I did ED and the Porsche left the backup plan PEC ATL delivery in the system and the car is now going to PEC ATL because it was shipped to Jacksonville. So, I'm getting the one-off benefit of a double-delivery from their error. But, in doing this, I can't get their port-option PPF and ceramic. They referred me to Hennessy Porsche in Atlanta for PPF which they can arrange to have done before I get there, but even after discounts, the costs are absurd! The full front with ceramic is over $6k and full car is over $10k. I am not usually a big PPF guy as is, and if the car were coming straight to me I wouldn't opt for it. Given that I'm driving it home across the country I thought about it as a nice safety precaution, but still declined and decided I'll just take to my guy when I get home for ceramic and fixing of any serious chips. He can work magic filling them in for most situations. Am I crazy? AITA?!

 

Just get some trackwrap for your trip home.

 

Full front PPF should be around 3k or less. I'd do that and then go from there, certainly no need for ceramic right away. Fixing chips is extremely difficult.

 

I’ll just offer one real-world data point in favor of PPF before a x-country tip.

I bought a low-mileage CPO 911 from Porsche Wilmington. When I first saw the car, it had full front PPF. All original paint, including the front bumper and original front lip. Stickers and date codes underneath the lip confirmed it. (It’s an Aerokit cup car, the lip is painted, not black plastic)

There were a few scrapes on the front lip and the PPF on it was pretty mangled. As part of delivery prep, the well-meaning dealer removed the PPF from the front lip. It did look better but I didnt realize they’d do it and would have preferred the protection because I was about to drive the car home to the west coast. When I picked the car up two days later, the lip looked brand new. I was thrilled. It had just been the film taking the abuse.

I then drove the car about 3,800 miles home, taking the southern route since it was winter. Texas, Nevada, etc. Sustained high speeds for long stretches.

When I got back to Portland, the PPF’d portions of the car were totally fine. Some light peppering, nothing meaningful. The front lip, however, which was original and now unprotected, looked truly awful. Lesson learned: triple-digit speeds over ~4,000 miles will absolutely destroy an unprotected front lip.

I ended up buying a new front lip and having it painted, and also repainted the original one (plus a spare I had in the attic).

I’m generally fine with rock chips and don’t obsess over PPF (although it is on a few of my cars), but before a cross-country blast, especially at speed, I’d personally recommend it. This wasn’t normal wear. It was excessive, the car is very low at the front, I was driving it very fast so any rock chips were more severe than normal driving speeds -- and on a new-to-me Porsche it was a bummer.

 

@Nashvegas Are you talking the painted lip above the black plastic lip, or are both painted on your car?

 

Or....just drive it home and enjoy the drive?

 

Sure - there is no black plastic lip on my car. It looks like this ! The center section is painted a “matte black” .

 

That's where I'm leaning. Dealer offered another $1k off. Tempting to counter but the bigger issue is that if something is off or wrong, they're not right down the street to correct it.

That makes a lot of sense. My 718 GTS has a big black plastic replaceable lip down there, so theoretically less of an issue.

 

+1 for Tracwrap. I did this for ED once. It'll look bad but who cares. It's temporary.

 

Thought about it, but I'm not likely to do it. I'll have the photos and the photo journal of the drive home forever. I won't have the car forever. I can't have those memories tarnished by stickers!

 

Can you spare an extra day in Atlanta? If so just talk to a local xpel vendor there. Plan to do Atlanta and drive immediately to their shop afterwards for the front clip to be done and then leave the next day in the afternoon. When you get home, go to your local xpel for any touch ups. Will be easy.

If you truly cant add a dah, I would try and negotiate with Hennesey and you definitely want to skip their ceramic coating. Thats best done local. You want just the front clip done, and maybe windshield protection film (i am on windshield 3...)

 

Dealer is marking up that PPF a lot.

I agree with others on the TracWrap. Would not drive across the country with zero PPF.

I would PPF it when you get back home.