Jonathan Lord

Would appreciate recommendations on xPel or other coating materials. Anyone have experiences in Jacksonville Florida?

OKB

xpel is a good one, there are a couple others

Darkhorse

XPEL has a ten-year warranty. That's better than the rest. Look for a great installer; that's more important than the brand of film. And make sure they do a full paint-correction before installing the film so the car looks it's best.

Gary JR

Xpel Ultimate is the one you want.

Jonathan Lord

Thanks all!

StormRune

There's an extensive conversation currently active about PPFs in JawJuh's thread (link below). It has gotten a lot of interesting input from several pro's plus lots of reports from current PPF users.
I think it will answer most any question you may have, especially later on in the thread... but it's probably worth reading the whole thing if you are shopping for it.
https://rennlist.com/forums/991/9789...hem-again.html

Jonathan Lord

Thanks - thread was very helpful!!
Thinking that I will not put it on.
1) The C4S is going to be a low mileage keeper - and we live on a small island without potholes. It won't be going out in inclement weather
2) I like taking care of the car with washes and waxes . . and think I will opt for the sense of getting the most of the color through (GT Silver)
Cheers
J

Gary JR

Believe what you like but all of the color gets through.

Darkhorse

Gary,

I am deciding between Suntek and XPEL for whole front of my Metallic Gray C4S Cab. I believe the XPEL installer is going to do a much better paint prep and correction.

But, I keep running across comments about XPEL having an orange peel look in the film. Another poster said that his XPEL bra looks bad with polarized sunglasses.

Have you noticed or experienced this on your car?

Thanks

R_Rated

My first installer wasn't qualified and I had excessive orange peel. Second time around Is 99% orange peel free but there is in fact still some texture there.

rk-d

I'm not Gary, but I'll play

The orange peel texture is not as bad as real orange peel. If you plan to have concours finishing on your paint, then no PPF will be able to match raw metal. I'm sorry, but it's not possible.

The vast majority of us are not that good or dedicated enough to achieve and maintain that kind of finish. In those cases, the PPF will look better and whatever minor orange peel that exists is not a deal breaker.

Just don't believe the hype that there is ZERO difference between raw paint and PPF, because it's just not true.

FWIW, I will likely do PPF again, on my next car.

Gary JR

I have no idea about Suntek but if you go Xpel make it Xpel Ultimate - the latest and greatest. All I can say is go to your installer and look at his work. Mine continues to look great.

I also can not comment about orange peel (whatever that is).

SFZ GT3

Also looking for good references on Jacksonville (and adjacent area) installers. I've checked some local "wrap" places but am not impressed. Any first hand, positive experiences would be most welcome. TIA.

Darkhorse

Thank you for your opinions about PPF, especially about XPel Ultimate and orange peel.

My car is new-to-me with low, 27k, easy miles, and at least an annual service and detail. It's a 2009 Meteor Gray Metallic 997.2 C4S, Cabrio, 6MT, with Sport Chrono. The paint is in very good condition; the front bumper cover was resprayed in January and it's only been driven only 40 miles since. It's winter here and the car is covered in the garage.

I will probably go ahead with XPel Ultimate as soon as I see two gray Porsches with XPel Ultimate done by the local installer. He does a full car paint correction; wash, clay bar, touch-ups, compound, polish, and wax prior to applying any film. He gets the paint to the best condition possible before installation. I have to respect that dedication to his work. His thorough preparation made the decision for me since most of my paint is eight years old.

I am protecting the front bumper cover, whole hood, complete fenders, mirrors, A-Pillars and roof edge, and replacing the rear 1/4 panel stone guards.

For those who can get to Denver or Parker, CO, I can't, there is an excellent shop called Front Range Automotive Solutions. Jesse put PPF on a friend's Porsches. He has an impressive facility and an incredible selection of completed cars on his website and on his Facebook page.

Speed2000

The reason the film looks bad with polarized glasses is from the UV inhibitors in the film to prevent yellowing. Installation requires some degree of stretch which alters the UV layer and that bends the wavelengths of light reflecting off the paint like a prism. Since polarized glasses block some of those wavelengths, the film looks like someone took a blow torch to your paint.