[edragta]

I’m curious to know how many of you have installed PPF in your cars and why?

I’m considering wrapping the front and sides of my car when it arrives to prevent damage from people keying the paint. I live in a high risk/metropolitan area and will park outside. Planning in moving in less than a year but for now that’s what I have to do

Looking to see some real experiences and do you think it was worth installing?

What parts of the car did you cover?

Price would be nice to know as reference.

Thank you all!

[iupui1299]

I was quoted $1,200 today for front bumper. Very pricey. I think it was an additional $800 for the hood and side mirrors.

[FirstTimeChevy23]

I'm just finishing up doing PPF on my car. It's honestly not that hard to do yourself... granted you have a well insulted and heated garage to do it in.

For 630 bucks, I covered my front bumper, partial hood, mirrors, and partial fenders. It's not 100% amazing looking, but overall. Happy with it.

[WhiteMale]

Im not impressed by it and the last two cars I've had haven't had a chipping problem IMHO. Nothing to justify the cost that I can see. I DD'd my 1LE for >4 years and chipping wasn't an issue, same as the Mustang before that. Im comfortable with a dab of touch up when necessary.
Where I DID have some film on the Camaro in front of the rear wheel, that stuff didn't stand up, again, IMHO, that I'd want to go over the car with it. IN that instance a $15 mud flap has proven to stop the road rash down the side of the car (1LE and my now ZL1).

[keep_hope_alive]

For the installed price, i can buy a few new bumpers if eventual rock chips are that distracting. I can pay for a respray of those areas if need be.

I strongly considered PPF and have a local XPEL guy. But, to me, a rock chip isn't the end of the world. And I found it hard to decide where to stop - since you can't have a seam in the middle of a panel you need to follow the natural seams.

I would have wanted paint correction first then PPF then ceramic coating on that and it's a lot of money for a condom.

[Jus Cruisin]

Each to his own but I look at ppf like what my folks did to their car interiors back in the 50's with the clear plastic seat covers. Just saving the car for the next owner. A few paint chips are "badges of honor" that the car is actually driven. My vehicles are always clean and shiny WITH a chip or 3. It's not worth obsessing over and it certainly isn't worth the cost of ppf to me.

[DaveC113]

You need to consider where and how you drive your car. Here in CO your paint will get sandblasted if you drive in the mountains, and it only takes one drive down I70 in a snow storm and your front bumper and the area in front of your rear wheels is f'ed. In this case retouching and repainting are not good options, but PPF will almost 100% solve the issue and last at least 5 years. If you drive on track, you need PPF or some other product to prevent significant paint damage, those rocks come at you a lot faster.

I also DIY'ed my car, cost around $500 using a kit for the front bumper and bulk film everywhere else, but it took me A LOT of time. You can also easily waste a ton of cash on film if you screw up, and it's best to do it in a very clean area with good lighting. It's not rocket science, but it's not easy. If you're a skilled craftsman in some way, go for it, if not maybe save yourself time and money and have a pro do it.

I was recently looking at used cars and the ones w/o PPF often had major paint damage, one had 26k miles on it and would cost around $5k to get it back close to new. So those saying it's not worth it... that's only for you and where and how you drive your car, and your experience of only getting a few chips doesn't apply to everyone, and there are certainly cases where PPF is well worth it.

[ZPirate]

Originally Posted by edragta

I’m curious to know how many of you have installed PPF in your cars and why?

I’m considering wrapping the front and sides of my car when it arrives to prevent damage from people keying the paint. I live in a high risk/metropolitan area and will park outside. Planning in moving in less than a year but for now that’s what I have to do

Looking to see some real experiences and do you think it was worth installing?

What parts of the car did you cover?

Price would be nice to know as reference.

Thank you all!

My 1LE is my first experience with PPF. I realize it's not for everyone, but I'm kind of obsessive about my vehicles. I had the front bumper and the headlights done along with the side mirrors. Total cost was right at $900. Well worth it to me for the protection of the paint. So far it's holding up great. I have ACS rock guards and side skirts to protect the lower parts of the car.

As large and relatively flat as the front of the Camaro is you are going to get rock chips on the bumper unless you do something to protect it.

[2SS Capt]

My 2020 2SS was my first experience with PPF, I have been very happy with it (professionally installed Xpel), 7,600 miles and the car is still perfect, no rock chips and the PPF looks great. Granted, this is a weekend/fun car so not my DD but it does get driven (on the highway as well). I think I paid about $1,600 for the Xpel 3 years ago if I remember correctly... (Just realized today is the 3 year anniversary of me taking delivery of my SS!)

Here is where I did the Xpel... (the grill isn't covered)

[jamala00]

I've never had it on any vehicles I've ever owned, but it was on my Camaro I bought from the previous owner. If I bought a new Camaro I would not put it back on. I just don't see it worth the cost, but I also don't see ceramic coating worth the cost. I've owned all my other vehicles for 10+years without ppf or ceramic coating and the finish still looked new. Those were all also winter driven vehicles.

[Need4Camaro]

For me it was worth it. I take alot of long drives cross country so alot of interstate and bugs.. ..my front bumper was trash in less than 50k miles. After the PPF there's no wear.

[FH212]

My first experience with PPF was on my Camaro. I had a local shop put Xpel on just the front bumper. It wasnt cheap. Then when I bought my 21 Lexus IS350 I had another local shop install the 3M PPF on the front bumper, gloss black grill trim, half the hood, headlights and mirrors. That cost the same for the 3M all those areas as it did for the Xpel on my front bumper of the Camaro. Here in NM there is sand on the roads from all the open areas. So your front end will be destroyed with even limited mileage. I bought the Lexus and a new Camry 3 days apart. The Lexus front end is perfect and the Camry when I traded it in 2 months ago was sandblasted and rock chipped and already in need of a respray with only 20k miles on the odometer. PPF is well worth the money depending on the road conditions where you live.

[ariZona28]

Originally Posted by edragta

I’m considering wrapping the front and sides of my car when it arrives to prevent damage from people keying the paint. I live in a high risk/metropolitan area and will park outside. Planning in moving in less than a year but for now that’s what I have to do

PPF is good at deterring rock chips but it will NOT deter vandalism.

[Grumpy1]

70% of the time I'm on the interstate for 15-25 minutes. The bigger trucks and 18 wheelers are always kicking up small debris...
That was my main reason and would do it again in a heartbeat...