Considering Paint protection film (PPF)

[Demosthenes]

I noticed you didn't mention tints, so you got 3M Ceramic IR instead? That helps with UV damage and heat dissipation right? You mentioned Ceramic on top, so I'm assuming that's on top of the PPF, so the 3M Ceramic IR is probably for windshields right?

And the full interior ceramic coat, does that help with internal door scratches, dash and stuff like that? I'm assuming everything except for the screens is probably covered

I just got quoted:
full body PPF $7500 XPEL Ultimate Plus
$2000 front clip PPF (bumper, lights, grill, black piano parts)
Ceramic Coating: $600 XPEL Fusion 4 year warranty
Ceramic Tint: $440-$650
Full interior coating: $400

Those quotes sound about average I'd say.

My understanding is the 3M Ceramic IR is the tint - a film that is placed over the interior surface of the glass. I did 50% windshield and 20% sides and back. Works great for solar and heat rejection in my opinion. The other option was doing 3M crystalline but I didn't like the blue-ish tinge to it and it was slightly more expensive. However, some people believe that the crystalline is a better product than the ceramic. I'm a noob so I have no idea.

The PPF was applied to the full exterior of the car and a ceramic coat was applied on top to the full exterior.

Yeah I threw in the ceramic interior coating just for additional protection. It didn't cost much so I don't expect much from it. Still too new to really see any difference. Correct, screens were not coated - I asked if he could wrap them or something because I HATE fingerprints (still looking for a good fingerprint solution that doesn't dim the screen or make angle viewing worse!) but ultimately we decided against messing with it just to be safe.

 

[Impatient7536]

Yeah I threw in the ceramic interior coating just for additional protection.

for your interior coating, is that to protect against scratches inside, like along the doors and hard surfaces? or is it to keep the leather and stuff cleaner and easier to wash/scrub off? wondering if there's value in getting some sort of leather coating/protection if i decide to go with santa cruz, since white is so easy to get dirty. thanks

 

[Demosthenes]

for your interior coating, is that to protect against scratches inside, like along the doors and hard surfaces? or is it to keep the leather and stuff cleaner and easier to wash/scrub off? wondering if there's value in getting some sort of leather coating/protection if i decide to go with santa cruz, since white is so easy to get dirty. thanks

I believe it's more for protection against dirt and grime build up, and easy cleaning. I don't think it has any scratch protection since it's not a wrap. That's my understanding anyways.

 

[Impatient7536]

I believe it's more for protection against dirt and grime build up, and easy cleaning. I don't think it has any scratch protection since it's not a wrap. That's my understanding anyways.

awesome, thank you! i feel like it's important for those that decide to get the santa cruz interior

 

[FastEddi3]

Can we please get some cost estimates for full body PPF?

I know @bunnylebowski mentioned some DIY solutions for hydrophobic something in another thread. This is all new for me, so would appreciate some real numbers if possible.
Thanks!

My guy just quoted me $8000 for the whole thing in Xpel Ultimate, with the Fusion ceramic coating, and with tint on all of the windows with Xpel Prime XRPlus. I didn't ask what he would charge for just the front, with the experience on my Karma, definitely going with the whole wrap. One thing to consider is that with a glass roof, most shops won't be willing to bake the car. So any repair and repainting of any section will involve taking the section off, fix/paint, then bake it.

 

[Volund]

My guy just quoted me $8000 for the whole thing in Xpel Ultimate, with the Fusion ceramic coating, and with tint on all of the windows with Xpel Prime XRPlus. I didn't ask what he would charge for just the front, with the experience on my Karma, definitely going with the whole wrap. One thing to consider is that with a glass roof, most shops won't be willing to bake the car. So any repair and repainting of any section will involve taking the section off, fix/paint, then bake it.

What do you mean by baking?

Also I got some other quotes and one said the same as someone else stated here earlier

STEK 8 mil said they have ceramic coating on the PPF so you don't need any ceramic coating. Made things a bit cheaper.

full body $7000 STEK 8mil Ceramic coating gloss 10 year warranty 1-2 years
full front end $1650 STEK full
STEK Film dynoshield: $550 1 year warranty (windshield wipers scratch it, clean often)
Wheels and calipers: $400
powder coating wheels: $650
Interior Tints: $550 + $250 (for windshield) full vehicle
internal ceramic: $400
$7400 (PPF and internal ceramic)

One more question for you all, so if you get the PPF on the windshield, it can cause distortion, and then if you put tint on the inside with IR then you have 2 films counteracting each other and it can look fuzzy or cause a headache is what I was told.

So have any of you done it? Or just tints and leave any film or protection on the outside of the windshield off and just replace when you get a ton of chips or cracks?

 

[Neurio]

What do you mean by baking?

Also I got some other quotes and one said the same as someone else stated here earlier

STEK 8 mil said they have ceramic coating on the PPF so you don't need any ceramic coating. Made things a bit cheaper.

full body $7000 STEK 8mil Ceramic coating gloss 10 year warranty 1-2 years
full front end $1650 STEK full
STEK Film dynoshield: $550 1 year warranty (windshield wipers scratch it, clean often)
Wheels and calipers: $400
powder coating wheels: $650
Interior Tints: $550 + $250 (for windshield) full vehicle
internal ceramic: $400
$7400 (PPF and internal ceramic)

One more question for you all, so if you get the PPF on the windshield, it can cause distortion, and then if you put tint on the inside with IR then you have 2 films counteracting each other and it can look fuzzy or cause a headache is what I was told.

So have any of you done it? Or just tints and leave any film or protection on the outside of the windshield off and just replace when you get a ton of chips or cracks?

If this will be a daily driver, don't get the Dynoshield. As you said, wipers will scratch it, so it's really only meant to go on a weekend cruiser that won't see much wiper action.

I'm getting my car fully wrapped in STEK Dynomatt as we speak. My installer said that, in his experience, the built in hydrophobic properties lose efficacy in 6-12 months, so he recommended doing a ceramic coating on top (Gtechniq Halo). Also getting the windshield and wheels ceramic coated. Total cost should be $7800.

 

[Volund]

If this will be a daily driver, don't get the Dynoshield. As you said, wipers will scratch it, so it's really only meant to go on a weekend cruiser that won't see much wiper action.

I'm getting my car fully wrapped in STEK Dynomatt as we speak. My installer said that, in his experience, the built in hydrophobic properties lose efficacy in 6-12 months, so he recommended doing a ceramic coating on top (Gtechniq Halo). Also getting the windshield and wheels ceramic coated. Total cost should be $7800.

Question regarding the PPL then.

I noticed some people here can't justify the price for full body wrap, and others are doing it, but the Ceramic coating is what's protecting against the sun, UV, etc.. and fading
So the PPL is mostly for protection of the car itself physically.
So if someone keys your car or whatever, it'll protect against that right?

 

[hydbob]

Question regarding the PPL then.

I noticed some people here can't justify the price for full body wrap, and others are doing it, but the Ceramic coating is what's protecting against the sun, UV, etc.. and fading
So the PPL is mostly for protection of the car itself physically.
So if someone keys your car or whatever, it'll protect against that right?

Short is is maybe. Depends on how hard they key your car. Thr PPF is a film to prevent dings and scratches. It can't prevent a dent and it can't prevent a key pushed hard into your paint. With PPF and ceramic, the key has to penetrate the ceramic and the PPF before it gets to your paint, but like anything with enough force it'll break through.

 

[Volund]

Short is is maybe. Depends on how hard they key your car. Thr PPF is a film to prevent dings and scratches. It can't prevent a dent and it can't prevent a key pushed hard into your paint. With PPF and ceramic, the key has to penetrate the ceramic and the PPF before it gets to your paint, but like anything with enough force it'll break through.

I see (and this is one thing that scares me about not having a sentry mode like feature yet on the car!)

How would the PPF hold up against a ding? Surely a ding would be enough pressure to put some type of dent in a bumper or other panel/body part (usually)

 

[jabbahop]

We don‘t have a Lucid Air yet but I am inclined to put partial PPF when we do. We didn’t put ppf on our white 2019 Model S and @ 69K miles when we sold, the front, hood, and mirrors all had multiple small but visible chips in the paint. I tried to touch them up but they were still visible and it bugged me each time I would wash the car. We got our white 2021 Model S in December and had the front, mirrors, the rocker panels, and the rear diffuser behind the wheels wrapped with PPF (can’t remember the brand for about $1600 by a independent installer). He used a kit, didn’t paint correct the car first, didn’t remove body parts to hide scratches that I read the high end installers do. I didn’t do any ceramic coating since I don’t mind hand washing the car every week or two and just apply liquid synthetic wax a few times a year.

Now @ 5K miles I have no chips but one small tear on the lower air dam where something struck the car but didn’t affect the paint underneath. Another are on the rear diffuser something left a black mark on the ppf but didn’t penetrate the ppf to affect the paint. I do have seems visible (since it isn’t wrapped around corners) but they come clean when I hand wash the car and aren’t visible unless you look very close. My guess is they would not be visible if the car wasn’t while.

We do our semi annual drive across the country in June so we will see how it holds up to all the highway driving.

I am not sure I would spring for these $3K+ treatments but for <$2K, it would be worth it for me on the Air to lessen the possibility of those dreaded rock chips.

just finished our 2600 mile drive across the country in our model S. No issues getting several pounds of bug guts off the ppf bumper. We took a rock to the windshield which caused a 6” crack and will need to be replaced. We heard several other rock strikes but can’t find any damage on the front of the car. PPF well worth it from our POV and will be getting it on the Air when the time comes.

 

[FastEddi3]

Question regarding the PPL then.

I noticed some people here can't justify the price for full body wrap, and others are doing it, but the Ceramic coating is what's protecting against the sun, UV, etc.. and fading
So the PPL is mostly for protection of the car itself physically.
So if someone keys your car or whatever, it'll protect against that right?

I see (and this is one thing that scares me about not having a sentry mode like feature yet on the car!)

How would the PPF hold up against a ding? Surely a ding would be enough pressure to put some type of dent in a bumper or other panel/body part (usually)

This was a before pic of one of the scrapes. It looked worse in real life, the scrape was hard enough to take a gouge out of the wheel, which also had to be repaired. So pretty hard scrape. I am guessing it was a truck with a big brush guard that backed out, turned too early, then took off.

Bottom line, the Xpel PPF held up really well. I am definitely getting a full wrap. My reference to baking is if any part of the car ever has to be repainted. After they paint it, there is some process to cure the paint with heat. I think used to in big ovens, but now maybe heat lamps if can't take part off car? If it's a part they can take off the car, they can bake at higher temp to create a harder finish. If they can't take the part off the car, then they use oven or heat lamps, but they have to be very careful near glass, because the differential heating can cause the glass to shatter.

I asked my wrap guy about the keying, and he said that he had one customer that happened to. Hard to know how hard they keyed it, but in that case, when they pulled the wrap off, there was minimal paint damage that they were able to just touch up, then rewrapped it. He said you would have to try really hard to get through the Xpel with a key, and it would take a lot of pressure. FWIW, he said that the wrap paid for itself versus the cost of repainting the car.

 

[Demosthenes]

This was a before pic of one of the scrapes. It looked worse in real life, the scrape was hard enough to take a gouge out of the wheel, which also had to be repaired. So pretty hard scrape. I am guessing it was a truck with a big brush guard that backed out, turned too early, then took off.

Bottom line, the Xpel PPF held up really well. I am definitely getting a full wrap. My reference to baking is if any part of the car ever has to be repainted. After they paint it, there is some process to cure the paint with heat. I think used to in big ovens, but now maybe heat lamps if can't take part off car? If it's a part they can take off the car, they can bake at higher temp to create a harder finish. If they can't take the part off the car, then they use oven or heat lamps, but they have to be very careful near glass, because the differential heating can cause the glass to shatter.

I asked my wrap guy about the keying, and he said that he had one customer that happened to. Hard to know how hard they keyed it, but in that case, when they pulled the wrap off, there was minimal paint damage that they were able to just touch up, then rewrapped it. He said you would have to try really hard to get through the Xpel with a key, and it would take a lot of pressure. FWIW, he said that the wrap paid for itself versus the cost of repainting the car.

This story makes me happy I got full PPF!

 

[Sam6062]

I wanted to paint the lettering on the front and when my PPF/ceramic/autoshop guy went to do it, he took apart the front to try and isolate the lettering for painting but took one look at how complex the internal engineering is in that area and 100% decided to not touch it. So instead ended up ‘wrapping’ or covering the exterior lettering with a navy wrap instead of painting (did manage to paint the rear lettering and Air symbol though). So yeah I think physically removing the lettering on the front will be challenging.

Could you please share photos of the front and back. Thank you.

 

[Demosthenes]

Could you please share photos of the front and back. Thank you.

Absolutely plan to - but it's in the shop waiting for new wheels and I'm out of town!

 

[Sam6062]

I have not installed a Lucid yet. . I'm not concerned about that, though, because I have template designs for each panel on your car. These templates provide precise, edge-to-edge coverage and we wrap all available edges for an invisible application. I don't recall exactly what the hood design is but can confirm that with you tomorrow morning. My guess is there is going to be a seam along a path 18-24" off the center, back half of the hood. It would be unwise to try and stretch the film enough to install without any seams. But, we'll see. I've seen some comments on installer forums. I'll look more into it.


This is what my guy is saying on the PPF

 

[Demosthenes]

Hm I’m no PPF expert but I think I recall my guy saying that he wraps over the edges to avoid seams. But I could be wrong

 

[DJL]

Hm I’m no PPF expert but I think I recall my guy saying that he wraps over the edges to avoid seams. But I could be wrong

My detailer has said that he can cover the hood with just one piece of XPEL, thus avoiding a seam.

 

[hydbob]

I have not installed a Lucid yet. . I'm not concerned about that, though, because I have template designs for each panel on your car. These templates provide precise, edge-to-edge coverage and we wrap all available edges for an invisible application. I don't recall exactly what the hood design is but can confirm that with you tomorrow morning. My guess is there is going to be a seam along a path 18-24" off the center, back half of the hood. It would be unwise to try and stretch the film enough to install without any seams. But, we'll see. I've seen some comments on installer forums. I'll look more into it.


This is what my guy is saying on the PPF

Why are you wrapping if you are just going to sell? But in all seriousness, my hood was done with a single piece and edges wrapped so you can't see any seams. You can ask @Dortreo he saw my car up close in person!

 

[MPawelek]

The Xpel piece for the hood is one piece or so it appears…