I’ve never used paint protection film on my other 3 Corvettes. I have friends with Porsches who have used it and recommended it. What do you all think? PPF + ceramic coating is about $4500. Worth it or just ceramic alone? I do some short highway driving almost every day

 

I did entire C8 in Expel PPF and Ceramic coating along with full window tint

 

If I had to choose just one, I would go with PPF. But if budget allows, both PPF and ceramic coating are good additions to the car.

I have PPF on my C7 but I did not get the entire car covered. Mine cost right at $2K for Xpel, covering the entire front end, headlights, mirrors, down the rocker panels and part way up the doors, the door sill area and behind the rear wheels.

 

I did PPF, ceramic, Clearplex and tint.

As mentioned earlier, PPF is much more important than ceramic. PPF can always be waxed to preserve, so ceramic is more for reduced on-going maintenance.

My installer now tells me, XPel’s newest PPF is now ceramic coating. No idea of pricing, but my be interesting to ask your installer.

 

Belts and suspenders?
A coat of hybrid ceramic/graphene and I'm done. In the end, it's still just a production line Chevy,

 

Neither, thanks.

 

The do two completely different things. Ceramic coating is for shine. Think of it as a hard, long lasting wax. (It's not wax at all, but it serves the same function.) It helps keep the paint shiny, protects it somewhat from atmospheric contaminants, and makes the car easier to clean. It doesn't protect against rock chips, giant bug chips, or any other sort of impact.

PPF is about protecting the paint from impacts. But with a caveat. The films are supposed to be "self-healing," and tiny impact damage is supposed to fade away. I don't find that's really true. I have several small marks in the PPF on the front of my car that haven't gone away. But it did confine the damage to the film, and not the paint, so if it gets too bad I can have the film removed and [optionally] replaced. As far as shine, it isn't the same as Ceramic. But you can use ceramic on top of the film, or any other kind of polymer sealant / shine product.

 

When I took my car in for PPF and Ceramic, there were 3 McLarens in my installers garage. I figured, if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me. Central Florida is notorious for tire debris on our roadways. No such thing as too much protection.

 

Depends how much rock chips, etc bother you. I got PPF and ceramic coating this time (never did for my prior 3 Vettes), but will never do it again. For me, the value is so low and the cost is relatively high. For the $4-$5k, I’d rather just let the car get a few rock chips and sell for a grand or two less when I trade it in, because any imperfections don’t bother me while I’m the owner.

But I know I’m a weirdo here. 😂

 

I got ppf on the front (hood, bumper, headlights, mirrors) for the protection from rocks and other debris. I got ceramic coating on the entire car for ease of cleaning and surface shine.

 

Needs an option for PPF only. I dont really see the need for ceramic on top if the newer self-healing PPFs.

 

I agree...And I have no desire or see the need to apply ceramic coat anywhere...

I do plan to have PPF (XPEL) applied just to the front bumper, hood, headlights, and mirrors...

 

If you have to choose, PPF over ceramic, but ideally both. At a minimum, you want PPF on the front bumper cover and mirrors as those areas will take the most impacts. Probably the best value is doing the front half of the car (front bumper cover, hood, front fenders and mirrors) as that will really protect against 99% of impacts. But if you have the money, it would be really nice to have the entire car done, as then you don't have to worry about bird/tree droppings on the car (although ceramic on the entire car will help a lot with protecting from these). You want the PPF first, and then have ceramic done. And ideally, for the PPF you want someone who is going to remove all emblems/vents/etc and not use a generic "template" PPF but rather do a custom job wrapping fully around all edges so you can't even tell it's there.

 

With how tight some of the C8s seams are between panels its virtually impossible to "wrap" the edges everywhere without removing the panels themselves. That said, I had a semi custom job done where they use precut templates but 'stretch'/enlarge the template slightly to give enough material for wrapping edges where possible. Had the entire car done in Suntek react self-healing. I dunno if they removed emblems or just tucked the PPF under them, but I dont see cut lines around any of my emblems. I dont have to worry about swirl marks when washing bc some time in the TX sun makes them disappear. It also saved my front end when a flatbed semi threw a shotgun blast of gravel (18 or so impacts on the front bumper) bc the jerk just HAD to pull over in front of me to pass someone.

I've had my car for 8 months so far and never wax it or use any topical stuff (spray on wax/ceramic renewer/etc). Just wash it and dry it. Still looks nearly show room new minus 2 or 3 very low impacts on the sides (see below). 100% worth the 7 grand as not only did it save my front end paint, but also protected my side from a couple rocks that managed to get around the front end, over my side skirts, and impact the lower door panel. I had the front bumper piece replaced but will wait a few years for the door panels as the impacts are low enough not to be noticeable.

Without the PPF my front bumper would have needed a respray after that incident. I dont follow people closely so I was super peeved with that 18 wheeler used the gap I left to swerve over and blast my front end. Only ONE of the impacts actually made it through the PPF to ding the paint beneath, and only just barely. You'd be hard pressed to find it even up close with the new PPF on now, and we didnt even touch up the paint.

 

I did both and the car came out looking excellent. I had Berardi's do it, they do a lot of high cars and are located SE PA on rt202.

 

In the middle of removing the front bumper PPF on my new to me 2003 Anniv. M6 (no telling how old the PPF is, but it's coming off a little piece at a time) and the protected paint looks brand new. Will def reapply!

 

I did both PPF and ceramic on my black 2023 Stingray coupe. the result is outstanding and with minimal maintenance.

 

Neither, wax it once a month or so and enjoy it.

 

Xpel's new Ultimate Fusion PPF is like a permanent hydrophobic wax. Protects better than coatings, simpler maintenance, and always looks wet.

 

I went with Xpel and skipped the expensive “professional” installed ceramic spray. I use Turtle wax Hybrid Ceramic Wet Spray wax every time I dry after a wash and use their Ceramic detailer between washes. Sometimes hit it with Turtle Wax Graphene Pure Shine spray before taking it for a cruise or meet up.

Water beads like crazy and car is very easy to clean. I get the same results I had with the professional ceramic and it is much more cost effective.