I am struggling with what paint protection to do on my 2023 C8. I have searched and not come up with specific recommendations.
I am confused with one and two coat processes and the extreme price range differences..
Any help would be appreciated.
I live in Port Charlotte, FL 33948 so would need someone reasonably close.

 

Don't waste your money. Turtle Wax Hybrid Ceramic Wax Spray.

 

The above advice IS good. That stuff is very good and highly rated for both ease of use and longevity.

That said, I've never tried it myself. I've gone with Adams Advance Graphene (claimed 9 year, 10h hardness). It can be done by yourself, but I had mine applied by my detail guy because he did paint correction before application, which is above my skill level...

Paint correction is a NECESSARY step, whatever YOU decide. Charges vary depending upon Where, Who, and What Color.
The nice thing about ceramic coatings is their longevity of old school wax. They give great shine, but not the depth of waxes.

No experience with PPV, but some swear by it. .. I'll let them weigh in. (I guess it's good for preventing rock chips, etc, as it's self healing)

 

Most recommend doing both PPF and ceramic. PPF will protect against paint chips and minor scratches, but it offers no UV protection or shine enhancement. Where ceramic coatings will give you the UV protection and a great long lasting shine, but no protection against chips or scratches.

Good advice from Zormecteon as well, ALWAYS do paint correction.

So for best overall protection and appearance the steps would be:
1. Paint correction
2. PPF on vulnerable areas (i did my front end, fenders and hood)
3. Ceramic coating over the entire car, including the areas where PPF was applied.

I can’t stress enough though to get the paint correction done first otherwise any flaws will be exaggerated by the PPF and ceramic.

 

OP….do yourself a favor IGNORE THIS ADVICE,

 

Ceramic Pro PPF film comes from the factory already ceramic coated. That alone will save you a good amount of money if you do full frontal PPF and ceramic coat the rest of the car.

 

As Firstbee noted, Both are usually recommended. Cermic works well as a environmental protectant just like wax. There are various types, but the hardness factor determines the durability. The biggest improvement is the paint correction. You could generally get that done and continue a wax program if you wanted.
PPF is a self-healing film that adds durability to general rock chip prone areas, if you already have several it will cause them to show up more as it will billow out around the chip. They have some with UV protection but you do not want that. It doesn't allow the paint to fade below, so the general car paint will fade differently that what's under the PPF.
Hope that helps, but it is personal preference.

 

I have used all three on many cars in the past, and it all depends on exactly how you use your car. My car is certainly considered what the purists here will call a “garage queen” in that it’s a car that I drive for only recreational purposes, no commuter stuff and it’s it’s garaged in Florida with no terrible weather. Therefore, I have no reason to do any type of PPF or ceramic. If I’m going long distance across Florida, etc and want to keep bugs off the car, I use a Novistretch bra. So a simple ceramic light that wipes on and wipes off works for me. I’m a big fan of Gyeon Cancoat, it lasts about six months and looks absolutely fantastic. it’s like the turtle wax hybrid spray mentioned above.

 

Even garage queens can get chips. All it takes is one random pebble to get kicked up from a vehicle. Really depends on your budget and risk tolerance. I would recommend PPF even for garage queens, but to each their own. My C8 is a garage queen as well but I PPF’d the front end to protect it during those long Sunday country drives.

 

understood, but where I drive I’m not worried about rock chips, and if I do get any, I’ll fix them with Dr color chip. I’m not spending thousands of dollars on the front end of this car.

additional note, Xpel sells paint protection film on Amazon, if I was on any bad roads regularly, I’d put this on the leading front edge of the hood. I already have put a few small squares on the front frunk where I push down on the hood I push down to latch, and also the rear hatch right in front of the fish.Its invisible.

 

I had Xpel ppf done on the entire care and then 5 year optic coat ceramic on top with wheels and all glass. It’s a $100k plus car, spend the $10k. Car is very easy to clean and well protected.

 

Regardless of the products used the installer is the key to a great outcome. Do your homework on the installer up front, look at their work and do a personal interview of the shop owner. There is nothing worse than a bad PPF install.

 

You'll be the only one that will know BEST for your circumstance.
Both PPF and Ceramic have advantages and disadvantages. Cost is only one factor. What I (almost) NEVER hear is the 'fast-forward-to-____' version : WHAT happens in 3 or 4 or 4 years? Neither product is maint-free. I've done both ppf and ceramic -- and when I say done, I mean I personally prepped and applied both to several vehicles. Becasue I kept two vehicles (a lotus and a Tundra) long enough for the ppf to wear out, I can say this with complete confidence: Removing PPF is a B-TCH. If you plan to put it on and keep it long enough (totall unpredictable) to have to remove it, you will be sorry. The initial expense of appliying ppf doesnt have to be obscene. When it wears out, it has to come off (NOT cheap in terms of time or money) --it may or may not leave a fade line between the covered and uncovered areas (uncovered areas are STILL likely to have gathers some rock chips).--and that diviiding line may or may not be polished out. If not, then a new application if PPF has to be considered.
After purchasing the C8 and and while I was still considering a very limited application of ppf, I had to remove the ppf from the Tundra. The downsdes of ppf completely outweighed the advantagages and I concluded, NEVER AGAIN. The stingray recieved a slow and thourough claybar process followed by a slow and thorough Ceramic coating application (I've used both Turtle wax and Adams in the past. Both a quite good. There are many others that are quite good. None, IMO are worth 2-300 just for the materials.). With reasonable care, Ceramic coat is def a DIY.

I will be installing the mount screws for a Novastretch this afternoon. This is not a substitute for PPF, but a decent compromise to me.
m1

 

Carnauba wax for me... still.

 

In 2004-5, a Mercedes dealership in Oregon was branching into the detailing business and to stimulate interest had a few new vehicles prepped and PPF'd. I bought a 2005 SLK350 that was one. Back then it was called Scotchgard by 3M. The early versions had a tendency to yellow with age but on a Iridium Silver Benz it was not noticeable.
By 2020 (15 years) I had several rock chips and scratches and decided to remove/replace the film, I discussed with an installer and and the price was $80/hour for about 2-3 hours. I figured I may as well try myself so read up and watched a few videos and ... Took me about 3 hours because some pieces kept tearing due to scratches. I used hot water and a hair blower. After removing the film the car looked great and I got top dollar for it when traded. My C8 got full PPF. While at the installer I watched them remove PPF from a Porsche that had some damage and the 2 year old PPF was easy to remove.

So I my questions are: what PPF did you use? You mentioned "wear out". Do you mean chips and scratches or some other wear? What maintenance did your PPF require (I did none).

To OP much of the cost of PPF is in paint correction. Some installers do none and so cost is less. Remember you are locking in the paint and may want the best look it can be. Using proper lighting to identify blemishes, my 3 day old, 20 km C8 took 4 hours of paint correction!
I never tried a ceramic coating until Turtle Wax Hybrid Solution that I DIYed on a Honda CRV. I don't know about beading, protection etc but washing and drying time are reduced more than half so that was good enough to do the C8 and other vehicles. Simple and inexpensive and done twice yearly. So far my first TW bottle has done 2 motorcycles and 3 cars four times and just running low now.

 

PPF WORKS 🎉

I can tell you first hand it saved the hood on my C7 when an A-hole pulling a flatbed with a tractor on it pulled out from a dirt field then cut in front of me it was unbelievable how many rocks where flying off that tractor and bounding all over the road. As I slammed on the brakes but still going 65mph I could see a big rock come flying at me. It bounded off my hood then crashed into my windshield cracking it! At the first available spot I pulled over to assess my hood damage. There was a small tare in the PPF but the hood had ZERO DAMAGE TO THE PAINT. So you can doubt all you want…PPF saved my hood and the expense of getting the hood repainted.

After taking delivery of my C8 I immediately brought it in to have the entire front end done (and other places) in XPEL ULTIMATE PLUS. After two years over a dozen plus rock hits and countless times it’s been sand blasted due to the consistent sand trucks on Florida highways not a nick, blast marks or marring.

So there is no question PPF works!

 

He might be right. If you spend $2,000-3,000 you can avoid depreciation, rock chips and keep your car perfect for resale. You'll never have to worry.

 

Has anyone had this done to the hood with a decal? Did the lines where the ppf overlap look too noticeable? Here is a pic of mine that I plan to cover with ppf.

 

when I had my 22 done they cut around the stripes. If you don’t you tend to see a raised edge.

 

so there were no issues with dirt getting trapped? I am curious just how close he can cut it without it looking noticeable. I assume this will be an added cost as well.