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Problem with PPF?
- Thread starter First Stang
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Brisvegas
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Here in australia from basic researsh it is about $8kAUD ( roughly $5k usd ) for a full PPF expel . if you do mostly city miles rock chips not a huge issue . For me id rather put that $8k in an investment for 10 yrs and if required i can respray entire car with a quality painter or if paint not required put that what will be near $20kaud towards something else . An insurance deal you might never claim on that makes solid fiscal sense . Each to their own of course .
2morrow
DesignR/DriveR/RiceEatR
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^^^ This car's been parked outside for years.I’ve been hesitant to put PPF on my car because of images like this. Has there been an advancement in the materials that would keep it from turning into this image eventually?
If you have a garage and remove before any serious UV damage occurs you'll be fine. I've personally removed seriously damaged vinyl (Not quite like the above though) and the paint was fine.
GrabberBargeCaptain
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Did they know it was ceramic coated beforehand? If they did they should have machine polished it off before adding the PPF. That shop sounds goofy.
With PPF, i have shopped brands and ended up with sub par jobs... what good is a quality film if the installer sucks.
It's better to buy the installer rather than the brand name. Good installers aren't going to use bad films anyway. My Mustang, i found a small shop but I noticed the inside was immaculate, i mean spotless.. and the guy was happy to take 15 minutes and show me his work and what options I had. Didn't pressure me or act like i was a tire kicker. I had him do all the window tint and front bumper/headlight PPF and i think it ended up being $1100. Autobahn brand PPF, which doesn't seem to be quite as thick but its definitely clearer than 3m or xpel... and he did the nicest PPF job i've ever seen, didn't have to return for a touchup.
My last car (miata) they had a teenager trainee do xpel on the front bumper which started to lift on the corners and they did a shit job folding the edges over. My wife's CX5 (3m Pro) this shop was ok, but again did a shit job of folding the edges and the 3m stuff has turned cloudy after 2-3 years, but not a warranty issue since it's not yellowing or cracking.
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kellyreno
Well-Known Member
"Did they know it was ceramic coated beforehand? If they did they should have machine polished it off before adding the PPF. That shop sounds goofy."
They knew because they did it. Invoice states strip ceramic coating apply PPF. After ceramic coat I was driving home and got a rock chip. After doing PPF on my wife's car I asked if could be done to my bumper and hood. Thanks for the tip on Autobahn product I was going to try 3m next, will try that instead. Hard to find a shop as I live in a very small town. This shop was first class, they took a lot of time with me showed me the entire 4 bay work area, spotless. Saw a lot of far more expensive cars as well. Bad luck I suppose.
BTW I am sure they will say the white car is cloudy, not yellowing. lol
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GrabberBargeCaptain
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Yeah man, it can be a crapshoot. The other 2 shops that did fairly crappy work all had excellent ratings on google and yelp. People just don't know what to look for I think. And these shops are pumping their reviews up with fake reviews perhaps
OP
OP
First Stang
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I gotta admit I almost went all in on a full body ppf when I first got the car. I think the first month is when we are most likely to do it since the paint is immaculate. It’s been a year now and after reviewing this thread, I find the need for it to be less and less. I’ve managed to get one small paint chip so far in the front bumper. Barely noticeable. At this rate, I’m hopeful that I made the right choice.
GrabberBargeCaptain
Well-Known Member
Either way your car is gonna get damaged in some way.. PPF gets holes in it too eventually if a nasty enough rock hits it a high enough speed.
I would say its always worth doing the headlights if your car sits outside whether at work or home.. UV eventually makes your headlights cloudy and ugly after a few years.
I would say its always worth doing the headlights if your car sits outside whether at work or home.. UV eventually makes your headlights cloudy and ugly after a few years.
kilobravo
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After nearly four years without PPF and 4500 miles, I have two very small dings that will touch up fine the next time I polish the car. It is definitely a crap shoot but the more "at speed" highway miles you log, the greater the chance of dings. You pays your money, you takes your chances. :=)
kellyreno
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Driving I 85 on the way home after the PPF install, another rock, this time a chip in the windshield! It all depends on the roads you have to drive. Our overtaxed, under capacity, poorly maintained, interstate (so called) system is brutal nowadays. Every 3rd vehicle is an 18 wheeler! Put the freight back on the railways!
Rant over....
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kilobravo
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Chances are Dal, it is as bad here both for the obviously larger number of large trucks, etc., on the roads today. Good for the economy I guess but not so much for paint. A crap shoot for sure. Damn sorry about the glass but I'll take one of those any day over a paint hit. Force Fields UP! 
docmogas
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So I got lucky a picked a really good shop. It was pricey, $8500 for full Xpel and ceramic, but like I said before worth it. When I dropped off my car it was definitely the lowest priced car there haha. They had Bentleys, lambos and other exotics. Shoot the two closest cars price wise to mine were a GT 500 and a Bronco Raptor, which we all know isn't that close haha.