Protecting that new-car shine

^ I could be mistaken but pretty sure they serve two completely different functions. The ceramic is essentially a top grade finish option, ie. wanting a better than showroom shine or want that shine back, this option is for you. Whereas the Xpel is a protective film to protect your finish.

 

That's correct. The ceramic coatings are intended to be long term paint protection beyond what a wax can provide. It's also harder than the clearcoat so it does offer an improved level of scratch protection.

The films are intended to be protection only from scratching and high speed debris impacts while driving.

 

Keep shopping those are crazy prices. My latest quote in June was $1200 for full impact Xpel and $600 for ceramic with paint correction. $100 more for wheels. So $1900 total.

All this from top shops in the area who handle a lot of the work from high end dealers. I paid a total of $1100 for all of that about 4 years ago from same shops.

Maybe Mid-West pricing? 1 hint is to go direct not through another shop or dealer who will add their margin on top.

 

Ah ok. That makes sense.

Does the ceramic coating dull or alter the finish/look in any way? Or is it just as shiny as paint?

I am more concerned with keeping it looking new, rather than it actually staying new (if that makes sense).

I am not willing to put any kind of coating/protection on it that makes it look even 1% worse or dull.

I never keep a vehicle longer than 3 years max, with 2 years being the norm. So I am not worried about making the paint last 7-10 years, I just want it to look new all the time.

To be honest, I’m already second guessing my decision to not hold out for the Lambo Anus. If I don’t just LOVE this SVR, I’ll probably unass it pretty quick.

But anyway, before putting something on it that makes it look worse/dull, I would rather just do nothing but keep it clean, then repaint the whole thing...or just unass it completely.

 

I keep seeing “paint correction” mentioned, and it is seems to be mentioned in the same posts as the ceramic.

So does that mean paint correction + ceramic is something usually done after the vehicle gets 1-2 years old, to make it look new again?

Or can/should you do it to new vehicles also?

 

All just IMHO, but I actually think you should do paint correction immediately on most brand new cars. Buddy of mine owns a detail shop that specializes in high end cars. A lot of his client base ships their new cars straight from the dealership to him before they even drive it. You see a brand new S class and think "Man, what are you talking about? It looks perfect!", then he gets done with it and it's just next level. Then he does either the ceramic thing or the clear wrap. Just depends on the owner. A lot of the exotics end up with a full wrap job, and when he's done, I can't tell that there is a wrap on it. Though I never looked at it with polarized glasses as mentioned above.

For you Broome, probably just the ceramic since you don't own anything long enough for it to really matter.

 

Should probably be labeled paint prep to avoid confusion. You're just prepping the surface so the new product looks/works/performs/ to its potential.

 

Paint is always imperfect even if it looks great, can always be better, which helps the new layer of product .

 

"Correction" is a selling point. They're using it to convince guys that the paint on the $250k car they just bought isn't perfect, so they need to spend $5k to "correct" it before the ceramic coating and wrap is applied.

I'm sure it's true to a point, but Mooney is correct that it's really just prep.

 

For the length of time you keep a vehicle you're probably best just to get a top flight detailer to sort it out the week you pick the car up.

 

Not completely prep tho, as the detailers seem to offer several levels of "correction". It would be correct to call their first level "prep" if you're going for the ceramics option.

 

translation:

how many man hours do you want to pay me to do this:






cause it fuckin' sucks. we have 3 levels of how much arthritis you wish for me to have and will pay for and how much orange peel you still wish to see in your reflection.

 

well played. (hard to find an animated wet sanding gif haha)

 

But it is a spot on description. It is a typical use of marketing to make something sound more complicated than it really is....

Think about a body shop...who is the guy one step above the new kid sweeping the floor?

The guy wet sanding....

Again....not rocket surgery. Just tedious and labor intensive.

 

If I was buying a really high end car that I intended to keep long term, this would be the way to go.

 

My Broome-like tendency is to start disliking a car when it has cosmetic flaws. So for me, ppf is more worth it vs ceramic except on wheels. If I pay $750 for impact ppf it honestly may save me from losing far more when I hate my car and turn it over faster. For wheels, ceramic is nice because it makes brake dust and road grime very easy to clean.

Ppf protects against big rocks or perpetual sand blasting. Ceramic is Wax 2.0.

 

I thought I was the only one that trade in cars because it has rock chips or some stupid scratch on it. I also never own a car with body work for long.

Nice to meet you friend

 

"Full impact XPEL" sounds like front bumper, partial hood (18"-30" coverage), fenders, mirrors and headlights which is pretty standard. Maybe full hood and fenders, if so good deal.

I definitely recommend independent installer who is listed on the website as a certified dealer/installer to make sure you're covered in warranty situations by the company as they will make things right with the customer. You want someone who's been doing this a long time and does this everyday, it makes a difference on the install and finished product.

Also, some places will charge less because they "bulk film" a car using a roll of film and cut it on your car with a razor knife rather than paying for software and plotter to use pre-cut patterns. So it's important to talk to shops/installers to find out what they using and installation methods, etc.

 

Sounds like you're a candidate for new car detailing/paint correction (as others have mentioned), full paint protection film AND ceramic coating on top to the ppf!

People have high quality paint protection film installed on their high end cars everyday, similar of mind to you and they definitely wouldn't be doing it if it diminished the look and/or finish. You've probably seen some nice cars in person that had full film install and didn't even know it was there.