Paint Protection Film vs Ceramic Coating

[Tom Sellick]

Hi,

Wondering about opinions on paint protective film vs ceramic coating. Is one better than the other? They seem expensive. Is either worth it? I’ve never done either only wash and occasional wax.

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[Planoman]

Hi,

Wondering about opinions on paint protective film vs ceramic coating. Is one better than the other? They seem expensive. Is either worth it? I’ve never done either only wash and occasional wax.

They are not the same. I have had both. What are your trying to do? Ceramic coating will protect from bugs, bird poop etc it does nothing for road debris. PPF will proterct against bugs, bird poop and small road debris such as driving behing a dump truck and it is letting all the sand and small rocks fly all over and scratches. if you drive a lot on the highways you can get a front PPF which protects against rock chips etc.

 

[Kielly]

Both are very much so worth it. I got ceramic and PPF. I only got PPF on the hood but I regret not getting anything on the front part of the panels near the rear wheels, the rock debris kicked up by my front tires already did that in real good.

Ceramic will just help with cleaning the dirt off and drying the vehicle, no real scratch or chip protection, it's just a chemical to help with water beading, hydrophobic. PPF is what will take the blunt of any rocks and dirt smacking against your paint. After 4-5 years or so it'll start to look a little scruffy but better a plastic wrap than your paint.

 

[Tom Sellick]

Ok thanks. I’ll guess I’ll have to do some research on that stuff. The PPF definitely seems pricy. One local place was advertising almost 5 grand to do a whole car! Maybe the whole thing isn’t necessary but where would you stop..lol

 

[maxx075]

I just had my whole front PPF'd using Xpel and windows tinted for 1500.

 

[av8r]

PPF is like a screen saver on your phone. No need to ceramic coat or do anything under the PPF. Ceramic is just a way to apply a hydrophobic coating to help reduce dirt and water's ability to "stick" to the paint. PPF is offensively expensive, imo. You can buy pre-cut pieces and apply it yourself at a significant savings. Youtube university can help with this.

Ceramic will scratch in a similar fashion to clear coat. Depending on the quality of the coating you may be able to polish some very light scratches out of the coating, but it's not typically easily done without removing the coating during polishing.

 

[webshot]

I did full PPF and Ceramic Coating.
PPF cuts down on the chips and scratches.
Ceramic Coating just allows the water and mud to shed off the vehicle better.

 

[Kielly]

Ok thanks. I’ll guess I’ll have to do some research on that stuff. The PPF definitely seems pricy. One local place was advertising almost 5 grand to do a whole car! Maybe the whole thing isn’t necessary but where would you stop..lol

It is very pricy Indeed. If you don't have the truck yet and you're just trying to get your ducks in a row; if you're unable to pay an offensive amount of PPF, get it dealer installed and work it into the price of the truck like I did, I found it didn't cost much more than going to a local shop.

As to where you'd stop it's all preference, some people get the entire thing, I personally only got the hood because that's where I found most of the rocks will hit. I knew mirrors would probably get replaced with aftermarket at some point and the door handles weren't a concern to me because I don't wear rings.

 

[xraided]

I did full PPF and Ceramic Coating.
PPF cuts down on the chips and scratches.
Ceramic Coating just allows the water and mud to shed off the vehicle better.

how much it cost total? im thinking about doing both as well.

 

[Brooksie]

Hi,

Wondering about opinions on paint protective film vs ceramic coating. Is one better than the other? They seem expensive. Is either worth it? I’ve never done either only wash and occasional wax.

I got the xpel ppf placed on mine. Then I did the ceramic coat myself. It's easy enough to put on, it's just the detailing that is the time consuming part. Not hard. Just takes time to do a good job.
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[webshot]

how much it cost total? im thinking about doing both as well.

Depends on the shop. A full PPF and Ceramic Coating will run 6-8K

 

[xraided]

Depends on the shop. A full PPF and Ceramic Coating will run 6-8K

thank u for the heads up, time to bust out the good ol platinum card

 

[TacoFreak]

PPF is great for stone chip areas and does an excellent job of protecting your paint. I plan to get PPF on the front clip of my Taco and all four flairs.

Ceramic coatings are good for keeping your truck clean - think of it as super nice car wax.

 

[Suma Performance]

DIY Ceramic coating is the way to go if you don't want to spend excessive amount that costs a few thousand dollars easily.

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