PPF, Ceramic, both?

[Sprindle]

Hey all, new to the forum and just picked up a 2019 CFB Rabbit edition GTI with less than 1,000 miles on it. It's basically in perfect condition and I'd like to try and preserve it as best I can. Forgive my ignorance on this, I've tried searching and have ended up, well, more confused than when I started. Does it make sense to do ceramic and PPF? I'm scheduled to get XPEL next week, but can delay it if I should consider getting ceramic first. I'm assuming if I'm going to do both, I would want the ceramic first. Any tips or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[SPLR337]

Coatings would be applied after any PPF.

 

[bentin]

Yep, coating after film. I dislike film for the appearance of it, but it’s great if you’re not looking for the last little bit of gloss or optical clarity.

 

[Fcs003]

Hey all, new to the forum and just picked up a 2019 CFB Rabbit edition GTI with less than 1,000 miles on it. It's basically in perfect condition and I'd like to try and preserve it as best I can. Forgive my ignorance on this, I've tried searching and have ended up, well, more confused than when I started. Does it make sense to do ceramic and PPF? I'm scheduled to get XPEL next week, but can delay it if I should consider getting ceramic first. I'm assuming if I'm going to do both, I would want the ceramic first. Any tips or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

I got the full frontal ppf film, this way you don't see any bra lines where the ppf ends. You can't tell it's there at all. And then, ceramic coatings are applied on top of the film. I shopped around and offered cash, until i found the best deal.

*note: the shop i chose wanted to do a paint correction b4 applying the film and ceramic coating. I didn't understand why (being that I had a brand new car) until they placed my car under the black lights. There were many imperfections in the paint, so i went ahead a did a paint correction. Now, I know I have done everything I can to keep the paint job looking nice.

 

[Maiden69]

Ceramic first won't do anything since you are covering it with PPF. Any benefit the ceramic will give you (gloss or warmth to the paint) will be masked by the PPF you choose.

 

[Fcs003]

Ceramic first won't do anything since you are covering it with PPF. Any benefit the ceramic will give you (gloss or warmth to the paint) will be masked by the PPF you choose.

It’s was done in this order:
Paint correction +
ppf+
ceramic coat

only the front of my car was wrapped in ppf. The entire car was ceramic coated. From my understanding, the ceramic coat is an extra layer of protection, protecting the clear coat and replacing the necessity to wax the car. The ppf is too protect from rock chips, bird poop, tree sap etc…

 

[Maiden69]

*note: the shop i chose wanted to do a paint correction b4 applying the film and ceramic coating. I didn't understand why (being that I had a brand new car) until they placed my car under the black lights. There were many imperfections in the paint, so i went ahead a did a paint correction. Now, I know I have done everything I can to keep the paint job looking nice.

A lot of people think the same way you did before looking at the car under proper lighting. I don't know why they will use black lights, since any decent LED/CCFL will show the damage done by the builder/dealership. Also, if your car was driven through a carwash, your car is swirled to high-heaven... the problem with those is that they spray a heavy filler wax/sealant spray that fills the scratches making the car shine. But once you properly clean the car you can tell how messed up the paint is. I detailed a SLK55 a while ago that was driven through the "Wash Tub" for 3 years and the owner couldn't believe the condition of the paint after I washed the car in preparation for paint correction-coating. I'll post pics later, I'm at work and I don't have access to my phone here.

Here is a link from Larry, owner of AMMO NYC explaining it on a high end car, now, if he can find that much damage in a $250K car, what do you think you can find in a VW.

 

[Maiden69]

The ppf is too protect from rock chips, bird poop, tree sap etc…

Coating protects against bird poop, tree sap and anything that could chemically damage the paint, it is a "sacrificial layer" that can easily be polished off and new coating applied if necessary instead of having to compound or wet-sand a car to remove the etching created by the contamination.

 

[Acadia18]

A lot of people think the same way you did before looking at the car under proper lighting. I don't know why they will use black lights, since any decent LED/CCFL will show the damage done by the builder/dealership. Also, if your car was driven through a carwash, your car is swirled to high-heaven... the problem with those is that they spray a heavy filler wax/sealant spray that fills the scratches making the car shine. But once you properly clean the car you can tell how messed up the paint is. I detailed a SLK55 a while ago that was driven through the "Wash Tub" for 3 years and the owner couldn't believe the condition of the paint after I washed the car in preparation for paint correction-coating. I'll post pics later, I'm at work and I don't have access to my phone here.

Here is a link from Larry, owner of AMMO NYC explaining it on a high end car, now, if he can find that much damage in a $250K car, what do you think you can find in a VW.

You know, I saw the video you posted, and thought "Oh man, I should check out my cars paint!"

And then remembered my car is vinyl wrapped...

 

[Strange Mud]

not an answer to the ? but the CF Blue rocks

 

[Sprindle]

This is all very helpful information, thank you all! So, it seems to make sense to have the paint correction done first, then the film (otherwise you’d be ’locking in’ any imperfections under the PPF), and then finish with the ceramic, correct? Thanks again for the help!

 

[Sprindle]

And Maiden, flat out thumbs up the irons on the Eddie.

 

[bentin]

This is all very helpful information, thank you all! So, it seems to make sense to have the paint correction done first, then the film (otherwise you’d be ’locking in’ any imperfections under the PPF), and then finish with the ceramic, correct? Thanks again for the help!

Correct. Double check with the folks doing your PPF, any worth their salt will do a full decontamination and correction before install, it should just be part of the cost.

 

[Sprindle]

Perfect, thanks bentin!

 

[bentin]

Perfect, thanks bentin!

Of course, and I'm jealous of the Cornflower, enjoy it!