Can you (Or should you) apply ceramic coat over PPF?

Yes, many people put ceramic coating over ppf. I have done it on mine.

 

+ 1

 

+2

 

Yes. PPF protects you from physical damage, but ceramic coating will give the ease of cleaning.

One of my cars has full PPF but no coating. I really regret not putting a coating on it. It has some permanent etching due to using too strong of a chemical to clean it. Coating would have prevented that.

 

It really is a no brainer to add ceramic coating to a PPF job. The primary driver in cost of ceramic coating is all of the paint correction work to get the paint near as perfect as possible prior to the application. The actual application time and cost of materials for ceramic coating isn't very much.

Since you already need to do all the paint correction before installing PPF, most quality detail shops won't charge you a ton more to have the ceramic coating applied on top. Definitely recommend this!

 

+ 1,000,000 to what everyone else stated. The only caveats are: * you need to find out the recommended way to maintain their coating, *not likely with the Pista, but exposing the coating to constant road chemicals/ foul weather, will wear it down quickly. It just makes your life so much easier when it comes to cleaning the car.

 

I’m a big fan of ceramic coating, specially on a Black car like mine. I goto the car wash a lot less and the car does look “ richer” with the coating on.


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Car wash ?

 

[shudder]

 

My 488 had a combined PPF with the ceramic built in.

 

Hand wash car wash.


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That is very interesting. Do you know the name of the PPF?

 

i heard you do paint correction, ppf then ceramic coating. i did this on my F430 and it worked great. scheduled for the 458 to go in next week

 

OP to answer your question it really comes down to the ppf product you are using. There is quite a difference between ppf products which is rarely explained to the buyer.
I no longer bother with PPF unless it has the built in hydrophobic properties which alleviates any need for ceramic coatings on top or any waxing. Of course this level of PPF will cost you more but i can assure it is worth every cent. I've tried both (with and without the built in hydrophobic properties and the difference is truly chalk and cheese. You really do get what you pay for. Ceramic coat the cheaper non hydrophobic ppf and the coating wears off anyway so while it's good to begin with the performance diminishes vs the other which is always there and performs better in every way. The question to always ask your installer is do they use the high end hydrophobic.

 

The hydrophobic coating that new PPF come with wears off very quickly. Ceramic coating should last much longer if you use a reputable product.

 

That's not true. The hydrophobic properties are built into the film. I would use the top tier Clearshield or top tier Expel ultimate, in that order. Amazing product. Even the sheen is better.

 

I do not know the actual name but you can contact Steve at http://www.chipguard.co.uk in the UK. As I understand it my GTB had PPF plus a ceramic coating (EXO?) but the spider had a single PPF with the ceramic built in.

 

Thank you for the link. I never knew about this before. I want to learn more about it. This is very attractive!

 

The difference in the film is truly amazing. Once you've experienced hydrophobic you won't use any thing else. The hydrophobic also seems to repels the stones and cops far less impact damage in comparison, so the film looks flawless all the time. Putting ceramic coating on the cheaper non h film is for the birds....been there done that. The film technology has moved on now.....coating is no longer necessary unless you are using the entry level stuff.

Other thing you really need to ask your installer about and be super wary of is the actual method of install. Most will use blades and you will wind up with cuts in your paint which you wont see or know about until the film comes off.....I've seen some nasty stuff on expensive cars. Best find an installer who has spent time and money on getting their templates spot on so the film comes right up to the edge without having to blade it off anywhere on the car. Near zero gaps at the edges is the best result. On the front of the Ferrari there are areas where the film can't be folded around so you need the film to come right up to the edge to stop impact damage.

 

The hydrophobic nature on PPF, including XPEL, is just on the top coat. The top coat wears off in time. Also Xpel Ultimate did not add the hydrophobic layer until 1-2 years ago. They then rebranded it to XPEL Ultimate Plus. It's literally the exact same film except with a hydrophobic coating on top.

Suntek did the same thing. Suntek PPF and Suntek Ultra are the exact same film. Only difference is Ultra has the hydrophobic layer.

 

It's not the same film and I've been explained that by reputable installers who have installed both and know enough about what they are selling - say film tech has gone a long way now. Even the guy here who's been fitting the Suntek day in day out for years fully admits putting the ceramic after coating does not stay on.....he say's he thinks it's a bit of a waste of time - yet is happy to put it on if it makes certain customers feel a bit better. I was only offering the OP my experience after using these products myself on my own cars. I'm always happy to lead any horse to water - but I'm not going to force it to drink. I'm also not saying there is anything wrong with the entry level stuff - it's a great product for the price but don't expect the same performance. One just needs to manage their expectations. OTOH if you've never used the top tier hydrophobic then I guess what you don't know won't hurt you....which is also fine.