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How many have wasted money on paint correction before PPF install?

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all these shops just see "tesla" people as people they can rip off and shill a lot of stuff, you wonder why guys with 50k tesla's are going in getting what lambo, ferrari and other brands are getting done LOL that's how you know you're making a bad decision. Keep in mind, a shop will sell you more accessories/mods/protection than the car is worth so it's all up to you how much you wanna spend.

If you dont know anyone that got PPF on a car before or 'paint correction' what makes you think you need it? Just because it's all over the websites and people are now even offering "Tesla packages" or have "tesla" dedicated section on their websites b/c unfortunately the community is willing to spend top dollar for 'protection' and everything. It's quite an interesting phenomenon. More people see and get PPF/Ceramic done and post their results and it turns into a cycle.
 
Don't you clean a wound before applying a band-aid to it? Same concept here. You want to clean it up and make sure the paint is in the best condition that it could possibly be in before you put on any kind of protection. It's Detailing 101.

As someone with former detailing experience, I would never go to that guy's shop for any kind of work if he told me that I don't need to correct any defects before protecting. The issue is that the barrier to entry into the industry is so low, that anyone and their mother can enter it and become an 'expert'.
 
all these shops just see "tesla" people as people they can rip off and shill a lot of stuff, you wonder why guys with 50k tesla's are going in getting what lambo, ferrari and other brands are getting done LOL that's how you know you're making a bad decision. Keep in mind, a shop will sell you more accessories/mods/protection than the car is worth so it's all up to you how much you wanna spend.

If you dont know anyone that got PPF on a car before or 'paint correction' what makes you think you need it? Just because it's all over the websites and people are now even offering "Tesla packages" or have "tesla" dedicated section on their websites b/c unfortunately the community is willing to spend top dollar for 'protection' and everything. It's quite an interesting phenomenon. More people see and get PPF/Ceramic done and post their results and it turns into a cycle.

So you're against PPF? What's your approach to keeping the car clean?
 
Don't you clean a wound before applying a band-aid to it? Same concept here. You want to clean it up and make sure the paint is in the best condition that it could possibly be in before you put on any kind of protection. It's Detailing 101.

As someone with former detailing experience, I would never go to that guy's shop for any kind of work if he told me that I don't need to correct any defects before protecting. The issue is that the barrier to entry into the industry is so low, that anyone and their mother can enter it and become an 'expert'.

Proper cleaning versus removing a layer of clear coat is two different things.

My vote is for the guy in the Video. I was gonna have my car ceramic coated and they wanted to paint correct it. It was fine. I ceramic coated it myself and it came out great. And I didn't paint correct it. Just a really good cleaning.
 
Proper cleaning versus removing a layer of clear coat is two different things.

My vote is for the guy in the Video. I was gonna have my car ceramic coated and they wanted to paint correct it. It was fine. I ceramic coated it myself and it came out great. And I didn't paint correct it. Just a really good cleaning.

So you sealed in all the scratches and swirls behind a ceramic coat?

Oh boy.
 
So you sealed in all the scratches and swirls behind a ceramic coat?

Oh boy.

Looks terrible, doesn't it.

50510294648_009fd16c1a_b_d.jpg
 
To the average joe that doesn't care, it looks fine. To a detailer or someone that actually cares, if there are swirls and scratches, they'll see them the second they pass by the car and it will look abysmal.

Yeah, right, it's just an abysmal mess.

We'll you are right, 99.99% of the population doesn't care what my car looks like.

The 0.01% that do notice are detailers or ones that are willing to fork over the money to them.
 
Yeah, right, it's just an abysmal mess.

We'll you are right, 99.99% of the population doesn't care what my car looks like.

The 0.01% that do notice are detailers or ones that are willing to fork over the money to them.

Tesla paint quality is already one of the worst out there. If it's bad enough the average joe will notice the difference as well. Swirls and scratches make a difference in how a car shines and looks. Just depends on how many years of abuse the paint has gone through. Also, I'm pretty sure a larger portion of the population will notice your car doesn't look as pristine as it could. Don't try to justify your stance of not caring by making up numbers. I've seen college students be able to tell the difference between a car that has paint that is marred to hell and one that has just been corrected. It's not hard to tell the difference once you've actually seen what a corrected car looks like. Ignorance is bliss, though.
 
all these shops just see "tesla" people as people they can rip off and shill a lot of stuff, you wonder why guys with 50k tesla's are going in getting what lambo, ferrari and other brands are getting done LOL that's how you know you're making a bad decision. Keep in mind, a shop will sell you more accessories/mods/protection than the car is worth so it's all up to you how much you wanna spend.

If you dont know anyone that got PPF on a car before or 'paint correction' what makes you think you need it? Just because it's all over the websites and people are now even offering "Tesla packages" or have "tesla" dedicated section on their websites b/c unfortunately the community is willing to spend top dollar for 'protection' and everything. It's quite an interesting phenomenon. More people see and get PPF/Ceramic done and post their results and it turns into a cycle.

I had simliar thoughts in my head. Tesla is attracting so many newbie "car enthusiasts" into this whole thing. The PPF and car detailing shops must be loving it.
 
Tesla paint quality is already one of the worst out there. If it's bad enough the average joe will notice the difference as well. Swirls and scratches make a difference in how a car shines and looks. Just depends on how many years of abuse the paint has gone through. Also, I'm pretty sure a larger portion of the population will notice your car doesn't look as pristine as it could. Don't try to justify your stance of not caring by making up numbers. I've seen college students be able to tell the difference between a car that has paint that is marred to hell and one that has just been corrected. It's not hard to tell the difference once you've actually seen what a corrected car looks like. Ignorance is bliss, though.

There was no years of abuse. Yes, there are samples of poor Tesla's and there are good ones too.

Could you have found a blemish, from the factory, maybe, I don't give a *sugar*.
I'm probably more fussy than average and it looks absolutely fine to my eyes and nobody is much closer than I ever am.

Sorry, I don't have the special equipment that exaggerates imperfections.

I'm not making up numbers. I know the people I work with, who I hang around with etc. Not a single one would give a hoot or notice it.
 
I’ve ceramic coated my own new car before. Cost was $150 for the materials needed to clay bar, 1-step correct and then apply the ceramic coating. It is labor intensive to get it done right. The second time around, I just paid to get it done at a shop. I guess it all boils down to, how much is your time and labor worth?
 
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There was no years of abuse. Yes, there are samples of poor Tesla's and there are good ones too.

Could you have found a blemish, from the factory, maybe, I don't give a *sugar*.
I'm probably more fussy than average and it looks absolutely fine to my eyes and nobody is much closer than I ever am.

Sorry, I don't have the special equipment that exaggerates imperfections.

I'm not making up numbers. I know the people I work with, who I hang around with etc. Not a single one would give a hoot or notice it.

You are making up numbers. The 10 people that you interact with do not represent the 328 million people that live in the United States nor the 7.6 Billion people that live in the world. To be honest with you, you could put a corrected car and a non-corrected car in front of a five year old and ask them which one looks shinier and they'd be able to point it out.

Take your car to a detailer and let them shine a light on the paint. You don't need to exaggerate imperfections. Take a flashlight and shine it on your paint and see all the swirls. Tesla paint sucks as is. You can keep making all the excuses you want, but the fact is, you sealed your paint with scratches in it. Now, if you don't care that's fine but to tell me you're *more* fussy than most people but then tell me that you sealed your car without correcting it is a complete contradiction. Take your car to a detailer and let them show you how bad your paint is marred. Might be an eye opening experience.
 
Just take it outside in direct sunlight and you will see the swirls. All it takes is one improper carwash and you’ve just scratched swirls into your brand new paint.

Yeah, it has to be direct sunlight though, and may only be visible at certain angles. Someone like mswlogo who's just your typical person who gets in the car and drives won't see it dead on. With a flashlight, you should be able to spot any imperfections when you get close up without having to tilt your head.

Also people, those touchless car washes also swirl your paint. High pressure recycled water hitting your paint directly is going to cause swirls.
 
I think a lot of it has to do with the car looks good in normal light at 10 feet away. Honestly, that’s why Tesla can deliver the cars with paint issues in the first place. Park under harsh lights (parking garage etc) or under certain lighting conditions and you’ll see swirls under ceramic and even under PPF.

I wanted ease of washing, power wash the car, soap it up real well, and five minutes to quickly go over it with a microfiber before a rinse. 30 minutes start to finish. Likely this would result in swirls, but not really with PPF covering it.
 
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You are making up numbers. The 10 people that you interact with do not represent the 328 million people that live in the United States nor the 7.6 Billion people that live in the world. To be honest with you, you could put a corrected car and a non-corrected car in front of a five year old and ask them which one looks shinier and they'd be able to point it out.

Take your car to a detailer and let them shine a light on the paint. You don't need to exaggerate imperfections. Take a flashlight and shine it on your paint and see all the swirls. Tesla paint sucks as is. You can keep making all the excuses you want, but the fact is, you sealed your paint with scratches in it. Now, if you don't care that's fine but to tell me you're *more* fussy than most people but then tell me that you sealed your car without correcting it is a complete contradiction. Take your car to a detailer and let them show you how bad your paint is marred. Might be an eye opening experience.

I know the detailing business thrives off of training you to find imperfections the average joe will never see.