Is PPF Wrap Worth it?

[Tucker417]

Never have to worry again? lol!

Dude, Xpel is one of the best, yet it only really lasts for 2-3 years. If you’re in a hot climate area, almost shave that in half.

PPFs only can last 3-5 years (if) you wash your ride weekly and that means weekly using quality car shampoo, two bucket method, and a QD when drying it. Taking any vehicle with PPF to a machine car wash is going to kill that coating much faster.

Sounds like you’ve swallowed the marketing, but it’s just not the truth. I’m not a pro detailer, but I am a pretty experienced amateur who’s detailed and paint corrected cars for about 15 years now and sealed paint using polish with an orbital. I’ll tell you right now, car washes are a no go, ever.

Check some car detail videos or forums for the realistic life of PPFs.

This isn’t just for you, I‘m actually glad you brought it up, as many have these misconceptions, so a note to everyone, PPFs don’t last unless you baby the car.

Being as our Bronco will probably never see any real offroading of any kind and is daily drove by my wife, I'm fairly confident in it. The car wash will not harm the PPF, at least it never did in the two years of constant car washing on our Acura that had the full front done.

I had also owned a 2013 Audi Q7 with the full front that was done and was over 7 years old when I had acquired it that had Xpel film. If 3M film is used your days are numbered I will agree whole hardily with that. That film is hot garbage.

You can also add a ceramic coating to the PPF if you so choose. (I have both times). I will agree an automatic car wash will eventually degrade the ceramic coating that is obvious but it will not hurt the ppf, at least in my experience over the years it does not.

I'm not here to argue with anyone about PPF or PPF VS ceramic coatings. They both have different uses and do work really well together. (In my experience)

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[sabasigh]

I just got a quote for bout 5K to do:

Full ceramic 6yr, including 5 wheels and front seats
PPF on grille/headlights, partial hood, partial fenders, a-pillars, rockers, door cups, door edges
Full tint, excluding windshield.
Exoshield on windshield

 

[thenewjs]

I have a Code Orange Braptor and my wife has a Azure Grey 2 Door. Neither color can be touched up and would require a whole panel respray. There's a guy in my group that couldn't justify the price. Said he could respray the whole car for the price of the wrap. He has Oxford White and he could be right. I don't see that with our tri-coat paint. With our paint, it would like ass until we had it resprayed.

With PPF, maintenance is easier. I don't have to invest into waxes, buffers, polishers or the associated liquids/compounds.

 

[Sandbergo]

Hey All,

Please remove if this is answered somewhere (apologies - first post).

We received our 2024 Everglades about 2 weeks ago. We love it, and want to keep it for awhile. I've been quoted for a Clear XPEL PPF full install for $5k. (We want clear as we like the Eruption Green)

Is it worth it? I realize answers will be somewhat subjective but I'd like to protect the paint.

I'm a n00b when it comes to off-roading, will it protect it from rocks, tree branches, etc?

So I assume this is for a full wrap, not terrible depending on where you are in the country. Xpel makes a clear ppf that has the ceramic coating in the film if you want to not have to pay additionally for coating the ppf. Should only be a little more expensive than the non coated ppf. Do not believe that just ceramic coating a vehicle will protect it from rock chips, scratches, bug gut acids. Ceramic coats are like wax on steroids but a rock strike will damage the paint. Most PPF has self healing but that depends on the severity of the damage. Most people go for high impact areas like hoods, fenders, mirrors, a-pillars, the area above the windshield, etc. Ask your installer what the cost difference is between the two PPF films and if it’s not terribly different I would opt for the coated.

 

[computertom]

Two other cars in our garage that I PPF’d:

our road tripping 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. It’s now at 130k miles, always been outside, and the front end is perfect. The rest of it, that wasn’t wrapped looks like it’s been through a war zone. I’d do it again, highway miles are brutal.

2017 911 that I picked up used. Full PPF on that one as I had no garage back then and it sat outside, and commuted around Boston. Looked perfect after 40k miles and an 8k mile cross country adventure. Even with the PPF, I ended up down only 10k. Oh, and it was also hit with a small pop up tent in a wind storm that dragged from one door, quarter across the hood. I nearly had a heart attack, but it cleaned right up.

I did not wrap the front of our Rivian R1T and it was battered after under 2k miles when I sold it. Trucks / SUVs with flat fronts and soft paint get killed.

Finally our BRaptor is done and still looks 100% brand new after 10k miles.

Is it worth it? As others have covered, very personal question. For me, on some of my cars, it has been, others nope.

I do like an easy to clean, unswirled car though. That has value to me.

 

[Git_Mud]

@Sandbergo

Got a bit more clarity from the installer today:

We use xpel ultimate plus ppf on every vehicle we do which there’s only 1 option from xpel.


8mills

If you want 10 mils which no one goes with we can order it but it will be 30% more

 

[Git_Mud]

I appreciate everyone’s input here, I assumed this would be very much personal opinion(s). I just wanted to see what this community did / thought.

 

[timhood]

Hey All,

Please remove if this is answered somewhere (apologies - first post).

We received our 2024 Everglades about 2 weeks ago. We love it, and want to keep it for awhile. I've been quoted for a Clear XPEL PPF full install for $5k. (We want clear as we like the Eruption Green)

Is it worth it? I realize answers will be somewhat subjective but I'd like to protect the paint.

I'm a n00b when it comes to off-roading, will it protect it from rocks, tree branches, etc?

I think you could compromise and do a "full nose" and maybe the lower part of the doors and get 99% of the protection you would need.

 

[Holiday]

Granted it's been about 2 years ago~

Here in the KC area I had LLumar PPF put on mine (everywhere painted except the tailgate) and a windshield film (ExoShield) for $3k. I think the business owner gave me a heck of deal after I pushed back a bit on the initial cost (pointing out to him there was no roof to do).

Lots of good opinions in this thread. I likely wouldn't do it if mine didn't live in the garage 90% of the time. For me, and that price, it was worth it.

 

[Sandbergo]

@Sandbergo

Got a bit more clarity from the installer today:

We use xpel ultimate plus ppf on every vehicle we do which there’s only 1 option from xpel.


8mills

If you want 10 mils which no one goes with we can order it but it will be 30% more

So as someone that works in a shop, Xpel has Ultimate Plus PPF, Ultimate Fusion PPF (has coating in it), Stealth (matte finish), and Polished Black PPF. They may only have the Ultimate Plus 8mil in stock so yes they would have to order anything else. We usually stock Ultimate Fusion and Xpel Fusion coating so when we have a car do only a full front they can coat the remained of the vehicle and it’s fully coated. You can use the Ultimate Plus and have that coated but make sure that the shop uses xpels coating, because we were made aware last year that PPF warranties would be voided if the Xpel PPF was coated with non Xpel coating. Just and FYI. Remember that the PPF is a sacrificial layer that is intended to protect the paint so it will eventually need replaced or replaced if areas take to much damage. I would definitely cover all surfaces that have potential to bed scratched with PPF. Hope this helps.

 

[Warhorn]

I appreciate everyone’s input here, I assumed this would be very much personal opinion(s). I just wanted to see what this community did / thought.

My Everglades should be arriving within the month. I have a quote for $6900 for Stealth all the way around (that should drop since the hard top doesnt get any). Another $890 for ceramic coating and then another ~$1000 for nano-ceramic tint all the way around including the windshield. Also add in the windshield protection somewhere in that too. Understand that price is variable based on where you live and the type of work the installer does. It does seem like people who detailed 15 years ago aren't maybe up to speed on XPEL and the warranties it carries. I feel confident I'll install it once and it'll last the 7-8 years until I get a new ride.

Alot of these arguments seem to be "yOu WoNt GeT yOuR mOnEy OuT oF iT." I would say if your overall goal is resale price and holding value, don't buy new and don't drive it if you do. I'm not buying it for resale, but more what other people have shared in ease of maintenance and keeping it looking good just for my own sense of pride in ownership. Stealth mattes it out as well which I just like aesthetically.

At the end of the day, you're going to lose money on it. You're paying for a convenience and potential visual change. If swirl marks bother you or you want it to just look factory new the whole time you own it, spend the money. If not, or you don't plan on keeping it wrong, then skip it and just hit your deductible for repairs if you need it.

Also with the Everglades you'll have to decide if you're keeping that side decal on or not!

 

[coachoates]

Full PPF! If you want a clean car….it is a must.

My father-in-law did his too, full PPF. It saved rocks from flinging off his tires on to his doors in just the first week.

road debris is insane. Ceramic likes shiny and pretty but PPF is armor…ceramic is not.

I will redo mine when it is time, back to front.

I enjoy trail riding when I can, which isn’t much…but PPF will ensure your car looks immaculate years down the road.

I don’t have money to just throw away but I don’t plan on buying another car so I want this one to look great in 20-30 years.

So I will redo the PPF for it would cost to repaint it and always enjoy a brand new looking ride.

should you do it? Up to you. Is it worth, yes. I will forever PPF my wife’s cars going forward I have loved one so much.

 

[FordFamily4Fun]

I beach drive a lot for fishing and to access some good areas I have to go down some narrow dirt/sand roads and get pinstripes. What I do at the end of the season is get them buffed out by detailer with full detail for $300. That's $3,000 spread out over 10 years, but add some more for inflation (hopefully your wages keep up).

Since I don't off-road rocky trails or rock climb, don't have to worry about rock chips/gashes there. I find for my Bronco the paint is pretty thick and tough (my detailer measured with whatever that thing they use is - it is pretty thick paint). When not on the beach (sand won't hurt ya) I'm on the pavement and just got one quite small chip front of hood. Toothpick with touch-up paint and then toothpick with clearcoat did the trick (easy for Oxford White). Any car will get chips and scratches. This is a Bronco. Some war wounds are a badge of honor. I sometimes feel my Bronc is too clean looking paint-wise.

 

[Sardine]

Just keep in mind that ceramic coating will only make your paint hydrophobic. It will not protect your paint from scratches or swirls.

PPF is only worth it on extremely expensive exotics or collectibles in my opinion. Spending 10% of the worth of the vehicle just to protect the paint is absurd.

Cheapest route to protect your paint is to apply a spray ceramic like Griot's 3 in 1 and to learn the proper way to keep a car clean, don't tailgate people, and park away from other cars.

 

[MotoFish]

Modern paint leaves a bit to be desired. Under 1,000mi on a Hot Pepper Red Bronco there were multiple pits to the hood and A pilars. I touched them up and had the full hood, front fenders, side mirrors, A pilars, grill and headlights. Probably paid $1200 and that included tinting the 2 front windows to match. Truck has 11k on it now and no new damage to paint since the PPF. Even where a rock has hit the PPF and put a tear in it the paint is still where it belongs. RokBlokz keep the rocks off the doors too. Lots of gravel/rock roads here. The Goodyears are the worst tire Ive personally seen for throwing rocks. Ive seen them fly out in front of the headlights and end up hitting the hood at night.

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