Paint Protection Film - Worth It?

[Tatoo1]

Mines was wrapped around the edges. No peeling or signs of contamination (it was Xpel Plus self healing film). The bonnet and bumper have been hit by a few big rocks along the way and i have a few minor 1-2mm chips in the film. However I think the hot weather will help heal those. I'm keeping this car and it was a cash purchase so protecting it was the right choice.

If you are only keeping it for 2-3yrs then maybe weigh up the costs.

 

[Chamment]

Very interesting - thank you. Is your current PPF wrapped around the edges of the doors, trunk/frunk etc or cut to the edge.
If the latter is it showing any signs of contamination at the edges? I have been reading some nightmare stories.

i can recommend Bradley at Concours Detailing in aldermaston. He has loads of teslas on his Facebook page and will be doing mine when I get it.

 

[Wattsisname]

Yes I was and noted on the policy as vinyl/sticker/paint protection. I made it clear it was a clear film that i was installing ion the front of the car. I'm not expecting them to pay pay out for the cost of replace to be fair. Mind you this was back in 2019/20 so things may have changed.

I plan to add PPF to an incoming Model Y and got a quote from LV, like you it was over £500 more than DL!

At least LV are consistent. I was impressed with their knowledge and acceptance of PPF and wrapping and the pleasant and ease of communication chat with their guy.

They will pay for it if you claim and seek payment for its replacement from the third party insurer if such is your situation.You must however keep the receipt. Also if their preferred repair shop is not competent to replace the PPF, it can be done at the original studio.

Quite a high excess and yes, about £500 plus quite a high excess. However, he assured me that the premium had more to do with my postcode, the value of the car and the fact that it would be on the strasse rather than garaged.

I am awaiting a kerb lowering so that I can reach my lonely Tesla Wall Point, that might make a difference to the premiums.
I will try LV again at year end until which time, I am switching cars on my Admiral policy which, by the way, also requires a hefty chunk of change for the last six months of the policy.

Now then... SWMBO, says that once upon a time, buying your home would be the most stressful acquisition transaction of your life and that this has now been superseded by the acquisition of a Tesla... just when you thought.....

(complete the sentence for a no prize competition). The judge's (SWMBO's) decision is final.

 

[Wattsisname]

i can recommend Bradley at Concours Detailing in aldermaston. He has loads of teslas on his Facebook page and will be doing mine when I get it.

Does he wrap all possible edges? A lot of reports in various threads of staining at cut edges and even pealing

 

[Chamment]

Does he wrap all possible edges? A lot of reports in various threads of staining at cut edges and even pealing

Yes he does.

 

[Wattsisname]

Yes he does.

Great. I visited a studio yeasterday and talked through my requirements with the very pleasant team there.

I have a reasonable (not cheap) quote but they only wrap around the frunk edges with pre cut Xpel. For the rest, they stop at edges. As I said, some alarming comments about unwrapped edges..... which may not be fairly founded... it's easy to forget that this forum with its great bunch of Tesla fans is nonetheless Social Media.

 

[octoscore]

I did mine at polimax motorsport London: pre-cut, no edge wrap att all, and 2 pieces on the boot panel... not very happy with the result. Quote is 3800-4200.

 

[HonchoNI]

Waste of money. Spend 4k on PPF and the next day some child opens their door into your car and puts a big dent in it. Not driving too close to the car in front of you is just as good. It's maybe useful for some high wear areas, but but some Tesla's are already covered in those areas. Also, the depreciation of Tesla's is too great to make it financially worthwhile. Maybe a good idea for an ultra rare supercar, but not for a Tesla.

 

[debrooker]

Had PPF on bumpers and rockers on my first Tesla but stones had away of hitting non protected parts and as the above poster said it doesn't stop stones or people denting the panels. On my second Tesla i haven't bothered

Bumpers and rockers was 750 back in 2021. Also insurance was a pain arse as many insurers won't touch it

 

[WannabeOwner]

Waste of money.

Not been my experience. I was side swiped on a roundabout, the car had that whitewash-rash look like it had been scraped down a wall. A wash and it was almost unnoticeable - paint undamaged. Couple of minor dents that would have pulled but I was told "Don't pull Aluminium". Wish I had done, interminable delays, inconvenience of being without the car for considerable time (normal-for-Tesla of course).

I live in the country, frequently snuggle up against a hedge, never give it a second thought. Nor if a pigeon / seagull craps on the car.

No stone chips - not driving close to the car in front won't save you from all of those.

I've only chosen to afford it on Model-S - smaller percentage than for e.g. an M3 SR+ ... but, that's down to user preference.

 

[Yachtsman]

Read #113 on page 6, my experience.
Now covered 24k miles & still no stone chips, well worth it in my opinion, but not at £4k+.

 

[ElectricPolice]

Like every add-on for a vehicle, if you want it and it makes you happy, gives you reassurance, you have previous experience then crack on and do it. I have numerous pointless add ons which are much less functional but if I could PPF I probably would for simple peace of mind,.. or perhaps a stealth matt colour change?

Personnally, like many on here I have always babied my cars yet when it comes to selling (or mostly going through voluntary termination as the end cost in no way reflects my 'imaculate' condition compared to all the other scratched and dented cars I come across) this makes no difference as they all go to BCA for auction.

My last Audi which went to BCA in 2021 got a condition report returned which detailed >8 paint chips on the bonnet at a cost of £110 for respray.

I told them to go f**k themselves as the inspector told me there were a couple of paint chips (not >8) which for a 4 year old 50k motor is quite impressive and didn't take any pictures to reinforce this number ( I wonder why? ).

After my email they waived the charge on this basis. A copy of their email is clipped below too for the doubters.

If you feel several hundred or thousand pound for PPF is worth it for this return then it's a personal call. I know what I'd go for, but that's simply me at this moment in time. I might wake up tomorrow and feel differently?