DarthBalls

As others have noted, PPF is really the only way to go for maximum protection. I've always maintained my own vehicles and I'm slightly less obsessive than OG Matt, but he's also an inspiration for me in some regards. I've ceramic coated my other vehicles and I don't believe it provides much protection from rock chips etc. It does protect the paint slightly, but will impact the look/depth of the paint, it will become hydrophobic which makes washes quick work. My wife has a black Denali XL....basically the most black surface a person can get. 22 hrs of paint correction, polishing and ceramic coating later it looked great and has held up. Did it 12 months ago and it's ready for it again, but on a summer trip through Utah and Idaho, chip on the hood, PPF would have protected from that, no nano coating would have.

My 2015 GT3 I just picked up has a full xpel wrap and is pretty amazing, washed it today for the first time and was amazed how easy it was to wash. I think a PPF on the front clip, hood and rockers is a must, never understood doing half the hood or half the roof, the visible lines would drive me crazy.

-J

bwiele

Not to change the direction of this thread, but regardless of whether you choose PPF or ceramic coating or nothing at all, do yourself a favor and make the small investment in a bottle of Bead Maker. I became aware of it recently, got some in December and have applied it to 3 of our cars already. Fantastic look and the most slick surface I've ever felt on a car. I've actually started using it on interior surfaces in the house (granite counter tops to be precise) and it's just awesome.

I have no affiliation with the company or the product. It's a small investment to get a 16oz or 35oz bottle and give it a try.

SToronto

^1 this is what I tend to believe now. Use a product like CarPro Reload regularly and you'll be good. It's a dilute version of products like Cquartz. Also used to maintain Cquartz.

SToronto

I wouldn't use that on food or skim contact places based on SDS ingredients. Also SDS isn't well done.

Haven't tried it but Obsessed Garage promotes it.

dwe8922

Thanks for all of the informative responses guys. I'm leaning toward wrapping the whole car. I have a 430 that's got full ppf, and it has been really easy to care for. I had a 360 before it that wasn't, and the cars being so similar I remember all the little blems around the front of that car and the air intakes around the rockers. The door got a stray rock, so by then, you might as well wrap the whole thing. The touring will be the first new car I've bought and specced for myself, so I'd like to keep it nice.

The 430 is an '09, and was probably wrapped at delivery, but I don't know. It has no yellowing or visual degradation. I'd like find a good applicator locally that can help determine the life span of the material on it, and plan for when it should be replaced. Most of the high end stuff seems to be 10 years these days. I just remember how much of a bear the ppf on the race car was to remove, and I don't want to leave it on too long to risk paint damage. The wrap job on the car is one of finest I've seen, so I'm sure it's good film, and I feel like I have a good basis to eval people's work for the touring.

What material would be best to consider? Xpel, Suntek, and Llumar seem mentioned most often, and 3m being a lower tier. I always thought 3m made all of the film and sold it to these guys....

I'm a little green on these ceramic coatings. The dealer recommended ppf on the front saying they only lasted about 5 years, and ceramic coating the whole car to prevent swirls and small scratches. They charge 2,800 for the ceramic coating. From what I've read, the ceramic coating vary widely in cost and life expectancy.... On the wrapped car, I seal it with the Xpel sealer once or twice a year, and clean bugs off after a drive with griots waterless car wash. I've done that for 4 years, and don't notice any scratches from it..... Would the advantage of ceramic coating the ppf be making it more resistant to scratches? Wouldn' the self healing properties trump that?


What questionable ingredients are in bead maker? I'm getting close to just wearing nitrile gloves when I use any detail products. Ammo NYC is a big proponent of that, and at a minimum all of the sodium lauryl sufate in a lot of the car wash stuff probably isn't the best to soak your skin in...

Thanks!
David

SToronto

I have VentureShield Ultra, 3M Pro Series and Xpel Ultimate. I prefer Xpel Ultimate over the newer 3M Pro Series, largely because my Pro Series has yellowed in a few years. Visible on a white car. SunTek seems to be popular as well, not sure why.

Perhaps slightly more resistant to scratches but I would think very fine light scratches. Larger benefit is gloss, liquid repellent and dirt resistance. Makes for easier cleaning. Most PPF is good at self healing and they can be polished. I'm debating a coating on my PPF for the GT3 and future cars. There has been a lot of hype in this space over the last 5-6 years. Has anybody measured the results after 1-3 years?

Bead Maker, alcohol ethoxylates and Benzyl benzoate. Neither good for skin/internals or aquatic life. Certainly wouldn't put them on a food contact surface. Obviously depends on exposure quantities and skin penetration. Their SDS also doesn't list all ingredients, they offer no toxicological info.

Nitrile gloves for all these products is smart. I started a few years ago. Also noticed last year CarPro started putting 'Health Hazard' hsymbols on their products in addition to other symbols, google the symbols. I compared from bottles I had from 2017. Number of these coatings and coating maintainers contain silica nanoparticles, which is likely best to not breath in when you spray them.

Haku

The information you and others have provided about the issues you highlight is really VERY useful to know about and take precautions against. Thank you.

Spdrcrj

theunitedstates

Great info in here (and in a lot of the ppf threads here). I have to ask - does the ceramic coating protect the front bumper from the "sand blasting" that is common on bumpers, or is ppf still needed for that? I honestly don't get all that fired up about ppf, but I know it's the thing to do and very common with these vehicles. I do not plan on tracking my vehicle, and it seems like that would lessen the point of me doing a full ppf.

If I could, I would just do a ceramic coat on the vehicle and be done with it. However, I have a feeling a lot of people here would tell me I'd be better off doing a full ppf instead of the ceramic coat if it was one over the other.

Haku

IMO, NO ceramic coating will not protect from the sand blasting that all leading edges will be exposed to. It may protect from UV and the odd bird dropping but not anything physically hitting it...even fine sand. PPF will. That's the reason why imo, the very least one should do is get the front and leading edges covered.

iammacey

Ceramic coating adds a hardened nano layer over the clear coat. It definitely makes cleaning the car easier and there are some coating that are self healing, like CS2 Titanium.

It does not protect against rock chips or those high impact areas that get sand blasted.

PPF is the way to go for protection. My cars are all black and the GT4 has a full frontal wrap and then high impact areas. The car is also ceramic coated. If the car were fully wrapped, I would have skipped the ceramic coating - except the wheels.

I have GTechniq on the GT4 and CS2 Titanium on the 718. Both are easy to clean but still require proper wash and dry techniques to ensure no swirls. And they always get topped with Bead Maker. Great stuff.

As for cost, I paid to have them two-stage corrected and coated. Including wheels, barrels of wheels, and calipers. $1600

Based on that, I'll do other cars myself going forward.

theunitedstates

Good to know - thanks a bunch for info Haku and iammacey.

SToronto

No Prob. It's likely quite overlooked in this industry as everybody chases outcomes without looking at ingredients and assumptions are made because it's so freely used without PPE that it's all no issue.

No doubt car care requires harsher chemicals to achieve certain results in some applications, so simple precautions are worth taking when using the nastier stuff. I just use gloves for all car things even wash soap (most of which will be cheap not good detergents, again surprised with CarPros new warnings on Reset). Inhalation of stuff like coating maintainers, IronX, coatings themselves like Cquartz, Ceramic Pro etc, Sonax Wheel Cleaner etc is another story.

SToronto

PPF for a more certain protection. Look at FAQ on CarPro site for Cquartz (popular coating). They tell you the same and no guarantees on swirls, scratches etc. They come close to a guarantee on high speed sand particles that may kick up on highways etc.

PPF may even be more vital off track because of all the other crap on the roads and other vehicles. Dings (not dent strength) in parking lots, bumper kissing in parking spots, people rubbing up against your car because they're happy to see it and not.

Detailed Designs

To give a visual to the thickness of PPF and coating (Modesta BC-05 in this case, which is far thicker than most coatings) membranes, I made this rendering of paint in varied conditions.

I made it pretty stinking close to scale with an exception....the PPF. PPF, at scale, is much thicker than shown. It was not practical for me to make it properly thick as it would make the image wonky.

No. Coatings do not protect from the sand blasting effects of driving and it definitely does not protect against impacts. It performs a totally different task from PPF but it carries its own value.