Paint protection for new car

Strad

Member
Messages
245
After a 12 month wait I’ve finally taken delivery of my new Land Cruiser. It’s the 4th I‘ve owned and having been unimpressed by Dealer paint protection in the past, I skipped that option and was considering a ceramic coating and maybe even a PPF to the front end.
A friend (mutual friend of Guy, Dickie and Euan!) has done that on his Land Cruiser but I think it was £1,200 for the front PPF plus £600 for the CC.

About 5 mins after picking up the car, I bumped into the owner of a local body shop who said I was mad to spend the money on all that as the coatings don’t offer much protection and the PPF is expensive to replace if damaged and can be tricky (expensive in time) to remove when it’s been on for some years - although he may have been talking about wraps more than a thicker PPF.
He was of the opinion that you save the money and use it to re-spray if & when required. Appreciate that he would say that but I know him well so trust his view.

Now I’m totally confused and so wondered what others think / would do??

Thanks, Mark.
 

c4sman

Member
Messages
1,243
I’m sold on PPF. Got it done on the GT soon after purchase and it just makes looking after it super easy. No fear of swirls on the front when washing as it’s self healing film (so I’m happy to give it a wipe down to get bugs off without doing a full wash) and no stone chips have made it through the film yet (7k miles and lots on motorways/autoroutes). Sure if you have an accident/bump that damages the film it’s expensive to replace that section but I think the pros outweigh the cons on a car you want to look as new for an extended period of time.

The problem for me with the “respray is cheaper” argument for stone chips is the stone chips on my 911 with no PPF are not bad enough to justify a respray, but they are visible enough to bug me now and again when they catch my eye. That means I decide to live with it. If it had been PPFed it would alway look as new (certainly with up to date products you can buy now, not true 10 years ago with yellowing films etc.), and I would not have to live with it.

Just an alternative view!
 

Gazcw

Member
Messages
7,696
After a 12 month wait I’ve finally taken delivery of my new Land Cruiser. It’s the 4th I‘ve owned and having been unimpressed by Dealer paint protection in the past, I skipped that option and was considering a ceramic coating and maybe even a PPF to the front end.
A friend (mutual friend of Guy, Dickie and Euan!) has done that on his Land Cruiser but I think it was £1,200 for the front PPF plus £600 for the CC.

About 5 mins after picking up the car, I bumped into the owner of a local body shop who said I was mad to spend the money on all that as the coatings don’t offer much protection and the PPF is expensive to replace if damaged and can be tricky (expensive in time) to remove when it’s been on for some years - although he may have been talking about wraps more than a thicker PPF.
He was of the opinion that you save the money and use it to re-spray if & when required. Appreciate that he would say that but I know him well so trust his view.

Now I’m totally confused and so wondered what others think / would do??

Thanks, Mark.
Funnily enough my strad was dropped off yesterday for ppf to just the bumper. I did not want the bonnet doing as it will always be visible around the vents. It's a £300 job and I thought that was good given a proper off the car respray is at least double if not more these days.
 

MarkMas

Chief pedant
Messages
8,795
I'm not a fan of PPF (never used it) because of the visible lines and hard-to-remove issue. Maybe just on a very vulnerable part like a nose cone, or the wheel arches of a QPV.

But I LOVE the ceramic coating on my 2009 QPV put on by Zero Boundaries in Gloucestershire a couple of months ago. Shiny, dirt-resistant and hard as a rock.

But I don't know what the surface on a new car is like, and whether it is worth covering. I would recommend giving James at Zero a call for an honest conversation, even if you are miles away.
 

Scaf

Member
Messages
6,512
My Strad came with PPF which means it’s got no chips at all and still looks superb. But I don’t think I would bothered myself and would have gone down the respray route.

However, it’s my opinion that a repainted car will chip again much more easily than factory paint so since your start you never finishz
 

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,546
Yes. Or putting a case on your mobile phone...

Well I kind of get that. But I normally get a case to put my mobile phone in when I'm not using it. As long as it's a nice case, that is. But PPF seems to obviate the whole point of paint. May as well just wrap the body in white.

I would get ceramic protection if I ever had a car with paintwork worth it :D

Are we going to talk about not driving to preserve the value, next ;)

My current phone seems to be utterly suicidal to the extent that I started getting screen protectors. Been through loads, and still broke the damned screen.

C
 

mjheathcote

Centenary Club
Messages
9,033
After nearly 70k miles the front bumper of my M140i has quite a few chips and general peppering.
Rest of the car is pretty chip free, including bonnet.
I do consider a bumper respray, but then I think it will get peppered again.
I think PPF would be a good option, but then after 70k would it itself look tired, even if no chips, so no visual advantage?
 

c4sman

Member
Messages
1,243
After nearly 70k miles the front bumper of my M140i has quite a few chips and general peppering.
Rest of the car is pretty chip free, including bonnet.
I do consider a bumper respray, but then I think it will get peppered again.
I think PPF would be a good option, but then after 70k would it itself look tired, even if no chips, so no visual advantage?
Early days but for my own experience (12m) but modern Self healing PPF doesn’t seem to get peppered. With the right installer the lines are not really visible (mine are tucked under in most places so there is no line to see. Also most people wouldn’t guess that my car has film (so not like the sofa in plastic at all). I will say that I’d lean to it more if your still on original paint to keep it original/avoid overspray etc. I think some of the comments relate to old PPF of 10 years ago, tech has moved on and the optics have improved as a result, but you pays your money….. and self healing film is literally like a magic trick.
 

mjheathcote

Centenary Club
Messages
9,033
Guess also depends on how long you intend to keep the car.
I didn't think I would still have my M140i four and a half years later, so if I could wind back I probably would.
Also if on a pcp you intend to return, certainly wouldn't.
 

Strad

Member
Messages
245
Thanks guys, really useful. I have to weigh up that Land Cruiser paint isn’t the thickest and chips easily with the fact that it‘s a Toyota not a Maserati so it‘s not the end of the world if it has the odd battle-scar……
 

Bebs

Member
Messages
3,269
I’ve thought about PPF but never actually got round to it on any of the cars. The 360 is still on its original 1999 paint (113,000 miles now) but I’ve had the front bumper re sprayed 2 or 3 times. Still looks decent, ok it has the odd swirl mark and stone chip, but it also means that I’m not too precious about it and can drive it anywhere, any time.

105412
 

c4sman

Member
Messages
1,243
I’ve thought about PPF but never actually got round to it on any of the cars. The 360 is still on its original 1999 paint (113,000 miles now) but I’ve had the front bumper re sprayed 2 or 3 times. Still looks decent, ok it has the odd swirl mark and stone chip, but it also means that I’m not too precious about it and can drive it anywhere, any time.

View attachment 105412
I feel the same about not being too precious about driving my GT because it’s got PPF :)

awesome 360 BTW