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While waiting for my Carrera T to arrive, I was pondering if I should do PPF on the car or not. I read a few threads about the topic, and have to admit that I was definitely leaning towards the "don't do it" camp.
After seeing a few cars with it, I never liked the difference in texture and finish it provided. Yes, it may have been subtle, but I wasn't totally convinced. One thing that bother me was the slight orange peel that some films had, and a slightly rubbery feel to the paint. I love regularly waxing my cars, and I thought that I may not get as good results over PPF as I could on bare paint.
Also, I had seen other vehicles, specially with complex surfaces like the front bumper of the 991.2 where the seams were visible, and didn't like that look.
I was almost convinced not to do it when I decided to pay a visit to John Gray at Gulf Coast Auto Shield in Houston. I had read great reviews of his work, so I wanted to see by myself.
After my visit, I was pleasantly surprised by John's knowledge of his craft, but also of his patience and friendly attitude while answering all of my questions.
I was able to see other vehicles he was working on, and was impressed with the quality of the work. I had to do a double take to confirm that some of those vehicles he showed me actually had PPF. It was that good. But the icing on the cake was when he showed me the new Xpel Ultimate Plus. I was blown away. The clarity of that film was incredible. I just could not tell there was anything on the paint! Super clear, and perfectly applied. I was sold. So when I finally got my vehicle, the next call was to make an appointment with his shop. He was very accomodating, letting me bring the car the very next day at 7 am to get it early enough to be able to pick it up later that evening.
As agreed, I got there at 7 am, and he was waiting for me. He explained in detail all the parts that would be covered, and decided to add the A pillars, and the black parts of the roof fore and aft of the glass sunroof. I showed him a couple of very minor surface issues with the paint on the hood and he said that he would take care of that before doing the film. He marked all the minor imperfections with orange tape to make sure he wouldn't miss any of them.
He even insisted that if I wanted, I could stay and see the whole process. But I had to get back to work.
By lunch time I decided to go back and check on the progress.
As I went into the shop, I have to admit that I felt a little disappointed. There was my car, apparently just as I had dropped it off 5 hours ago, and looked like nothing had been done yet. When I asked the installer why nothing had been done, to my surprise he said that on the contrary, the hood and fenders were already finished, as well as the mirrors. I could not believe it! I had to take a closer look, and still could not believe anything was there. He opened the hood and I could see where the film wrapped under the hood to convince me that the film was there!!!
When comparing the fenders to the door panels, you could not see any differences in color, or even finish. It was absolutely perfect.
My biggest concern still was the front bumper which hadn't been done yet, particularly due to the complex shape in the 991.2 with the protruding "V" on the front.
When I came back that night at 7 PM to pick it up, I was pleasantly surprised to see that even the front bumper was executed perfectly.
Two days later, I drove from Houston to Austin and back the same day. Along the way I crossed what looked like a cloud of bugs, and I could hear them crushing against the car and windshield. Nasty!
I saw the front and it was disgusting, completely splattered all over with dead bugs and junk.
As I got home, I could not leave the car that way overnight. I rinsed off the car, and used the foam gun. After letting it sit for a few minutes, I did a full wash. The bugs and junk just fell off the car. Perhaps the easiest car wash I've done in a long time. And not a single mark on the car.
I guess that I'm a PPF believer now! The combination of this new film, along with the expert craftsmanship of a great installer made all the difference in the world.
Looking forward to many years with my T looking like new!
Here are some pictures with close-ups of the different parts:
Gas cap and right fender (film also on top of the side graphic)
Looks great! Did he remove any parts during the installation? Planning to do this when my car arrives, so curious.
Thanks!
No parts were removed. I specifically asked not to remove anything, even if that meant a visible edge or two. I rather have not rattles or issues in the future. Still, barely any edges visible at all.
Two days later, I drove from Houston to Austin and back the same day. Along the way I crossed what looked like a cloud of bugs, and I could hear them crushing against the car and windshield. Nasty!
I saw the front and it was disgusting, completely splattered all over with dead bugs and junk.
As I got home, I could not leave the car that way overnight. I rinsed off the car, and used the foam gun. After letting it sit for a few minutes, I did a full wash. The bugs and junk just fell off the car. Perhaps the easiest car wash I've done in a long time. And not a single mark on the car.
It appears the Xpel Ultimate Plus adds a layer of clearcoat otherwise washing the car would not be much different. I would still want a couple of layers of Ceramic Pro or equivalent over the entire car.
On my last three cars I went with the PPF on the front clip route and was unhappy about how it looked. With my C2S I decided to throw caution to the wind and skip it. Bad move. GT Silver shows chips very badly. After less than 4K miles (mostly highway) it has a fair amount of chipping. Live and learn.
I had a full PPF done about two weeks ago. They came to my house and picked it up in an enclosed trailer and brought it back three days later. They removed the front and rear clips, badges etc, and wrapped it in such a way that there are pretty much no visible seams or edges. I cannot even tell it has PPF (and I have had this comment from others) unless you know what to look for - in the few places where they weren't able to wrap all the way around to eliminate edges, the edges are really, really close, less than a millimeter. They used Suntek Ultra.
While waiting for my Carrera T to arrive, I was pondering if I should do PPF on the car or not. I read a few threads about the topic, and have to admit that I was definitely leaning towards the "don't do it" camp.
After seeing a few cars with it, I never liked the difference in texture and finish it provided. Yes, it may have been subtle, but I wasn't totally convinced. One thing that bother me was the slight orange peel that some films had, and a slightly rubbery feel to the paint. I love regularly waxing my cars, and I thought that I may not get as good results over PPF as I could on bare paint.
Also, I had seen other vehicles, specially with complex surfaces like the front bumper of the 991.2 where the seams were visible, and didn't like that look.
I was almost convinced not to do it when I decided to pay a visit to John Gray at Gulf Coast Auto Shield in Houston. I had read great reviews of his work, so I wanted to see by myself.
After my visit, I was pleasantly surprised by John's knowledge of his craft, but also of his patience and friendly attitude while answering all of my questions.
I was able to see other vehicles he was working on, and was impressed with the quality of the work. I had to do a double take to confirm that some of those vehicles he showed me actually had PPF. It was that good. But the icing on the cake was when he showed me the new Xpel Ultimate Plus. I was blown away. The clarity of that film was incredible. I just could not tell there was anything on the paint! Super clear, and perfectly applied. I was sold. So when I finally got my vehicle, the next call was to make an appointment with his shop. He was very accomodating, letting me bring the car the very next day at 7 am to get it early enough to be able to pick it up later that evening.
As agreed, I got there at 7 am, and he was waiting for me. He explained in detail all the parts that would be covered, and decided to add the A pillars, and the black parts of the roof fore and aft of the glass sunroof. I showed him a couple of very minor surface issues with the paint on the hood and he said that he would take care of that before doing the film. He marked all the minor imperfections with orange tape to make sure he wouldn't miss any of them.
He even insisted that if I wanted, I could stay and see the whole process. But I had to get back to work.
By lunch time I decided to go back and check on the progress.
As I went into the shop, I have to admit that I felt a little disappointed. There was my car, apparently just as I had dropped it off 5 hours ago, and looked like nothing had been done yet. When I asked the installer why nothing had been done, to my surprise he said that on the contrary, the hood and fenders were already finished, as well as the mirrors. I could not believe it! I had to take a closer look, and still could not believe anything was there. He opened the hood and I could see where the film wrapped under the hood to convince me that the film was there!!!
When comparing the fenders to the door panels, you could not see any differences in color, or even finish. It was absolutely perfect.
My biggest concern still was the front bumper which hadn't been done yet, particularly due to the complex shape in the 991.2 with the protruding "V" on the front.
When I came back that night at 7 PM to pick it up, I was pleasantly surprised to see that even the front bumper was executed perfectly.
Two days later, I drove from Houston to Austin and back the same day. Along the way I crossed what looked like a cloud of bugs, and I could hear them crushing against the car and windshield. Nasty!
I saw the front and it was disgusting, completely splattered all over with dead bugs and junk.
As I got home, I could not leave the car that way overnight. I rinsed off the car, and used the foam gun. After letting it sit for a few minutes, I did a full wash. The bugs and junk just fell off the car. Perhaps the easiest car wash I've done in a long time. And not a single mark on the car.
I guess that I'm a PPF believer now! The combination of this new film, along with the expert craftsmanship of a great installer made all the difference in the world.
Looking forward to many years with my T looking like new!
BTW, the competence of the installer is PARAMOUNT!
NOT my car, but here is an example of cutting corners. Instead of removing the badging, they cut out holes in the PPF around the letters and numbers...
I had front end done at the dealer prior to delivery. They farm it out to Forcefield Paint Shield...owner installer is Kevin. He sets up and installs right on the show room floor, but his shop is immaculate as well.
04-30-2018, 10:11 PM
I am a PPF (Clear Bra) Believer now...
