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Any downside to ceramic - other than cost?

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For those that have done a full frontal ppf...

1. Have any done it without doing the fenders

2. If you did do fenders would not doing them be a huge mistake?

Only asking because I will be doing ppf but I'm stuck with also doing my wife's new Santa fe as well. Wondering if saving $$$ between th 2 vehicles by not doing the fenders would be a good or bad move.
 
For those that have done a full frontal ppf...

1. Have any done it without doing the fenders

2. If you did do fenders would not doing them be a huge mistake?

Only asking because I will be doing ppf but I'm stuck with also doing my wife's new Santa fe as well. Wondering if saving $$$ between th 2 vehicles by not doing the fenders would be a good or bad move.
Do it right and get the fenders done. How much are they charging? How much less for the fenders?
 
Do it right and get the fenders done. How much are they charging? How much less for the fenders?
Between the 2 cars it'd save about $800.
 
Do it right and get the fenders done. How much are they charging? How much less for the fenders?
But you're right. Just going to get the full frontal
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Full hood, bumper, lights, & mirrors $1500. Add fenders $1995

Get a quote on what I highlighted above. You will be quite surprised at the savings.

The highway package protects areas that are most vulnerable without breaking the bank.
 
Are you getting the full hood done?

I'd do partial hood and partial fenders. It's called the highway package and it is a lot more cost effective.

View attachment 15103

For this I paid $700 ($50 off special) and it included the headlights, the door edges and $20 each for the door handle cups.
 
NEVER do half of a panel if you value the future condition of your paint and continuity of the finish.

PPF fades over time or if it gets a deep gouge or scratch, tear, etc it’ll end up getting replaced. Or, worst still, you remove it and you don’t reapply. You’ll have one half that was covered by the PPF and one that wasn’t, with a huge difference in the current state of the paint. Getting rid of that line is an absolute pain, and if you don’t go through that pain, resell value is going to diminished by probably more than you saved upfront.

half panels is half-assing it in the truest sense and creates long term paint defects that you half-way avoided with the PPF. Just do the full panel.

Exhibit A: see photo. If that’s a perfectly fine look for your car to you, then don’t bother with the PPF in the first place and save more money. If you buy a used car with half a bra and think “oh it’s a little discolored I’ll take it off and either put another one on or just take it off for good”, this is what you’ll get. That’s after only 3 years max being on my SS from the dealership.
 

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Oh......😬
 
NEVER do half of a panel if you value the future condition of your paint and continuity of the finish.

PPF fades over time or if it gets a deep gouge or scratch, tear, etc it’ll end up getting replaced. Or, worst still, you remove it and you don’t reapply. You’ll have one half that was covered by the PPF and one that wasn’t, with a huge difference in the current state of the paint. Getting rid of that line is an absolute pain, and if you don’t go through that pain, resell value is going to diminished by probably more than you saved upfront.

half panels is half-assing it in the truest sense and creates long term paint defects that you half-way avoided with the PPF. Just do the full panel.

Exhibit A: see photo. If that’s a perfectly fine look for your car to you, then don’t bother with the PPF in the first place and save more money. If you buy a used car with half a bra and think “oh it’s a little discolored I’ll take it off and either put another one on or just take it off for good”, this is what you’ll get. That’s after only 3 years max being on my SS from the dealership.

You raise a few good points, I'll give you that but that picture you posted...any good detailer worth their weight in gold can correct that with a step one paint correction...yes, it wouldn't even need a two-step to fix that. The PPF isn't discolored the paint that isn't covered has literally been abused with marring and micro-swirling.

Did you ceramic coat your vehicle after the partial PPF? If not then that was your mistake and the biggest waste of money.IMG_20210116_172222.webp

Find my lines...my vehicle (if I still have it) will still look very close to this given the maintenance I perform on the vehicle.

Sure PPF and ceramic coatings are a royal waste of money if you don't plan on taking care of the vehicle but a partial, highway package PPF is not half-assing anything if someone has common sense maintenance practices.
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You raise a few good points, I'll give you that but that picture you posted...any good detailer worth their weight in gold can correct that with a step one paint correction...yes, it wouldn't even need a two-step to fix that. The PPF isn't discolored the paint that isn't covered has literally been abused with marring and micro-swirling.

Did you ceramic coat your vehicle after the partial PPF? If not then that was your mistake and the biggest waste of money.View attachment 15236

Find my lines...my vehicle (if I still have it) will still look very close to this given the maintenance I perform on the vehicle.

Sure PPF and ceramic coatings are a royal waste of money if you don't plan on taking care of the vehicle but a partial, highway package PPF is not half-assing anything if someone has common sense maintenance practices.
That particular PPF etch line on my SS actually took about 20hrs of wet sanding and cutting to blend out. Repairable, yes. Avoidable? 100%, if the dealer and the original owner didn’t try to save a few bucks, and it blew out the labor cost on the whole correction and coating on it. Bought the car as you saw it and had it fixed before we full PPF and coated it. Original 1/2 PPF was yellowing and it was a known thing when I bought the car, and I negotiated several hundred off the price just for that as they tried to sell the car as “mint condition”. Mint and MINT are definitely different things (your telluride is MINT btw).

I’m not talking about lines right now when the PPF is on, it’s the down the road effect of part being covered from the elements and part not, coated or not. Also, a zoom and I can see the PPF line the hood. I’m not talking the aesthetics of a partial cover on a panel (which is noticeable in real life quite often depending on paint color), I’m just warning people that a half panel will give you your own 50/50 before and after comparison when the PPF comes off in the future, even if the car is ceramic coated on the PPF and paint. Long term ownership, low road abuse, and a super diligent maintenance regimen will reduce the effect for sure, half panel works, but that etch line can and very likely will happen.

She shiny AF though, first time I’ve actually seen a picture I like that color in TBH. good on you for caring about your car’s paint more than most in the world (present company in this thread not included). And you 100% redeem yourself for that bottle of ONR in the background 😉. Best quick detail spray in the world is 31oz of distilled water and 1oz of ONR.
 

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That particular PPF etch line on my SS actually took about 20hrs of wet sanding and cutting to blend out. Repairable, yes. Avoidable? 100%, if the dealer and the original owner didn’t try to save a few bucks, and it blew out the labor cost on the whole correction and coating on it. Bought the car as you saw it and had it fixed before we full PPF and coated it. Original 1/2 PPF was yellowing and it was a known thing when I bought the car, and I negotiated several hundred off the price just for that as they tried to sell the car as “mint condition”. Mint and MINT are definitely different things (your telluride is MINT btw).

I’m not talking about lines right now when the PPF is on, it’s the down the road effect of part being covered from the elements and part not, coated or not. Also, a zoom and I can see the PPF line the hood. I’m not talking the aesthetics of a partial cover on a panel (which is noticeable in real life quite often depending on paint color), I’m just warning people that a half panel will give you your own 50/50 before and after comparison when the PPF comes off in the future, even if the car is ceramic coated on the PPF and paint. Long term ownership, low road abuse, and a super diligent maintenance regimen will reduce the effect for sure, half panel works, but that etch line can and very likely will happen.

She shiny AF though, first time I’ve actually seen a picture I like that color in TBH. good on you for caring about your car’s paint more than most in the world (present company in this thread not included). And you 100% redeem yourself for that bottle of ONR in the background 😉. Best quick detail spray in the world is 31oz of distilled water and 1oz of ONR.
Check out our detailing thread we clearly speak the same language.


Did you see the CarPro Reset bottle and MTM Foam cannon!? I just did a wall mounted pressure washer setup, you would like it.

Don't get me wrong you have to look very close to find that etch line but that paint correction before on the entire vehicle before it goes on will help avoid any long term discoloring issues when comparing to unprotected areas. Easier said than done for many folks though.
 
Also just to drive the point home. You have to be diligent with your washing and coating maintenance to not have your half panel PPF look like THIS (I literally cringe looking at these pics and it’s why I had the car 24 hrs and left it with my detailer for a week). Kinda worst case scenario but this was also less than 3 years and 22k miles of life on this PPF from the previous owner.
 

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Also just to drive the point home. You have to be diligent with your washing and coating maintenance to not have your half panel PPF look like THIS (I literally cringe looking at these pics and it’s why I had the car 24 hrs and left it with my detailer for a week). Kinda worst case scenario but this was also less than 3 years and 22k miles of life on this PPF from the previous owner.
I'd also add the previous owners detailer did a crappy job with paint correction and decon before putting that PPF on.
______________________________
 
Check out our detailing thread we clearly speak the same language.


Did you see the CarPro Reset bottle and MTM Foam cannon!? I just did a wall mounted pressure washer setup, you would like it.

Don't get me wrong you have to look very close to find that etch line but that paint correction before on the entire vehicle before it goes on will help avoid any long term discoloring issues when comparing to unprotected areas. Easier said than done for many folks though.
I didn’t recognize the others, I’m a Shine Supply guy slowly transitioning to AMMO for coating and higher end products. I do have a Chemical Guys foam cannon, works great with shin supply Shift pH neutral soap.

I’ll have to go poke my opinionated nose in that thread too, I’ve got a decent setup but making some more room and adjustments in preps for the next vette to come home.
 

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I'd also add the previous owners detailer did a crappy job with paint correction and decon before putting that PPF on.
Yep, called a dealership and their “dealer prep”. Was put on with 0 miles from the dealer I worked at for my first job lol. So basically no prep and slap a “pre-cut” film on.

this can happen if people aren’t doing all the proper steps before the PPF and coating and aren’t doing all the proper steps AFTER too.

heed the warnings!! Be diligent or ball out and full panel lol.
 
NEVER do half of a panel if you value the future condition of your paint and continuity of the finish.

PPF fades over time or if it gets a deep gouge or scratch, tear, etc it’ll end up getting replaced. Or, worst still, you remove it and you don’t reapply. You’ll have one half that was covered by the PPF and one that wasn’t, with a huge difference in the current state of the paint. Getting rid of that line is an absolute pain, and if you don’t go through that pain, resell value is going to diminished by probably more than you saved upfront.

half panels is half-assing it in the truest sense and creates long term paint defects that you half-way avoided with the PPF. Just do the full panel.

Exhibit A: see photo. If that’s a perfectly fine look for your car to you, then don’t bother with the PPF in the first place and save more money. If you buy a used car with half a bra and think “oh it’s a little discolored I’ll take it off and either put another one on or just take it off for good”, this is what you’ll get. That’s after only 3 years max being on my SS from the dealership.

Looks like it merely needs paint correction on the area that wasn't covered by the PPF. Keep in mind, PPF is not the great panacea of paint protection. It's only one piece of the puzzle, the piece that protects from chips, scrapes, scratches in the areas that are most likely to suffer these types of impacts. In order to avoid what happened to that hood, it requires protection with ceramic coating and some TLC by washing it with pH neutral soap and the correct drying cloths.

It's an individual choice. If all you want is to protect the paint and not have to take care of it yourself, then cover as much of the paint as possible with PPF. If you're someone willing to take personal care of the finish with the right products and cleaning procedures, you don't need to cover the entire panels. Some people prefer to do both. It's all up to what ever you'd like to do.
 
I was wondering if the ceramic coatings are much different in quality? I know the people applying it is the most important but wasn't sure if the products are that much different. I have been pricing it out and they are all pretty close in price. One does opticoat pro, one does feynlab ultra and the other offered jade Quartz or jade graphine. They all have the 5 year warranty.
 




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