Paint Protection Film - Worth It?

[Ash9]

PPF isn't for everyone.

For some people the car is just a tool to get them from A to B, it doesn't matter if it is clean on the inside or outside, they may clean it on special occasions. For others it's their prime and joy, and they clean it and keep it spotless.

Some people are concerned about little dings or stretches on their car, others are not.

Some will take their cars to the electronic car washes, others use the £5 a wash pop up supermarkets washers. A lot of people may wash their cars themselves, but have never waxed it.

PPF is aimed at those people who's car is their pride and joy, the type of people who have previously had their others cars professionally valeted. PPF will help protect the paintwork to a degree, help keep it looking like new, plus also makes cleaning the car easier and quicker.

For some people the M3 will be their 1st brand new car or is the most expensive car they have ever bought, so spending 10% of the cost of the car on something you can't even see, may seem like madness.

I had PPF put on my AMG a few years ago and I would fully recommend. I also get the car a professional post winter valet. My X will get PPF and also thinking about getting the windscreen protected against stone chips with ClearPlex (Again this isn't for everyone). I've had to recently have the screen on the AMG replaced because of a stone chip, so this will help avoid those.

Invisible Windscreen Protection Film – Clearplex UK

 

[DirtyT3sla]

From a purely financial standpoint, absolutely not worth it.

From a purely cosmetic standpoint, definitely worth it.

Now you can decide where you fall between these 2 options. For me, not worth it.

 

[Fullerene]

For some people the car is just a tool to get them from A to B, it doesn't matter if it is clean on the inside or outside, they may clean it on special occasions. For others it's their prime and joy, and they clean it and keep it spotless.

Some people are concerned about little dings or stretches on their car, others are not.

It's nice to see how the other fifth (according to survey results so far) live, taking enormous pride and joy in their cars, I thoroughly fall into the A to B machine.

I don't quite understand the PPF offerings as I always find the areas that get the worst damage is the leading edge of the rear wheel arch with stone chips. So a PPF Front End or Partial Front End won't touch the area that I always get stone chips.

If there was a 'lived-in' paint finish I would opt for that - flecked / marbled paint with the odd ding and I wouldn't worry so much..

Washing a car once a year hides a lot of things that would cause me concern.

Trying not to overthink it and I'll be resorting to Father Ted to put it in perspective

[Edit - meh, Spoiler alert the image below that I can't switch off gives the joke away for those that haven't seen it..]

 

[phillcom3]

I don’t think it would be cheaper at all. But it does add an extra layer of self-healing protection to the car. I’m planning on keeping the M3 for many years, but at £3-4k it’s just a step too far for me price-wise. I’m going with a DIY ceramic coating. If in 12 months the front paintwork is all stone chips then I might consider having that professionally corrected and a PPF applied.

Which diy and what paint prep steps are you going to follow?
im curious about this and think i might do it myself. i just hope i won't need to do a full polish of the car first as i don't want to have to buy a mechanical polisher. i do my own waxing by hand on my current car and enjoy the process but im not looking forward to needing to prep paint and i don't want to take of to much clear coat. its already soft as it is from what iv read!

 

[Roy W.]

So I’ve decided on this kit:

Gyeon Q² Syncro

As for paint prep, if there are any paint defects on delivery I will report these to Tesla and hopefully get them to remedy them under warranty.

Like you, I’m not into machine polishing or anything like that. There are some quite detailed application videos on YouTube.

I’ll start with a really careful snow foam and two-bucket wash of the whole car, and dry as usual.

I’ve got a 5l can of degreaser called Panel Wipe, this actually:

https://www.gsfcarparts.com/982aa4470

which will remove any existing polish and grease, just leaving a clean paint surface.

I’ll then apply the ceramic coating.

I’m not affiliated with these companies, I’m only linking to them to show you the products.

 

[davidmc]

So I’ve decided on this kit:

Gyeon Q² Syncro

As for paint prep, if there are any paint defects on delivery I will report these to Tesla and hopefully get them to remedy them under warranty.

Like you, I’m not into machine polishing or anything like that. There are some quite detailed application videos on YouTube.

I’ll start with a really careful snow foam and two-bucket wash of the whole car, and dry as usual.

I’ve got a 5l can of degreaser called Panel Wipe, this actually:

https://www.gsfcarparts.com/982aa4470

which will remove any existing polish and grease, just leaving a clean paint surface.

I’ll then apply the ceramic coating.

I’m not affiliated with these companies, I’m only linking to them to show you the products.

Would you clay bar as well?
Also how many applications would you apply? I was wanting to add more than 1 coat

 

[davidmc]

I’ve got a 5l can of degreaser called Panel Wipe, this actually:

https://www.gsfcarparts.com/982aa4470

which will remove any existing polish and grease, just leaving a clean paint surface.

Looks like a tin I have in the shed but I use it to take the paint off my doors and skirtings!

 

[Roy W.]

Would you clay bar as well?
Also how many applications would you apply? I was wanting to add more than 1 coat

I’ve never tried to clay bar. It looks quite easy, but I’m not sure if it’s of any great benefit if you don’t then do a machine polish, which I don’t have the courage to try! Advice from someone with experience appreciated.

 

[Roy W.]

Looks like a tin I have in the shed but I use it to take the paint off my doors and skirtings!

I don’t think it can be the same stuff. What I’ve got certainly doesn’t fetch paint off, it’s just a mild degreaser.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I’m not into machine polishing or anything like tha

Take the car to a Detailer before wrapping it maybe? then it would be wrapped in tip-top-condition.

Be interesting to see how you get on

 

[WannabeOwner]

P.S. The wrapping company/detailer I took my car to asked me NOT to let the Vendor (i.e. any Vendor, not Tesla specifically) fix any paint blemishes, they said they would much prefer to do that themselves rather than have to redo something that someone else had already had a go at ..). As it turned out they didn't find anything that they needed to fix.

 

[phillcom3]

So I’ve decided on this kit:

Gyeon Q² Syncro

As for paint prep, if there are any paint defects on delivery I will report these to Tesla and hopefully get them to remedy them under warranty.

Like you, I’m not into machine polishing or anything like that. There are some quite detailed application videos on YouTube.

I’ll start with a really careful snow foam and two-bucket wash of the whole car, and dry as usual.

I’ve got a 5l can of degreaser called Panel Wipe, this actually:

https://www.gsfcarparts.com/982aa4470

which will remove any existing polish and grease, just leaving a clean paint surface.

I’ll then apply the ceramic coating.

I’m not affiliated with these companies, I’m only linking to them to show you the products.

that stuff looks good. are you not afraid of applying it incorrectly or needing to do something else in 2 years to the paint? it states 2 years durability and I'm not sure what would need to be done afterwards?

 

[Durzel]

I've always got my cars detailed and ceramic coated, but haven't bothered with PPF.

If the cost for PPF wasn't so exorbitant then I would be more interested, but as it is with quotes of £4k+ for full coverage, I think I will just continue to take my chances with ceramic coating. In my experience this seems to do the job in any event.

 

[Roy W.]

that stuff looks good. are you not afraid of applying it incorrectly or needing to do something else in 2 years to the paint? it states 2 years durability and I'm not sure what would need to be done afterwards?

I’ve watched lots of tutorials on YouTube, so that makes me an expert, right?

If the ceramic coat is no longer effective after two years I’d rinse & repeat.

 

[phillcom3]

I’ve watched lots of tutorials on YouTube, so that makes me an expert, right?

If the ceramic coat is no longer effective after two years I’d rinse & repeat.

Definitely! haha iv ben watching it doesn't look to hard i just wish there wasn't such a waste for towels. do you think a 10 pack from amazon wil do fine? I'm not wasting good ones on something like that. or maybe even cut one into 1/4rs


do you have a garage to use? i don't unfortunately and im considering getting a car cover.

 

[Roy W.]

Definitely! haha iv ben watching it doesn't look to hard i just wish there wasn't such a waste for towels. do you think a 10 pack from amazon wil do fine? I'm not wasting good ones on something like that. or maybe even cut one into 1/4rs


do you have a garage to use? i don't unfortunately and im considering getting a car cover.

Yes, I’ve got a nice double garage thankfully. Don’t you have a friend or relative with a garage you could use? If you do it outside you want a very still day, no wind.

I bought a pack of (I think) 48 of the cheap Amazon microfibre cloths a couple of years ago on Prime Day, and I’ve still got about three quarters left. You should manage with 10.

I get my car on Friday, and the very first thing I’m going to do is put a ceramic coat onto the white seats

 

[davidmc]

Yes, I’ve got a nice double garage thankfully. Don’t you have a friend or relative with a garage you could use? If you do it outside you want a very still day, no wind.

I bought a pack of (I think) 48 of the cheap Amazon microfibre cloths a couple of years ago on Prime Day, and I’ve still got about three quarters left. You should manage with 10.

I get my car on Friday, and the very first thing I’m going to do is put a ceramic coat onto the white seats

I'll pop by as picking up Thursday, if you don't mind

"Suddenly Roy regrets mentioning he is Ceramic coating the m3 on Friday"

 

[WannabeOwner]

I’ve watched lots of tutorials on YouTube, so that makes me an expert, right?

"armchair expert"... not necessarily quite the same thing

 

[MrBadger]

I've just accepted a quote for paint correction, Gtechniq ceramic and partial xpel on sills and rear bumper luggage lip. Around £750.

 

[Avendit]

Re claybar btw, well worth the effort, but stick to meguirs or other good brand. I tried some cheaper stuff on the current car last time and it left a complete scrapped mess I had to machine polish out :-(. I also see clay bar as something that needs doing on nat-new paint. It takes all the little bits of tar and pollen and so on that normal cleaning doesn't get. A new car shouldn't need it, but feel the paint with your finger, if it doesn't feel smooth like glass, then should probably clay it.

You definitely don't want anything under your PPF, otherwise it's there for ever.