Part of my incoming 992.2's price was 'dealer required extras': $2K for ceramic coating, and $3K for PPF on the "front fascia, hood and mirrors". I'm sure not the best pricing but it sounded better than ADM to me - I wanted to do these anyway. But maybe you 992 owners can tell me if I need more PPF coverage?

On my Cayenne with no PPF and only 5K miles on it, I've been surprised that the only rock damage so far has actually been on the front of the wheel arches on the rear wheels (rocks must get kicked up by the front tires). With the wide hips on the 992, I'm thinking I really need to PPF at least the front of the rear quarter panels (which appear to be one massive panel which is the roofline and side skirts so you can't so just part). I've seen aftermarket stick-on stone guard decals for just this area, but I don't think these make sense if you're buying coatings/films anyway.



I asked my dealer for the cost to PPF the whole car, and it was 3x+ as much!They said: "for the entire car PPF is $10,500 if you would like the seamless version which we take out doors and headlights and some other exterior parts and if you don't like that idea, it would be $9,500 for regular cut PPF."
On a car this expensive I don't want to skimp, but another $6,500-$7,500 to PPF the "back half" sounds like A LOT. Any recommendations whether it's worth it are appreciated! And if the disassembly to do it is wise?

And yes, I searched PPF in the forums first and got 82,000 results - most of which seemed to be either arguments whether PPF was the new version of 'undercoating' upsells, or pix of how shiny and amazing it looks on dark metallics. (My 992 is Lugano blue if that makes any difference in a full vs. partial PPF result?)

Thanks!

 

you’ll get many different opinions here. I’ll just note that you are right, the hips in front of the rear wheels take the most abuse by far. My installer doubles the PPF in this area (does a piece that covers most of the quarter panel and then adds a shark fin on top). On my car, there is a seam on the rear quarter panel. When I was in your position I couldn’t fathom the idea of there being a visible seam in the PPF, so i had planned to have it redone, but in all honestly I never even think about it or notice it now and the extra $$$ I’d have spent to do the full car was much better spent on other upgrades like tune and wheels which I DO notice.

 

Do you actually plan on driving the car, or will it just sit in the garage?

The hips do take a lot of abuse. It's an extremely large piece of film, but I have the Xpel 10mil film on this part.

 

It depends on:

1. Color of your car
2. How you plan to use it

I got full PPF because my car is black and because I bought it to drive it hard and everywhere. If you car is a daily, it might be a wasste. If your car sees hwy, track pack (facia, hood, mirrors) is enough. $2k for ceramic is robbery.
Also, double up on the hips.

 

My car that I haven't even taken delivery of yet is getting the front PPF done and a larger piece on the rear hips. I can tell you the factory fin of PPF on the rear hips is not big enough. That area takes the most abuse like others have said.

 

PPF is meant to be removed after 5-7 (warranty on many films is 10 years). With that in mind, the level of disassembly you want to go to is a balance. I want there to be as few seams as possible and as many tucked engines as possible, but I also don't want a new car having the door panels removed so that the mirror can be taken out to avoid one seam. Every seam that you have though will be something else to lift or something to get dirt in it.

My theory with PPF is to do all the high impact areas, so the full front, rocker panels and then an extended piece on the rear quarter panel area, which is the black stone guard you show above, but wrapped into the door and wrapped into the wheel well. This will make it less noticeable and will give additional protection as a rock always seems to find its way right past the PPF.

$10k for full car PPF is definitely dealer level pricing with some margin baked in for them, which is understandable. If you're very particular and plan to keep the car for a long time, Full PPF can be worth it, otherwise I would go with the option I mentioned above.

 

I got “track pack” PPF. Essentially entire front, a pillars, front roof, hips. Paid $3600 from the top rated shop in Tampa. So maybe see if you can get it done at an outside shop. $10k seems absurd

 

In my opinion custom cut is overrated.
the good PPF brand such as xpel, suntek/llumar, 3M has the precut pattern with wrapped edges.

the PPF is not a forever item, it should be considered wear item 10+ years or sooner is the ppf got beaten up from track usage.

as the other have said you need to factor in the time to replace the PPF in the next 7-10+ years. If today you want full body PPF with custom cut, then you should expect similar process for removal.

as far as removal cost that will be depend if you have full body PPF and higher cost.

 

$3k front end PPF is reasonable, but whole car PPF should be around $6k - $7k from a good shop. $10k is crazy.

 

I've got a GT Silver 992T that I have tracked 5x with zero PPF or ceramic coating and there is zero damage thus far on a car I've put 17,800 miles on since 4/23. Don't let neuroses guide your decision on ppf

 

I can only speak to my experience. I got whole car PPF and have not yet finished break in but have been peppered by small stones over the bonnet and sides. A) I have a black car so it’s going to show everything. B) I live in an area with a lot of gravel driveways so it’s all over the roads. C) I don’t let any of these concerns trouble my driving fun. I’m glad I got whole PPF but everyone’s mileage is going to vary on this topic. Just the front and sides probably suffice in most urban/suburban areas.

 

Once I decided I wanted the A pillars and painted roof covered in addition to the rear fenders and full front, the added cost made sense to me to jump to full coverage. Probably overkill but it's nice not to have to worry at all about the paint, I dont think about the cost a year+ later.

 

As an FYI, the rear wheel arches come from the factory with clear stone guards of the same dimension as you see on the black film in your photo. Unfortunately they removed the option for the black stone guards a couple of years ago.

Having said that, $3K for the PPF and $2K for the ceramic coating doesn't sound too unreasonable for the actual cost to do it on your own. I'm not sure if they still have the leverage to force add-on items to the consumers but maybe they do.

 

Keep in mind the cost tradeoff here. Your options are between ppf the whole car or pay for a paint correction later on in the lifespan of the car.

I think the hot spots on the car are certainly worth ppf but the rest of the body….honestly the paint isn’t made of cheese, it’s more durable than the ppf itself. Ppf can get damaged from bugs and will show blemishes over time.

 

Zero $ recoup if you decide to trade it in.

If keeping longterm, half ppf is must.