No PPF but Ceramic Coat?

[paulvinh]

is anyone not doing PPF clear bra but has Ceramic coat? Tell me why you are opting out of PPF?

To get Both is kind of pricy. This is my first black car and finding it extremely hard to maintain black. The ceramic coat keeps it shiny so I am leaning towards just doing that.

But driving 70 miles a day makes me think I should wrap at least the front. Thoughts?

 

[Falcon3]

is anyone not doing PPF clear bra but has Ceramic coat? Tell me why you are opting out of PPF?

To get Both is kind of pricy. This is my first black car and finding it extremely hard to maintain black. The ceramic coat keeps it shiny so I am leaning towards just doing that.

But driving 70 miles a day makes me think I should wrap at least the front. Thoughts?

I would wrap the front end. If you're a DIY like myself, it's pretty easy to apply PPF which would save you a lot of money. Especially the front hood since it's mostly flat. I used Expel. I'm also DIY-ing the Ceramic coat on top of the PPF.

 

[Gavyne]

You should at least PPF the front yes, bumper, lights, mirrors, and partial or full hood. Since you drive a lot, it'll help prevent rock chip damage directly to your paint.

Ceramic coat is nice to help you wash your car easier, its hydrophobic properties makes things less sticky to your car. It's like a wax that you don't need to reapply often. But you still need to wash your car otherwise having the ceramic coating won't do much for you.

Some people opt to just do ceramic coating, but since it is also expensive, it's more common that you at least wrap the front at the same time. Because PPF has to go under the ceramic coating.

 

[Swampgator]

I'm getting black as well. Great looking if you prep it right.
I'm doing the PPF myself. You can get a pretty good Suntek Ultra kit from servo ppf. He just emailed me a price of 675 for full hood, bumper, fenders, mirrors, A pillars and rear trunk ledge. Extra material for wrapping edges included.
I'm going to do the paint correction myself when I get it, then wrap. The only hard part is bumper. Then after ppf applied I will wash, prep and do my own ceramic coating. My total coast including the random orbital will be under 1000 which I can live with.
Have a quote from a local detail shop for PPF bumper and hood only for 1300.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

On my Model S that I had, I did ceramic coating but not PPF due to cost.

On my Model 3, I did ceramic coating and a "mini" PPF, which just covers front bumper, headlights, and side mirrors, as those are the areas most likely to get rock chips or other damage. The mini PPF cost was more in-line with what I was willing to pay.

 

[Trevor B]

Timely thread ... is there a particular brand of PPF that we should look for?

 

[Zythryn]

I've done that on a number of our cars.
We have had bad experiences with PPF. If they are penetrated and damage the paint, you basically have to remove the PPF and repaint the entire body part that the PPF is removed from. Then reapply.
This happened to us, haven't used PPF since (3-4 years ago) with no issues.

 

[e-FTW]

If they are penetrated and damage the paint, you basically have to remove the PPF and repaint the entire body part that the PPF is removed from. Then reapply.

I'm not sure I understand what the concern is.
Are you saying that without PPF, you would not have needed to repaint the whole panel?

 

[eyespii]

Any comments from those who have done a self-install of PPF? How difficult would it be on a model 3?

Thanks!

 

[Gavyne]

Depends on how handy you are, and how good you expect the results to look. The main difference between a detail shop and DIY is of course, experience. The other thing is the detail shop will correct any imperfections to your paint before applying PPF/ceramic coating. We're talking swirls, scratches, marring, chips, etc.. If you leave imperfections and lay the PPF on top of them, you'll be stuck seeing them until you peel it off and correct your paint.

You can definitely apply the PPF and ceramic coating yourself, many have done so to save money. There are instruction videos on how to DIY. For PPF the 3 popular brands are XPEL, SunTek, and 3M.

 

[Swampgator]

Don't forget you can do the paint correction yourself as well

 

[Zythryn]

I'm not sure I understand what the concern is.
Are you saying that without PPF, you would not have needed to repaint the whole panel?

Correct. If not for the paint protection film a small amount of touchup paint would’ve been sufficient, for me.

 

[e-FTW]

Correct. If not for the paint protection film a small amount of touchup paint would’ve been sufficient, for me.

If you remove the PPF, can you not use the touchup paint instead of re-doing the panel?

 

[P85_DA]

I would PPF the front for chips and you can DIY ceramic it’s easy enough for rest of car

 

[Zythryn]

If you remove the PPF, can you not use the touchup paint instead of re-doing the panel?

Removing the ppl will most likely damage other parts of the panel. PPF, afaik, isn’t made to be removed.
That was a big part of the issue I had. Now, that may have changed, but not as far as I have heard.

 

[Gavyne]

If PPF is applied properly, there should be no paint damage. That's not how PPF works.

 

[MosquitoFloss]

I skipped PPF and got a 9 year ceramic coat. Very happy with the results. 2000 miles of driving and no chips. I think I've washed the car twice and it looks great. I haven't used a sponge or done any scrubbing. Just foam blade, rinse, and leaf blower dry off.

 

[Shock-On-T]

Just save your money and enjoy driving the car.
Paint protection is pretty much a waste of money. Modern paint is stronger than it's ever been, and even 20 year old cars scrub up just fine.

 

[dailo]

I would only consider PPF if seeing the marks will drive you crazy. A car I recently sold had a ton of rock chips on the hood and although I got upset every time I washed my car, it didn't really do anything for resale value. I kept the car clean and protected the paint and sold the car for above market value even though there were a ton of rock chips in the front. With the large bumper on the M3, I am learning toward front PPF just because I plan on keeping the car for a while and it will probably drive me crazy looking at the damage on MSM. Probably not as noticeable with other colors.

 

[TaoJones]

Get the front done for sure, and consider the doors, fenders and rear quarters if you park in suboptimal conditions. That's if you own the car. You don't get to pick where your next door ding or rock chip happens - and if it happens on a fender edge, it ain't cheap. If you lease, well, why bother, to an extent.

I've had Opti-Coat applied to both chariots and it's been well worth the money. However, if I opted for a wrap, putting a ceramic coating on top of that seems like overkill. Hydrophobia can be achieved for months at a time through other means, and the wrap is thicker than any coating with the possible exception of the highest grade of Modesta, and I'd be surprised if even that was as thick as a good wrap.

The refreshed front ends and presumably it's the same for the 3 are rock magnets compared to the original nose design. The difference is striking, no pun intended.

Which brings me to the windshield. Consider a C-Bond product that is an exterior windshield coating. It's inexpensive with a good warranty. I picked up 2 stars and then some in the first 6 weeks before having it applied. No stars in the ~year since. I could lose the windshield to a rock or other object tomorrow, but so far, that's been the experience.

If you do wrap, coat, tint, or otherwise treat your chariot with the exception of audio, and you're within driving distance of SoCal, add Extreme Autowerks to your list of shops to compare and contrast. You're paying primarily for expertise/skilled installation. There are exactly 2 shops in California that I trust for Tesla work of this nature, and that's one of them.