Thoughts on ceramic coating versus ppf

I enjoyed this piece of wisdom quite a bit.

 

I don't get why anyone would wrap their entire car when only the bumper and hood, maybe also the front fenders and rockers, are prone to stone chips. Especially for a car most people will only drive 1,000 miles a year. Do you people also put plastic on your furniture?

 

Maybe “most people” don’t get the entire car wrapped. Maybe just people who drive them get a full wrap.

Lots of trucks around here that throw gravel.

Also, I’ve done the partial and hated it because seams. I’ll be doing full wraps from now forward.


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the key to making the car look great is a full paint correction none of the new cars get to the buyer with great paint jobs a good paint correction will really improve the color then I like the ceramic coating .. I am not a fan of PPF except in maybe the front bumper or a couple of other areas .. even the best films just change the look of the paint ...and I don't like them
Drive careful ......

 

I've had my car at the detailer for bumper, hood and front fenders and have seen other cars in there that he's doing a full PPF. One was a track Vette and I guess I get it for that, but otherwise they just don't look right with all that film on them. Plus, I don't really want someone taking my car apart and putting it back together just to get film on it in areas that have zero chance of a stone chip. My guy told me he wanted to do my doors and rear bonnet for free as a gift but I told him no way.

 

They don't take the car apart, firstly and secondly EVERY part of the car has a chance of a stone chip. For proof all I have to do is look at my other cars.

Also you don't mention easier to wash / keep clean. Don't worry at all of surface scratch's , ( even new in the show room cars have them ), and new films like Xpel are self healing.

And scraps. Ive seen a M3 which had a scrap because of a concrete wall. Film was revealed and ZERO damage and film reapply.

 

Had numerous cars done with Expel or equal, never took them apart to do the work. I never did the whole car, didn't think it was required. Always wrapped bonnet, front bumper and spoiler, headlights, mirrors and rockers, and wheel well lips. If it's done right you can't tell. I use a guy that does it free hand, some guys have a computer program that pre-cuts the film. If you do it that way you will see the edges and it doesn't looks as good.

 

Co-sign. Not a fan of PPF either but ceramic coating keeps the car looking clean and is easy to wash.

 

Would agree most of the time but I have a black Porsche Spyder that has a full Xpel wrap. It used to be so difficult preventing swirl marks etc as the Porsche paint tends to be “soft.” Had a paint protection performed first and then entire car wrapped. It’s so easy to maintain now. So depending on color of car and use it helps make things easier at times.

 

Agree great the paint right then a good ceramic coating looks great...i have one car a ferrari 599GTO and the paint from the factory was just not great so we had a expert wet sand the car spent 40 hours on it the. Then a ceramic coating that was a about a year ago
The car looked and still looks perfect ...

 

so for those of you who dont ppf the full car, do you put ceramic then directly on the pain in the non ppf areas? or do you use ceramic on ppf and carnuba on paint?

 

Ceramic coat the whole car, even on top of the the expel..

 

there are people who say you shldnt ceramic on paint - im one of them as i ceramiced 2 suvs over paint, and it was worthless.

 

As written by the other folk above me, they're not quite the same thing, as the clearfilm will definitely help with impacts, while the ceramic (which I did for my 360), helps with some scratch resistance and an easier washing regimen. Ceramic was not that cheap, over here I paid nearly $2000 to get my car washed, detailed, and coated :\ YMMV

 

The primary purpose of ceramic coating is that it is a) hydrophobic and b) facilitates proper cleaning because dirt, dust and other bad stuff doesn’t adhere like it does to untreated clear coat. Most ceramics are perfectly clear ... they don’t provide any additional gloss. Nor do they provide protection the way film does. If the paint is properly corrected and polished and then you use ceramic it should look spectacular. Check out White Details on YouTube. The guy is a magician and the videos are pure car nerd p0rn!




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For a minute I thought your conclusion was to keep it covered in the garage and never get it out!!

Our 812 is still completely unprotected because I can’t decide... I had hoped this thread would give me the definitive answer. Have to do something, however, and may just do both and see how it works out.


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I daily drive, ceramic the car after paint correction

I linked pics in another thread

 

Yes, Lots if opinions in this thread from different angles. The safest way is for you to be able to form your own. Good thing is that no one claims that there’s any negative effects to ceramic coating. It’s geberally a $1000 cost, so my recommendation is to just try it out. See if you think it’s worth it for yourself. At best, you love it. At worst, you’re out $1000.

 

From my perspective, there are 3 factors.

First off, sometimes paint correction needs to occur. So far, I have had custom colors on my last 2 F cars (the 458 with Rosso F1 2007 and the 812 I just received with Blu Elettrico). No paint correction has been necessary at all. Very clear that the Zanasi (who helps Ferrari with these special colors) wet sanded the paint. If your car looks like it needs paint correction, I urge you to do it, before putting down any film. Plus your car will look like how much it costs.

Second, your rate of speed and any particle will dramatically affect its damage onto your vehicle. Just square the velocity to get a sense of the impact. At 40 mph, you are going to have a particle impact onto your paint that is 4X of what it was at 20mph. And at 80mph, 16X at 20mph. Then apply the surface area and weight of that thing hitting your paint. Yes, it could quite ugly. Especially if you have a custom color. I put a very high quality laser cut protection film onto my 458 and 812 applied by someone who does this as a full time job. He is an expert. That is all he does.

I only had him do the "front half" of my 458. Well, I wish I had him do the "back half" as I had something hit the lower part of the passenger door and take a super small chip that needed to be repainted by yet another expert. Would have been worth the price.

In the daylight and under fluorescents, it is near impossible with the naked eye at any distance to see that there is film there. I had to use a low power microscope to see any of the top cover of the film.

Third, on the ceramic coating, I heavily suggest this as well. It does protect the film from being burnt by bird poop, chemically bound rain, etc. Plus cleaning the car is super fast (those words are stuck in my head since the 812 arrived). There are great ceramic coatings and I heavily suggest that they also are put on by an expert as well. One can easily screw this up.

To do a whole car like an 812 or 488 with minor paint correction, full wrap, and quality ceramic multi-pass coating/detailing, this will be multi-day process. And the bill is going to be near $8K to $10K based on several factors. Make sure to stick to an expert!

Ok, thanks for listening and I hope my input and experience is helpful.

 

This is very helpful thank you.

I need to find the right shop and schedule it. I think I’ll post in the Texas section for references.


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100% spot on. Frankly best thing to do on dear cars . I did and feel so so good driving my beast.

Gee drop a carbon part but do protect the exterior

 

FYI the products are very good. Ultimately it will come down to the installer and that's the hardest part. Finding the right guy/shop

 

Ceramic is a joke. The two cannot be compared.

 

Why is it a joke ? The 2 combined gives and excellent seal.
Having the ceramic makes washing a breeze. and covers the little paint that the film hasn't covered .

Snow / rinse / blow dry. Use filtered water and its an easy job