Lou DeFino

Recently bought my first Porsche (2018 718 Boxster) and am trying to decide how to protect the paint. I've gone round and round in my head about which approach. I have several quotes, but am starting to see a general theme. Would appreciate to hear peoples thoughts and experience. As a side note, I've generally kept a car for 2 to 5 years, but hoping that I can keep the car for awhile, but I think that for every car. :-)

A full front XPEL Ultimate Cover is approximately $1800 Paint Correction included
A full car cover is approximately $4000 Paint Correction included
Ceramic Pro coating is about $1300 for Silver Paint protection included

My choices:

• Bite the bullet and get the full cover for 4k. Do some sort of home ceramic coating over Xpel, wheels, and Calipers
• Go with a Hybrid approach Get a full front cover and do a Ceramic Pro Silver coating over whole car. $2800
• Go the with the Full Front and skip the coatings and just do a home kit. $1800
• Skip the PPF and go with a Ceramic Pro Silver for $1300
• Skip the whole thing and save my money

Gerald Quek

Get PPF if you do lots of highway driving. Then ceramic coat on top of PPF. I did my 718 GT4 full xpel wrap for $4500 and ceramic coat diamond for $1795. Try negotiate with your xpel installer especially with covid you might be able to get yourself a deal.
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Lou DeFino

Thanks for the feedback. That is probably the approach I will take. It seems that with a pristine PPF, that I should be able to apply a Ceramic coating myself.

rasetsu

If you honestly won't keep the car for more than 3 years, I wouldn't do PPF. You will never see the ROI on that and little rock chips are expected on cars so they won't impact resale value really. If you hand wash your cars, you can do ceramic coating to make your life easier. There are different levels of ceramic coating. You don't need the highest most expensive one. But if you automatic car was your cars, don't bother. It's also possible that you do PPF and no longer feel the need for ceramic coating since PPF does add a layer of gloss. I had my front end PPF'd and haven't gone back to do ceramic coating after a year. Helps that my car is garage parked and not black too.

Lou DeFino

So, I've decided to get the full wrap, and Bronze Ceramic Pro. I've been thinking about whether it makes sense to go with Silver or Gold, but I cannot understand why you you need several layers since it isn't really bonding with paint, only with a plastic film. Does that make sense? I could probably go from Bronze to Silver for a few hundred dollars, I just don't want to throw money away.

markoware

Are you no longer thinking of doing the ceramic yourself?

Lou DeFino

I was going to, but I got my final quote for the Xpel of 4k. The cost of the ceramic bronze was $500, I asked them to throw that in for free and they agreed. Now I'm wondering if I should kick in another $250 to go Silver, but if it doesn't really matter, why spend the money.

markoware

Ah, free is good! I found ceramic didn't make a huge difference on my Xpel, at least for the six months I've had it. The PPF was fairly hydrophobic by itself. I'd do it again, but there definitely wasn't the wow factor like it has on paint.

I wouldn't kick in any more money if I were you. As far as I know ceramics made specifically for PPF/vinyl only last a year or two. I have also found them much easier to apply vs ceramic on paint. In the future you could likely do the entire car for around $100 give or take. I assume if they are using a standard ceramic for paint it isn't going to last any longer than the specific PPF/vinyl ceramics so paying extra probably wouldn't have much benefit.

REDCOMET

I have PPF on full front and doors but then I got a few stone chips on the rear quarter. So I will do the full PPF next time

lanjiow

I've debated the same. In the end, I've decided to not to do PPF because:

1. I've never had it in my previous cars and a few rock chips on the front bump didn't appreciably impact the resale value when it came time to sell (usually 8+ years later). The counterpoint is that none of those were Porsches.
2. I read a different thread about the cost of doing the PPF, vs. just respraying. Could be about the same
3. In the worst case you have to replace the PPF, it doesn't seem like just a sticker you peel. you have to have a installer do it if you're mechanically incapable (me). so more $$$

I had Ceramic coating on my previous car and it was ok. I was a bit disappointed in its inability to prevent etching (from bird poop) but you can't expect miracles? that said, even now (8 years in) the car looks super shiny after a regular (hand) wash (haven't waxed in 5+ years). I'll probably do the ceramic coating again.

Not sure if this helps but just some considerations.

Syrome

I view ceramic coatings as preventative detailing. You can easily spend $500+ a year on a traditional polish and wax. With hand washing every 2ish weeks, the car will maintain its shine. I’ve coated the last 3 cars.

As others have said PPF is more a peace of mind. You will not see a ROI for several years, if at all. Have your previous cars gotten tons of rock chips? Did you care? I’ve done it to some, but not all.

There are a lot of things one can do with $4500.

TXshaggy

Xpel front bumper headlights and mirrors for much less than a grand and you’re covered for 90% of rock chips.

Buy a flex DA buffer, hand held correction light, and the rest of the ceramic gear for around $500 and go to town.

wizee

I’d definitely PPF at least the front bumper + full front trunk lid (as having a line across the trunk lid is ugly). The downward sloping trunk lid is a stone chip magnet. My 987 Boxster had over a hundred stone chips on the trunk lid, including a dozen or so bigger ones that were visible from 6+ feet away. Having front end PPF reduces my stress level when driving the car, as I don’t worry as much every time I hear a stone hitting the car. I like my cars staying perfect, and little defects annoy me, so PPF is good for my sanity, and makes me want to drive the car more. Well worth it for that alone, even if you don’t plan on keeping the car for more than a couple years.

As for doing a full PPF including the rear and sides of the car, that depends on how fussy you are and how long you intend to keep it. It’s a value trade off, but I’d consider front end PPF a must.

Ceramic coating on top of the PPF to ease cleaning is not a bad idea too.

markoware

You might consider the front fenders as well. I don't know how the Boxster/Cayman chips in that area, but when I got my 991 with 36k miles on it the bumper and hood were rough and the fenders were pretty bad as well. I am not a fan of PPF, but on my GTS I'm going to do the entire front end and mirrors. I'm considering the a-pillars and rockers as well. But if you're not doing the entire car, then you are in the same boat as me where you have to draw the line somewhere or you're back to doing the entire car.

#1SomeGuy

I never really find doing the entire car with PPF worth it...just front bumper, hood, fenders, mirrors, and in the door handles. That's enough to keep the brunt of the damage at bay, you're still going to get pitting in the windshield and might see some stuff on the leading edge of the roof/a pillars, but far less often than what the front end gets.

The rest of the vehicle really just protects you against careless shopping carts and bird poop...