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Plat silver here and can still see all yhe flake perfectly. Waterbased paints (as dictated by epa rules some years back) is awful. Manufacturers compound this issue by only spraying it 3mm thick. A very small pebble goes right through. Ceramic does not increase thickness or avoid stone chips in any way.
Ceramic coating will not protect your car from rock chips and road debris. If that is a concern, you need PPF. The newer PPFs, when the car is dismantled and edges wrapped, are getting harder to detect.
Ceramic coating will make maintaining your paint easier. For all of the bs marketing out there, you really need to think of ceramic coating more like a long term sealant/wax. It will enhance gloss, have hydrophobic properties, and help to prevent things like bird droppings from etching the paint. Ceramic coatings have their downsides as well. They need their own maintenance regimen and yet they can still mar and have swirls in them; many of them are very prone to water spots.
If you want to have perfectly corrected paint all of the time it’s better to avoid ceramic coatings and go with a traditional polymer sealant and wax as trying to compound off a ceramic coating is a huge pain in the ***.
This is great advice! I have found ceramic coating to scratch and almost impossible to successfully correct.
PPF Only. No need before or over PPF. Actually, you can compromise installation of PPF by having a coating. KISS (Keep it simple stupid). IMHO coatings have more negative consequences than advantages. If you wash your car regularly you just need a Polymer or liquid synthetic wax to keep your car looking brand new. It also helps if you learn to machine polish with a finishing polish to keep your paint free of swirls. This is coming from someone with PPF only in the front and rockers with exposed paint on doors and rear of the car.
I did go ahead and have a good local installer add PPF (Premium Shield) to the front of the T, including the headlights. I did not do the windshield, the side rockers etc...
I was on my EPIC 3000Kms trip and this is what happened on a B-road, with a ton of rocks on the roads, traveling behind a car, perhaps to close and driving a bit too aggressively. The tears are the full thickness of the PPF yet no damage to the paint. My installer replaced the front hood and it looks like new.
Ceramic coating will not protect your car from rock chips and road debris. If that is a concern, you need PPF. The newer PPFs, when the car is dismantled and edges wrapped, are getting harder to detect.
Ceramic coating will make maintaining your paint easier. For all of the bs marketing out there, you really need to think of ceramic coating more like a long term sealant/wax. It will enhance gloss, have hydrophobic properties, and help to prevent things like bird droppings from etching the paint. Ceramic coatings have their downsides as well. They need their own maintenance regimen and yet they can still mar and have swirls in them; many of them are very prone to water spots.
If you want to have perfectly corrected paint all of the time it’s better to avoid ceramic coatings and go with a traditional polymer sealant and wax as trying to compound off a ceramic coating is a huge pain in the ***.
Agreed 100%. Couldnt imagine ceramic coating over PPF. PPF doesn't change the cars color and you can't avoid rocks, gravel etc. I fought the PPF but I'm now a believer. If you don't like washing and waxing your car then maybe Ceramic is for you
Agreed 100%. Couldnt imagine ceramic coating over PPF. PPF doesn't change the cars color and you can't avoid rocks, gravel etc. I fought the PPF but I'm now a believer. If you don't like washing and waxing your car then maybe Ceramic is for you
Why not ceramic coating over PPF? I have it that way on mine and I would bet that most here have it that way as well.
i thought the thought process was that the ceramic coating will give some rejection capabilities to the PPF that is fairly soft and partially penetratable by road grit.
Approximately what are you guys paying for PPF, ceramic etc? Around $5k?
I paid about $3k for Suntek Pro on the hood, front fenders, bumper, mirrors, door handle pockets, A pillar, a foot up on the sides and bottom in the rear, Opti-Coat Pro on the entire car including wheels off, & paint correction to start.
The coating protects the film as well as the paint and makes the car easier to clean and maintains the paint's clarity and shine, prevents stains, and it makes cleaning much easier. And it is far from "useless". You will not see me busting my *** waxing my car, introducing swirls, etc. and I use Opti-Rinse in my garage with a waffle towel and I never need a hose & bucket. For the little bit of money if cost for the coating it was a no-brainer for me.
Do paint protection film. Do the full front, then ceramic coat over it and do the rest of the car. The chips are going to look terrible even after just a couple thousand miles.
06-10-2019 | 09:14 AM
ppf only
