Paint protection: worth it or mostly a geeking out thing?

[Sully's8]

You should do it if you choose to own vs. lease. I'm 18K miles and 1.5 Chicago Winters into a full xpel on the entire vehicle, plus a coat of cquartz plus on all including the wheels.

The car looks brand new. If washed properly (no shortcuts to two bucket hand wash), there will be no swirl marks, no nothing. I get compliments all the time that it appears to be just off the lot. I topped out the car and went with the higher end black paint, so adding a few grand to protect it seemed like a no brainer given the cost of the car. . .

Oh, and use a reputable installer. Trying to do it on the cheap yourself or by someone who is not certified is a recipe for disaster.

good luck!

 

[caskater47]

I live in SoCal less than a mile from the ocean which can be brutal on paint. My 2006 Audi S4 looked so bad from the sun and environmental damage that I recently had the front repainted. So I decided to get the PPF+Ceramic done to my new P3D. If for no other reason than it keeps my black car looking clean most of the time I think it was worth it. I suspect in ten years time I will be thankful that the damage to the paint will be minimal and probably won't have to repaint like I did my Audi.

 

[jbarnette]

i was told to seriously consider ppf on the hood, fenders and mirrors by a friend who had it done in his model S a year or two ago for $1100, but it seems the price has now risen to $1475-1650 and I’m having serious second thoughts. Maybe I need to take the car out of high-priced Austin to some lower overhead locale because I doubt film costs much more now.

 

[jbarnette]

Sorry duplicate post

 

[golfpilot]

Hi-
I would like to ppf and ceramic coat my 3. One poster mentioned Mr 'Tint and invisiguard in San Carlos. Has anyone done this to their 3 in the Oakland CA area and would recommend their detailer? Thinking of suntech ppf for the front. Thanks.

Let me know what you find. I may follow

 

[Pentium2004]

i was told to seriously consider ppf on the hood, fenders and mirrors by a friend who had it done in his model S a year or two ago for $1100, but it seems the price has now risen to $1475-1650 and I’m having serious second thoughts. Maybe I need to take the car out of high-priced Austin to some lower overhead locale because I doubt film costs much more now.

If you are handy and think you could install I could sell you the film for a fraction of the cost.

 

[tomas]

When I bought my Model S in 2012, Ppf on front was an option. 1 year later, I scraped front bumper on boulder landscaping wall backing out of driveway. Looked horrible! I was getting ready to go out for estimates expecting $10k or more... certainly new bumper. On a whim before going to body shop, I peeled off PPF to see how badly bumper was shredded. Surprise! Not at all! That sold me. So I scheduled full PpF on a year old car. Just before I was scheduled, we went to a charity dinner and a whole row of cars were egged, including mine. 5 egg marks. After copious touch up, I still had the Ppf done. Then I had problems with tree sap staining Ppf. So next step was buff that out and apply ceramic coating over film. Now,,, 5 years later,,, only I know where egg marks are and I have a better than new car. Corrected paint preserved under film and coating. No door dings. No gravel dings. No swirls. No faded color. Only maintenance is waterless wash every couple of weeks, or a commercial hand wash if I get lazy.

I would not do this on a $30,000 car. Nor would I if I expected to flip in a couple of years. But I expect to keep all of my Teslas 10 years, so the amortized cost of protection is less than 2 good commercial wax/details per year.

 

[UtahIsRad]

I only did the front bumper with PPF and I think it will be a good $400 investment. The car won’t look new forever, and I’m ok with that. When it gets beat up looking I’ll chrome delete and give it more of a tough look, which I think is badass in a different way. Today it just looks new and beautiful!

Same guy did Tint at the same time for a fair price. Tint also really helps the car look finished and helps reduce the chance of a break in (out of sight out of mind, plus more of a PIA to reach through quickly. Too bad they can’t fully Tint from the factory due to some stupid laws that are different for sedans versus SUV’s and trucks. Wish the rear glass had one consistent tint level on the whole thing.

 

[Hillbilly3]

Speaking of gravel trucks... anyone taken a rock to the windshield or glass roof yet, and how’d that turn out?

On my way home from the dealership, literally less than 100 miles on my car, a huge stone from a gravel truck smacked the top glass on my M3P. I have a crack about 8 inches long. Order in with Tesla for the replacement, nothing yet. Man, that one hurt!

 

[fyresoul]

I went with a full stealth XPEL + ceramic coat and I couldn't be happier. The car looks like it's freshly waxed every day, which with all the drizzle here in Austin has been lovely. Bird and bug residue wipes away easily with a microfiber towel and some water if it's dry. Not having worries about paint etching or swirls is nice too.