PPF Vs Ceramic coating

[Nik1]

Hey guys.
I recently got my metallic black Taycan with a GardX ceramic coating.
After speaking to a few car care companies, I was informed the GardX coating is very thin (less than 1 micron) and I was advised to remove it and apply a new coating called Trinity origin which is 10 microns. Does anyone have any experience with either brand and is ceramic the way to go or PPF (paint protection film) which is triple the cost?

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[PT Addiction]

No experience with either brand but I recently had the vehicle applied with 4 mil (101 microns) XPEL followed by a coat of ceramic followed by an application of silica every 3 months after washing the car--the trifecta for long lasting paint protection and easy removal of contaminants. You will find that many on the forum have used the XPEL/ceramic coat sequence but others have opted for either the XPEL or ceramic--personal preferences mainly, depending on the type of environmental factors and road conditions present.

 

[XLR82XS]

FWIW I would at minimum get PPF especially on a dark colored car. I went with full body (bulk) Xpel Ulimate then GTECHNIQ HALO ceramic coat. Ceramic coat helps keep dirt from sticking - PPF prevents paint damage. (i.e. paint chips, scratches, etc.) The car looks incredible and stays pretty clean especially with daily afternoon summer rain in Florida.

 

[andre-s]

The two things are different. The Coat is a protection to the paint, but mostly from dirt, not from debris, rocks and other things.
The coat will be easier to wash your car and keep it clean. If you take you car to car wash (worse the automatic ones) that they use chemicals and is not your detailer, I would worry about a paint correct and/or coat. No matter what you put on, it'll be gone soon. If you wash yourself, or in a car wash that knows how to do it properly and use the products recommended to go with coat, do it and enjoy a shiny car longer.

The PPF is protection. Small debris, rock chips, etc that a car as low as a Taycan, will often get thrown at. So I would recommend PPF at least in the full front + mirrors (what I have). If you want to keep it shiny and protection against dirt, then a ceramic coat should be applied AFTER the PPF. Ideally you want to do the paint correction (remove all swirls and defects) before the PPF. Then install PPF and apply ceramic coat in the entire car.

The car wash rule goes also to the PPF. If you take your car to those automatic car wash or a random one, don't install PPF. The machines and/or people washing the car without the right care, will start to damage / pull the ends of your PPF, which will look terrible. To remove a PPF is expensive, exhausting and very labor intense, so if you have the PPF, take care of it. It's very easy for those machines or regular people with wash cloth/gloves to pull the ends of the PPF without noticing, then water starts to go in, losing the sticker and in a matter of weeks, you will hate your PPF.

Both options are great, if you want to spend more time and money washing your car too, otherwise don't even worry about it and enjoy the car.

 

[Genau]

If you want to keep it shiny and protection against dirt, then a ceramic coat should be applied AFTER the PPF. Ideally you want to do the paint correction (remove all swirls and defects) before the PPF. Then install PPF and apply ceramic coat in the entire car.

Depends on the PPF. Some such as STEK DynoShield are engineered to effectively include a permanent ceramic coat. Xpel is the brand always mentioned on this forum, I suspect because for installers it has the lowest barriers to entry, both in terms of cost and skill. Xpel provides installers with templates for every car model that are used to cut the film on a machine. The installer is charged a relatively low price for the film, and Xpel makes additional profit charging for access to the template software, and for the distance the cutting head travels on the machine. The net effect is that the installer spends relatively less money stocking film, and expends relatively less labor by installing pre-cut film that is thinner than films containing the equivalent of a ceramic coat. I humbly suggest that a thicker film that does not need to have ceramic coat applied and maintained, while it may cost more and take longer to install, provides better impact protection and requires less attention over its ten year lifespan.

 

[andre-s]

Depends on the PPF. Some such as STEK DynoShield are engineered to effectively include a permanent ceramic coat. Xpel is the brand always mentioned on this forum, I suspect because for installers it has the lowest barriers to entry, both in terms of cost and skill. Xpel provides installers with templates for every car model that are used to cut the film on a machine. The installer is charged a relatively low price for the film, and Xpel makes additional profit charging for access to the template software, and for the distance the cutting head travels on the machine. The net effect is that the installer spends relatively less money stocking film, and expends relatively less labor by installing pre-cut film that is thinner than films containing the equivalent of a ceramic coat. I humbly suggest that a thicker film that does not need to have ceramic coat applied and maintained, while it may cost more and take longer to install, provides better impact protection and requires less attention over its ten year lifespan.

Completely agree, but that's not the case for most of the regular day to day owners. People with deep knowledge and top notch installers for more expensive cars, will know this. I think for the day to day, for a Taycan owner, the XPEL + Coat will be enough and I would not even bother in PPF in the entire car, just front body panels in full.

 

[XLR82XS]

Depends on the PPF. Some such as STEK DynoShield are engineered to effectively include a permanent ceramic coat. Xpel is the brand always mentioned on this forum, I suspect because for installers it has the lowest barriers to entry, both in terms of cost and skill. Xpel provides installers with templates for every car model that are used to cut the film on a machine. The installer is charged a relatively low price for the film, and Xpel makes additional profit charging for access to the template software, and for the distance the cutting head travels on the machine. The net effect is that the installer spends relatively less money stocking film, and expends relatively less labor by installing pre-cut film that is thinner than films containing the equivalent of a ceramic coat. I humbly suggest that a thicker film that does not need to have ceramic coat applied and maintained, while it may cost more and take longer to install, provides better impact protection and requires less attention over its ten year lifespan.

I always choose bulk install for my vehicles and my installer prefers this method. (no edges) I'm sure he will do plotter cut kits as well. My 991.2 I had rear "hips" covered in a custom cut all the way to the quarter edges/door jambs.

 

[farazkhu2]

No experience with either brand but I recently had the vehicle applied with 4 mil (101 microns) XPEL followed by a coat of ceramic followed by an application of silica every 3 months after washing the car--the trifecta for long lasting paint protection and easy removal of contaminants. You will find that many on the forum have used the XPEL/ceramic coat sequence but others have opted for either the XPEL or ceramic--personal preferences mainly, depending on the type of environmental factors and road conditions present.

If you don't mind letting me know how much does that cost, that would be great.

My local Porsche dealer was asking for 7k for XPEL PPF and no Ceramic Coating. Sounds bit steep to me.

 

[dflohr]

If you don't mind letting me know how much does that cost, that would be great.

My local Porsche dealer was asking for 7k for XPEL PPF and no Ceramic Coating. Sounds bit steep to me.

I just did XPEL front and Gtechniq ceramic on full car and wheels for $3200.

 

[farazkhu2]

I just did XPEL front and Gtechniq ceramic on full car and wheels for $3200.

Thank you, and that does sound reasonable since I was quoted 2200 for front only.

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

I completely agree with those who are telling you that PPF will protect your paint while ceramic will take the place of the best waxing and will make your car incredibly easy to clean. I disagree with a couple statements made about Xpel and carwashes.

Xpel is one of the thickest and best protecting films that you can buy. It is not that easy to apply since it cannot be stretched. My applier has 10+ years experience and has an average 5 star rating with over 500 ratings. He has the top reputation in town and is just a class act overall. I had the full top-line Xpel installed with 4 coats of Ceramic Pro. He will refresh the Ceramic Pro once a year for $100 each time. I have 10 months and 10K miles on the car, and have had two stones hit the hood and damage the Xpel, but no damage to the paint whatsoever. He replaced the hood Xpel for a few hundred $'s each time. Both stones would have required a repaint of the hood. The Xpel and ceramic are still looking as good as new.

He encourages me to go to a carwash, with the provision that I make sure never to apply any kind of wax. He has no concern about the Xpel 'peeling' and if it does, he will take care of it under warranty.

I'm a bit suspicious of those 'all-in-one' films that say you don't ever need to recoat the ceramic. Possibly this is the case, but we just don't have long-term results for these new PPF's and I'm very happy with the setup I have.

If you're interested, there are a number of videos comparing the films. Here is one where the guy really abuses the film - keys then a screwdriver. Pretty amazing how the films protect the paint. As I've said numerous times, complete PPF and Ceramic is amazing - the car just always looks good, and is incredibly easy to keep clean.

 

[Artman]

So here's a question...

All paint needs time to cure, allowing for "outgassing". After body shop repair (yes, I've had some in 40+ years of driving, LOL), I was always instructed not to wax for at least 90 days. Given that I would want PPF/Ceramic added immediately after delivery, it seems as though a custom ordered car may not have had enough cure time. Eg; My "Tracked Dream" is scheduled to ship on 10-16 and delivery is set for 11-26. Likely less than 60 days of cure time.

 

[XLR82XS]

So here's a question...

All paint needs time to cure, allowing for "outgassing". After body shop repair (yes, I've had some in 40+ years of driving, LOL), I was always instructed not to wax for at least 90 days. Given that I would want PPF/Ceramic added immediately after delivery, it seems as though a custom ordered car may not have had enough cure time. Eg; My "Tracked Dream" is scheduled to ship on 10-16 and delivery is set for 11-26. Likely less than 60 days of cure time.

OE paint and they way it is applied (Porsche, not sure about others) you'll be fine applying PPF when it's new. Paint is off gassing for at least a month from time of paint to transport to you.

 

[dflohr]

So here's a question...

All paint needs time to cure, allowing for "outgassing". After body shop repair (yes, I've had some in 40+ years of driving, LOL), I was always instructed not to wax for at least 90 days. Given that I would want PPF/Ceramic added immediately after delivery, it seems as though a custom ordered car may not have had enough cure time. Eg; My "Tracked Dream" is scheduled to ship on 10-16 and delivery is set for 11-26. Likely less than 60 days of cure time.

Don't know any details about outgassing but if it were an issue, I can't believe the dealers would be putting PFF and ceramic on before delivery. My RWD was delayed in shipping and stuck at the port so the PFF went on about 80 days after painting.

For what it's worth, the shop that did the PFF strongly suggested to me to make sure that the dealer did not clean or otherwise prepare the car's exterior after removing the shipping protection film and inspecting. They wanted it as fresh from the factory as possible without out having to "correct" anything the dealer might have inadvertently done. Made the PFF installation faster and a bit less expensive for me as well.

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

My PPF applier went to work immediately after I received the car. The first thing they did was 'paint correction' which was incredibly thorough and detailed. After the correction, they started the Xpel install. The car was completed 7/24 and I didn't receive it at the dealer until 9/4. The Xpel install started on 9/11 and the installer never asked about when the car was completed, so this indicates to me that they were not concerned about the paint 'curing'.

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