Need Advice on PPF and Car Washing for the Unwashed

[mutanthands]

That's my point. If i still have to hand wash then i might as well skip the PPF. Im not worried about minor rock chips because its not a museum piece and honestly nobodys gonna care at resale/trade in.

Totally, each to their own.
Personally, I like not worrying about stone chips.etc / keep the car looking better for longer. That's just me, not for the next man. The other benefit is that it is easier to clean. Most of the time I can use snow foam / pressure washer and the dirt just slides off, clean (mostly... ) in less than 10 mins. I'll do a proper wash every 2 - 3 months.
If you change your car every few years, then yes, it is quite an outlay for not that much gain.

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[WuffvonTrips]

That's my point. If i still have to hand wash then i might as well skip the PPF. Im not worried about minor rock chips because its not a museum piece and honestly nobodys gonna care at resale/trade in.

My SA said they'd had quite a few Taycans coming for resale that needed full-panel resprays of the rear doors as the standard small piece of PPF (where the door flares out to the rear wheel arch) didn't protect a large enough area. They suggested I take it to a PPF installer for this as a bare minimum (PPF isn't a service that my dealer offers).

 

[BigBob]

My SA said they'd had quite a few Taycans coming for resale that needed full-panel resprays of the rear doors as the standard small piece of PPF (where the door flares out to the rear wheel arch) didn't protect a large enough area. They suggested I take it to a PPF installer for this as a bare minimum (PPF isn't a service that my dealer offers).

Sounds like a bit of dealer teeth sucking and walking around the car shaking heads in order to get the bid down for the cars coming in! Sorry, being cynical again.

 

[WuffvonTrips]

Sounds like a bit of dealer teeth sucking and walking around the car shaking heads in order to get the bid down for the cars coming in! Sorry, being cynical again.

I'd agree if I'd been trading one in- but the context was me finalising my build and telling them I didn't want any PPF and certainly not the factory front PPF option, to which they advised that I should at least take it to an installer to get the rear door panels done. (I eventually ended up with PPF front and doors once I realised how prominently the front chips and the flank gets brushed by overgrown hedgerow on narrow country lanes.)

 

[j.w.s]

So, I'm going to be real honest here. And I've read every relevant thread multiple times over. So I thought I'd consolidate my concerns into one post..

This is my first car over $50k MSRP. Waited my whole life for a luxury vehicle, and pulled the trigger on a very equipped 4S due to arrive somewhere between next week and October. I always start out all careful with my cars, buying nice cleaning products, and then let it all go to pot. Raised 3 kids (plus carpools) in an Odyssey and then a Pilot and... yeah, I gave up. But, I don't want to F up this car!! Only detailing I ever got was the Odyssey like 10 years ago and I was underwhelmed and never bothered again, even though I meant to.

Our Tesla X and jet owning/piloting friends own the local popular car wash chain so we have a membership there. It's good, but swirls abound. So far I've scheduled XPel PPF for the front, doors and headlights ($4k or something, I didn't even write it down). They say an auto car wash is fine. But now I'm thinking, what about what isn't covered? Maybe I should see what a full custom wrap will cost.

Considering I'm so lazy with just pulling out a dustbuster and seat wipe, I gotta be realistic that I shouldn't aim for the stars on what my husband and I will promise to do in this area. Yes, my dad would be out there with the soap and turtle wax in the driveway nearly every weekend when I was a kid, and I'd like to do the buff off and see it shine, but that's where it ended.

I was looking at those low PSI pressure washers that shoot out foam... maybe a no-rinse wash from XPel. Something that is not super labor intensive but doable if I can make it fun. We have a real pressure washer, but ugh, so big and loud. Should I really go with the exorbitant full PPF & Ceramic expense? Find a good detailer and just go regularly? Suck it up and go to the brushless car wash (no touchless around here)?

TLDR: I'm a cheap slob but want a sparkling car at all times. Help me find a middle ground!

We can start with this well-known fact: Any mechanical car wash - rotary bristles, flappy cloth, anything - will swirl the heck out of your car, and pretty quickly. If you don't like swirls, you will absolutely need to avoid those beasts now and forever. The cure for swirls is a "paint perfection" session, which will cost you quite a bit of money and a significant amount of your remaining clear coat thickness. You only get a handful of those before the paint is gone.

PPF is to some extent "self healing" so I would expect it to protect those specific parts covered in film from car wash swirls for some length of time. But you can't cover everyting in film, and the self-healing won't work perfectly or forever. Perhaps someone who coughed up $6-12K for full PPF and still uses a mechanical car wash (a Venn diagram that I suspect has little to no overlap) can chime in with some direct experience on longevity?

Good ceramic coating are quite tough. They reduce but do not prevent swirls. And when you do get swirls, they are 5x more difficult to remove since you have to polish away the entire ceramic coating.

Definitely do at least some PPF, definitely do the ceramic over everything, and get yourself a car wash regimine as gentle as your budget and time allow. I strongly favor the 'pressure washer', 'foam cannon', and 'spot-free rinse' approach. My pressure washer was - like yours - quite loud, so I switched to a higher-end unit with a big hose reel, and mounted it inside the garage. Now I roll out the car, roll out some hose, and then shut the garage door to contain the noise inside while I wash the car outside. I can wash, rinse, and blow dry the car in about five minutes if I'm in a hurry, 15 if not.

 

[nischalr]

I am the type of person that gets affected by stone chips, not because I'm worried about resale value or how the car should look for the next owner, but because I'm a little OCD? I have done PPF on the front clip on the last few cars I have had and more recently also ceramic coated the whole car.

The PPF gives me much more peace of mind for the sake of a little more sanity and the ceramic coating helps keep the car looking cleaner longer between washes and allows for much easier cleaning.

I have been getting hand washes once every 1-2 weeks and this has been a nice balance for me.

I came to realize quickly that tunnel carwashes with the tracks for the wheels will really mess up our Porsches, both the wheels and the undercarriage flaps in front of the rear wheels will otherwise get destroyed. Highly recommend a trackless auto car wash, or touchless even better if you intend to get automatic washes done.

My incoming Taycan will be my first car that I will be getting full body PPF. I suppose because of how low the car is and the color that I am getting (neptune Blue which is a flat color that can show swirls and marks easier than a metallic finish) I wanted even more peace of mind and ease of maintenance simply to suit my own temperament.

Is it really cost effective? No

Is it worth it to me for the enjoyment of my ownership experience for 4-5 years , yes.

This is a personal decision based on ones own tolerances are for these things. I can completely intellectually agree with those that say that this is just a car and it should be used and not fret over small cosmetics, but I also introspectively have learned what gives me the most joy in an ownership experience for a car that is just as much of an emotional purchase than just simply transportation. Because, honestly a Taycan is in no way a practical, or value based form of transportation in the end.

Finding your tolerance for cosmetic blemishes and ease of maintenance will guide your decision for PPF (Front clip or full) and ceramic. Your budget tolerance and how you realistically intend to cosmetically maintain the car will of course play a role as well.

Hopefully all of the very varied responses in this thread will arm you with all you need to make a decision on how to proceed.

 

[nischalr]

Totally agree, hence worth the investment for me for sure.

 

[WuffvonTrips]

Several years ago I was told by my host at the Silverstone Experience Centre that they fully PPF all their fleet, presumably it's worth the expense. I don't think they keep cars for more than 6 months (maybe as few as 3 months?), though I assume they get washed at the end of every session.

 

[annieland]

I am the type of person that gets affected by stone chips, not because I'm worried about resale value or how the car should look for the next owner, but because I'm a little OCD? I have done PPF on the front clip on the last few cars I have had and more recently also ceramic coated the whole car.

The PPF gives me much more peace of mind for the sake of a little more sanity and the ceramic coating helps keep the car looking cleaner longer between washes and allows for much easier cleaning.

I have been getting hand washes once every 1-2 weeks and this has been a nice balance for me.

I came to realize quickly that tunnel carwashes with the tracks for the wheels will really mess up our Porsches, both the wheels and the undercarriage flaps in front of the rear wheels will otherwise get destroyed. Highly recommend a trackless auto car wash, or touchless even better if you intend to get automatic washes done.

My incoming Taycan will be my first car that I will be getting full body PPF. I suppose because of how low the car is and the color that I am getting (neptune Blue which is a flat color that can show swirls and marks easier than a metallic finish) I wanted even more peace of mind and ease of maintenance simply to suit my own temperament.

Is it really cost effective? No

Is it worth it to me for the enjoyment of my ownership experience for 4-5 years , yes.

This is a personal decision based on ones own tolerances are for these things. I can completely intellectually agree with those that say that this is just a car and it should be used and not fret over small cosmetics, but I also introspectively have learned what gives me the most joy in an ownership experience for a car that is just as much of an emotional purchase than just simply transportation. Because, honestly a Taycan is in no way a practical, or value based form of transportation in the end.

Finding your tolerance for cosmetic blemishes and ease of maintenance will guide your decision for PPF (Front clip or full) and ceramic. Your budget tolerance and how you realistically intend to cosmetically maintain the car will of course play a role as well.

Hopefully all of the very varied responses in this thread will arm you with all you need to make a decision on how to proceed.

Thank you so much, and yes all the responses have been IMMENSELY helpful. I know if I spring for full PPF it's highly doubtful I'll be outside with a couple of buckets every week or two. Heck, without PPF I probably wouldn't either... but then I'd be stressed out constantly and hating myself much more.

So much of this is personal psychology, I really agree. It's a running joke how I don't take the plastic wrap off new things for waaay longer than what is considered sane. Why? Because I'm afraid I'll "ruin it." I was so afraid to damage that leased Focus I mentioned before, that I got nervous pulling into the garage and on the 2nd day drove straight into the door frame. And what did little miss perfect do? Said F it, and drove around with it just like that for the next 2 and a half years.

At my age I obviously know my own crazy, and that's why I'm trying to find a realistic middle ground where I can love my car unconditionally as well as myself, if that makes sense. The full Xpel PPF from the place I've scheduled with looks to be around $7800, after I tell them to take the roof off the quote because it's glass. While I wait I'm going to get one of those foam spray things and fool around with it on our other cars and see how doable it is. It's always fun to buy new car cleaning stuff, right?? And I got so many good recommendations now!

Thanks again everyone for bearing with me and yet another "how do I wash my car" thread!

 

[laua]

I didn‘t have my last ”fun“ car, a 2008 335 convertible, ppf’d (didn’t know what it was back then nor would I have been willing to splurge 6k on a wrap) but kept it clean with minimal effort using just detail spray and occasional rinse. That said I also only drove it in the summer so didn’t have to contend with winter salt and what not. Unfortunately someone did a hit and run on my car in the commuter lot once, which ppf can’t prevent anyways.

This time around, I think I’m gonna go with the full ppf to mitigate the winter salt/sludge, my bad parking skills/general clumsiness, and the kids‘ backpacks, bike handles and what not! Still seems expensive but like others said, guess it buys peace of mind.

@annieland, would be curious how your ppf comes out. I think you’re the only other inbound frozen berry and I'm dying to see how stealth ppf might turn out if you are considering it.

 

[annieland]

I didn‘t have my last ”fun“ car, a 2008 335 convertible, ppf’d (didn’t know what it was back then nor would I have been willing to splurge 6k on a wrap) but kept it clean with minimal effort using just detail spray and occasional rinse. That said I also only drove it in the summer so didn’t have to contend with winter salt and what not. Unfortunately someone did a hit and run on my car in the commuter lot once, which ppf can’t prevent anyways.

This time around, I think I’m gonna go with the full ppf to mitigate the winter salt/sludge, my bad parking skills/general clumsiness, and the kids‘ backpacks, bike handles and what not! Still seems expensive but like others said, guess it buys peace of mind.

@annieland, would be curious how your ppf comes out. I think you’re the only other inbound frozen berry and I'm dying to see how stealth ppf might turn out if you are considering it.

Oh no stealth for me, sorry! I want this color to sparkle and shine!! There are so many nuances to it that I feel wouldn't be fully appreciated with a stealth wrap. But I'm all for sending pics when all is said and done!

As an aside, the contract was up on my and my daughter's phones, so I was replacing her smashed up iPhone yesterday after making her wait the 3 extra months until it was paid off, and AT&T seemed to think my iPhone 11 is worth $800, so I traded it for a 14 Pro Max for exactly 2 reasons:

1. To take good pictures of my new Taycan
2. Because it comes in a purple color that matches my leather interior

And I took the plastic off the front right away!!! But didn't use it until my case and screen protector came in today. Whew!

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