[Scrutineer]

Aside from CF bits, another approach is to not PPF and if you collect sizable damage and if you care about it, you can always have a panel repainted, right?

I don’t put many miles on the car - not at all like some in this thread do - so I think I’m just going to get my CF roof protected and deal with anything else as it comes.

Can the roof be done in one piece, without seams?

[Dieselmd]

Picking up my car on Monday. I did the Xpel Ultimate Plus full PPF and Fusion Plus Premium Ceramic coat. Expensive yes but I plan on keeping this car for a while.

[JABCAT]

Originally Posted by Scrutineer

Aside from CF bits, another approach is to not PPF and if you collect sizable damage and if you care about it, you can always have a panel repainted, right?

Have you ever had a panel repainted on a car? 1. It's not inexpensive, 2. You have to worry about color-match. 3. You have to worry about orange peel match. 4. You have to worry about over-spray. I'm sure I'm forgetting other issues with having a panel painted.

I damaged my rear bumper by backing into my son's Jeep. Wasn't paying attention, totally my fault. Purchased a new bumper & had a shop who does a lot of high-end cars, and who was recommended by my PPF shop do the painting. $750 to paint the rear bumper cover. It was painted off the car because I did the installation. They didn't have to blend into the fenders or trunk because the car was so new.

Conversely, we had the lower door trim pieces replaced under warranty on my wife's X3MC. Got the car back from the BMW dealership & the trim pieces were painted the wrong shade of blue. The car also came back with glue stuck to the paint on the door handle as if the tech had it on his hands when he opened the door. There was also overspray of clear cost all over the entire vehicle. Had to bring it back so they could fix everything. The color on the trim pieces matches the doors better but is still off. There was still over-spray on the door sills and front wheels, and there are a ton of swirl marks from them buffing (poorly) and washing the vehicle.

Someone backing into my wife's vehicle in a parking lot. Hit the corner of the front bumper & the wheel arch trim. Scraped the paint off about the size of a quarter on each piece. Quote to repaint that panel was over $1,600.

So, I'm not a big fan of just respraying panels that get damaged.

[robopp]

Originally Posted by JABCAT

Have you ever had a panel repainted on a car? 1. It's not inexpensive, 2. You have to worry about color-match. 3. You have to worry about orange peel match. 4. You have to worry about over-spray. I'm sure I'm forgetting other issues with having a panel painted.

I damaged my rear bumper by backing into my son's Jeep. Wasn't paying attention, totally my fault. Purchased a new bumper & had a shop who does a lot of high-end cars, and who was recommended by my PPF shop do the painting. $750 to paint the rear bumper cover. It was painted off the car because I did the installation. They didn't have to blend into the fenders or trunk because the car was so new.

Conversely, we had the lower door trim pieces replaced under warranty on my wife's X3MC. Got the car back from the BMW dealership & the trim pieces were painted the wrong shade of blue. The car also came back with glue stuck to the paint on the door handle as if the tech had it on his hands when he opened the door. There was also overspray of clear cost all over the entire vehicle. Had to bring it back so they could fix everything. The color on the trim pieces matches the doors better but is still off. There was still over-spray on the door sills and front wheels, and there are a ton of swirl marks from them buffing (poorly) and washing the vehicle.

Someone backing into my wife's vehicle in a parking lot. Hit the corner of the front bumper & the wheel arch trim. Scraped the paint off about the size of a quarter on each piece. Quote to repaint that panel was over $1,600.

So, I'm not a big fan of just [...]

You’d be painting in all three of these examples AND paying for new PPF in addition to the original PPF expense. PPF is great, but isn’t perfect and it’s really down to the owner if it’s worth it or not.

[Driium]

Sure, but PPF will mitigate a lot of rock chips, scuffs etc. On one of my previous vehicles had the front end ppf’d and I later on installed a painted front lip which was NOT ppf’d, one day while driving on the freeway, a thin piece of cardboard from what appeared to be packaging from a box of beer flew up from behind the car in front of me. I hit it and assumed that the piece of cardboard was so thin and light that there was no way it could have caused even a scratch. The PPF was virtually unscathed, but the un protected front lip was left with a deep enough scuff that it required a respray. It was cheaper to buy the same front lip brand new, so I did and had it ppf’d. I won’t knock anyone who forgoes PPF though, but the sting of the cost of PPF goes away pretty quickly.

[ramso]

I think it’s ppf is a must have

[Scrutineer]

Originally Posted by JABCAT

Have you ever had a panel repainted on a car? 1. It's not inexpensive, 2. You have to worry about color-match. 3. You have to worry about orange peel match. 4. You have to worry about over-spray. I'm sure I'm forgetting other issues with having a panel painted.

I damaged my rear bumper by backing into my son's Jeep. Wasn't paying attention, totally my fault. Purchased a new bumper & had a shop who does a lot of high-end cars, and who was recommended by my PPF shop do the painting. $750 to paint the rear bumper cover. It was painted off the car because I did the installation. They didn't have to blend into the fenders or trunk because the car was so new.

Conversely, we had the lower door trim pieces replaced under warranty on my wife's X3MC. Got the car back from the BMW dealership & the trim pieces were painted the wrong shade of blue. The car also came back with glue stuck to the paint on the door handle as if the tech had it on his hands when he opened the door. There was also overspray of clear cost all over the entire vehicle. Had to bring it back so they could fix everything. The color on the trim pieces matches the doors better but is still off. There was still over-spray on the door sills and front wheels, and there are a ton of swirl marks from them buffing (poorly) and washing the vehicle.

Someone backing into my wife's vehicle in a parking lot. Hit the corner of the front bumper & the wheel arch trim. Scraped the paint off about the size of a quarter on each piece. Quote to repaint that panel was over $1,600.

So, I'm not a big fan of just [...]

Yes, I’ve had panels repainted at high quality shops that employ excellent means and methods. But as you note, it doesn’t always go well for everyone and it’s not free.

Same for PPF: Installation doesn’t always go well and it’s not free, either.

I’m not knocking PPF by any stretch. But it isn’t mandatory and someone thinking about PPF for their beautiful new baby may benefit from taking a breath and realizing that an alternative to having the car whisked away from the dealer in an hermetically-sealed safe room before anyone breathes on it and given a multi-level paint correction before being lovingly covered in PPF (with some ceramic on top - hey, why not?) is to simply enjoy driving it and deal with any damage as it comes.

You can prefer one over the other, but either alternative is valid.

[DrewNewM2]

I suppose if you’re driving 20k miles a year on fury road, PPF makes sense. I’m for a track pack or front end PPF as long as it’s like $2000 or less. The front end is going to take 95% of the damage. Front end wrap Otherwise it’s a waste of money.

A full PPF will never pay for itself. You’re talking 10% of the cars value for plastic wrap to protect maybe 2% of value or repair cost for some rock chips. PPF cost can never be recouped if the car is traded or sold and most of the people who claim they’re keeping the car “forever” dump it after a few years keeping it chip free for the next guy. PPF gets beat up and looks like chit too and needs to be replaced eventually so you’re spending another 15% of the cars value after 7 years or whatever since the car has depreciated just to keep it looking spiffy. Who wants to wrap and old BMW? Well you have to now because you’ve been doing it since new and why protect it all that time onky to STOP protecting it and let it get rock chips? PPF doesn’t protect against the big stuff either. Most of the damage I’ve had on cars over the years wouldn’t have been prevented by PPF. The cars I’ve cared about over the years have had very minor rock chips that could be fixed with some touch up paint and look ok. No need to spend $6-7k or whatever for peace of mind.

I definitely still support a front end PPF, just not full PPF.

[BroDoze]

Let’s be honest with this tired topic. Nobody’s going to repaint shit. They’re going to live with the front of their car looking like shit during the 2-5 years they own the car.
I prefer my car looking brand new the entire 4-5 years I own the car. In many cases 10+ years. I’ve got a 10yr old rig right now that was PPF’d and it looks brand new. Headlights are crystal clear like the day I bought it. I’m sorely sad I didn’t do the whole vehicle 10 years ago - just did the front half - A-pillars forward.

90% of the people that don’t get PPF and post about it online here just don’t want to spend the money and are fine with it. So just call it out for what it is and quit trying to make arguments against PPF. Just say “I didn’t want to pay for it.” Or “It’s not worth the money TO ME.” It’s all ya gotta do.

The rest of us PPFers will be enjoying our new-looking cars for years to come.

[DrewNewM2]

Originally Posted by BroDoze

Let’s be honest with this tired topic. Nobody’s going to repaint shit. They’re going to live with the front of their car looking like shit during the 2-5 years they own the car.
I prefer my car looking brand new the entire 4-5 years I own the car. In many cases 10+ years. I’ve got a 10yr old rig right now that was PPF’d and it looks brand new. Headlights are crystal clear like the day I bought it.im sorely sad I didn’t do the whole vehicle 10 years ago.

90% of the people that don’t get PPF and post about it online here just don’t want to spend the money and are fine with it. So just call it out for what it is and quit trying to make arguments against PPF. Just say “I didn’t want to pay for it.” Or “It’s not worth the money TO ME.” It’s all ya gotta do.

The rest of us PPFers will be enjoying our new-looking cars for years to come.

And people who do FULL PPF should call it out for what it is ….it only makes them feel better emotionally. There is no economic case to be made for it. The cost to fix rock chips will always be MUCH less than a full PPF. Depends what you mean by worth it. Front end/track pack can be justified if the cost is low.

I could put my non PPF’d cars next to one with full PPF and not see a $7k difference in value and neither would a potential buyer or dealer.

[BroDoze]

Originally Posted by DrewNewM2

And people who do FULL PPF should call it out for what it is ….it only makes them feel better emotionally. There is no economic case to be made for it. The cost to fix rock chips will always be MUCH less than a full PPF. Depends what you mean by worth it. Front end/track pack can be justified if the cost is low.

I could put my non PPF’d cars next to one with full PPF and not see a $7k difference in value and neither would a potential buyer or dealer.

Economics?!? LOL! What about these cars is economical?

EXACTLY my point. Reread my point. It’s a cost-decision you and others have made, based on what you think you’ll get back out of the car.
My point was made clearly. I don’t base my decisions on what I think I’m going to get out of the car when I sell it. I spend my money on things I will enjoy while I own the car.

Like I said, call it what it is. You didn’t want to pay for it because you don’t think it’s “worth it.” Fine. That is a perfectly valid reason. Leave it at that.

Again, the merits/benefits of full-PPF + ceramic speak for themselves. My car washes are amazing. In my case with frozen paint and frozen/satin PPF, it’s even more important for me to have a seamless, perfect appearance across all the panels.
I live in the land of year-round sand / gravel on the roads. I also have PPF on my entire windshield.

[AZG87]

Originally Posted by two_three_two

gotcha. local threat assessment and then adequate protective action is key. over the past 15 years i have been hit by: a turkey jumping off an overpass, tree limbs, a crab apple, and a runaway snowboard. unfortunate incidents but nothing ppf would have prevented for me personally. YMMV and pick what works for you and your area.

How was this glossed over... a turkey jumping off an overpass????

Agree ppf wouldn't help in those scenarios. But for normal road wear and debris it definitely does. Personally did full front (basically anything forward facing), cf roof and side rockers then ceramic coated full car.