Anyone who has not done PPF/ceramic coating?

[NewEnglander]

Curious to know if anyone has not done PPF and/or ceramic coating and if they can share their experience. Wondering if PPF is that important. The cost for getting even the front of the car done ain’t cheap and can easily use that money later, if required, for paint. We have never done PPF on our other luxury cars.

 

[BradSholl]

I wasn’t going to do PPF, but after only 4 months and about 1700 miles, I had a nice gravel chip in the middle of the hood of my Stellar White AGT. Ceramic Pro Pottstown touched up the chip and I had their road package (leading edges and quarter panels) done. Hopefully, no more chips.

 

[gavram]

I had PPF put on the front of my Touring as I had to do a LOT of bumper touch up on my 1 year old non-PPF'd Model S before selling it. That being said, I was driving the other day and some kids swerved into my lane while looking at the car and it kicked up a stone that then made a small chip on my door, where there is no PPF . Seeing how easily the stone chipped my door paint made me glad that I have the PPF on the front.

 

[BACamster]

Curious to know if anyone has not done PPF and/or ceramic coating and if they can share their experience. Wondering if PPF is that important. The cost for getting even the front of the car done ain’t cheap and can easily use that money later, if required, for paint. We have never done PPF on our other luxury cars.

Besides paint chips here and there, you will eventually notice swirl marks on the car surfaces just from washing and wiping the car clean.

 

[Bobby]

Curious to know if anyone has not done PPF and/or ceramic coating and if they can share their experience. Wondering if PPF is that important. The cost for getting even the front of the car done ain’t cheap and can easily use that money later, if required, for paint. We have never done PPF on our other luxury cars.

I have not.

 

[DeaneG]

None here. I did a front clip PPF on a nice daily driver in 2006, and didn't find it worth the expense over the next 10 years. And I live down the road from a gravel quarry.

 

[Sandvinsd]

I did ceramic but not PPF. I like the ceramic coat since bug splat, etc. comes off with a rinse and doesn’t stick to the paint. Didn’t feel PPF was worth the expense. Can just touch up the paint in the long run with any gravel chips.

 

[NewEnglander]

Thank you all for sharing your experience!

 

[idiot900]

No PPF here. I am just accepting that a few rock chips are a fact of life on a car that can (theoretically, I swear) go really fast.

 

[openball]

Curious to know if anyone has not done PPF and/or ceramic coating and if they can share their experience. Wondering if PPF is that important. The cost for getting even the front of the car done ain’t cheap and can easily use that money later, if required, for paint. We have never done PPF on our other luxury cars.

I had planned on PPF and a Ceramic coating, but waiting on Lucid support to fix some panel gaps has put 1700 miles on the car, and it still looks pristine. So I'm wondering if I should.
I may consider ceramic coating but if I keep self washing and can polish/wax every 4-6 months I may not need to

 

[Spin Doctor]

I had not planned on either but, given the coating of pollen my car has accumulated even in the garage, I'm seriously considering ceramic.

 

[chipcaldwell]

I wasn’t going to do PPF, but after only 4 months and about 1700 miles, I had a nice gravel chip in the middle of the hood of my Stellar White AGT. Ceramic Pro Pottstown touched up the chip and I had their road package (leading edges and quarter panels) done. Hopefully, no more chips.

As with Brad, after 9000 miles, I found 4 chips. I've decided now is the time to PPF. I received this comment from Empire in Orlando; they use SunTek. Any comments?
"The SunTek and STEK Paint Protection Films we deploy speak volumes over most standard vinyl and PPF supplied by dealers or other installers. These quality 8mm thick protection films are added to front-end or whole vehicle bodies by our professional installers with over 30 years of installing experience. This is done with seamless integration over both OEM and custom body parts* leaving no visible lines alongside a typical 12-year Warranty. It protects your paint against rock chips/minor damage at a time when paint expense has become more and more costly and the proper measuring of ingredients to match doesn't happen! Best of all, it also has ceramic coating embedded into the materials so that cleanliness is done with ease and scratches disappear with natural heat outside and from the vehicles engine -

 

[Bobby]

As with Brad, after 9000 miles, I found 4 chips. I've decided now is the time to PPF. I received this comment from Empire in Orlando; they use SunTek. Any comments?
"The SunTek and STEK Paint Protection Films we deploy speak volumes over most standard vinyl and PPF supplied by dealers or other installers. These quality 8mm thick protection films are added to front-end or whole vehicle bodies by our professional installers with over 30 years of installing experience. This is done with seamless integration over both OEM and custom body parts* leaving no visible lines alongside a typical 12-year Warranty. It protects your paint against rock chips/minor damage at a time when paint expense has become more and more costly and the proper measuring of ingredients to match doesn't happen! Best of all, it also has ceramic coating embedded into the materials so that cleanliness is done with ease and scratches disappear with natural heat outside and from the vehicles engine -

8mm thick? Hmmmmm.
Probably meant mils, or 8 thousandths of an inch. 8mm would be more than 1/4”.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

I did full PPF and Ceramic Coating a little over a year ago. Has worked perfectly. A month or so ago I did notice I had picked up two rock chips in my left front bumper that did each put a small tear in the PPF but I don't believe they penetrated the paint. I could just remove that section of PPF and replace but the reality is there will be more rock "tears" in that front bumper so I will wait a while and then decide. Bottom line is if I didn't have the PPF it would most likely have been significantly worse.

 

[Volund]

I have not.

Do you usually just paint touch up?

I did ceramic but not PPF. I like the ceramic coat since bug splat, etc. comes off with a rinse and doesn’t stick to the paint. Didn’t feel PPF was worth the expense. Can just touch up the paint in the long run with any gravel chips.

Does paint match and touch up match the existing paint 100%? What generally are costs for something like that? My detailer tried to touch up but you can definitely tell the chip. I'm wondering if I should've taken it to a pro paint shop instead of a detailer.

 

[SDHacker]

Claims by an installer regarding the superiority of brand x over all others should be ignored. There is questioning over the durability of the coating but all the major brands offer a version of their ppf that has it.

 

[BACamster]

I have Stek PPF applied on my car. So far, I'm happy with the film. Let's see how well Stek PPF holds up against time.

 

[off]

I was back home overseas and a pickup sideswipes our left front fender. Video from the shop shows the PPF takes all the the damage!

 

[kerplunk]

Do you usually just paint touch up?

Does paint match and touch up match the existing paint 100%? What generally are costs for something like that? My detailer tried to touch up but you can definitely tell the chip. I'm wondering if I should've taken it to a pro paint shop instead of a detailer.

It's pretty much impossible to match it 100%. Even OEM paint can't match OEM paint 100% because of changes in temperature, humidity, formulation and application variance.

Pro body shops can respray a panel and blend it to neighboring panels but that's a whole lot more than touching things up.

 

[chipcaldwell]

I did full PPF and Ceramic Coating a little over a year ago. Has worked perfectly. A month or so ago I did notice I had picked up two rock chips in my left front bumper that did each put a small tear in the PPF but I don't believe they penetrated the paint. I could just remove that section of PPF and replace but the reality is there will be more rock "tears" in that front bumper so I will wait a while and then decide. Bottom line is if I didn't have the PPF it would most likely have been significantly worse.

May I ask where you had your PPF done? I'm in St Augustine but willing to drive. Tx.... Chip