❔ QUESTION Stone chips on black trim around the rear wheels?

[Chobfreak]

My Emira should arrive within the next few weeks and I was wondering if (over time) stone chips might occur on the gloss black trim pieces that let you see the rear tires.

I have generally decided to go the non-PPF route, but that area could possibly be the one exception if other users might have documented damaged paint there.

 

[DJS]

I decided not to go down the PPF route and went with a ceramic coat instead, ok its not the same protection but I've had no issues with any chips over 1000 miles in. I clean my car pretty much every week and no chip issues whatsoever so far.

PPF is only for a car you know you are going to keep long term otherwise its a waist of money unless your rich.

 

[Wonza]

My Emira should arrive within the next few weeks and I was wondering if (over time) stone chips might occur on the gloss black trim pieces that let you see the rear tires.

I have generally decided to go the non-PPF route, but that area could possibly be the one exception if other users might have documented damaged paint there.

The black trim is just black gloss plastic (it’s not painted), you can use a plastic polish to get out any blemishes or scratches. No need to PPF the black plastic in my opinion.

 

[Eagle7]

I have a bottle of this that I'm going to use on all that black plastic.

You can use it on paint, plastic, chrome, wheels and even glass. They also have a graphene detailer spray. It has great anti-UV properties as well.

I've given it a lot of thought, and I think I'm going with ceramic coating for my car. I know PPF offers more physical protection, but it changes the appearance of the surface just enough to give it a vinyl-ish look, as opposed to a flat, polished hard surface. I'm retired and don't commute anymore so I won't be in everyday commute traffic.

 

[Porter]

The black trim is just black gloss plastic (it’s not painted), you can use a plastic polish to get out any blemishes or scratches. No need to PPF the black plastic in my opinion.

Are you positive? Gloss plastic would be a near instant casualty of road debris. Even a little sand on the road would ruin the finish in short order.

It's previously been referred to as painted. Are you saying it's literally bare gloss black plastic??

 

[Chobfreak]

I have a bottle of this that I'm going to use on all that black plastic.

View attachment 29675

You can use it on paint, plastic, chrome, wheels and even glass. They also have a graphene detailer spray. It has great anti-UV properties as well.

I've given it a lot of thought, and I think I'm going with ceramic coating for my car. I know PPF offers more physical protection, but it changes the appearance of the surface just enough to give it a vinyl-ish look, as opposed to a flat, polished hard surface. I'm retired and don't commute anymore so I won't be in everyday commute traffic.

I'm with you on the vinyl'ish look and I also couldn't live with all the stone chips in the protection film being visible until you change the PPF. It would be financially ruinous and I do not plan on ever selling the car anyway + I'm very careful with my cars.

I will however get underbody protection and body cavity preservation, as I did with my Camaro, since I want to protect the aluminium from oxydation. It's probably overkill, but it's not too expensive and I want the mechanical and structural part of the car to stand the test of time.

 

[Wonza]

Are you positive? Gloss plastic would be a near instant casualty of road debris. Even a little sand on the road would ruin the finish in short order.

It's previously been referred to as painted. Are you saying it's literally bare gloss black plastic??

Yes the black sills and black mirror casing is all plastic. I polished minor scratches out of them many times. I think only the black pack roof is painted. Knock on the black sills and it’s just cheap plastic. That’s the reason why I think PPF the black bits is pointless. It won’t chip.

 

[Wonza]

I decided not to go down the PPF route and went with a ceramic coat instead, ok its not the same protection but I've had no issues with any chips over 1000 miles in. I clean my car pretty much every week and no chip issues whatsoever so far.

PPF is only for a car you know you are going to keep long term otherwise its a waist of money unless your rich.

Then again. You never know your luck and get a huge stone chip in your bonnet 🤣. I opted no PPF as I admit I can’t afford it. For me doing partial PPF is pointless because of the soft paintwork. You will get one side marred with swirl marks and the other PPF side holding up a bit better. If you can afford it go full, one of the main benefits is bird poo. If it lands on the paintwork, it 100% needs machine polishing out, it marks easily even though the paintwork is cured. Darker colours shows up worse.

Mines on finance so not point if I’m gonna give it back after 3 years. Just have to polish it every now and again, go drive and forgot about it.

 

[Chobfreak]

Then again. You never know your luck and get a huge stone chip in your bonnet 🤣. I opted no PPF as I admit I can’t afford it. For me doing partial PPF is pointless because of the soft paintwork. You will get one side marred with swirl marks and the other PPF side holding up a bit better. If you can afford it go full, one of the main benefits is bird poo. If it lands on the paintwork, it 100% needs machine polishing out, it marks easily even though the paintwork is cured. Darker colours shows up worse.

Mines on finance so not point if I’m gonna give it back after 3 years. Just have to polish it every now and again, go drive and forgot about it.

I was originally going for full PPF but my 15 year old GT Roadster has but minor stone chips that I easily repaired with touch-up paint. Next summer I will have the second bumper respray (the first one was after 7 years) and it will cost me 600 euros. I have driven said car for 83.000 km, I've been to Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Swiss, Germany, France and many more countries with it and it still looks shiny and new. I always carry micro fibre towels and quick detailer in my car to get rid of insects or bird poo right away.

My Camaro is much more prone to get stone chips since its front is vertical, so PPF would make sense here, but then again, you can clearly see stone chips on/in PPF until it gets removed. Some stones will inevitably get through, PPF also yellows, mud and grime gets trapped under the film over time and there's a decent chance paint will be removed with the film. On a german Elise forum a member talked about the fact that rock chips damage the GFK anyway so the paint only looks good until you remove the PPF.

My Emira will depreciate, I will drive it every summer and take it on big trips, I want the colour to look good and I want to be able to clean my car, get rid of rock chips right away and keep it in good shape.

I'd have to calculate a renewal of PPF (7800 euros) every 2 years and ceramic coating every year (because PPF catches dirt like crazy and is extremely hard to clean without ceramic coating, so 600-700 euros per year) if I were to take that route. Keeping the car in great shape for 10 years with PPF would subsequently cost me 39k in PPF and 7k in ceramic coating, without taking into account that some rock chips will go through and removing PPF might necessitate a costly respray in places where no rock chip could ever have occured.

That's half of the car's original price. I'm planning to keep the car forever, so this really wouldn't make any sense and I would have to live with a car that looks like it's wrapped, is somewhat harder to keep clean (grime under edges for example) and has visible bird poo etchings (since this leaves a mark really easily and much faster on PPF) and stone chips permanently on display until the next rewrap.

I prefer to have my car in near concours state all the time and not waste my money.

Rant over...^^




Ps. I know not every PPF is the same and the installer matters a lot, but I've heard of cut marks left on paintwork even by more upmarket PPF shops here in Luxembourg...

 

[Shahaf2911]

I decided not to go down the PPF route and went with a ceramic coat instead, ok its not the same protection but I've had no issues with any chips over 1000 miles in. I clean my car pretty much every week and no chip issues whatsoever so far.

PPF is only for a car you know you are going to keep long term otherwise its a waist of money unless your rich.

As I live in Tuscany unfortunately the road to my house consists of ~500 meters of gravel road (will be paved i want my cars clean 😖), I have done ~1.8km so far* and there is no visible sign of stone chip/scratches on the black trim (or paint). Time will tell but so far so good.

 

[981KMAN]

Great question @Chobfreak ! Can I add to the question.....

Are there ANY areas that are prone to stone/rock chips?

• Behind the front Wheels?
• Behind the Rear Wheels?
• Around the side air intakes?
• Front Bumper or Hood (bonnet)?

I have PPF on all of my cars and it has saved several from significant stone damage - mostly from highway driving, yet there are areas on every car that seem to get "blasted" with sand/stones/rocks and show the most damage. I don't feel you need to replace all the PPF every 2 years, as some have stated. Yet maybe only the "high damage" areas. Possibly put PPF only in these high damage areas in the first place, and replace as required over time....

So where are the areas most likely to get stone/rock damage on the Emira?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Chobfreak]

Great question @Chobfreak ! Can I add to the question.....

Are there ANY areas that are prone to stone/rock chips?

• Behind the front Wheels?
• Behind the Rear Wheels?
• Around the side air intakes?
• Front Bumper or Hood (bonnet)?

I have PPF on all of my cars and it has saved several from significant stone damage - mostly from highway driving, yet there are areas on every car that seem to get "blasted" with sand/stones/rocks and show the most damage. I don't feel you need to replace all the PPF every 2 years, as some have stated. Yet maybe only the "high damage" areas. Possibly put PPF only in these high damage areas in the first place, and replace as required over time....

So where are the areas most likely to get stone/rock damage on the Emira?

Thanks in advance!!

I think there's some pre installed PPF on the rear arches below the side air intakes.

 

[Pugwash]

4000 miles in and I have a coupLe of witness marks in the PPF on the bonnet area where rocks have been bounced off the car. No other marks in the PPF anywhere else on the car that I can see.

 

[Cachaco131]

I

I have a bottle of this that I'm going to use on all that black plastic.

View attachment 29675

You can use it on paint, plastic, chrome, wheels and even glass. They also have a graphene detailer spray. It has great anti-UV properties as well.

I've given it a lot of thought, and I think I'm going with ceramic coating for my car. I know PPF offers more physical protection, but it changes the appearance of the surface just enough to give it a vinyl-ish look, as opposed to a flat, polished hard surface. I'm retired and don't commute anymore so I won't be in everyday commute traffic.

Is this true? It's not like a wrap that does feel look fake. My F80 has just the front PPFd and I don't think it's even noticeable.

 

[Nick in Sydney]

I'd have to calculate a renewal of PPF (7800 euros) every 2 years

PPF would subsequently cost me 39k in PPF and 7k in ceramic coating

That's half of the car's original price.

I prefer to have my car in near concours state all the time and not waste my money.

This doesn't sound right to me at all. Most PPF installers using quality products (Xpel, Suntek, etc) offer a multi-year warranty, so why would you need to spend 7,800E every 2 years to "renew it"

 

[Chobfreak]

This doesn't sound right to me at all. Most PPF installers using quality products (Xpel, Suntek, etc) offer a multi-year warranty, so why would you need to spend 7,800E every 2 years to "renew it"

I wouldn't like to see the stone chips in the PPF. I'm the kind of person who cleans his car with quick detailer after every drive and at least once per week for some hours with a two bucket hand wash.

2 years is actually a conservative estimate since critical areas such as the front bumper should have some stone chips within a year so I'd probably have to change those out more frequently.


I think PPF is perfect if you just want to drive your car for a few years and then resell it, but I've accepted that I'm too much into cleaning my cars and having them look their best at all times.

 

[Eagle7]

I

Is this true? It's not like a wrap that does feel look fake. My F80 has just the front PPFd and I don't think it's even noticeable.

Ceramic coating is a surface treatment, as opposed to a physical object applied onto the surface like PPF is.