Just hit 9000 miles, paint chips everywhere :(

[Jimmy2]

8 months, 8 thous miles: Two paint dings so far. The Star White touch up paint did a great job.

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[Mirak]

The paint on the MMEs is much more prone to chipping than any car I have ever owned. You really have to factor front end PPF into the cost of ownership.

 

[benk016]

My Expedition did have less damage compared to the cars I have owned because, like a F150, it is much higher off the pavement. Rocks sometimes bounce up high, but most of that debris stays closer to the ground after getting kicked up by other vehicles.



Very interested to hear how your PPF wears over time, as I have never tried it and I am skeptical it can prevent the damage I have seen on my cars. The small stuff maybe, but bigger chips? Post some updates after you have several thousand highway miles!

I just traded my FE 8 days ago for the GT. I had the PPF put on around 4,000 miles, and traded it in at 10,500. The front end looked just as good as the day the PPF was put on. There was one spot on the hood that looks like a rock maybe had hit it just right and made a mark in the PPF, but you could see there was no paint damage underneath.

 

[shoopla]

Honestly after living in road-crumbling and truck-filled PA for 40+ years I was expecting about the amount of chips I've actually seen. Just under 1k miles on my GTPE and picked up one large chip on the hood and a few small ones on the "grill".
I had a previous car covered in the 3M stuff on the leading hood edge, which has a similar profile to the GTPE, and don't think it was really worth the investment. It may have protected it from a few extra small chips, but eventually needs replaced for a cost greater than touch-up paint and still had chips through the coating. Chips are pretty easy to touchup and refinish, especially the shadow black (it does show the chips more readily than other colors but in my experience it's the easiest to color match). If you are technically competent enough to install the coatings/wraps, then maybe it's a different story on the cost savings.
As others said, chips don't really effect the trade-in value, especially up in the colder climates where they tend to mix stones in with road salt and fill potholes with temporary patches that get torn up after 2 days.
I did order an aerodeflector since it was only $60 on eBay (Ford's is $100), that's due here next week, so I'll see if that helps or if I don't like the looks of it.

 

[RedDeath1337]

8 months, 8 thous miles: Two paint dings so far. The Star White touch up paint did a great job.

Do you happen to know the part # you used?

 

[mkhuffman]

I did order an aerodeflector since it was only $60 on eBay (Ford's is $100), that's due here next week, so I'll see if that helps or if I don't like the looks of it.

I was planning to get one of those also. Post pictures if you can!

 

[SignMD]

No PPF, but I did ceramic coat it at 4000 miles. Roughly 50% of my miles are interstate driving. Now that I'm up to 9000 miles I'm seeing paint chips on the hood, "A" pillars, even before the flare out on the rear passenger side door.

What's my best course of action if I plan on owning this for the next 5-10 years? Should I get the paint chip kit and fill each one in as I go, or take it to a paint shop for fixes, or take it to a ppf shop and be prepared to drop 3-4k? Does PPF guarantee no paint chipping?

As a side note I don't remember my F-150 picking up nearly as many paint chips as this car, although I am very meticulous in taking care of the mme, maybe I'm just noticing more... I don't know.

The pillar:

Hood:

Door:

[/QUOTE I had similar problem with a 2015 Porsche Cayenne I ordered. I had paint chips all over and I drive on back roads mainly that are well maintained. I traded it in on a Cayenne diesel that was on the lot I'm has been sitting for about 9 months. I had no issues with this vehicle and paint chips. I truly believe it was because the 2015 was right off the boat and the paint had not cured and as a result was softer and more prone to chipping. This is very disappointing news that you are experiencing these issues.

 

[Motomax]

Take a look at DrColorChip.com

 

[waterstm]

I ended up having PPF installed on the entire car at 400 miles. It was expensive and it was mostly to appease my OCD. Whether it was worth it is definitely subjective.

 

[trutolife27]

very simple roads are in bad shape, and more and more trucks on the roads throwing debris. Sucks but pretty much why paint protection is catching on in the world for cars.

 

[Electric Goat]

It's a car. It will happen. Drive it. Enjoy it. If you have it for a long time then just have a body shop repaint part of it. Paint chips, scratches and minor damage add character. Your car tells a story. Embrace it. ???

 

[Psalm139]

I love cars and believe in taking care of my things but...

its a car. It's going to get chips through use.
It's not a show car. Ford is going to pump out 200k of these a year. I would say that if the chip is deep, you want to fill it so you don't get rust. But this PPF trend is a little over the top to me. I get it if it is a Porsche Spyder, but not a mass market car.

 

[Stang68]

No PPF, but I did ceramic coat it at 4000 miles. Roughly 50% of my miles are interstate driving. Now that I'm up to 9000 miles I'm seeing paint chips on the hood, "A" pillars, even before the flare out on the rear passenger side door.

What's my best course of action if I plan on owning this for the next 5-10 years? Should I get the paint chip kit and fill each one in as I go, or take it to a paint shop for fixes, or take it to a ppf shop and be prepared to drop 3-4k? Does PPF guarantee no paint chipping?

As a side note I don't remember my F-150 picking up nearly as many paint chips as this car, although I am very meticulous in taking care of the mme, maybe I'm just noticing more... I don't know.

The pillar:

Hood:

Door:

Ceramic will not protect your car from chips at all. If you want to keep this car for 5-10 years and not see paint chips, then you must get PPF. Drop the money on it and know you'll never have to worry.

My last car had PPF on it and it saved my car from many additional chips. Something so big hit my hood once that it actually tore the PPF but saved the paint. I was pissed but the PPF did its job.

 

[Jimmy2]

Do you happen to know the part # you used?

Its the touch up paint that can be ordered through your Ford dealer; about $20 if I remember right.

 

[RickMachE]

Just sold my 3 year old Fusion Energi to Carvana for an absurd price (net cost of vehicle over 3 years was sales tax). They didn't even glance at the rock chips, and the front bumper and grill area was peppered with it.

This is a car. It is not a collectible. Relax and drive it. Use touchup paint as needed, remembering that aluminum doesn't rust.

I get free touchup paint with my purchase. Under plan orders, you can get up to $50 worth of items free without issue, I just ask for the touchup paint.

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