Jumped the gun with my ceramic coating..... Ok to put on PPF afterwards?

[mcmcn]

So, I ordered the PPF from Tesla and got a ceramic coating kit also. I was so excited about having a free weekend and the time to do the ceramic coating process that I completely forgot to put my PPF on beforehand. So, is it okay to put the PPF on top of the new ceramic coating? If so, should I coat those two doors again? or will it be fine without the extra coating. I just got my MY last month so not driving it for a couple days while the ceramic coating cured was awful!


I guess I am going to make this a twofer since it also deals with ceramic coating. THE DAY I drove into work after my coating a piece of metal flew up and hit my driver side door, it put a little nick in the door two places, I dont see metal but I can feel it with my fingernail. What is the proper method to fix this now? I was thinking use a little rubbing compound around the nick to smooth the edges just a little, then use some touch paint and then coat the door again? I watched a few videos on the tesla touch up kit and it seems to work well if you use a very small amount and skip the step with the leveling agent.

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to throw out some advice/expertise!

Also, for those curious, I used CarPro CQUARTZ 3.0. It took some time but was pretty easy and turned out looking amazing!

 

[MP3Mike]

Generally you can't put PPF over a ceramic coating as it won't adhere properly. (Though I have seen some people report that they have done it.)

 

[SvenG]

I had my front protected with PPF and the rest of the car treated with CQUARTZ. Had a similar concern as the treatment was done before I had a chance to install the rear door PPF.

Cleaned the area with IPA and had no issue installing Xpel PPF. It adheres well but tends to slip a bit long during the install.
This can be address by flushing with the IPA/water mix.

Removed one of the PPF door installs a few weeks later to re-do them (this time with the PPF wrapped around the edges) and actually had to use steam to even get the PPF to come off properly. Adheres very well.

 

[mcmcn]

I had my front protected with PPF and the rest of the car treated with CQUARTZ. Had a similar concern as the treatment was done before I had a chance to install the rear door PPF.

Cleaned the area with IPA and had no issue installing Xpel PPF. It adheres well but tends to slip a bit long during the install.
This can be address by flushing with the IPA/water mix.

Removed one of the PPF door installs a few weeks later to re-do them (this time with the PPF wrapped around the edges) and actually had to use steam to even get the PPF to come off properly. Adheres very well.

Thanks for the input! I guess worse case it will just fall off..... Appreciate you helping out.

 

[Arktctr]

Generally you can't put PPF over a ceramic coating as it won't adhere properly. (Though I have seen some people report that they have done it.)

I had Ceramic Pro installed in September 2020, then self-installed the rear door PPF over the ceramic treated surface in March 2021. So far install has been flawless and no sign of weakened adhesion yet but I suppose time will tell.

 

[kindofblue]

My Ceramic Pro installer forgot to install the rear door ppf panels and said he'd be back in 2 weeks when the ceramic was cured to install the ppf (with apologies for the oversight). He will thoroughly clean that area first though for good adhesion then put the ceramic pro on top of the ppf.

 

[mcmcn]

My Ceramic Pro installer forgot to install the rear door ppf panels and said he'd be back in 2 weeks when the ceramic was cured to install the ppf (with apologies for the oversight). He will thoroughly clean that area first though for good adhesion then put the ceramic pro on top of the ppf.

@kindofblue Awesome! Thank you very much for this info, very helpful!

 

[kindofblue]

@kindofblue Awesome! Thank you very much for this info, very helpful!

De nada.

 

[Mum Sports]

You cannot put PPF on Ceramic. It will not stick - it may for a month or two at best, but then it will just come right off while you are driving. Ceramic coating prevents the adherence of ANYTHING to the car, so if the ceramic coating was applied properly the PPF will not stick. The point of Ceramic is to make sure absolutely nothing sticks to the paint - no grime, no dirt, no dust, no adhesive, no water, nothing. You must apply the PPF before the Ceramic coating, or else you will have to do the ceramic coating all over again. Now if you did get Ceramic coating and the PPF is sticking, then, unfortunately you got scammed and that coating is not applied properly and we encourage you to find a different provider.

These are the industry standard steps we use to properly prep for PPF and Ceramic coating:

Wash
Claybar
Polish*
Paint Correction**
PPF Application
Ceramic Coating

*Note: A single layer of polish will work great on new cars and often paint correction is not required for cars fresh off the lot. After the clay bar, this will remove all defects from the paint
**Note: Paint correction is required for areas that have swirls or any other defects that the single layer polish did not remove. This is more often required in older / higher mileage vehicles. Ceramic Pro, for example, brings out any kind of imperfections on the paint so you must ensure that the surface is clean, smooth, and free of contaminants.

 

[Alic01]

Normally you cannot put standard PPF which is fixed with slip and fix solution over ceramic coating because the surface isnt sufficiently pours for the solution to fix the film, but am i right in thinking that the Tesla kit is just self adhesive clear vinyl rather than proper PPF film? In this case it should bond to the ceramic coating and in turn the base material no problem, it would be no different from applying badges onto a ceramic coated panel which is done all the time.

 

[youscott]

You cannot put PPF on Ceramic. It will not stick - it may for a month or two at best, but then it will just come right off while you are driving. Ceramic coating prevents the adherence of ANYTHING to the car, so if the ceramic coating was applied properly the PPF will not stick. The point of Ceramic is to make sure absolutely nothing sticks to the paint - no grime, no dirt, no dust, no adhesive, no water, nothing. You must apply the PPF before the Ceramic coating, or else you will have to do the ceramic coating all over again. Now if you did get Ceramic coating and the PPF is sticking, then, unfortunately you got scammed and that coating is not applied properly and we encourage you to find a different provider.

These are the industry standard steps we use to properly prep for PPF and Ceramic coating:

Wash
Claybar
Polish*
Paint Correction**
PPF Application
Ceramic Coating

*Note: A single layer of polish will work great on new cars and often paint correction is not required for cars fresh off the lot. After the clay bar, this will remove all defects from the paint
**Note: Paint correction is required for areas that have swirls or any other defects that the single layer polish did not remove. This is more often required in older / higher mileage vehicles. Ceramic Pro, for example, brings out any kind of imperfections on the paint so you must ensure that the surface is clean, smooth, and free of contaminants.

This is great information. What product do you guys use for polish and paint correction?

 

[t-rex266]

I had Ceramic Pro installed in September 2020, then self-installed the rear door PPF over the ceramic treated surface in March 2021. So far install has been flawless and no sign of weakened adhesion yet but I suppose time will tell.

Any update

 

[Arktctr]

Any update

I ended up selling the Y back in Sept 2021 but it held up perfectly right up until then.

 

[joe.smith]

Hmm, this is interesting information on this thread. For my input, I ceramic-coated my car when I purchased it in 2020. Then, I put the 3M PPF on AFTERWARDS. After 3 years, it's time to renew the ceramic coating so I'm in the middle of removing the PPF. This is proving to be very difficult to remove, so I would say the PPF had NO PROBLEM sticking to the ceramic coating after 3 years of use.

 

[Pianewman]

Hmm, this is interesting information on this thread. For my input, I ceramic-coated my car when I purchased it in 2020. Then, I put the 3M PPF on AFTERWARDS. After 3 years, it's time to renew the ceramic coating so I'm in the middle of removing the PPF. This is proving to be very difficult to remove, so I would say the PPF had NO PROBLEM sticking to the ceramic coating after 3 years of use.

Huh? Am I reading this correctly? You're going to remove PPF to "renew" the ceramic coating that has lived for 3 years under the PPF? Then what? You're going to reapply PPF?

I'm confused.

 

[joe.smith]

Huh? Am I reading this correctly? You're going to remove PPF to "renew" the ceramic coating that has lived for 3 years under the PPF? Then what? You're going to reapply PPF?

I'm confused.

I'm re-applying the ceramic coating on the entire car. Because of this I'll be polishing the entire car first, hence me removing the PPF. And, I already had a second set of PPF so I'm just going to put that back on.

For anyone else wondering, I did not notice any yellowing or other issues with the removed PPF. Although the PPF took some strikes throughout the years, the paint still looked pristine underneath. I could also see that the ceramic coating needed to be redone because of the differences between the coating underneath the PPF and that of the rest of the car.

As a tip: to remove the PPF, steam is your friend - it made it much, much easier to remove!

Joe

 

[Pianewman]

So you actually can SEE that the ceramic under the PPF is inconsistent, after only 3 years?

Why not do what the industry recommends? Paint correct, then apply PPF WITHOUT ceramic coating?

 

[joe.smith]

So you actually can SEE that the ceramic under the PPF is inconsistent, after only 3 years?

Why not do what the industry recommends? Paint correct, then apply PPF WITHOUT ceramic coating?

I'm not intentionally trying to be pedantic, but when you ask if it's inconsistent underneath the PPF, the answer is no, it's very consistent. I can see a difference between the ceramic coating that was underneath the PPF compared to the coating that wasn't. In other words, it showed me that the ceramic coating on the rest of the car deteriorated to the point where it needed to be redone. The hydrophobic properties (which I noticed when washing the car) wasn't as pronounced and the deep luster/shine was inferior when comparing the surfaces under a LED light.

To others:

Overall, I would say to 'each his own.' There are conflicting thoughts on whether to ceramic coat then apply PPF, apply PPF then ceramic coat, the need to re-apply and how often, et cetera. It's ultimately the individual's decision so do your due diligence and do what makes you feel comfortable. I'm merely providing one data point of someone's experience after 3 years of use.

Joe

 

[Pianewman]

Joe.smith: I now am thinking your PPF isn't a whole car PPF, just partial? I don't believe you said that anywhere. I was thinking you were removing PPF from your ENTIRE car.

 

[joe.smith]

Joe.smith: I now am thinking your PPF isn't a whole car PPF, just partial? I don't believe you said that anywhere. I was thinking you were removing PPF from your ENTIRE car.

DANG!

You're absolutely correct! I failed to mention that and for some reason assumed everyone knew it was a protection 'kit' - mea culpa.

Joe