Protection?
Rennlist Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,422
Likes: 14
From: Oakville, Canada
Not apparent at all if it’s done right, and the more slanted nose of my 996 would catch more stone chips as compared to a less steep hood profile, there are some stone hits that have dug into the XPEL PPF on my car the past 12 years and 45K km, they would have gone into the paint if not for the PPF absorbing the initial impact, as well there are two scraped spots on one fender when I accidentally got too close to the drywall while reversing into the garage and misjudged, again the PPF saved the day protecting the paint, only my pride was hurt. 🤓
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2023
Posts: 1,236
Likes: 713
From: Annapolis, MD US
@aviography You woke up an 11-year old thread. Back in 2013, PPF was just beginning to get very popular, and the PPFs of today are much better than they were then.
Last edited by Foosh; Oct 20, 2024 at 03:00 PM. Reason: typo
Rennlist Member
Joined: Jan 2024
Posts: 431
Likes: 243
From: Greenville, SC
The protective film is not bulletproof. It scratches and get tears just like paint. What are you going to do then? Redo the front bumper? Much easier/cheaper to use a little touch up paint as others have suggested.
Rennlist Member
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 248
Likes: 66
From: Minnesota
Viewed from this side of the Atlantic, this fad for shrink-wrapping cars seems, at best, curious and at worst slightly fetishist!
I mean......why would you want to do that? If it's to 'protect' the paintwork, then I ask again, why? And for whom?
At what stage of ownership does this expensive condom finally get ripped off for good so the proud owner can stand back and admire his pristine car? After five years maybe? At which stage there's certainly gonna be a noticeable 'transition line' where this plastic was and wasn't, a line which will doubtless be far more noticeable than the odd paint-chip or whatever. And why not wrap the steering-wheel too? And the seats.
I have been on Rennlist for some seven years now and this constant discussion about covering new cars in plastic has pressed a button in my psyche which, so far, I've managed to ignore.
NO LONGER!
I had an uncle once, a rich, fussy, pain-in-the-neck. We were living in Ceylon in those days, I'm talking 1950's and 60s. He had the best car on the island - I think it was a Merc of some sort - and I'll never forget how that car had thick, clear plastic covering on the leather seats. And to make it worse in his house he had the same on his lounge-suite and his dining-room chairs! Can you imagine being a nine-year-old kid and walking round to your uncle's house if this was the guy? So of course we didn't; we hated him. The guy was.....(imagine me spluttering as I write)... simply the worst uncle we had!
So for me wrapping a new car - which, by the way, is designed to be outside, driven on roads, under the sun and in the rain - in plastic is just absolutely bonkers.
I feel so much better, now, guys.
I mean......why would you want to do that? If it's to 'protect' the paintwork, then I ask again, why? And for whom?
At what stage of ownership does this expensive condom finally get ripped off for good so the proud owner can stand back and admire his pristine car? After five years maybe? At which stage there's certainly gonna be a noticeable 'transition line' where this plastic was and wasn't, a line which will doubtless be far more noticeable than the odd paint-chip or whatever. And why not wrap the steering-wheel too? And the seats.
I have been on Rennlist for some seven years now and this constant discussion about covering new cars in plastic has pressed a button in my psyche which, so far, I've managed to ignore.
NO LONGER!
I had an uncle once, a rich, fussy, pain-in-the-neck. We were living in Ceylon in those days, I'm talking 1950's and 60s. He had the best car on the island - I think it was a Merc of some sort - and I'll never forget how that car had thick, clear plastic covering on the leather seats. And to make it worse in his house he had the same on his lounge-suite and his dining-room chairs! Can you imagine being a nine-year-old kid and walking round to your uncle's house if this was the guy? So of course we didn't; we hated him. The guy was.....(imagine me spluttering as I write)... simply the worst uncle we had!
So for me wrapping a new car - which, by the way, is designed to be outside, driven on roads, under the sun and in the rain - in plastic is just absolutely bonkers.
I feel so much better, now, guys.
I'm more into function than cosmetics.
I had a Lotus Elise that came to me with Star Shield. I appreciated the protection on a fiberglass car.
I use my Cayman more as a "regular car" than I did my Elise, yet I have no interest in putting a clear bra on it. It came to me without one. The bumper cover is plastic and the frunk lid is aluminum. Chips in the paint will not lead to rust. Aluminum oxide provides its own protection, and the color doesn't clash with the white paint.
I did spring for the combination-sale price on a comprehensive protection package for an F-150 pickup. The paint sealant does make the truck easier to wash, and the windshield treatment is better than Rain-X. I probably would not have bought the clear-bra at its normal stand-alone price for an aluminum hood, but it does not look obnoxious. Whether the undercoating is worth it for the steel frame is up in the air.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2023
Posts: 1,236
Likes: 713
From: Annapolis, MD US
PPF is not bullet-proof, but I would rate it as 95% effective in terms of preventing damage that would have otherwise required "a little touch-up paint." It's 100% effective at preventing the 1000s of pin-****** on a dark-colored car that looks like it has been sand-blasted.
The elasticity of modern PPFs, make the pin-****** either invisible or self-healing after a little time in the sun.
Last edited by Foosh; Oct 22, 2024 at 02:50 PM.
