7
PPF, Ceramic, both?
- Thread starter Sprindle
- Start date
Dog Dad Wagon
Autocross Champion
- Location
- Go Birds
- Car(s)
- 16 Touareg TDI
no, PPF has to affix directly to the paint. Ceramic goes on top of PPF.
if you can afford it - definitely do both. I feel that the $3600 I spent on PPF, Ceramic, and ceramic heat rejection tints was some of the best money I’ve ever spent, since I plan to drive this car to 200K miles.
kevinkar
Drag Racing Champion
- Location
- United States
Yeah, the ceramic coating apparently makes it more difficult for the PPF to adhere to the car so it goes on the PPF, not under it.
As I've said in other threads, the PPF has saved me from some big chips in my paint in only 3 years of owning my R. In a year or two I intend to have it all removed, paint correction done and then re-cover the ENTIRE car this time instead of just the front and roof.
As I've said in other threads, the PPF has saved me from some big chips in my paint in only 3 years of owning my R. In a year or two I intend to have it all removed, paint correction done and then re-cover the ENTIRE car this time instead of just the front and roof.
So glad I checked in here first. Thanks again for the help!
I plan on having mine for a long time as well, so this sounds like a great investment in keeping it nice.
kevin, if you had to do it all over again, would you have gotten the whole car wrapped from the get-go? Whole car film protection wasn’t even offered when I made my appointment. I should ask to see if it’s available.
I plan on having mine for a long time as well, so this sounds like a great investment in keeping it nice.
kevin, if you had to do it all over again, would you have gotten the whole car wrapped from the get-go? Whole car film protection wasn’t even offered when I made my appointment. I should ask to see if it’s available.
Dog Dad Wagon
Autocross Champion
- Location
- Go Birds
- Car(s)
- 16 Touareg TDI
whole car protection aint cheap, but up to you! if i could've swung it i would have. as it was, i was already pushing my budget lol
Ceramic will not hinder the PPF from adhering to the car... there were a few customers that insisted in getting the car coated before the PPF at the OptiCoat OPT headquarters and they were told that it was not necessary and it would be a waste of money. With that said, the OptiCoat pro coatings are SiC based, and not SiO2. SiC bites into the paint and form a permanent bond, while SiO2 sits on top of the paint and requires to be topped off at least every 2 years. This is why most coatings requires you to do a yearly "maintenance" to retain their warranty, while OPT is just a one application deal lasting 3-5-7 years with warranty depending on the coating chosen.
cb1111
Newbie
- Location
- Virginia, USA
Ask yourself these questions:
Look at your current car. Where is the paint chipped? Those are the areas that should be covered by PPF. I'm not talking about a random chip, but actual road rash. You'll normally find it on the leading edge of the hood, the corresponding areas on the fenders, mirror caps, possibly the very front of the roof.
Is the paint around the wheel wells chipped?
Is the paint under your door handles scratched? The top of the bumper by the hatch/trunk?
I do the front 1/3 of the hood/fenders, door cups, mirror caps, wheel wells, A pillars and the back bumper. I wouldn't consider doing the whole car because that makes it far too difficult to fix an errant issue somewhere down the road.
Paint correctiuon is vital. Any shop that says "that isn't necessary" should be avoided.
Look at your current car. Where is the paint chipped? Those are the areas that should be covered by PPF. I'm not talking about a random chip, but actual road rash. You'll normally find it on the leading edge of the hood, the corresponding areas on the fenders, mirror caps, possibly the very front of the roof.
Is the paint around the wheel wells chipped?
Is the paint under your door handles scratched? The top of the bumper by the hatch/trunk?
I do the front 1/3 of the hood/fenders, door cups, mirror caps, wheel wells, A pillars and the back bumper. I wouldn't consider doing the whole car because that makes it far too difficult to fix an errant issue somewhere down the road.
Paint correctiuon is vital. Any shop that says "that isn't necessary" should be avoided.
bentin
Autocross Champion
- Location
- Austin, TX
- Car(s)
- 23 Golf R - 3 Pedals
Do you work for/with Optimum? I ran OptiCoat on my last car and it was comically durable. I'm just running sealant on this car for personal preference, but I'll likely coat the wife's next car, especially if it's non metallic black again.
I am a certified OptiCoat installer. I closed my business in the middle of COVID and took a regular job, and now I just do it as a hobby. I was the only installer here in SA for about a year, there is a new one now. I think the name is Vault or something like that. I kept 2 OptiCoat Pro+ kits with me but I noticed last week when I was getting all my equipment out of boxes and setting up my garage that the Plus additive dried out... I am debating whether to do the OptiCoat Pro in the GTI or the wife's Q5. I really want to do Kamikaze Miyagi/ISM in the GTI... but that lasts only ~2-3 years at the most, where the Pro will last 5. The Kamikaze looks better though.
Sealants are fine, but here in TX their durability is not that great. I had good results with Adams Paint Sealant with H2O Guard & Gloss, as I basically topped the sealant every time I washed the car with the G&G as a drying aid. GlossCoat from OptiCoat is a decent coating as well, and the best thing is that unlike others, if you want to recoat and your car is in decent shape all you need to do is a chemical De-Con and coat. Looks almost as good as Pro, but without the durability.
Sealants are fine, but here in TX their durability is not that great. I had good results with Adams Paint Sealant with H2O Guard & Gloss, as I basically topped the sealant every time I washed the car with the G&G as a drying aid. GlossCoat from OptiCoat is a decent coating as well, and the best thing is that unlike others, if you want to recoat and your car is in decent shape all you need to do is a chemical De-Con and coat. Looks almost as good as Pro, but without the durability.
bentin
Autocross Champion
- Location
- Austin, TX
- Car(s)
- 23 Golf R - 3 Pedals
Ah cool, didn't realize you were so close. Yeah, I'm using OptiCoat, it works great for my garaged, low mileage car, and even better on the wife's Q5 that's moved about 1k miles over the last year. Nice cars by the way, I like your taste. Thanks for the feedback, your inputs on this thread (and others) have been very nice.
cb1111
Newbie
- Location
- Virginia, USA
I've had OptiCoat on my last three cars and each lasted for lots of years without issues. When I sold my Acura earlier this year it was almost 7 years old and, except for a small door ding and a rock chip above the tailgate (don't ask me how it got there), the car looked as good as new.
My wife's Civic (also a 2013) was in the same condition - and she spent a year at work parked under the tree from hell that seemed to be the resting place for birds with intestinal distress. We needed to hose down the car virtually every day after she came home - but it was literally a quick rinse with ONR, let it sit for awhile and then rinse it off.
I also put PPF on the head and taillights - technically not legal, but far better than getting cloudy headlights.
kevinkar
Drag Racing Champion
- Location
- United States
It's not just chips you need to worry about. Bird crap is a major reason I got PPF on the roof and spoiler. Go to work and come out to go home to find a giant bird plop on your roof that was there all day in the sun. Eats right into the clear coat and there's no really easy way to remove it. I have a few spots on the PPF from bird crap that are not in the paint so it's done its job. And since bird poop is not only on the top surfaces and can hit just about anywhere on the car, PPF over the whole car is expensive but a good idea in my opinion.
cb1111
Newbie
- Location
- Virginia, USA
Ceramic does a great job protecting the paint from bird poop.
Like I said in the above post, my wife got assigned the spot under the tree that nobody wanted when she spent a year on the hill. She frequently came home with the back of her car (back window and trunk - sometimes the back of the roof) literally covered in bird crap. I'd hose it down, lather it up with ONR and let that sit for awhile and then rinse it off. That was 2016 and the paint was still perfect - certainly no difference between the bird poop areas and the rest of the paint.
That said, we were very careful to clean the car up every single day when there was bird poop on the paint.