Payment Protection Film - good idea?

[alexoctagon]

Hi, I've just put a deposit down on a 540c and the company has offered to do the ppf on the front end for £1700+vat, is this a good idea and reasonable cost?

[Camlet]

alexoctagon said:

Hi, I've just put a deposit down on a 540c and the company has offered to do the ppf on the front end for £1700+vat, is this a good idea and reasonable cost?

100%

[Truffles]

Yes, well worth it, and that is a good cost for full ppf. Check who is doing it though. Some companies are better than others.

[alexoctagon]

I think they have a good reputation. That cost is bonnet, splitters, A pillars and mirrors. They also mentioned a ceramic coating option for the remainder of the car, not sure if that's a good idea too?

[barchetta_boy]

PPF is a good idea for sure if you have elite / pearlescent paint. If the car is standard white, it's more a toss up.

£1700+VAT is a lot - I got mine done for £700 (cash, no VAT) which was front bumper, front wings half way up and half way up the bonnet.

It's not a service I would buy from the dealer selling the car, I'd shop around a bit. Same goes for detailing / ceramic protection.

[Pioneer]

barchetta_boy said:

It's not a service I would buy from the dealer selling the car, I'd shop around a bit. Same goes for detailing / ceramic protection.

This 100%

Do NOT get the dealer to do it. Get PPF done but go to an independent who will prepare it PROPERLY and arrange with you to have it detailed if necessary. Nothing like ceramic coating or PPF over the top of delivery dirt, polish, wax, finger prints etc! Whoever they use normally travels to the dealership and does it on-site (never the best result and can be rushed) or they do it themselves with a member of staff who's been on a 1-day training course! I had SunTec put on the bumper, bonnet, wings, lights and mirror caps at £1500 inclusive. Done by Paintshield in Peterborough. Great job, great product. Topaz also have a good reputation.

[DarrenKMC]

Don't go for half panels (most companies don't offer it anymore anyway) but it's false economy; get chips on the higher unprotected area's and when you eventually want to repaint it the film has to come off anyway.

In most instances the installation time isn't much different either - it's just as easy to fit complete panels as neatly align 3 half panels across the cars front end - so it's more just the additional material cost.

Lot's of companies out there as mentioned so worth checking a few out.

[Pioneer]

... and if you go for PPF make sure they use pre-cut templates. You don't want any knives near the car

[Yipper]

As others have said, go to a pro detailer who specialises in the process and does a lot of PPFs and ceramic coatings for their full-time job. PPFs can tug paintwork and crinkle / unravel at the edges if not done properly. Post the request on Detailingworld.co.uk, the world's biggest detailing website, and the crowdsource will give a good answer.

One example (no connections to them):

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...

[anonymous-user]

If only there was a Payment protection film!

[Pioneer]

garyhun said:

If only there was a Payment protection film!

And then have a million phone calls for the next 10 years asking if is was mis-sold

[The Surveyor]

How good is the paint on the McLarens?

I know from past cars that some paint is terrible and chips easily where some paint is fantastically durable. I'm picking up a new 570s next weekend and want to know if there'll be any paint left on the car by the time I get it home?

[Targarama]

How long does PPF last? The quoted cost of over £2k pays for a good front respray on most cars.

I've owned low cars for years and never had it, and I am really not a fan of it, especially if it starts to show on the odd corner.

[The Surveyor]

If the paint comes off in lumps like it does on the alloy skinned bonnet on my Aston then it's needed, if you see loads of tiny chips like I did on my old Tuscan after 50k miles then it's marginal, if the paint is as good as it is on the nose of my Volvo after 110k miles then PPF is an utter waste of money IMHO.

I'd be interested in some first-hand opinions given the cost of the film is similar to the cost of a couple of front-end resprays, or a dozen SMART repairs.

[Beefmeister]

I can highly recommend Auto Curators. They're proper detailers and also do PPF.

Proper professional outfit, they'd be my first port of call.

https://autocurators.com/

[Pioneer]

Over the years quite a few people have told me having front ends painted on certain high-end marques is frowned upon. Changes the DNA of the car or some tosh like that. Chips are better than paint apparently!!! Not in my book. Anyway a decent clear PPF deals with that.

[theRossatron]

Targarama said:

How long does PPF last? The quoted cost of over £2k pays for a good front respray on most cars.

I've owned low cars for years and never had it, and I am really not a fan of it, especially if it starts to show on the odd corner.

I'd rather have factory paint than some half arsed-overspray-bodge job-gotta-get-home-it's-Friday respray like 99% of I see. I think it makes the £2k in protection worth it.

[anonymous-user]

theRossatron said:

Targarama said:

How long does PPF last? The quoted cost of over £2k pays for a good front respray on most cars.

I've owned low cars for years and never had it, and I am really not a fan of it, especially if it starts to show on the odd corner.

I'd rather have factory paint than some half arsed-overspray-bodge job-gotta-get-home-it's-Friday respray like 99% of I see. I think it makes the £2k in protection worth it.

Most older cars have have had a respray at some time and while I get your point I fall in to the camp that a proper respray when and if required is better than PPF which seldom looks right after a year or so anyhow. Stone chips show use. They aren't a bad thing, and are of course completely invisible from behind the wheel. IMHO of course.

[v12v8]

Definitely. 3 weeks after getting my car an "enthusiast" rubbed against the wing with a heavy zip and scoured the PPF. It protected the paint. Cost to replace the PPF on the damaged panel was c £150. Has the car not had PPF, the cost of matching the volcano paint was quoted as being "substantial". Given the excess on my insurance, this would have been a real cost to me.

[DarrenKMC]

v12v8 said:

Definitely. 3 weeks after getting my car an "enthusiast" rubbed against the wing with a heavy zip and scoured the PPF. It protected the paint. Cost to replace the PPF on the damaged panel was c £150. Has the car not had PPF, the cost of matching the volcano paint was quoted as being "substantial". Given the excess on my insurance, this would have been a real cost to me.

Hi Nick, Hope you're enjoying your car, it looks awesome; Congrats!
By pure coincidence I was stood in the reception at Topaz collecting a car when you called them regarding the damaged PPF. Any damage is unfortunate but thought to myself glad you did it and have seen benefit already!