PPF or Ceramic

[VL3X]

There are pros and cons to both ceramic and ppf. There's also a poll and lengthy discussion on the two here.

My Evora GT came with ppf from the factory. It covers the entire front, side skirt area, and inside the carbon rear bumper/wheel pressure release vents. If it hadn't, I would probably opt for PPF on those same places (plus the mirrors) and then just ceramic the rest of the car. In the end, it's just a car. I enjoy detailing my vehicles and protecting them, but I enjoy driving them more. Little stone chips here and there after years for enjoying the car, (most of which no one but the owner notices anyway) don't really bother me. At least not enough to spend $5-10k on PPF!

 

[DerTheDer]

I’m not sure why people don’t do their own PPF?

Because it would look horrible if i tried to do it lol.

 

[Rapture]

I'm going to get full PPF, then put this Kamikaze product on myself. Best of both worlds. Ceramic coatings do not protect from stone chips. That's a fallacy. I've done partial PPF on several cars, but never full.

Was notified my car is on a boat today. Now I can get serious about things to do to it.

https://www.esotericcarcare.com/kamikaze-zipang-coat-2-0/

 

[kitkat]

Ceramic coating no matter what any slick haired salesman tells you does not protect against swirls or scratches, all it does is fill the valleys in your paint to make it flatter. Flatter = glossier, simple as that. If that prevents scratches because of poor washing practice I guess that's a secondary effect but not a primary one.

An overwhelming number of ceramic coating layers don't help you either, you're supposed to knock down the layer by wiping off excess. If you've ever left ceramic coating on too long during application you can visibly see the uneveness -- it doesn't tend to flatten out very well and thus can't form a whole flat layer.

Probably way too OT for US / Canada delivery thread.

 

[LuckysDad]

Ive had XPel on a car stored outdoors in SoCal sun for over 8 yrs. Waterless washed 3-4 times a week. Swirl marks practically non existent. Cant imagine quartz would hold up anywhere near as well

Agree 💯
I had my LC 500 PPF’d with XPEL four years ago.
All I do is wash it. I even take it through the car wash in the winter.
No wax, no sealer, no ceramic.
After four years and 20k miles no swirls or chips.
PPF > Ceramic

 

[Nova]

The main benefit with ceramic coating to me is that the car stays clean longer between washes, and driving through rain will typically "wash" it. It's also easier to wash a car that's been coated.

I know it actually doesn't add protection against physical damage/swirls. It's just like a "permanent wax" to me.

 

[Wiz33]

Ceramic coating no matter what any slick haired salesman tells you does not protect against swirls or scratches, all it does is fill the valleys in your paint to make it flatter. Flatter = glossier, simple as that. If that prevents scratches because of poor washing practice I guess that's a secondary effect but not a primary one.

An overwhelming number of ceramic coating layers don't help you either, you're supposed to knock down the layer by wiping off excess. If you've ever left ceramic coating on too long during application you can visibly see the uneveness -- it doesn't tend to flatten out very well and thus can't form a whole flat layer.

Probably way too OT for US / Canada delivery thread.

Are you planning on getting yours wrap? I have a place that I used for my RS5 and they just quoted me $4500 for a 718 so I would assume an Emira would be similar.

 

[kitkat]

Are you planning on getting yours wrap? I have a place that I used for my RS5 and they just quoted me $4500 for a 718 so I would assume an Emira would be similar.

Nope, i’ll wash it, maybe spray some sealant on it, and then drive the piss out of it. If it develops a nice long term use patina on it, all the better!

 

[Porter]

Brings the debate to just respray every 5-7yrs

I mean literally a full finishing sand/polish followed by a coat or two of high end clear coat would do 100% to restore/improve the car at a 10 year interval, and cost a LOT less than ten freaking grand.

 

[Porter]

Are you planning on getting yours wrap? I have a place that I used for my RS5 and they just quoted me $4500 for a 718 so I would assume an Emira would be similar.

See $4500 is waaaay more reasonable. It's still a lot of money, but it's not 10% of the car.

 

[kitkat]

I mean literally a full finishing sand/polish followed by a coat or two of high end clear coat would do 100% to restore/improve the car at a 10 year interval, and cost a LOT less than ten freaking grand.

I don't know if I agree with costing a whole lot less. A full prep, respray and finishing on a whole car in my metro is about $9K for the same color at a mid range paint shop, PPF is about the same money. Labor costs are going to vary wildly for both paint and ppf depending on the metro and skill level of the painters/installers. This decision is way more nuanced and the real cost depends on what you value in your car's presentation.

 

[Porter]

I don't know if I agree with costing a whole lot less. A full prep, respray and finishing on a whole car in my metro is about $9K for the same color at a mid range paint shop, PPF is about the same money. Labor costs are going to vary wildly for both paint and ppf depending on the metro and skill level of the painters/installers. This decision is way more nuanced and the real cost depends on what you value in your car's presentation.

Right but look at XPEL's public pricing for the pre-cut Emira kit. It's coming up to like $6k for the urethane film before anyone even touches a car. It's absurd.

Paint Protection Film Pre-Cut Kits

www.xpel.com

I can only assume that this pricing is intentionally inflated in order to encourage the public to get installlation through dealers rather than attempt a DIY.

 

[Sjetware]

I'm paying about 4300 at Lotus Dallas for front / side / pillar / mirror ppf and a ceramic coat, which seems super reasonable to me

 

[Arkham]

I'm paying about 4300 at Lotus Dallas for front / side / pillar / mirror ppf and a ceramic coat, which seems super reasonable to me

That doesn't sound too bad. My full frontal PPF quote from a really top notch shop is $1950 (way better than my Lotus dealer who wants $4,900 for just frontal). So you getting frontal and ceramic for $4,300 seems pretty decent.

 

[kitkat]

Right but look at XPEL's public pricing for the pre-cut Emira kit. It's coming up to like $6k for the urethane film before anyone even touches a car. It's absurd.

Paint Protection Film Pre-Cut Kits

www.xpel.com

I can only assume that this pricing is intentionally inflated in order to encourage the public to get installlation through dealers rather than attempt a DIY.

That's always been the case on their site, nothing new.

 

[Hell4Leather]

I mean literally a full finishing sand/polish followed by a coat or two of high end clear coat would do 100% to restore/improve the car at a 10 year interval, and cost a LOT less than ten freaking grand.

Yup. I have no problem PPF the front and headlights as they are a free add on. Believe Xpel is less than $2k for that. Basically same as the front bras we used to see in the early 1990’s

 

[Nova]

I'm normally pretty handy, but I've tried DIY PPF twice and neither time turned out very well.

 

[Davebeats]

Me applying my own PPF

 

[KCMO68_510]

What are people's thoughts on the upper black pack for protection? I really don't want to be constantly cleaning it and trying to get to get that mirror black finish. Any suggestions on what to do just for that part?

 

[kitkat]

What are people's thoughts on the upper black pack for protection? I really don't want to be constantly cleaning it and trying to get to get that mirror black finish. Any suggestions on what to do just for that part?

I've got to imagine it's going to be a straight up scratch magnet -- just going to live with personally. PPF there if swirl marks bother you, it's gonna be terrible.