When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
A big factor in the price is the foolish push for minimum wage to be $15. Although it isnt official, most places are paying $15 for unskilled labor, meaning quality PPF shops that train their installers well have to pay even more than that (in my area at least).
I did a full car PPF for 4k at a quality shop just 4 or 5 years ago. Those days are gone, at least in my neck of the woods.
Well, I had PPF installed on the front bumper, and ceramic coating on the entire vehicle…. was in the $3K range….. my 2 cents is that the cost is not really in the PPF or the ceramic coating. The cost, for me, was in the paint correction of the factory paint job. Yes, you can get PPF / ceramic coating installed for much less, but why do them over the factory paint job? Get all the factory swirl out, correct the paint imperfections, and then coat. The expertise is in the paint correction. It’s an art. And finding someone who really knows what they’re doing can be challenging. But once you find them, it’s amazing what they can do for your finish. As always, if you want to dance, you have to pay the fiddler…
Reminds of the vinyl siding craze. I actually did a tour of duty in this industry, guy I worked for used to say, ' you can buy grandma a new fur coat but you can't hide the wrinkles'.
Owners that want to keep their cars pristine, why not wait to see the damage and just cover it up later with a layer of plastic? The end result will be the same. If you never get caught in a tsunami of bouncing pebbles the savings will pay for a new tinfoil hat.
PPF and ceramic depends on the market in your area. In areas where it's popular and there is a detail shop that does it every few miles it's going to be cheaper and vice-versa. While I admire those that do it themselves they can't do what a professional can do because the premium products like Xpel and Ceramic Pro require certifications so they can warranty their products. You can't buy those products at your local parts stores.
Your quote sounds about right for the north Atlanta market. I would recommend going to several shops, asking them to explain what they do and how they do it, and ask to see the vehicles they are currently working on while you are there. I got a tour from the owner of the shop I used and he spent a while with me showing me lighting, paint imperfections in the paint of brand new cars in his shop. and we watched one of his employees as he very slowly worked on a fender of a car there. I see exotics in his shop every time I'm there. He doesn't advertise and I've seen cars there that belong to people ranging from professional athletes to collectors. The first time I saw a C7 ZR1 it was in his shop. He had driven his enclosed trailer to Bowling Green to pick it up after a local GM Zone Manager had taken NCM delivery. That's the kind of shop you want to use for a C8.
I got an estimate this past week to get the front bumper, headlights, full hood, full fenders, mirror caps, door edge guards, door cups, rear trunk ledge, rocker panels, rear splash, A-Pillars and leading roof edge for $2970.00. I looked into these guys (Titan Motorworks) in Rochester NY and went and visited the shop to make sure who I was dealing with. These guys were great and even gave me a tour of the garage where they had a couple high end cars in for Xpel. My point would be do your homework and don't be afraid to ask questions!!!
Good Luck
How many ask if the application expert uses a knife while trimming pieces on the car? I saw an application where cut marks were left in the paint and it scares the bejesus out of me.
Reminds of the vinyl siding craze. I actually did a tour of duty in this industry, guy I worked for used to say, ' you can buy grandma a new fur coat but you can't hide the wrinkles'.
Owners that want to keep their cars pristine, why not wait to see the damage and just cover it up later with a layer of plastic? The end result will be the same. If you never get caught in a tsunami of bouncing pebbles the savings will pay for a new tinfoil hat.
Your opinion. I notice every single rock chip. I did in fact get caught in a "tsunami of pebbles" from that 18wheeler, but even if I hadnt there is a LOT of loose gravel/pebbles from the shoulders of the road, rancher's trucks, construction, etc in my area. Not to mention sand that wrecks the front end paint rather quickly, to the point that no amount of wax will get water to bead off.
Slapping PPF on paint that already has road rash and chips looks HORRENDOUS, worse than the chips themselves. But short of a pretty large rock or an actual impact with something, the PPF (especially the 10mil stuff on the front bumper) prevents all that and minor abrasions from lazy washing, sand, etc disappear once the film heats up in the afternoon sun. And its far easier and cheaper to replace the PPF on the front bumper (and hood if necessar) than getting a proper respray done.
Even without that thrashing of gravel/pebbles from that 18 wheeler, I would already be dissatisfied with the paint on my C8s front end. I know because EVERY car I've owned here has had the front bumper and hood ruined (by my standards) within a few years, and noticeably (to me) road rashed within a year. A respray is NOT cheap if you want a high quality one done (not the hack jobs done at most auto repair places like Caliber collision).
So yeah, I'll replace an $800 piece of PPF on my front bumper (thats including the labor charge) every 3 or 4 years rather than paying the same or more (very likely at least 2x as much due to R&I costs) for a respray every 4 years. So no, for me not getting PPF would not save me any $$, and would likely cost me far more over a 10 year or longer ownership.
Then again I actually drive my C8 on the highways and cant always stay 300 feet back from the nearest car, not least of all bc if I even tried someone would fill that gap immediately in this area. And while I use the 2 bucket wash method with grit guards, I still leave the occasional swirl mark when hand washing (the foam gun "no touching the car" methid doesnt work with the fine film of TX grit that coats a car), and those marks disappear in the PPF but would remain in the clear coat.
You may think PPF is a waste. I wouldnt try to talk you into it. I certainly wouldnt talk about "tinfoil hats" about someone who doesnt choose to treat their C8s paint the way I treat mine, or about someone who were even more OCD about it. Hell if someone did a double thick layer of full car PPF my thought is good for them. I'm comfortable with what I chose to do. Let's all do what we like with our C8s and toast each other.
I know you have a right to your opinion.. But why would you buy a 90K+ car and not want to take care of it the best way possible? I know it’s a lot of money for PPF but at least I have a little piece of mind that chances are my car won’t get stone chipped to death!
How many ask if the application expert uses a knife while trimming pieces on the car? I saw an application where cut marks were left in the paint and it scares the bejesus out of me.
One application you saw done incorrectly doesn't make it the norm!
Only a fool would go to a shop with a poor reputation that has not been properly vetted...Most of us that are experienced with having had PPF installed on our sports cars properly vet these shops to make sure installers don't do knife to paint installs...
Originally Posted by DesigN8
Reminds of the vinyl siding craze. I actually did a tour of duty in this industry, guy I worked for used to say, ' you can buy grandma a new fur coat but you can't hide the wrinkles'.
Owners that want to keep their cars pristine, why not wait to see the damage and just cover it up later with a layer of plastic? The end result will be the same. If you never get caught in a tsunami of bouncing pebbles the savings will pay for a new tinfoil hat.
This is your opinion which really doesn't matter to those of us that have actual experience in this area and know what is best for us...Most of us who have PPF applied are not really concerned with the cost but rather the peace of mine it brings.
One application you saw done incorrectly doesn't make it the norm!
Only a fool would go to a shop with a poor reputation that has not been properly vetted...Most of us that are experienced with having had PPF installed on our sports cars properly vet these shops to make sure installers don't do knife to paint installs...
This is your opinion which really doesn't matter to those of us that have actual experience in this area and know what is best for us...Most of us who have PPF applied are not really concerned with the cost but rather the peace of mine it brings.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
