AllThingsT3sla
Member
Can you ask Tesla to not drill in the front license plate frame ahead of time? Or is it standard for Cali?
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PPF coating for Model 3
- Thread starter Trevor EV
- Start date
Can you ask Tesla to not drill in the front license plate frame ahead of time? Or is it standard for Cali?
Like OP we intend to keep our cars for a number of years so went the full PPF route (with wrapped edges where possible without taking off panels). Both of our cars now have ceramic pro on them as well (husband added his after seeing how it was on my car). Based on our experience with it, I would recommend both.
My husband's car has been door dinged a few times with him in it, and most recently last week by some chick putting her kid in a car seat and not caring what she opened her door into. Both times my husband thought for sure there would be damage as it was a loud solid hit but thankfully nothing to see. He has had a too close call with a wooden post at a Park that scraped the PPF but kept the paint undamaged; and he run over something on the highway he couldn't avoid and scaped the underside of his bumper, again no paint damage. Won't protect against everything (like the commercial vehicle that was backing out of a parking spot that scraped his car from rear wheel well to bumper and a sharp corner of his step bumper scratched it down to the paint. Something like that however would be more expected. Easy enough to replace panels of PPF if need be and still keep coverage.
As for the ceramic coating, love having a great shine. It just started raining out here and was nice to see how clean my white car gets with just rain cleaning it off. It really does make it easy to remove any type of debris -- bird droppings, bugs, dirt -- a breeze.
Assuming you get the PPF and ceramic (btw have to do PPF first as PPF will not adhere to ceramic if that is done first), you'll need to keep the car from getting wet for a period of time (ask your installer what he recommends). If you don't have a garage, check out possible sources. Sometimes here the shop has room to keep the car indoors, friends might have a garage, etc or try to work with the weather report. Part of getting the PPF done is bringing it back to the shop for a check within a few days of the work. They will remove any air bubbles that crop up and adjust for any edges that may not have adhered well so plan for that too. See what your installer recommends on this. And above all, while the cost of the materials can add up depending on what you have done, the labor can add up quickly too. The skill and experience of your installer should be paramount in your decision. You only want to do this once in many years so don't skimp out on going with an inexperienced installer.
One last point is there are different thicknesses of PPF which will affect the price. Also different levels of application of ceramic. Talk to your installer to determine the best one to meet your goals.
My husband's car has been door dinged a few times with him in it, and most recently last week by some chick putting her kid in a car seat and not caring what she opened her door into. Both times my husband thought for sure there would be damage as it was a loud solid hit but thankfully nothing to see. He has had a too close call with a wooden post at a Park that scraped the PPF but kept the paint undamaged; and he run over something on the highway he couldn't avoid and scaped the underside of his bumper, again no paint damage. Won't protect against everything (like the commercial vehicle that was backing out of a parking spot that scraped his car from rear wheel well to bumper and a sharp corner of his step bumper scratched it down to the paint. Something like that however would be more expected. Easy enough to replace panels of PPF if need be and still keep coverage.
As for the ceramic coating, love having a great shine. It just started raining out here and was nice to see how clean my white car gets with just rain cleaning it off. It really does make it easy to remove any type of debris -- bird droppings, bugs, dirt -- a breeze.
Assuming you get the PPF and ceramic (btw have to do PPF first as PPF will not adhere to ceramic if that is done first), you'll need to keep the car from getting wet for a period of time (ask your installer what he recommends). If you don't have a garage, check out possible sources. Sometimes here the shop has room to keep the car indoors, friends might have a garage, etc or try to work with the weather report. Part of getting the PPF done is bringing it back to the shop for a check within a few days of the work. They will remove any air bubbles that crop up and adjust for any edges that may not have adhered well so plan for that too. See what your installer recommends on this. And above all, while the cost of the materials can add up depending on what you have done, the labor can add up quickly too. The skill and experience of your installer should be paramount in your decision. You only want to do this once in many years so don't skimp out on going with an inexperienced installer.
One last point is there are different thicknesses of PPF which will affect the price. Also different levels of application of ceramic. Talk to your installer to determine the best one to meet your goals.
joebruin77
Active Member
I recently had a similar experience. I was sitting in a parking lot, waiting for my kid, when a car pulled up next to me. As soon as the driver parked, a young girl opened her rear door and it went straight into my front fender with a loud thud. I am fortunate I was there at the moment it happened. As it turns out, the dad was totally cool about it and gave me his insurance info. I just had the car repaired and it is good as new.
A couple things I learned about PPF from this experience. First, the kid hit the car with such fornce that it ripped a hole in the PPF. However, and this is the most important part, there was no scratch or damage to the paint itself. I am certain that if that PPF had not been there, there would have been a very deep gouge into the paint and would have required repainting the entire fender. Even though the PPF was damaged, it was easily replaced. And the replacement process for a piece of PPF is much faster and easier than repainting any part of the car.
The other interesting thing is that the other party's insurance company paid for the replacement cost of the PPF on the fender. For parts and labor, the total replacement cost was about $250.
A couple things I learned about PPF from this experience. First, the kid hit the car with such fornce that it ripped a hole in the PPF. However, and this is the most important part, there was no scratch or damage to the paint itself. I am certain that if that PPF had not been there, there would have been a very deep gouge into the paint and would have required repainting the entire fender. Even though the PPF was damaged, it was easily replaced. And the replacement process for a piece of PPF is much faster and easier than repainting any part of the car.
The other interesting thing is that the other party's insurance company paid for the replacement cost of the PPF on the fender. For parts and labor, the total replacement cost was about $250.
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