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PPF reliability and worthiness - Long term and Short term
Hello fellow IS folks, I was thinking and almost decided on to get the PPF done for the entire car or the front only portion. My appointment is very near but I thought to reconsider it after a few opinions from family and friends on how much ridiculously expensive it is ($2K-10K shop variances in pricing and parts covered etc), so then I gave it a thought as I would be dumping a bucket load of cash on a service that has limitations.
Here's what I found out on these and my thoughts.
PPF will need replacement eventually as it will never last longer than the car's life, then the duration is varied by driving condition, maintenance. So say a car gets a lot of paint chips due to aggressive driving on the road tailgating everyone the PPF will absorb the damage but how long can the film maintain itself like wolverine, I doubt it can heal everything given the marketing of the Xpel. So more damage means less time for PPF to stay on the car. And also natural causes like sun or weather conditions causing the peel off, I know it will be tucked by a quality expert installer shop but eventually it will pull out, during its life under 3-8 years. And then the dust will show on the film underneath which is an eye sore. So the choice will be either to cut that part or remove the film and reapply or just keep using it, this will be a problem for lighter color cars like mine, Ultra White paint I guess as it will show up easily, even the rain and little dust shows up badly on a white car this will be worse for sure. Plus you need to clean the PPF with care.
Then if the vehicle is maintained well, say the film lasts for 5 years, the PPF still needs to be replaced that's a plastic component based film it can never really outlast and how the lifting of the edges will happen eventually. Now this one got me, searching for "PPF Removal" yield a ton of results and many are nightmares from what I can see - Paint chipping is a mess and parts of the PPF still sticking to the car, fiber parts flexing due to the tight nature of the adhesive and heat depending on the nature of film, if you remove it early it will be easy but removal of a $2-4K film ? Counterproductive, on top this is a daunting task which requires a ton of experience, tools like heatgun, steamers, chemicals, plastic razor tools and most importantly - Time. Which means money, so it is constant pit, plus Insurance does not cover this I presume. I mean I can gather a ton of information on that single search term on Bing, Google, Youtube platforms. Oh also do many detailers even like removing it ? Applying is all fine and dandy since you get a brand new car and it is fun to apply but that removal is not pretty to see tons of videos showcase it's removal and the sight is not good at all unfortunately.
So what I thought was to just get the car a nice foam wash with care with a full car Ceramic coat, and going forward do the same even if it's expensive, it doesn't even go past $4K total cost (of a front only, rocker panels, mirrors, A pillars etc PPF job) for 3-4 years of just quality detailing work. And if we have a nice garage space then DIY detail would perfectly do the job in keeping the vehicle pristine and help the owner to learn about their own vehicle, PPFed cars need more attention and the ceramic coat on top will be removed eventually and again that's another professional task to ceramic coat the PPFed car.
To all owners who did and did not please kindly provide your input on this topic, any videos or articles would help as well.
Yes some of the content is old and Xpel has new technology which may not be having adhesive nightmares, yellowing, etc. But still thought would get some other opinions here.
I just hate seeing some that have yellowed, cracked, and peeled. I have also seen some where the PPF and paint below it is perfect but the surrounding paint is not. The mismatch is what has always kept me away but this like any other mod is really your decision in the end. Hope the feedback will help you decide.
I did full front Xpel PPF (everything from the mirrors forward) and ceramic coat. The PPF has done it's job with protection as it's saved my paint's *** numerous times. Cleaning with the ceramic coat is super easy (power washer with foam cannon, leaf blower to dry, ceramic booster and microfiber finish). The only spots not PPF'd that I notice dinged up are the rear doors, just above the factory PPF. Could probably be solved with mudguards in the future, but we'll see. For $4k, and can be covered in an insurance claim, I would say it's been worth it.
PPF does not peel off if done properly, the edges are hidden and folded over not exposed. I worked on a car recently PPF lasted 10 years at that point it was starting to fail. It was VERY difficult to remove in some areas other sections it came off easily. Did it protect the paint? 100% yes after I got it all off the paint was nearly flawless. And it was noticeably less faded versus rear panels on the car that were not protected. Without it the bumper, hood and fenders would have been completely trashed value of the car would be very low. Likely rust spots due to damaged paint.
A repaint to match the factory is going to run about $8,000 assuming you can find a shop to do it properly, which you probably won't. So IMO if you plan on keeping a car long term PPF is worth the investment.
Here's why I don't personally believe in PPF on the IS500:
PPF will never add value to the car. Nobody in history ever decided to not buy a car because it had a few rock chips on the front bumper and nobody ever paid more for a used car just because it had PPF. Modern PPF is too new to have long-term real-time stability data on what happens when you take it off after 10 years, so you're right that it could potentially damage your car when removing it - though I doubt it.
PPF still needs to be maintained and taken care of. You can't just park outside under a tree all the time, collect sap, bird poop, hard water spots, etc. Yeah your paint will be protected but the car will still look like trash. I would 100% much rather have a car without PPF in a garage, than a car with PPF that lived outside.
For the average person, PPF does a great job protecting car paint from normal wear like swirl marks or light scratches. However, even without PPF, in several years you can get the same deep gloss with a paint correction and ceramic coat, which will still cost less than PPF.
Finally I've noticed that most people who sell their IS500 purchased PPF. I believe there's a strong correlation: impulse buying. These people didn't think the IS500 purchase through, just like they didn't think the PPF purchase through. The exception is @DLPTony . He takes great care of his car with PPF and never plans to sell it.
Here's the situation where I would recommend PPF: If your daily commute completely litters your front end with rock chips then PPF is probably worth it.
PPF will never add value to the car. Nobody in history ever decided to not buy a car because it had a few rock chips on the front bumper and nobody ever paid more for a used car just because it had PPF.
To me this is the only thing you said that doesn't make any sense. People most certainly may pass on a car because of rock chips. I'm one of them. Was looking at an M3 on Bring a Trailer and this one car I liked had a ton of chips. It looked terrible and makes you wonder what else is going on with the car. I stopped considering it.
On the flip side, people on BaT ask about PPF and I'd bet the cars that have it get a slight premium. It could be debated whether the IS500 merits status to get PPF, but I'd say it does. Maybe not collectible but definitely special. It should be no problem to one day sell my future IS500 (if I ever sell!), especially since the front end and hood won't have rock chips.
To me this is the only thing you said that doesn't make any sense. People most certainly may pass on a car because of rock chips. I'm one of them. Was looking at an M3 on Bring a Trailer and this one car I liked had a ton of chips. It looked terrible and makes you wonder what else is going on with the car. I stopped considering it.
It all goes back to my last point that PPF could save you if the rock chips are really bad from your normal commute. Sounds like that was the case with the M3. I still think a few rock chips here and there won't deter a serious buyer.
Road rash drastically reduces resale value if it's bad enough the car is worth almost nothing. Curb appeal is a powerful selling tool probably the most powerful people will overlook basically everything else if the car looks pristine. Including me I'll buy a car with major mechanical issues if paint and body is perfect.
If you live in somewhere like sunny California, like where I think macmaster lives, I can understand why you'd think PPF is worthless because in that market, it probably is. However, if you live in somewhere with snow, and want to use your car more than 4 months a year, it's worth it. I know, for certain, that my PPF has protected my bumper or hood from chips.
As others have said, I think it really depends on use-case. I have it on my rear bumper so loading and unloading things will (hopefully) never result in bumper scuffs. I also have it in all my door handle wells (no matter how careful you are, you'd be surprised at how often your fingernails will contact the paint in the handle well when you open your door, so I always recommend getting at least the driver's door handle well done). And finally, I have it in the lower-rear wheel arches for all four wheels (where you'd normally put mud guards). If I did more highway driving, I'd do the front, including the headlights and maybe even the big Lexus logo. If you spend a lot of time in tight parking spaces then I recommend the door edges just for those times when, no matter how careful you're being, you slip and the door edge makes contact with whatever is constricting your door opening space. I see it as a form of insurance - better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it - just don't buy more than you realistically need.
If you live in somewhere like sunny California, like where I think macmaster lives, I can understand why you'd think PPF is worthless because in that market, it probably is. However, if you live in somewhere with snow, and want to use your car more than 4 months a year, it's worth it. I know, for certain, that my PPF has protected my bumper or hood from chips.
As someone whose commute is 35 miles each way of country roads littered with all the fun stuff related to farms on the road, PPF has absolutely been worth the investment. I see the value every time I wash the car where a rock said "screw you, guy" and my paint is intact
I only got the front half on the car covered with PPF. I drive 400 miles a week on I-35 between DFW and Austin. I've replaced one windshield so far, and now need to again. The PPF already has nicks in it from the rocks. I can't imagine how much worse it would be for me if I did not have it.
I maintain it with a ceramic coat.
And of course I got nailed with random stuff falling of trucks on my rear doors that are not covered.
I wish there was a viable windshield film. I've looked into several they all have some level of distortion. Auto makers can't be bothered to make glass that doesn't crack from the smallest pebble.
10-27-23, 12:39 PM
PPF reliability and worthiness - Long term and Short term
