aintufunny

Only you can answer this.
In my case: last 3 cars I bought, no PPF and no ceramic .. the 4 cars I bought before that (on average 2-3x cheaper than the last 3 that got no ceramic or PPF) they all got PPF and ceramic.
Why? I just felt like enjoying them, not worrying about a thing .. what scratches they'll get, if nasty enough I'll get them corrected, or just repaint the bumper, or just let them be.
Just got tired of worrying I guess.

Steve 96C4S

There will be no consensus on this. 50% will say yes, 50% will say now. I did the whole car in PPF and ceramic coat since I plan to also keep mine till I'm dead or can't get in it any more. Just do what you want. We cannot decide this for you. I'm SO HAPPY I did the whole car, never did a whole car before, usually just the front end parts.

It's such a piece of mind...2 years in, it still looks perfect.

gthal

If getting a rock chip or a door ding doesn't bother you, then don't get PPF. If it does, then get it. My nice cars are PPF'd and I don't worry about it and just drive. Rock chips would bug me and I can pretty much assure you that if you drive the car on the highway, a rock chip is going to happen sooner than later. Some people don't care about that... some do. Which one are you?

rasetsu

Exactly this.

And for those who want to claim that they will just respray the front if they get chips instead of doing PPF, have you have you actually gotten estimates on how much it would cost to do a respray with a proper panel blend? This isn't the 70s or 80s anymore where cars are painted with single stage paints that can get laid down in an hour. This is why there aren't Earl Scheibs and Maacos all over the place anymore. Modern cars are shot with multistage paints that can take days for a good shop to match and re-paint. And that doesn't even account for the nearly inevitable overspray along jams and other areas. So if you care about getting chips, get PPF done; if you don't care about chips, then don't. But if you believe you can just get it repainted, actually go out and get some estimates from high quality body shops. It's probably not as cheap and as easy as you thought it would be.

CodyBigdog

I PPF’s my car specifically to protect the car against stone chips. It won’t protect against many car door dings, that are forceful enough to slightly dent your door.

What I learned over the past 2.5 years is that the PPF helps, but doesn’t stop all damage due to road debris, rocks, etc. I have two areas in the front bumper where a stone actually penetrated the film and damaged the paint (needed to be re-painted/touched up). Furthermore, even smaller stones/debris at highway speeds will deform the film to the point that it won’t “heal”, and the film will need to be removed and new film installed…otherwise, it looks no different than what you see from a chipped car that has no PPF.

Would I PPF again? Like I said, it helps….but it;s NOT full proof. And even if there is no penetration all the way to the paint, you will still need to periodically replace the film to keep it looking new. So, probably not.

GTSGO!

With the new films (eg Xpel Fusion and Suntek Reaction), do you still need to ceramic coat ppf? I found old threads with strong recommendations for coating of ppf, but those didn’t have the “built in” top coat. It almost seems like the newer topcoats would repel the extra layer of ceramic coating.

rasetsu

No, those newer films with ceramic coating properties built in don't need another layer of ceramic coating applied.

slc4s

Just to add one more thing to consideration: paint color. If its an easy color to respray well you can worry less than if its metallic. I've owned lots of cars and my current Targa is the first I've ppf'd and I'm happy I did.

My car is black. I HATE swirly paint AND I want to be able to have just about anybody wash it. Guy at my country club while I golf. Guy in my office garage. I don't trust those two to perfectly avoid swirling the paint BUT I have a black car and want to clean it often. BOOM, ppf is a perfect solution for this scenario. My car is almost always clean because I don't have to stress about who washes it and certainly don't have to wait until I have time to do it myself.

So for me that $7,500 or whatever i paid significantly increases my enjoyment and decreases the stress of owning the car. And it has nothing to do with rock chips (which I got a small one ON MY WAY to the ppf place).

MoeMistry

Great question

When Suntek Reaction came out, we were also wondering same and tested the film with CQuartz Professional and Finest Reserve.

To our surprise, the film accepted the coating and didn’t repel it; we’ve been applying ceramic to ppf with excellent results

When my wife got her new car, we applied Suntek Reaction and quickly took a road trip. I didn’t have time to ceramic coat the film, so it was an excellent opportunity to test the embedded coating

Initially, the film behaved just as expected when it came to trolling water and dirt

fast forward a few months, and it lost some hydrophobic properties, and in about six months, it was noticeable

that proved to me that a dedicated coating would benefit this particular ppf since I know what ceramic/ppf combo looks and behaves like with my clients’ cars

Suntek Reaction/XPEL Fusion are more durable and stain resistant out of the box compared to non-ceramic infused ppf…but they both will benefit from a dedicated coating

hope this helps

blackland

I just completed my annual heavy detail on my car with frontal PPF. I noticed quite a few marks on the frunk PPF that would have probably been paint chips without the PPF. I am glad I had it installed. Where I live the roads are poorly maintained and there is a lot of debris on the freeways, I do not think they ever clean them.

Icegrill

Speaking of suntek film…does the Core software offer a pattern for the lower portion of the doors the way DAP does? Thanks so much

Honza

Did full ppf 10mil. And I am extremely happy with the protection. Its a modern 5 layer ppf from UPPF. Good prep and clean of the panels is important. No ceramic treatment needed imho. Love the outcome.

dont mind the winter wheels

Tedster

If there are exposed edges then the installer used pre cut material which you do not want. The better installers roll over the edges protecting the exposed panel fully.

F250to911

I agree. No ppf for me. Every rock hit shows up on ppf as a mark. If it goes through the ppf then it shows up as a mark with dirty black edges. After a couple of years the ppf looks terrible and needs to be replaced. Cost isn't cheap for ppf either. With rock hits on painted surface it can be corrected. Most rock dings can be buffed out. If it gets a chip, most times I can repair with touch up paint, buff it up, add ceramic coating and it is barely perceptible. Much less cost than ppf and it looks much better than a ppf car after a few years.
Seems like people who ppf their car don't mind all the pits and black edges on the ppf because it is saving the paint underneath. But who are you saving the paint for? For the next owner who removes the ugly ppf after the purchase.

rasetsu

I bolded the points you made that just aren't true. And I want to save the paint for myself. It sounds like your perception of PPF is based on how things were 20+ years ago and that's unfortunate. If you just don't want to install PPF on your car, that's totally fine and that's a completely acceptable personal decision but the majority of the replies above yours explain what to expect with modern day properly installed PPF.