Long term PPF?

[smilepak]

Anyone has PPF on their Tesla for more than 5-6 years?

How is it holding up?

Have you run it through the automated car wash?

Do you wax or claybar your car now that you have PPF?

Trying to assess the cost over long term durability of it. It’s like over 3-4K?

 

[REaL]

PPF on a Tesla isn't any different than on other cars. I've had PPF on the past few cars in the last decade and yes they will eventually yellow, but only noticeable on white cars. I've had Xpel on my last car, 2016 with white paint that was garaged/hand washed/waxed and it yellowed around the 4 year mark due to the glue and not the film itself. They aren't engineered to last forever but I think not having rock chips for 5 years is worth it, I wouldn't worry too much about which film is used but more on the installer.

I'm currently using Suntek reaction which is the latest with ceramic coating. I recommend getting just the front and full hood done, that way it doesn't cost over $3-4K but more like $1.5-2k.

 

[Dukeybootie]

XPEL since new on my white 2015 (entire car). Never used automated car wash and only park in covered garage at work and home. 148k miles. Only use spray cleaner and spray wax with microfiber towels to clean/maintain. Super easy to do and can use as much force/friction as you want on the PPF without worry.

That being said, if I were to do it all over, I would only put it on the hood, front bumper, and front fenders. And have mud flaps to protect the rear doors and rear fenders, which catch a lot of flung road debris. The rest of the panels haven't been vulnerable to much, so I wouldn't bother covering them in the future. The issue I am dealing with now is this -- there are plenty of minor gouges that went through the XPEL in the vulnerable areas. They trap dirt and cannot be cleaned. Do I replace the PPF? Live with it? Take it off and stop worrying? The cost of replacement versus the current value of the car starts to become more of a factor the older the car is.

 

[outdoors]

I have Xpel on a 2017 S with daily washes through a normal higher end car wash. Does just fine. My car looks like it is pretty darn new with over 200k on it. I did have hood and bumper re done as some type of acid hit it on the car and it was left that way for weeks at a service center. That was just recently.

I drive a lot 26k on the S since beginning of year. I really don't have the time to do the hand wash thing. I was a big proponent of it. Loved the ONR. I just realized I don't want to care for the car that much, and it does fine with car washes. I also live on a dirt road.

If I were to do it all over again. Well I did. I did it completely on my 3 as well. I have had many a scrape on doors and trunks just rub away the offender or hot water and good as new. I would skip the ceramic. Had it done on the 3, and compared the two cars. After a year couldn't see any noticeable difference.

Won't find a bigger fan as me, but then I drive more than most, and want my car to look good. I also don't want to repaint, or buy a new car often.

 

[smilepak]

XPEL since new on my white 2015 (entire car). Never used automated car wash and only park in covered garage at work and home. 148k miles. Only use spray cleaner and spray wax with microfiber towels to clean/maintain. Super easy to do and can use as much force/friction as you want on the PPF without worry.

That being said, if I were to do it all over, I would only put it on the hood, front bumper, and front fenders. And have mud flaps to protect the rear doors and rear fenders, which catch a lot of flung road debris. The rest of the panels haven't been vulnerable to much, so I wouldn't bother covering them in the future. The issue I am dealing with now is this -- there are plenty of minor gouges that went through the XPEL in the vulnerable areas. They trap dirt and cannot be cleaned. Do I replace the PPF? Live with it? Take it off and stop worrying? The cost of replacement versus the current value of the car starts to become more of a factor the older the car is.

Good to know. Doing it front bumper and front hood. I might end up with that. And ceramic the rest of the car to maintain the same shine.