jwhite
jwhite
Quick question here, the film once applied, what is the care given to it? Can it be waxed? Does it wear/yellow after time, if so life expectancy? I'm not psycho about car care but really enjoy washing and waxing my cars.
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You bring up some great points. From what I've read about ppf, you can clean, wash, and wax the film like painted surface. The film should last, but I can't say what the life expectancy is. Although the film will make it easier and quicker to wash the car, my main concern is for the protection from rock chips and road debris.Quick question here, the film once applied, what is the care given to it? Can it be waxed? Does it wear/yellow after time, if so life expectancy? I'm not psycho about car care but really enjoy washing and waxing my cars.
That's unfortunate. Out of the entire exterior, the stripes are the weakest point.my PPF was done the same way OP described, they told me dirt would get trapped so they stopped on the edges and left stripes unwrapped
yeah thought about that option. need to find out how much more it'll cost. also wondering if there lines will show badly with the different cuts.There is xpel stealth , which is the matte version ppf, so regular glossy xpel on hood, and stealth on the stripe section, or just put stealth on the whole car to make it a matte look. I have seen others do that for their white cars, looks sick
Hey Lightrules, I contemplated this back and forth for months before my GT350 was delivered. As many have stated before, I'll reiterate...it's all in the skill of your installer. I took mine to someone whose been in the business for 20+ years applying graphics and PPF. He doesn't use the Xpel templates, all free hand work - wrapping every edge and even removed the badging and grill on the hood to make it nearly invisible. Even though it cost another $150 in labor, I went with 5 separate pieces on the hood - this maintained the OEM feel of the 'paint to stripe' height (even though we're talking about mm). I was nervous as hell, but I gotta tell ya, it's worth it and with the skill of a great installer you will be happy too. I would see if they can do Xpel Ultimate in 3 pieces, and 2 in Stealth to maintain your matte finish. Here are some pics of his work...this is a full front wrap, headlights, door cups, door edges and front of the rear quarter panel. View attachment 388454 View attachment 388455yeah thought about that option. need to find out how much more it'll cost. also wondering if there lines will show badly with the different cuts.
Sounds like you found a good one - if he's doing exotics, that's a good sign. My guy does many different exotics as well. I really wasn't planning to do the rear quarter panel, but he's done a few GT350's and recommended. He followed the horizontal body line and made a gradual slope down from there. He's all about making things invisible. Your eye doesn't even catch it since it's following the natural body characteristics. In just 2 weeks since the PPF install I noticed a couple very small rock impacts to the PPF (you really have to look close). For another $150 to cover that spot it was worth it to me. These PSC2's are sticky as hell ;-)@J-Stang , your car looks fantastic. yeah I think I've decided on the guy who's going to do my car, this Monday morning. definitely one of the better shops in LA with some pretty high and exotic cars which tells me something about the shop.
he said it's going to be a total custom job, not precut stuff. we did not talk about the door cups and door edges and rear quarter panel, maybe I'll bring it up. you think that's a high-impact area?
After some sleepless nights and pondering for days, I went ahead and had a full ceramic application done by the same shop. He has a FEYNLAB detailer that works alongside him. I went with their Self-heal lite product on the painted surfaces which 70% of any surface scratches will self heal in natural sunlight. It's basically like having PPF. Then he applied a special ceramic formulated for vinyl (stripes) and PPF. Just picked it up Wednesday...takes about 10 days to fully self level and cure. Every day it gets more shiny and the color gets deeper. Another expense I'm glad to have done - I was too worried to try something like it myself.@J-Stang , your car looks fantastic. yeah I think I've decided on the guy who's going to do my car, this Monday morning. definitely one of the better shops in LA with some pretty high and exotic cars which tells me something about the shop.
he said it's going to be a total custom job, not precut stuff. we did not talk about the door cups and door edges and rear quarter panel, maybe I'll bring it up. you think that's a high-impact area?