To ceramic coat PPF or not to

[tylerdurden]

unlike some Porkers, Tacans are a rapidly depreciating asset. I say its all a waste of money

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[violuma]

I respect your opinion but I certainly do view this as something that can be quantified in an objective way.

If you're saying it can be quantified in a "wisdom of crowds" or marketplace sense, I agree. It would be unlikely to recover the cost of PPF or ceramic upon resale. However, that doesn't mean that the utility that a given owner might get out of the peace of mind or perceived ease of cleaning or whatever would always be less than the cost of the process.

 

[Fun TC Driving]

The old cost benefit analysis — but in this case the issue of whether to only PPF, OR to only ceramic coat, OR to do both has a time-expediency cost too.

I see myself as a temporary pristine-vehicle keeper. Whether I keep it for three years as in a lease of an EV, or even ten years when I dispose of my vehicle, they are all close to showroom pristine the day we part. Just the way I choose to take care of my vehicles.

I just had XPEL PPF’d the front 1/3rd of my 3-year lease iX M60, then had my pro detailer next put on XPEL’s Fusion Plus ceramic coating over the whole car. I am first to note that this was not a cost effective two step protective process, but again it will be to the advantage of the person who gets it from me later., e.g., sometimes a friend, sometimes a family member, sometime at the other extreme a dealership.

Why do I do both? So when I take a summer road trip and return bug encrusted or even driving around in winter yuk, when I wash it that process is super quick and easy — certainly more so than it would be had I not also ceramic coated it.

Nice we each get to choose.

 

[violuma]

If you are going to get PPF, get the XPEL

I stressed out about various brands of films and coatings for a while, and then I read something that cut through all the chaff: "concentrate on choosing the installer, and then let the installer you trust choose the materials".

I'm sure XPEL in the hands of a good installer who's familiar with it is a perfectly cromulent suggestion, but I don't think it necessarily has to be the only reasonable option.

 

[RAHRCR]

If you're saying it can be quantified in a "wisdom of crowds" or marketplace sense, I agree. It would be unlikely to recover the cost of PPF or ceramic upon resale. However, that doesn't mean that the utility that a given owner might get out of the peace of mind or perceived ease of cleaning or whatever would always be less than the cost of the process.

Indeed. This is why my entire car is polished, wrapped, and coated (including the wheels) and interior. Makes no financial sense but I enjoy the car more this way.

 

[WuffvonTrips]

unlike some Porkers, Tacans are a rapidly depreciating asset. I say its all a waste of money

I had PPF installed all over apart from the rear. Seeing how depreciation is going, I should instead have at most done the rear doors (as, according to my sales rep, they were finding them the vulnerable area that's most expensive to correct for resale)...but while they aren't wanting to take in any more Taycans, even that is moot.

 

[BigBob]

I stressed out about various brands of films and coatings for a while, and then I read something that cut through all the chaff: "concentrate on choosing the installer, and then let the installer you trust choose the materials".

I'm sure XPEL in the hands of a good installer who's familiar with it is a perfectly cromulent suggestion, but I don't think it necessarily has to be the only reasonable option.

I agree 100% with you. 99% of that is because of your use of the word 'cromulent'. Well done Sir/Madam!

I went for the factory front end ppf. It's fine, it didn't delay delivery of the car and was a relatively low cost option way of doing it. Oh and only 1 person to blame if there is a paint related issue etc.
Spent hours looking into ceramic etc and eventually i didn't get around to it, as dealer had done the swissvax by accident. My car stays clean for about 2 days and i don't think ceramic would stop this as use a few muddy lanes quite often. Besides, i'm not sure my car wash man would do right by it either!

 

[ZenicaNC]

Indeed. This is why my entire car is polished, wrapped, and coated (including the wheels) and interior. Makes no financial sense but I enjoy the car more this way.

This sums up my approach to vehicle ownership as well. I keep cars for 5-6 years on average though my 8 year old Cayenne is an exception. I just do not like the new Cayenne style inside and so I'm holding onto the one I do like for as long as I like it. Thanks in part to being principally garaged, the PPF and ceramic on the wheels, it looks showroom new. I know people that lease new cars every 3 years and by the 3rd year, it looks 10. That has never been me.

So the consensus seems to be in favor of ceramic over PPF. Not knowing which PPF I have, makes selecting the right ceramic tricky. I guess I'll work off the assumption it is Xpel and go from there.

 

[Studogg22]

I got front-end ppf and full ceramic on my Chalk. I have not washed the car since I got it a year ago. Just a little rinse every now and then and she is lovely. Not sure if I owe it all to my ceramic, but feels like it has to be the case.

 

[violuma]

I got front-end ppf and full ceramic on my Chalk. I have not washed the car since I got it a year ago. Just a little rinse every now and then and she is lovely. Not sure if I owe it all to my ceramic, but feels like it has to be the case.

I think you might owe part of it to the color. I had forgotten how much dirt shows on dark colors. When I was in high school, my father had a pimptastic black Buick Century with a dark violet plush interior. It attracted dust like a Swiffer.

That being said, "rinseless" washes don't use very much water at all and basically just consist of "petting" the car like a cat for a bit, which is fun anyway.

 

[RAHRCR]

This sums up my approach to vehicle ownership as well. I keep cars for 5-6 years on average though my 8 year old Cayenne is an exception. I just do not like the new Cayenne style inside and so I'm holding onto the one I do like for as long as I like it. Thanks in part to being principally garaged, the PPF and ceramic on the wheels, it looks showroom new. I know people that lease new cars every 3 years and by the 3rd year, it looks 10. That has never been me.

So the consensus seems to be in favor of ceramic over PPF. Not knowing which PPF I have, makes selecting the right ceramic tricky. I guess I'll work off the assumption it is Xpel and go from there.

Modern PPF is all good stuff. You shouldn’t have to match your coating to the PPF….even though installers will try to convince you of this and manufacturers may try to turn this into a warranty issue.

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

I stressed out about various brands of films and coatings for a while, and then I read something that cut through all the chaff: "concentrate on choosing the installer, and then let the installer you trust choose the materials".

I'm sure XPEL in the hands of a good installer who's familiar with it is a perfectly cromulent suggestion, but I don't think it necessarily has to be the only reasonable option.

I agree with you almost 100%. Just like in a profession I’m quite familiar with you don’t want to tell the surgeon which hernia mesh to implant or which hip implant is best, you want to go with what the surgeon does best.

However, if you do a lot of research, you’ll find there’s one or two types of hernia mesh and one or two types of hip implants that are superior to the others. If you have the luxury of picking a Surgeon who is very familiar with implanting either of these, that’s what you want.

Expel is one of the best if not the best PPF films available today on the market. It is also extremely difficult to install because it is not flexible and you can’t stretch it to fit like many other much easier to apply films. My car is currently in the shop today getting its 18 month refresh for ceramic and a bit of touchup on a few expel panels. It will come out looking like the day I bought it 4-1/2 years ago. The operator of this shop is one of the highest rated in all of the Midwest and I can give you his number if you’d like him to give you a recommendation of someone in your area. He would be happy to do that.

Hopefully you’ll find this at least a bog-standard suggestion.

 

[violuma]

I can give you his number if you’d like him to give you a recommendation of someone in your area.

Thanks for the offer. I am (at least so far) very happy with the results I have gotten. My installer was gracious enough to come across the bay the day after Christmas to meet me at the dealer and help me go through the pre-handover inspection on the car (despite my declining the dealer-recommended PPF place and bringing in my own). My current avatar photo (which will probably stay there until we get some better weather so I can go take scenery photos) is one of about 50 that they took on site before starting the work.

They chose STEK DynoShield for the film and CQuartz Finest Reserve for the ceramic. The office manager for the shop that worked on my old E28 for 25 years asked if I was planning on getting PPF done, and was initially incredulous when I said it already had been.

The only place where I can sense it at all is the small valley in the corner on each side of the rear light strip. The installer said when they started doing Taycans, they used to try to get that with a single piece, but the contours of the space made it so that that caused an unacceptable level of stretch and stress on the film, so he's decided that it's a better idea to do two pieces and a V-cut there.

If anybody else in the greater San Francisco area wants a reco, I would be happy to provide it. I'm pretty sure there is at least one other poster here who was getting their car a few weeks before me that also sent it to this same shop, and perhaps they can also provide their experiences.

 

[summerlion]

I think the financial "worth" definitely depends on the owner. If you're someone who doesn't mind their car getting beaten to shit by rocks and jerks in parking lots, it's surely a waste of money. If you're going to spend time and/or money polishing, buffing, and touching up every scratch then it's a good investment, because it will definitely cut down on the amount of that you need to do.

I put PPF on the front of mine plus the front doors. Basically everywhere my other cars have gotten whacked. I put ceramic on the whole thing. Compared to the overall cost of the car, the price was in the noise.

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