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Just picked up a .2 RS and it already has front end PPF but I would like to redo it as i'm not sure when it was done and don't want it to age on the paint to the point where it's a nightmare to remove. Which brings me to my question: what's the general consensus on full car PPF? Paint protection seems great, ease of cleaning and slight reduction of day-to-day worries but my chief concern is when it comes time to remove it, is there a downside? I've seen horror stories about removing wraps and leaving behind a ton of glue or even damaging the paint.
I guess my worry is spending a bunch of money to protect my paint only to have it damage the paint upon removal or require a mutli-thousand dollar paint correction. I live in SoCal where the sun is brutally strong 95% of the year. The car is stored inside and rarely parked out in the sun for more than a few hours but when I drive it to the office or out and about theres no avoiding it.
Is your car original paint? If so, there's very little risk (although you can't say no risk) of removing paint when it comes time to remove the film. In regards to removing the film, if you used a steamer with proper technique, there should be minimal glue.
The main downsides with full car PPF are the initial cost and depending on who installs it, the extra film edges that are going to almost be inevitable with 99% of installers. Dirt can accumulate on these edges and not look great.
Would I personally do full car PPF? Probably not given that it's a removable product that is designed to be replaced every 7-10 years and I don't think I'd want to deal with that cost. However, these films do have a warranty on them so if edges start to lift or the film yellows, it should be free to replace. I think that full front with rockers and an extended piece in place of the factory piece on the rear quarters is good enough protection for most drivers. However, I also have that constant fear of scratching my paint or someone walking by and scratching my paint (door, for instance) and full PPF would eliminate that concern. I don't think you can go wrong either way.
I’d do full PPF on a dark colored car because it doesn’t show dirt on the seams as easily. On a white car, never. If the paint’s original don’t worry about the removal part, there are techniques with hot water and steam that reduce the hassle. Vin, PM me if you need an installer referral. The guys that do my cars are down in SoCal.
I like having everything “perfect” so I wanted to take all the PPF off and start over with full car xpel. It had/has front bumper, hood, lights, rockers, roof, wing, doors and front fenders…70% covered but I wanted 100 for a “collector car”. But my PPF has been on for more than 7 years even though it was really well done with wrapped edges.
I worked with two different detailers and xpel to get advice. So they decided to start with a safe test area… the roof. They used a steamer etc and it did not want to come off… left all kinds of glue behind. They ended up using solvents and leaving swirls which is probably unavoidable… so I had them correct and ceramic it. Because it was so hard to get off they said the only “risk” areas are the plastic bits… eg bumpers and most specifically they said there is a film on the front headlights that can come up with the PPF. That was the only part they told me they wouldn’t guarantee on any newish Porsches.
My front bumper had a respray and re-PPF in 2016, so I didn’t think it prob needed new PPF.
So I’ll eventually do the the rear fenders and trunk with a paint correction also… which means new graphics… more $$ for not much gain… so I’m kicking the can down the road.
Ultimately after all that I just had them clean out the dirt from the previous PPF edges and leave it.
I love PPF on doors and fenders for livability. Car shows… little kids etc I don’t have to freak out when someone rubs up against it etc. The detailers told me that they don’t do PPF as well as mine was done anymore with wrapped edges etc. Xpel works from precut sheets now and I guess has less coverage?
Full body PPF, Xpel if you daily drive and Suntek if you don't. Heck you could even do Xpel on the front clip and suntek on the rest of the car. I'd go watch a few installers and see how they handle their blade. You'll never know f they cut into your paint until you remove 5 years later. That's the only issue.
I just got my Etron Tinted by Sean at Ultimate Shield. He has a few Porsche's in the shop getting full body wraps and both cars looked absolutely perfect. The 991.1 RS had a full body repaint in metallic Lava Orange. The guy spent over 6 figures modifying his car with carbon, full paint job, etc.....
I have full on my car. The rear lower quarter panels always get stone chips. I would at least do those if you don't want to go full. Especially for SoCal roads.
I like having everything “perfect” so I wanted to take all the PPF off and start over with full car xpel. It had/has front bumper, hood, lights, rockers, roof, wing, doors and front fenders…70% covered but I wanted 100 for a “collector car”. But my PPF has been on for more than 7 years even though it was really well done with wrapped edges.
I worked with two different detailers and xpel to get advice. So they decided to start with a safe test area… the roof. They used a steamer etc and it did not want to come off… left all kinds of glue behind. They ended up using solvents and leaving swirls which is probably unavoidable… so I had them correct and ceramic it. Because it was so hard to get off they said the only “risk” areas are the plastic bits… eg bumpers and most specifically they said there is a film on the front headlights that can come up with the PPF. That was the only part they told me they wouldn’t guarantee on any newish Porsches.
My front bumper had a respray and re-PPF in 2016, so I didn’t think it prob needed new PPF.
So I’ll eventually do the the rear fenders and trunk with a paint correction also… which means new graphics… more $$ for not much gain… so I’m kicking the can down the road.
Ultimately after all that I just had them clean out the dirt from the previous PPF edges and leave it.
I love PPF on doors and fenders for livability. Car shows… little kids etc I don’t have to freak out when someone rubs up against it etc. The detailers told me that they don’t do PPF as well as mine was done anymore with wrapped edges etc. Xpel works from precut sheets now and I guess has less coverage?
anyway good luck
Yeah the edges could be super annoying. My first .1 had full PPF with wrapped edges and it was nice. This car definitely has a template kit since there are edges on the fenders, which I don't love.
Im not worried about removing paint on the body panels as much as I am being in the position that you found yourself in with having to do extensive detail work when the time comes to remove it.
RAudi- what makes you say that about xpel vs Suntech, just thickness? I believe they are the same parent company.
Yeah the edges could be super annoying. My first .1 had full PPF with wrapped edges and it was nice. This car definitely has a template kit since there are edges on the fenders, which I don't love.
Im not worried about removing paint on the body panels as much as I am being in the position that you found yourself in with having to do extensive detail work when the time comes to remove it.
RAudi- what makes you say that about xpel vs Suntech, just thickness? I believe they are the same parent company.
one of them has less orange peel and I believe it's suntek. I have suntek installed on my car and it looks really nice. A nice coating over the ppf will have you set for some time. Wrapped edges are must. A decent ppf shop will wrap the edges with perfection.
Kris at Myko Designs did my RS and it was perfect. Great service too.
But my ppf knowledge is like 4-5 yrs old. I'm sure they have some super nano Uber ultimate never scratch ppf by now.
Last edited by madmurdock; 08-08-2022 at 03:43 AM.
Have been down both roads here and am now squarely in the "it depends" camp.
For newer, perfect cars that I was tracking, I did the whole car. I went through 3 different heavily tracked GT cars and when it came time to sell them, despite getting beaten on by rocks ad debris, the paint was perfect. The people buying them seemed to appreciate that The windshields on the other hand were consumables and I think I went through 3 on each. I don't like the mild distortion of windshield films so I would just rather replace when pitted vs doing film there.
More recently on my DD and GT2, which was NOT perfect by any stretch of the imagination (many small chips), I opted for the nose and rockers only. That is where the majority of street driven damage seems to occur. FWIW, the GT2 came to me with what looked like a 10 year old half nose wrap which was HORRIBLE. My detailer/film guy said it was the most labor intensive removal he'd ever done. Asked for 2 extra days to remove all the glue and not rush the job. It came out perfect and there was no paint damage or headlight delimitation. Credit a patient, talented installer for that outcome.
All that said, if I had a near perfect 997 RS that I wanted to drive and maybe track, I'd do the whole car and never look back.
Just picked up a .2 RS and it already has front end PPF but I would like to redo it as i'm not sure when it was done and don't want it to age on the paint to the point where it's a nightmare to remove. Which brings me to my question: what's the general consensus on full car PPF? Paint protection seems great, ease of cleaning and slight reduction of day-to-day worries but my chief concern is when it comes time to remove it, is there a downside? I've seen horror stories about removing wraps and leaving behind a ton of glue or even damaging the paint.
I guess my worry is spending a bunch of money to protect my paint only to have it damage the paint upon removal or require a mutli-thousand dollar paint correction. I live in SoCal where the sun is brutally strong 95% of the year. The car is stored inside and rarely parked out in the sun for more than a few hours but when I drive it to the office or out and about theres no avoiding it.
doing the rear quarters + rear bumper, in addition to the front end is probably enough even if you're ****. it's a car, not a museum artifact ... no sense in spending $10k+ or whatever a full wrap costs nowadays putting a condom on the whole car to save it for the next owner. my $.02
What’s the reason behind a X-Pel for DD and Suntek for not? I did full X Pel on the family X3M Comp…..wondering why you would go for one over the other for certain applications…? Tia
Originally Posted by RAudi Driver
Full body PPF, Xpel if you daily drive and Suntek if you don't. Heck you could even do Xpel on the front clip and suntek on the rest of the car. I'd go watch a few installers and see how they handle their blade. You'll never know f they cut into your paint until you remove 5 years later. That's the only issue.
I just got my Etron Tinted by Sean at Ultimate Shield. He has a few Porsche's in the shop getting full body wraps and both cars looked absolutely perfect. The 991.1 RS had a full body repaint in metallic Lava Orange. The guy spent over 6 figures modifying his car with carbon, full paint job, etc.....
What’s the reason behind a X-Pel for DD and Suntek for not? I did full X Pel on the family X3M Comp…..wondering why you would go for one over the other for certain applications…? Tia
Many say XPEL is a bit more durable. Suntek is a bit more optically clear. I'll say that XPEL Ultimate Plus is excellent, it looks more clear to me than the old XPEL. Pretty much as good as Suntek to me. But again, this is all pretty subjective. Some will notice the differences, others won't.
I agree with the Full PPF. If you want the best looking paint and for that to last as long as possible your best bet is removing the existing stuff, having paint correction done, then a full PPF applied and then a ceramic coating. This will keep it looking great for a long time and will also be easy to clean.
08-07-2022, 06:51 PM
Full Car PPF. Thoughts?
