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Depends on what type of driving your going to do. If you are considering any tracking, get full PPF. If doing any club events with spirted driving, get partial PPF at the least. The front end of 911's are very exposed to road debris. If its going to be a sunny weekend cruiser, probably no need. I always get a partial PPF.
That being said, on a daily driver, the PPF will look weathered after a while. It never looks as good as paint.
My car got PPF in 2015 from the Ferrari dealer I got it from (a 2012 911 Turbo S w/8000 miles) and it looks "as new" still today with 30K miles on it. I daily drive it spring, summer, fall unless it's really crummy weather out. I plan on doing a full PPF on my new car when it comes in next month. I've never done a full (mine is front only) but... I plan on keeping it a long long time and want it to stay as pristine as possible. I have the money saved up so I figured, what the hell.
I see that the industry's Soft Paint Assimilation Program (or SPAP) has worked well on you
Call me crazy, but I'm going to go ahead and trust the PhDs at Porsche instead of some yuk-yuk named Randy that just handed me a quote for $5k to help "fix" my soft paint.
We will agree to disagree. You are clearly entitled to your opinion.
I have no facts to support whether modern paint is softer or not. Not because I can’t find any, but because I never cared to look. I do know that every car I owned (even with good old hard paint) collected chips/swirls that drive me nuts. PPF protects against both. It also allows me to bring my car to the local hand car wash guy or (heavens forbid) run the car through a touch-less wash in a bind when I can’t or don’t want to wash it myself without worrying that it will leave permanent swirls in the paint.
There is no right or wrong answer to the PPF questions (if,, how much and which one) any more than there is for color, full leather, FAL, RAS, Sports Chrono or any other “option” for our cars. This is why are lives are so fortunate - we have the right and financial ability to make our own choices regardless of what someone else’s preference is.
Yes, partial PPF. Even if planning to trade back in. If you aren't super particular about install, have it done at factory, makes it even easier for you and bakes it into the price of the car.
I'm in the Full Wrap camp. My 2020 C4S has a full SunTek Wrap with a ceramic coating. I drive my car year round. Before deciding to order a new car
I looked at many used Porsche's , namely 2019 Turbos. All were unwrapped. All showed severe signs of chipping including on the sides and back. The most
obvious was a black 2018 Turbo S. It had so many chips it looked like it had been shot with a scatter gun.
A properly installed wrap is expensive but eminently worth it for care free maintenance of the exterior.
one thing to keep in mind is paint has gotten thinner. I always go over a new car with a paint gauge before i take it home. its a great way to check if any paint work was done at port which it often is (happened to me).. the total-thickness for the paint is 3.8-5.6.000"(mil). this is for thee layers, primer, base and clear. Used to be 8mil up until about 2013 not any more less-paint =less cost. had a 13 audi TTRS that was 7-9 mil my 992 4-5.5 mil, gt 4 was the same . custom colors are thicker 7-8 because they are probably sprayed off line more by hand. What i do is PPF front bumper , rockers, mirrors , and behind the rear wheels. those areas are most vulnerable and get the vast majority of the stone damage. Still like as much uncovered paint as possible to me it looks deeper/brighter. carl
I bought a used 997 C4S a couple years ago and no one had done PPF. On a Midnight Blue it had multiple chips on the hood and I couldn't believe someone had not protected it.
When I got my 992 I chose to do the $2k front, and other stuff that is included in that package and not the $6k full wrap, even though I do plan on keeping it quite a long time. I just couldn't justify the cost. I did ceramic the entire car and believe that makes it so much easier to wash. $200 for a pressure washer and foam cannon and it makes cleaning much easier.
With regards to PPF, installations can vary based upon your wants/needs, and coverage desired but the one constant is that WHO installs your PPF is far more important than WHAT particular brand they are installing. Sticking with a well known brand and concentrating on choosing the installer will be the key to PPF happiness and satisfaction. Great installers can make mediocre PPF look great and poor installers can make great PPF look mediocre. Additionally, the installer will be your first point of contact should you have warranty issues a few years down the road; if you do decide to go the full or partial PPF route, concentrate on the installer!
Applying a ceramic coating on top of the PPF will aid in protecting from environmental contamination and incidents to a certain degree and will definitely make cleaning and upkeep easier due to the hydrophobic/self-cleaning effects of the ceramic coating.
While definitely not a suit of armor, it will indeed protect from some of the 'aesthetic dangers' of the roads out there. Most PPF will have some self-healing ability built in so minor swirls and such will diminish in the sun which is an additional benefit. The question of whether all of this is of value to you largely depends on your level of OCD-ness w/ regards to chips and such, how long you intend to keep the car, they type of driving and usage the car will see and to a degree and the question of budget vs return on investment if you are not a 'forever' owner.
In the event of a somewhat extensive impact that does affect the film but not the paint underneath, replacement of film is certainly easier than trying to paint-match panels with a respray, notably on metallic paints so possibly a consideration as well.
Porsche Boxster Spyder PPF Replacement at ESOTERIC
What's right for some situations isn't going to fit as well in others and it may just turn out that PPF would be 'overkill' in your situation after you examine it from all angles. In that case, no harm, no foul and you'll be glad you took the time to evaluate the options!
Originally Posted by porshanut
Can someone explain the difference between "ceramic sealant' and "ceramic coating"?
Originally Posted by ipse dixit
The same difference between "people" and "persons".
In other words, essentially none.
In a generic sense, akin to Kleenex being somewhat of a universal term for 'facial tissue', I suppose one could infer that coatings and ceramic-infused sprays can be interchangeable terminology in that they are both protectants with the 'ceramic chemistry' contained within (generally considered an SiO2 formulation).
However, their individual performance is vastly different with regards to longevity, durability and chemical resistance.
A bit more information:
What are the differences between ceramic and spray coatings? FAQ by ESOTERIC!
Another way to differentiate them is via the 'non-ceramic' components, items that also contribute to the increased performance of true coatings. As mentioned here, a 'true' coating has a solvent carrier vs being primarily waterborne.
This also has the side-effect of the product not being able to be packaged/transported in a plastic bottle, hence the 'glass bottle' packaging of true coatings.
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