PPF wrap - essential?

[Novemberwhisky]

The GTS ST has arrived at the dealer, pickup next week. Considering the protection options. Is PPF considered essential and ceramic coating? Any feedback and thoughts much appreciated.

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[Archimedes]

Yes. Or no. Depends on who you ask.

 

[JustWatching]

I didn't do it. I wish I had. Planning on doing it now but it is now more work. If you care about chips, do it.

 

[RSouthern]

It's not essential, but if you live in an area where you get stone chips on the front bumper and hood, and if you care, then it's probably worth looking into.

I personally think the cost of PPF on the front (hood, bumpers, front fenders) is a good balance to add protection while driving. Doing the doors, trunk and roof adds less value since these don't usually get damaged, but saying that, my wife's X7 has a small chip from a stone on the driver's door and was just this week bumped by a car from behind that was parallel parking and the PPF would have taken the damage, instead of the paint (we're now looking at pulling and respraying the bumper for a lot more than the cost of putting the PPF on that area).

I think it really comes down to how much do you fret over chips and scratches?

 

[RAHRCR]

The GTS ST has arrived at the dealer, pickup next week. Considering the protection options. Is PPF considered essential and ceramic coating? Any feedback and thoughts much appreciated.

PPF essential for preventing typical rock chip damage.
Ceramic essential for chemical resistance and a great user experience in washing the car. (Btw, you can get similar results with spray on coatings)

If neither of these are important to you, then not essential.

 

[PorscheLimburg]

The GTS ST has arrived at the dealer, pickup next week. Considering the protection options. Is PPF considered essential and ceramic coating? Any feedback and thoughts much appreciated.

Ceramic coating is a hype, don't do it. But I do have PPF on the whole car. I have a Cross and do use it like one (gravel roads, forrests, etc) so I want to protect the car completely. But if your only doing on-road I would have put it only on the nose.

 

[gtm]

The GTS ST has arrived at the dealer, pickup next week. Considering the protection options. Is PPF considered essential and ceramic coating? Any feedback and thoughts much appreciated.

As has been stated above - if you want to avoid stone chips do PPF. My car takes most of the abuse on the highway and front half PPF has saved the paint multiple times. So far not a single mark on the non-PPF'd doors or rear section (and I have the manual charge doors with open air curtain vents). Ceramic has limited but real benefits. Water rolls off, micro scratches from drying are prevented, dirt and droppings do not stick. Almost zero protection from rocks and shopping carts. Ceramic is also a DIY project if you enjoy that kind of project.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

OP, I'm in the 'no' camp (actually, more like "fuckthat" camp further down the road) but you have to know the car's shape, construction and paint combine into a very chippable unit. I've gotten 3-4 (haven't checked this morning) over 12k miles/8 months. No car I ever owned (quite a few) had amassed as many or as quickly. It wouldn't have changed my decision, but judging by your choice of model & trim I'd say you may be more inclined to keep its appearance pristine.

 

[Nipri]

The GTS ST has arrived at the dealer, pickup next week. Considering the protection options. Is PPF considered essential and ceramic coating? Any feedback and thoughts much appreciated.

Definitely worth it. Last week someone went at the back of my car & even though it looked damage was substantial but PPF protected it. Only very minor damage. So glad for PPF!

 

[TXAG]

The GTS ST has arrived at the dealer, pickup next week. Considering the protection options. Is PPF considered essential and ceramic coating? Any feedback and thoughts much appreciated.

Both are essential for me.
-- PPF: Lots of rock chips here on the Arizona USA roadways. My wife lost two windshields in four months.
-- Ceramic: Despite its aerodynamic shape, my 2022 RWD is a magnet for bug splat. The ceramic coating makes cleaning much easier.

OP, there are good reasons to do them and good reasons not to. Hopefully our comments here can help you make the right choice for you.

 

[WuffvonTrips]

Rather than repeat my responses in all the other threads asking the same question, I'll pose a question- how will the impact on resale value of blemished paintwork compare with the cost cost of PPF? That's not a loaded question- I can't even answer it for my own scenario (I do have PPF). And even with that answered, there's the matter of how much of an issue would those blemishes be for you?

 

[ciaranob]

Just for ref too - 100% essential for me and do it to every new car I have.

But in addition to rock chips (primary purpose) I had some turd try to key my car recently - not sure exactly what the heck he/she was using but it basically peeled off a piece of the PPF in a1/3" wide and 6" long strip that when I first saw it I thought crap, major paint job. But took that piece of PPF off (it was a separate piece on a fender cover), removed the remnant backing glue and polished the clearcoat and it was ENTIRELY undamaged !! Was def lucky they did not dig in deeper but w/o PPF I would most defd be looking at a paint job.

One more - on my previous M4 convertible another turd on a phone literally just pulled sideways from his lane and bumped up against my entire front fender area pushing me to the curb. Long story short, I was amazed to see no apparent damage to my paint/bodywork, andI seriously just buffed out the 'stripes' left on my PPF and they literally disappeared - again no damage to paint and this time not even to the PPF! Saved hundreds if not close to thousands on re-paint repairs.

 

[RAHRCR]

Rather than repeat my responses in all the other threads asking the same question, I'll pose a question- how will the impact on resale value of blemished paintwork compare with the cost cost of PPF? That's not a loaded question- I can't even answer it for my own scenario (I do have PPF). And even with that answered, there's the matter of how much of an issue would those blemishes be for you?

In my view, it’s generally not worth it if the intent is to recover the cost of the service later. It’s cheaper to do some touch-ups and a detail before selling it on.

I went to the extreme but I was willing to toss financial logic aside.

 

[4thPcar]

I just skimmed the responses and surprised that I didn't see anyone comment on how easy the car is to clean with these coatings. I didn't own the car for much time without PPF/ceramic but it seems I never need to wash it. Dirt seems to bounce right off. It always looks clean!

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