Thoughts on Paint Protection - Wrap, Ceramic, Teflon,...

[Skye]

For those with vinyl on the hood, did you end up putting PPF over that?

A few options to consider:

- Nothing. Consider the existing stripe a sacrificial layer. While not PPF, the stripe will have a protecting effect to the underlying paint. See also RokBlokz or GT500-like guards to help protect the rocker area stripes (and paint)

- A Ghost stripe. Have the PPF installed as expected, up to but not including the factory stripe. As a final step, have a dedicated piece of PPF cut and installed across the stripe

- Install PPF in one piece, across the paint and stripes; this is typically not recommended. PPF might not show well and have a long-term tendency to lift at the transition point of the paint-to-stripe

I did option one. The Mach 1 vinyl stripes, while not PPF, are pretty thick as is. Getting a ghost stripe across the factory vinyl was not worth it, considering the price of simply replacing the vinyl. I can tell I've taken rocks on the factory vinyl along the rockers, but the effects are so subtle, I can really only see it when on the ground and looking directly at them from inches away. RokBlockz or GT500 guards could be another option here.

I've yet to take a hit on the hood vinyl, maybe because the hood is soo flat, it goes straight for the windshield instead.

As you're touring shops and getting quotes, seek the installers' feedback for what they typically do. The material itself will have a warranty. Ask them about the warranty of their craftsmanship.

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[Cirnek]

For those with vinyl on the hood, did you end up putting PPF over that?
I'm waiting on a Dark Horse with the hood vinyl and was wondering if it's going to be a problem putting PPF on the hood if I decide to go down that route.

This might help, Shmee PPF'ed his Dark Horse and had to choose what he would do regarding the hood stripes. Watch the video from the 6:00 Mark

 

[Cirnek]

So you couldn't see a seam where the PPF ended? I think for me it's the OCD of having the entire car protected. I picked up my first rock chip about halfway up the driver's door so that's why I'm thinking just wrap the whole thing and be done. My luck I would wrap only the leading edges and side skirts and still get a chip where the PPF wasn't. I'm still shopping around. I really appreciate your input, though. I'm am thinking of doing a partial PPF as you suggested vs full.

Well, my car is white, it kind of shows everything. That said you really have to look for it. Here are two pictures of my rocker panels before I wash the car.

On this image I used the flash so you can really tell where the seem is. Keep in mind the car is dirty, dirt tends to collect around the seems even if you wrap the entire car. Once I clear her up the seem line almost completely disappears.

 

[friscoaggie]

Seems like XPEL is the way to go. Just got a quote of $6500 for the whole car. Seems a little steep, but probably worth it.

I did full coverage on my DH with xpel fusion (it has ceramic on the surface) $6995 for your reference. Use rinseless xpel car wash and occasional xpel ceramic boost.

 

[friscoaggie]

For those with vinyl on the hood, did you end up putting PPF over that?
I'm waiting on a Dark Horse with the hood vinyl and was wondering if it's going to be a problem putting PPF on the hood if I decide to go down that route.

No, the installer cut around the decals on DH hood.

 

[Vapor Blue GT]

We wrapped our entire car. $7,000 came with a 12 year warranty on yellowing and lifetime warranty on something else. In Florida you get rock chips everywhere and door dings from people who can’t figure out how to exit a car. This was also the 12 mils thick which is the thickest they offer. They ceramic coated the few parts that weren’t able to be ppf like the grill and the wind shield which I don’t care for and the rims. Windows also were tinted with ceramic tint as well and we had the calipers painted too. Only 2500 miles on the car and already have 3 chips in our ppf that would have damaged the paint. Plus another benefit is there will never be any swirls or clear coat marring from washing or drying. A side note, the place we used use to offer Xpel but they stopped using them. Two other places we looked into also used them but stopped as well. I dont remember why but our installer offers STEK, 3M, Suntek, premium shield.

 

[MichaelKael]

We wrapped our entire car. $7,000 came with a 12 year warranty on yellowing and lifetime warranty on something else. In Florida you get rock chips everywhere and door dings from people who can’t figure out how to exit a car. This was also the 10mm thick which is the thickest they offer. They ceramic coated the few parts that weren’t able to be ppf like the grill and the wind shield which I don’t care for and the rims. Windows also were tinted with ceramic tint as well and we had the calipers painted too. Only 2500 miles on the car and already have 3 chips in our ppf that would have damaged the paint. Plus another benefit is there will never be any swirls or clear coat marring from washing or drying. A side note, the place we used use to offer Xpel but they stopped using them. Two other places we looked into also used them but stopped as well. I dont remember why but our installer offers STEK, 3M, Suntek, premium shield.

I mean, 10mm being a bit more than 3/8 of an inch, there are 3 options :
1 - Your car is covered in the thickest layer of PPF EVER
2 - You didn’t remember right cause you aren’t familiar with the metric system
3 - He BS’d you

i really hope it’s #2 lol
Good investment and glad you like the result and effect, still kinda undecided here, as I don’t plan of spending so much either…

is ceramic also making the paint « harder »/ more resistant to some damage ?

 

[Skye]

https://gleamworksdetailing.ca/how-thick-is-ppf/

I thought this was a good write-up explaining the thicknesses of PPF.

The notation of thickness is "mils" or thousandths of an inch.

While some installers might offer differing thicknesses, most cannot maintain an inventory like that and will default to the thicker option, like 10 mils. And, you can imagine if someone got a "great deal" (the thinnest) on PPF, only to see chips accumulating; this could lead to some rather difficult discussions between the installer and operator. The detailer I worked with offered 10 mils for any vehicle and "armor" (13 mils) for track duty or heavy abuse. YMMV.

The brand used, thickness, warranties on materials and craftsmanship are all great questions to ask when researching installers.

Regarding ceramic coatings, while they are well-proven at helping keep surfaces clean and like new, they are not considered impact-resistant. And the coatings wear over time. Ceramic treatments often last a few years. Some get a maintenance top-up once a year to extend the life a bit more.

With the discussion of decals earlier, one option is to get the decals ceramic coated, to protect against fading. This could be a good option for anyone keeping their car outside and/or uncovered.

 

[Vapor Blue GT]

I mean, 10mm being a bit more than 3/8 of an inch, there are 3 options :
1 - Your car is covered in the thickest layer of PPF EVER
2 - You didn’t remember right cause you aren’t familiar with the metric system
3 - He BS’d you

i really hope it’s #2 lol
Good investment and glad you like the result and effect, still kinda undecided here, as I don’t plan of spending so much either…

is ceramic also making the paint « harder »/ more resistant to some damage ?

12 mils is what I meant, not 12 mm. I’d have a one of a kind car if it was that thick lol. I went back and looked at what we purchased and it was 12 mil. 8 was the thinnest and it only would have saved us a little bit of money so we opted for thicker.

As for the ceramic in the ppf or in window tinting it helps reduce or reflect the heat that can pass through as I understand. I don’t recall if ours had it in the ppf we selected but I ceramic coated the ppf after it cured. It makes washing much easier and it adds a sacrificial layer to the ppf plus UV protection. Ceramic coatings do not offer any protection from scratches, rock chips, etc. on any surfaces. If you have someone tell you this just walk away, it’s a marketing scam and honestly there’s so many user friendly high quality ceramic coatings out there I see it as a waste of money to pay someone to do it. Now, if you need a complete paint restoration and you aren’t comfortable using a rotary or DA then you’d want to pay someone.

I’ll add this too, you will see rock chips in ppf. They do have self healing ppf but it’s more for small scratches not rock chips of normal size. It will protect the paint and if it’s not to larger can be “self healed” with a heat gun(small pebbles).

 

[Tursey]

So, can we apply any wax on the hood decals or just no? How can they be protected? Thanks!

Ps. What's about regarding the black plastic area in dark horse front fender?

 

[Vapor Blue GT]

So, can we apply any wax on the hood decals or just no? How can they be protected? Thanks!

Ps. What's about regarding the black plastic area in dark horse front fender?

You can apply whatever you want for protection to decals. I’d use something with ceramic or graphene in it and if possible use a ceramic coating. If your decals are a matte finish then you’d want to use something for matte surfaces.
The plastic can also be protected with ceramic coating or a protectant designed for plastic.

 

[Tursey]

You can apply whatever you want for protection to decals. I’d use something with ceramic or graphene in it and if possible use a ceramic coating. If your decals are a matte finish then you’d want to use something for matte surfaces.
The plastic can also be protected with ceramic coating or a protectant designed for plastic.

They are the Dark Horse version decals, so yeah, matte finish...

 

[Vapor Blue GT]

They are the Dark Horse version decals, so yeah, matte finish...

Ok. I don’t have anything matte. I know there are some options on the market for matte finishes that offer great protection.

Are you planning on ceramic coating the car? If so, that’s all you need. I really don’t know what will happen if you don’t use matte specific. I’ve never come across this with my cars and I could be completely wrong now thinking about it. Hopefully someone with more experience chimes in dealing with matte finishes. Please disregard my other post on having to use matte specific products.

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