I have a white Porsche with just over 20k miles. I'm the 2nd owner, and bought it from the original owner with 10k miles. He did not install a clear bra because he's had bad experiences in the past with film, especially on white cars. I know that's less of an issue these days. I'm beginning to get in to autocross a bit, and I'm wondering: would you guys install any PPF at this time? The front end has some minor chips here and there, but nothing too bad. I'm trying to decide whether it's worth the money to protect flaws that are already there, versus protecting the paint from new, more serious ones down the road.

 

Hey Toaster!!

It's all subjective right? We've done a many client's vehicles that were having the same internal debate! Here are some basics to help you decide and you may have already had all of these thoughts

Pros:
Original paint is always better than after market. If the condition still looks good enough to you, you should definitely preserve it
Paint protection film can hide a lot paint imperfections like light scratches, marring, and even etching
It will DEFINITELY reduce the amount of damage to your paint moving forward!
Replace film as needed without dealing with paint and long term parking at body shops
A good installer can minimize the amount of visible seams and edges **VERY IMPORTANT on white cars

Cons:
PPF will actually accentuate chips or any surface area with divots or peaks in the paint.
If there are pre-existing cracks on your paint, film removal down the line may also mean paint removal :/
Yellowing is inevitable with all films so, maintaining the film ESPECIALLY on white, will be very important on YOUR end
FULL PANEL coverage is a must on white, so again make sure you have a good installer!

Please don't hesitate to PM me if you have any questions! We're glad to help the community!

-Krieg
If you have any cracks in your paint, film removal down the line may pull up the paint in those areas.

 

i did the PPR to mien CPO 2012.5 with 25k miles on it. The front bumper was almost flawless and i have maybe 3 small nicks on the hood.

On the other hand, i didnt even think about getting it for my Audi A6 because it had 38k miles on it as a CPO car and there were plenty of chips on the front bumper. I did be better off to just get the front bumper repainted when it needs it.

So it all depends, i mean if what you have is "clean" i did say go for it

 

With 20k already on it...I wouldn't worry about a PPF, even a front one. I think I have seen far more chips (or potential chips) from the road than from autocross (and I do autocross about 7 times a year).

I drove my first 991 for two seasons of autocross with no PPF (bought it used, 7200 miles on it). My second one had PPF on the front only (from previous owner, bought it CPO with 13k miles on it). My current 991.2GTS has a full PPF but I ordered it new and had it done immediately.

YMMV but with already 20k on it, I would just drive it and not worry about it.

 

film cost as much or more than painting does. I wouldnt put it over chips and imperfections. I would repaint then put film on

 

I bought my car with 32k miles. At one point it had film on it and it was removed (the piece on the tow hook cover actually still remained). I had 3 chips on the front bumper, one being larger. I touched them up and put the film over it. The chips are more noticeable, but my goal is to protect the already really nice paint.

I think in the future, I will find a car that had a clear bra already on it so then I can just replace that one and have nice perfect paint.

 

Yellowing of PPF is mostly a result of using products containing carnuba wax. If you have ever seen a piece of carnuba wax in the lab without solvents, it is a very yellow piece of very hard "rock". This yellow wax when dissolved in solvent for application, will soak into the PPF, especially to older softer PPF, with repeated applications. The moral of this story is DO NOT use any product containing carnuba wax on any PPF.

If you have a lot of swirl marks and/or chips, get them fixed b4 PPF application. There are paint correction experts who can remove all swirl marks without damaging the clearcoat, and there are paint artists who can fix chips so you can't see them. Find em and use em, if needed.

Having said the above, it really depends on how long you will keep this Porsche. If you trade it in a couple of months, PPF is probably a waste of a few thousand$.

 

I bought a metallic black car with 20,000 miles and she had tons of little chips on the hood and in front of the rear wheels with specks of white primer showing. I personally spent a couple months off & on filling in the chips with multiple layers of Dr Colorchip and got most of them to be barely visible. I gave it to a shop who did full paint correction and further filled in the remaining chips before doing full PPF. The end result is that she now looks fantastic. Yes, if you put your nose to the hood to specifically look closely and look for imperfections you will see them, but otherwise she looks tremendously better. In my opinion, if you want to go that route and spend an hour here & there filling in the chips, then PPF will be worth it.

 

 

I think you should get chips filled in and finish corrected then wrap. I think I'm going to end up doing my hood every spring. Tiny stone embedded in PPF right now.