Paint Protection Film (PPF) such as XPEL for Mach-E

GoGoGadgetMachE

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What is the installation time like for the XPEL coating - is it hours, days? I admit I literally never heard of it before but this thread and their site make it seem pretty great.
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I left my car a the installer for about 3 days. The first day he super cleaned it and inspected for any paint correction, next 2 days were install then last half of last day was inspection and clean again under the sun. Not sure if that is a typical timeframe or not, but this was a single installer who also had other cars in his shop at the time (one of them a very nice porsche carrera)
 

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I left my car a the installer for about 3 days. The first day he super cleaned it and inspected for any paint correction, next 2 days were install then last half of last day was inspection and clean again under the sun. Not sure if that is a typical timeframe or not, but this was a single installer who also had other cars in his shop at the time (one of them a very nice porsche carrera)
Mine had mine for a week. That includes the clean, full install, ceramic coat and tint though.
 

GoGoGadgetMachE

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Thank you all for the replies! They are very helpful!
 

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So what is everyone's experience with ceramic coatings? Higher end professionally applied vs higher end DIY? Worth the effort? drawbacks?
 


methorian

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So what is everyone's experience with ceramic coatings? Higher end professionally applied vs higher end DIY? Worth the effort? drawbacks?
I had a "7 Year Professional" ceramic coating put on my Veloster soon after purchasing, they also did some small paint correction and it was around $800 or so total. That was 2 years ago and there's spots where you can clearly see that the coating has worn off when you spray it with water... Has it helped in the 2 years? Maybe, I honestly can't say for sure. I try to take decent care of my vehicles, and I can't say that it's been a life-saver, but I do think it's offered some level of help keeping the paint in better condition.

Would I do it again? Maybe, I honestly haven't decided yet. I am leaning towards some paint protection film for the front. My 50 mile highway commute is killer on the bumper. Figured I'll try to get some estimates for that plus/minus ceramic.
 

jhalkias

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I had a "7 Year Professional" ceramic coating put on my Veloster soon after purchasing, they also did some small paint correction and it was around $800 or so total. That was 2 years ago and there's spots where you can clearly see that the coating has worn off when you spray it with water... Has it helped in the 2 years? Maybe, I honestly can't say for sure. I try to take decent care of my vehicles, and I can't say that it's been a life-saver, but I do think it's offered some level of help keeping the paint in better condition.

Would I do it again? Maybe, I honestly haven't decided yet. I am leaning towards some paint protection film for the front. My 50 mile highway commute is killer on the bumper. Figured I'll try to get some estimates for that plus/minus ceramic.
I'm trying to make this decision. I drive similar miles to you to work. My 2016 Escape will be 5 years old in a month, 153,000 miles so far. Yes, there are chips in the front from stones, etc. without any protection, but the rest of the paint on the rest of the car has held up amazingly without ANY professional or even amateur protection applied. I don't even wash it as much as I probably should in the winter. Struggling as to whether this is a waste of money or a good investment.

In a similar vein, I applied RainX to my windows for the first time a few months ago and the effect of that was absolutely AMAZING. I cannot believe how well that product works, and how little I now use my wipers in normal rain. That WILL be applied to my new car for sure.
 

methorian

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I'm trying to make this decision. I drive similar miles to you to work. My 2016 Escape will be 5 years old in a month, 153,000 miles so far. Yes, there are chips in the front from stones, etc. without any protection, but the rest of the paint on the rest of the car has held up amazingly without ANY professional or even amateur protection applied. I don't even wash it as much as I probably should in the winter. Struggling as to whether this is a waste of money or a good investment.

In a similar vein, I applied RainX to my windows for the first time a few months ago and the effect of that was absolutely AMAZING. I cannot believe how well that product works, and how little I now use my wipers in normal rain. That WILL be applied to my new car for sure.
Oh yea - I've used RainX for years. Always surprises me when folks don't realize how amazing it is, or haven't used/heard of it. I keep a bottle of the RainX 2-in-1 cleaner/protector in my trunk (mostly because I hate dirty/spotted windows).

I'm still going back and forth on paint protection. I guess sometime soon I'll reach out to the local film shops to see what they offer and prices, along with the guy who did my last ceramic coat to see what sort of prices I'd be looking at there.
 

jhalkias

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I have another question along these lines. Doing research, a lot of shops say their service includes "paint correction" . What is it, and why would paint correction be needed on a brand new vehicle?
 

methorian

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I have another question along these lines. Doing research, a lot of shops say their service includes "paint correction" . What is it, and why would paint correction be needed on a brand new vehicle?
Have you never noticed swirling/etc on a new car? Unfortunately most dealerships don't care at all about paint, and wash/"wax"/"protect" new car paint using horrible materials and unexperienced employees. Before any type of paint protection should be applied, the paint needs to be flawless, else you'd be "locking in" marred paint.

This is why it's suggested that if you know you'll be applying paint protection to your new car purchase, make every effort possible to ensure your dealer does nothing to the car after receiving it (no washing, protecting, etc.). Some even request the dealer leave any/all factory applied films on the car.

I purchased my last vehicle new, and even though I requested numerous times that I did not want it washed/waxed/protected they still did it. I had a big fiasco with them once I realized it, and saw the swirl marks on the roof.
 

methorian

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Unfortunately most car washes use pretty strong soaps that will strip ceramic coatings, so they're not recommended on coated cars. Even washing at home with ceramic coating requires making sure your car soap/products aren't super strong. It's a lot of work to maintain the coating, and with a pretty steep professional install price, it's part of the reason I'm continuing to contemplate it for my Mach-E.

I've had good luck with careful washes, and frequent synthetic coatings (Like CarPro Reload, which is meant for ceramic coated cars as a "refresher" but works well on non-coated cars too) on other vehicles.
 

jhalkias

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How about a "house car" that drives about 32,000 highway miles a year in all weather like Ohio? The maintenance of that ceramic coating sounds like a big pain.
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