New car - paint preservation? (oil/wax/coat)

[Eric S]

Originally Posted by maniz

I am an eternally analytical person so any idea that makes little logical sense gets rejected. I am also a highly fastidious detailer and maintain our family cars. I own my M4, bought it new, and intend to keep it long-term. Yet, I see no value in PPF.

You see, a car's clearcoat isn't immune to damage from road debris, no matter how tiny, as long as it impacts it at speed.

But neither is PPF.

So what happens is, if all you do is get your entire front bumper wrapped in Xpel Ultimate, it sets you back $1,100-$1,700 (where I live) and 3 years later, there are plenty of chips and nicks in it. So your factory paint is protected but the bumper looks like crap anyway. Your choice then is to either leave it as-is, or get it replaced for another $1,200-$1,800 and have the bumper looking pristine again. But you could avoid all that by leaving the bumper as-is now, and getting it re-sprayed by a top body shop with perfect color match and paint thickness for about $800 (again, where I live) 3 years later and end up with a pristine bumper AND sizable savings in your pocket.

All the "self-healing" bullshit is just that. The most-recommended Xpel and Suntek installer I visited locally before my M4 arrived, laughed and shook his head when I asked about self-healing properties of the films. It is the perfect advertising gimmick because it is truly impossible to disprove; any nicks and chips that do happen would be attributed to "well, the velocity of impact was too hard; we never said this film was bulletproof" and any portion that stays nick-free would be, "see how well this thing works?!!!".

PPF also has a distinct disadvantage over clearcoat; it will degrade and yellow over time far quicker than a factory clear. The installer I mentioned above admitted as such as he showed me his white Camaro whose protected front bumper was clearly slightly yellower than his unprotected hood after 10 months, though the guarantee is supposed to be 3-4 times as long at the minimum. Now a manufacturer might say, "But that was then; check out our latest UV proof films!!" To that I would ask them whether it is the same promise they made previously, and the answer is yes.

I meticulously detail my car top-to-bottom twice a week, sometimes more often. I love how it looks. And I would love for it to stay pristine and chip-free, but I also love to drive it. So I know such an expectation would be unrealistic. Therefore, my weapon against chips is the use of common sense. I don't tailgate anyone EVER and am always 4+ seconds behind them, even more so for semis and during the winter months here in Colorado. And when traffic conditions made it impossible, so be it. At least this will protect me about as much as is reasonably possible for a car that begs to be driven the way M's do.

Even so, I know I will need to get the bumper resprayed in 3 years or so, even though I might be the only one noticing the damage. That's fine by me.

Film is not going to self heal from chips/nicks..it will self heal from scratches, hence the videos of the wire brush and a heat gun...google it.
-chips are actually chunks of material now missing, whether its paint or ppf. a scratch is a slight cut in the material (not a rip) and that is what has the ability to self heal.

repaints never match factory paint, no matter what. We have had numerous people claim the car was never repainted, but then we start pointing things out to them that indicate a repaint. Could have happened at port before delivery. (i hear its about 30% of cars go to the bodyshop before dealer, not sure on that # for certain). So your theory of repaint every 3 years and have a perfect color match isn't going to happen.

You are right, there is no guarantee rocks will not go through the PPF and nick the paint. We are now offering the new 3M pro series film for that reason. You can buy a warranty now that will support up to $3500 in damages from rocks penetrating the film and damaging the paint under it. Its great insurance for those looking to keep the car long term who do a lot of driving! It will cover the paint damage and the reinstall of the film.

Also, from your example, you quoted 1100-1700 for just the front bumper...that's not accurate. Most shops are 500-800 for the bumper alone depending on complexity, if custom bulked one piece, etc. Paint is going to be 700-1000 and not match perfect. So in that regard, it makes sense to have the PPF done as you are saving money with a better looking bumper longer.

PPF is not for everyone. If you don't care about rock chips, you were never thinking PPF anyway. If you don't like to see your front end peppered, then you are automatically thinking PPF for your next new car. If you do any rally driving, tracking, or lots of commuting (streets or freeway), then you should do PPF. If its a weekend car, you can get away without because you are not exposing the car enough anyway.

Another benefit...your PPF car will sell for more "more than likely" as the paint will have been protected, or is protected (if you leave the film on) at the time of the sale. So, you get the protection while you own it and potentially cost you nothing or at least half back (assuming you sell the car for 1000 more with a full front done).

[vip]

Originally Posted by Tommy L Garage

Save your money and enjoy the car.
You will spend thousands to preserve it for the next owner.
You will always get imperfections - just gotta learn how to accept it.

Three years from now when you go to sell the car the buyer will understand that it won’t be perfect since it’s used. That’s why it’s cheaper than new. Otherwise the buyer would be buying new. But since he can’t afford new then he will settle for used, knowing that it’s not perfect.

Bottom line is - forget about keeping your car perfect and drive it and embrace the imperfections.

after some searching on clearshine vs washing, to clearbra or not. your words are so true, if only i can accept them lol...

[Graves]

Originally Posted by sersbuaM

PPF scares me as it's mostly not wrapped around the edges and they cut 'on the paint'. And still no warranty no chip will occur. It surely depends on your driving style, too. I have the Autobahn to my disposal and i tend to drive maxed out there... everything i heard was to forget about PPF in this case. So everything that's left (after embracing the fact that there WILL be chips) is the shininess and water perlation. But is this really worth the effort? I don't want to say i'm on a budget, but i could lower the car, add a nice lip, some mirror caps and maybe another steering wheel for the amount - making it a tough one.

I'm in Germany and I'm doing PPF. I've seen a cars bumper with it and without it. Night and day. The Autobahn is a savage!