PPF, Ceramic Coating - which did you go for?

[RSVP911]

Porsche911c4gts said:

Hi all,

New to the forum but lucky enough to have a
Porsche 911 C4 Gts on order also and have been pondering between all of the options available but still looking at the most viable without throwing away money.

Would I be right in saying most would agree

Best way to protect the car inc against stone chips would be to
PPF front end of vehicle inc wing mirrors and full front.
And possibly ceramic coating on the rest of the car to help maintain its showroom condition.

I'm not someone that would enjoy spending hours on end cleaning there car but if a snow foam, rinse and dry could keep it looking good that would be great.

Now the attempt to select the right company/person to do the works? ??

I'm based in kent

Thanks in advance

I'd agree with your logic - I don't really know people in Kent - Topaz are in North London and are supposed to be very good but they are not cheap - good luck

[rosino]

I advocate for full front ppf and then the rest waxed or ceramic coated. I always thought that the ppf gave me great piece of mind on european blasts and the odd track day.

Ppf takes a fair beating and after a wash car is like new. I did exmoor without ppf and the sills and bumper got such a bad gravel rash that I thought I had gone through a rally stage.

Ppf and thousands of miles through the alps and nothing..

Check out elite detail in Knightsbridge they also very very good for both detailing and ppf.

[rosino]

Randomer123 said:

_Leg_ said:

I'm actually astonished dealers don't employ their own PPF guy and that the manufacturers don't offer PPF as an option when speccing cars.
]

Agree entirely with this. Half the issue for me is the amount of different detailers, options and most importantly price. If Porsche for example offered this as a spec'able option in the configurator, I'd expect a good 75% of us would select it.

Ferrari does. And so does porsche gb special car division for their important clients. But am told that certainly for the former the fitting is let’s just say “imperfect”. The latter is better but still not up to the best standards out there.

[Nick981]

Thanks for all the comments, thoughts and suggestions. I’ve been wavering a bit but have now decided to go for ppf front (bumper, wings, full bonnet, A pillars and mirrors) and the rest ceramic coated. I’ll post here to let you know how it goes. The car should be delivered late March so it will be straight off to the detailers from the OPC.

Counting down the days.....

[MartinRS2K]

Nick981 said:

Thanks for all the comments, thoughts and suggestions. I’ve been wavering a bit but have now decided to go for ppf front (bumper, wings, full bonnet, A pillars and mirrors) and the rest ceramic coated. I’ll post here to let you know how it goes. The car should be delivered late March so it will be straight off to the detailers from the OPC.

Counting down the days.....

Similar to mine but I also got PPF on the lower sills and into the rear arches replacing the Porsche film there as the wide track GT3 cars are prone to stone chips in this area.

I’ve just washed my 4 month old Macan GTS this morning and noticed a small amount of minor rashes in front of the rear wheels on the lower arches!

[Frrair]

Hi OP

I too have a brand new GTS coming, I have arranged for a ceramic coating to be put on prior to collection. In fact the guy is independent and doing at the OPC for me.

Why? well I had a similar coating on my Ferrari which I had for not quite six years and despite it being near 16 years old it looked great, in fact you wouldn’t believe it’s age. It didn’t do lots of mileage it was mostly sunny days only but it was easy to clean and was never more than microfibre cloth dried.

Had my wife’s Q3 done last year, it looks great and no little scrapes from running tight to hedges or stone chips visible. We only clean our cars by hand and she tells me is very easy to clean too :-).

Negotiated a price and I thought it very reasonable for Gtechniq 4 year stuff.

PM me if you want to know who and how much.

Cheers
Ed

[throt]

MartinRS2K said:

Similar to mine but I also got PPF on the lower sills and into the rear arches replacing the Porsche film there as the wide track GT3 cars are prone to stone chips in this area.

I’ve just washed my 4 month old Macan GTS this morning and noticed a small amount of minor rashes in front of the rear wheels on the lower arches!

Good point re around where the Porsche film on the rear arches. If you look closely at the this film it really does take a battering and certainly does its job.

Never had PPF put on my GT3.1 and the area that does have a few chips is just above the front black splitter. I definitely will consider PPF on my next purchase..

So you guys that are having PPF on the front and mirrors done, does your detailer then include applying the ceramic coating to your PPF areas too.?.

Tia..

[smudger911]

throt said:

MartinRS2K said:

Similar to mine but I also got PPF on the lower sills and into the rear arches replacing the Porsche film there as the wide track GT3 cars are prone to stone chips in this area.

I’ve just washed my 4 month old Macan GTS this morning and noticed a small amount of minor rashes in front of the rear wheels on the lower arches!

Good point re around where the Porsche film on the rear arches. If you look closely at the this film it really does take a battering and certainly does its job.

Never had PPF put on my GT3.1 and the area that does have a few chips is just above the front black splitter. I definitely will consider PPF on my next purchase..

So you guys that are having PPF on the front and mirrors done, does your detailer then include applying the ceramic coating to your PPF areas too.?.

Tia..

Yep. I have a self healing ppf on my new gts (front, mirrors and sides. Ceramic coating applied all over inc wheels.
First car i've had this on, so far impressed in terms of easy cleaning and also the self healing from the front end road rash

[throt]

smudger911 said:

Yep. I have a self healing ppf on my new gts (front, mirrors and sides. Ceramic coating applied all over inc wheels.
First car i've had this on, so far impressed in terms of easy cleaning and also the self healing from the front end road rash

Cheers, I will consider PPF later on for sure.

My detailer who cleans my car hates PPF. He says it goes off colour, peels and you can see the joins. Maybe there are other reasons obviously.

Edited by throt on Sunday 18th February 20:12

[_Leg_]

As promised earlier in the thread here's a short video looking up close at the cars I had done with full PPF first, in September 2012, and last in February 2017.

Sorry, don't know how to embed it and the embed link from Vimeo wouldn't work so clickety click to view.

I hope this and the debate throughout this thread helps you choose the best paint protection for your car.

https://vimeo.com/256432495

Edited by _Leg_ on Monday 19th February 17:34

[RSVP911]

_Leg_ said:

As promised earlier in the thread here's a short video looking up close at the cars I had done with full PPF first, in September 2012, and last in February 2017.

Sorry, don't know how to embed it and the embed link from Vimeo wouldn't work so clickety click to view.

I hope this and the debate throughout this thread helps you choose the best paint protection for your car.

https://vimeo.com/256432495

Edited by _Leg_ on Monday 19th February 17:34

Thanks for posting - really do love that Boxster - great colour combo - 997.2 RS still looking good too - as is the garage - is it living up to expectations - that was a great thread

[_Leg_]

RSVP911 said:

_Leg_ said:

As promised earlier in the thread here's a short video looking up close at the cars I had done with full PPF first, in September 2012, and last in February 2017.

Sorry, don't know how to embed it and the embed link from Vimeo wouldn't work so clickety click to view.

I hope this and the debate throughout this thread helps you choose the best paint protection for your car.

https://vimeo.com/256432495

Edited by _Leg_ on Monday 19th February 17:34

Thanks for posting - really do love that Boxster - great colour combo - 997.2 RS still looking good too - as is the garage - is it living up to expectations - that was a great thread

Cheers. I'm off to Wales for a few days with some mates tomorrow. They all have 'exotics' but we've decided to take our DD stuff so I'm taking the Boxster S, there's a Golf R, an RS6 V10 and something else but he's keeping that as a surprise. Something new I'm guessing.

That's the old garage that's attached to the house. It's ok but I work on cars in there and I store whatever I'm using as my DD there too so it's not as smart as the main garage. The new one that is detached from the house, the one that that build thread covered, is the one below. Both are superb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRvnNs905sk

[MartinRS2K]

_Leg_ said:

RSVP911 said:

_Leg_ said:

As promised earlier in the thread here's a short video looking up close at the cars I had done with full PPF first, in September 2012, and last in February 2017.

Sorry, don't know how to embed it and the embed link from Vimeo wouldn't work so clickety click to view.

I hope this and the debate throughout this thread helps you choose the best paint protection for your car.

https://vimeo.com/256432495

Edited by _Leg_ on Monday 19th February 17:34

Thanks for posting - really do love that Boxster - great colour combo - 997.2 RS still looking good too - as is the garage - is it living up to expectations - that was a great thread

Cheers. I'm off to Wales for a few days with some mates tomorrow. They all have 'exotics' but we've decided to take our DD stuff so I'm taking the Boxster S, there's a Golf R, an RS6 V10 and something else but he's keeping that as a surprise. Something new I'm guessing.

That's the old garage that's attached to the house. It's ok but I work on cars in there and I store whatever I'm using as my DD there too so it's not as smart as the main garage. The new one that is detached from the house, the one that that build thread covered, is the one below. Both are superb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRvnNs905sk

What a garage and aesthetically perfect.

[RSVP911]

_Leg_ said:

Cheers. I'm off to Wales for a few days with some mates tomorrow. They all have 'exotics' but we've decided to take our DD stuff so I'm taking the Boxster S, there's a Golf R, an RS6 V10 and something else but he's keeping that as a surprise. Something new I'm guessing.

That's the old garage that's attached to the house. It's ok but I work on cars in there and I store whatever I'm using as my DD there too so it's not as smart as the main garage. The new one that is detached from the house, the one that that build thread covered, is the one below. Both are superb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRvnNs905sk

Yeah that's the one

[paul789]

Ah that 'freshly-detailed-with-ceramic-coating to dent-through-to-the metal-feeling' in 6 days. The trials and tribulations of car ownership.

[worldwidewebs]

Thought I'd add to this thread seeing as there is some useful info here, rather than start yet another...

I'm picking my car up in a few weeks and want to get the front-end PPF done. Reading above, it seems some people say you can see the edges and others say you can't - is this because the edges are wrapped under on all panels or because people aren't really saying what they can see!

I called Reep NW up yesterday and they say they can wrap the edges of the bonnet as they can access them easily, but not on the bumper or wings, which does seem fair enough but goes against what some say.

I know if I have exposed edges they'll end up getting dirty (and it's a yellow car) so want to set my own expectations before I either do or don't go ahead with it. I'm in Cheshire if anyone can add company names to the list of those I should speak with.

[ThePrincipal]

I’m one of those that said I have no edges on my car. It’s Pearl Yellow too.
The lights were removed and all edges of the PPF were hidden. I used Max Protect but they’re quite some distance from Cheshire (although transport isn’t that expensive).

[Digga]

worldwidewebs said:

I'm in Cheshire if anyone can add company names to the list of those I should speak with.

Talk to Steve at Invisifilm in Cheadle Hulme. He does most of hist work at local dealer's showrooms (on new cars) but does also have a unit of his own where he can work on vehicles. Others on here have also used and recommended him.

When I took my GT3 there earlier this year for a front end PPF, he'd got a Ferrari 458 and an Aston DB11 in there, both of which were having full kits, and the quality of fit and finish on those cars was superb.

http://www.invisifilm.co.uk

[worldwidewebs]

Digga said:

alk to Steve at Invisifilm in Cheadle Hulme. He does most of hist work at local dealer's showrooms (on new cars) but does also have a unit of his own where he can work on vehicles. Others on here have also used and recommended him.

When I took my GT3 there earlier this year for a front end PPF, he'd got a Ferrari 458 and an Aston DB11 in there, both of which were having full kits, and the quality of fit and finish on those cars was superb.

http://www.invisifilm.co.uk

Thanks Digga. I’m getting the car from Wilmslow OPC so it’s only a mile or two down the road from there - I’ll call them this morning!

[Digga]

worldwidewebs said:

Digga said:

alk to Steve at Invisifilm in Cheadle Hulme. He does most of hist work at local dealer's showrooms (on new cars) but does also have a unit of his own where he can work on vehicles. Others on here have also used and recommended him.

When I took my GT3 there earlier this year for a front end PPF, he'd got a Ferrari 458 and an Aston DB11 in there, both of which were having full kits, and the quality of fit and finish on those cars was superb.

http://www.invisifilm.co.uk

Thanks Digga. I’m getting the car from Wilmslow OPC so it’s only a mile or two down the road from there - I’ll call them this morning!

They will definitely know him! As I say, the majority of his work is done in the local dealer showrooms.