a couple days ago where a detailer was saying quite the opposite about bugs stains on ppf. Something like they’re hard to clean off or maybe that they still reached the paint somehow…i can’t remember precisely though. Oh btw the same detailer was talking about 20-30k for some ppf job, that got me confused.

I don't think there's a single person on here that would rather repaint a panel than replace ppf. Repainting lowers car value and is often difficult to get a perfect match.

I do think there are a lot of rational arguments against ppf, but that's not one of them

Totally agree. In fact, i did not think about value lowering with repainting, but that makes sense. I’m still new to this.

Still, i’d be annoyed with the dirt collecting all over the ppf seams. Since the xpel is pre-cut and has an offset all around the Lotus lettering on the rear bumper, it would drive me nuts to see a dark line of dirt all around the lettering (as much as everywhere else).

As you all say, everyone has a different and personal approach to this, but maybe i can summarize the pro key points in : 1) peace of mind 2) protecting our investment, and the cons key points in 1) aesthetics (personal) 2) cost

 

[Nick Sticks]

Interesting. I was watching a video on yt a couple days ago where a detailer was saying quite the opposite about bugs stains on ppf. Something like they’re hard to clean off or maybe that they still reached the paint somehow…i can’t remember precisely though. Oh btw the same detailer was talking about 20-30k for some ppf job, that got me confused.


Totally agree. In fact, i did not think about value lowering with repainting, but that makes sense. I’m still new to this.

Still, i’d be annoyed with the dirt collecting all over the ppf seams. Since the xpel is pre-cut and has an offset all around the Lotus lettering on the rear bumper, it would drive me nuts to see a dark line of dirt all around the lettering (as much as everywhere else).

As you all say, everyone has a different and personal approach to this, but maybe i can summarize the pro key points in : 1) peace of mind 2) protecting our investment, and the cons key points in 1) aesthetics (personal) 2) cost

It's worth noting that not all PPF is the same.
Some people ceramic coat over their PPF which will add to the protection against bug splats.
I have SunTek's Reaction self healing PPF. It itself has some ceramic coating qualities to help with cleaning.
They recommend only to use a non-abrasive wax twice a year to maintain maximum performance. Whether this protects against bug splats that have been left on for a while I don't know as I usually clean them off after every drive with Autoglym Rapid Detailer. The longest I've left them on was probably 4 days, halfway into a road trip.

As for dirt collecting in the seams, it is a thing, especially on my Hethel Yellow. With a bit of time it can usually be removed easily enough with the detailer spray, a cloth and a soft paintbrush.

Fortunately my rear Lotus letters were removed and added back over the PPF so no offset around them.

To date my car rarely gets very dirty and from just a few feet away any dirty seams that are not hidden are hardly noticeable.

The cost just has to be factored in to how long you are going to keep the car.

If I had known how many little stone chips my last VW Golf would get and had a little blob of touch up paint applied I would have had the front PPFed on that.

 

[ADC]

Beyond just protecting against rocks etc, the biggest thing that sold me on PPF (all over) was the self-healing. I can get away with washing it like a lazy caveman, and any fine scratches/swirls just magically disappear with some sunshine or warm water.

I've not found the seams to be as bothersome as you'd think (definitely specify wrapped edges and removal of lettering and badges for the best finish though), and with ceramic over the top of the film, everything pretty much just either rinses off after a quick foam soak, or takes the lightest of swipes with a shampoo'd mitt.

 

[me73]

Interesting. I was watching a video on yt a couple days ago where a detailer was saying quite the opposite about bugs stains on ppf. Something like they’re hard to clean off or maybe that they still reached the paint somehow…i can’t remember precisely though. Oh btw the same detailer was talking about 20-30k for some ppf job, that got me confused.


Totally agree. In fact, i did not think about value lowering with repainting, but that makes sense. I’m still new to this.

Still, i’d be annoyed with the dirt collecting all over the ppf seams. Since the xpel is pre-cut and has an offset all around the Lotus lettering on the rear bumper, it would drive me nuts to see a dark line of dirt all around the lettering (as much as everywhere else).

As you all say, everyone has a different and personal approach to this, but maybe i can summarize the pro key points in : 1) peace of mind 2) protecting our investment, and the cons key points in 1) aesthetics (personal) 2) cost

Was the detailer trying to sell a ceramic coating product? Bug removal is noticeably easier. It pretty much just takes water pressure to get most of them off.

Gunk in PPF seams actually comes from poor waxing technique. If you push wax into the seam, it can get lodged and then when the car gets dirty the dirt will sit in the wax. This is simple to avoid, wipe from the PPF towards the bare part of the panel. Even if some wax does get into the seam, cleaning it out with a soft toothbrush will avoid lifting the PPF. This method works with dirty wax as well, but after you do it once, you'll wax the car properly. I've had precut clear bra on a few cars, light and medium colored and never had dirt accumulate in the seams.

The price you were quoted is ridiculous. A full body PPF on an Emira should be $6-7k. Front facing panels will be in the $700-1k range. FAR cheaper than repainting the car.

The only drawback I've found is that if you let the PPF get too old the plastic hardens, yellows and cracks and the glue gets very stuck to the body. It becomes a BIG deal to remove. They say 10 years is the expected lifespan of the material. YMMV with sun/UV/heat exposure.

 

[Andrew25]

Was the detailer trying to sell a ceramic coating product? Bug removal is noticeably easier. It pretty much just takes water pressure to get most of them off.

Gunk in PPF seams actually comes from poor waxing technique. If you push wax into the seam, it can get lodged and then when the car gets dirty the dirt will sit in the wax. This is simple to avoid, wipe from the PPF towards the bare part of the panel. Even if some wax does get into the seam, cleaning it out with a soft toothbrush will avoid lifting the PPF. This method works with dirty wax as well, but after you do it once, you'll wax the car properly. I've had precut clear bra on a few cars, light and medium colored and never had dirt accumulate in the seams.

The price you were quoted is ridiculous. A full body PPF on an Emira should be $6-7k. Front facing panels will be in the $700-1k range. FAR cheaper than repainting the car.

The only drawback I've found is that if you let the PPF get too old the plastic hardens, yellows and cracks and the glue gets very stuck to the body. It becomes a BIG deal to remove. They say 10 years is the expected lifespan of the material. YMMV with sun/UV/heat exposure.

I wasn’t quoted that price, there i was talking about the yt video. My dealer quoted around 4-4.5k euros for full pre-cut xpel ppf.

 

[seriously]

It's just about if you want to keep your car pristine. If you want to keep it forever and keep in best condition possible, PPF makes sense. You should try to get all edges covered, not just for looks for the durability, less likely to start peeling off. If you're only planning on keeping the car a few years and then selling it, I don't see the value in PPF. Either way I would ceramic coat the car. Besides looks and protection it makes the car SO much easier to clean.