To PPF or not to PPF

[robbymcg89]

I’ve never had PPF on a vehicle. I’m seeing lots of posts about PPF. I just took possession of my 2024 OT+. I doubt if I’ll do much (if any) off-roading. I just liked the look of the OT, no third row, and the bigger tires. So, do I need PPF? The car came with a dealer installed graphene/ceramic spray-on protection with 3 years coverage for paint including water spots on chrome, bugs, and bird droppings. It’s from www.caltexus.com and called ResistAll360. If I have this, do you also recommend PPF? If so, where? Grill, hood, and side mirrors. What benefit would PPF give that this dealer-installed coating does not? Thanks!

 

[nonamex]

I decided against PPF because my vehicle will get scratched anyway especially with my frequent offroad usage. Not of my cars have been kept in pristine condition past a year no matter how hard I tried. To me it would have been a waste of money.

For an exotic car I would get the appeal but for a vehicle that will spend more days being outside in the elements that money went to rock sliders, skid plates, and possibly a lift. Of course, everyone is different.

 

[GreekMalaka]

It’s down to your personal preference and uses. The most off roading I’ll be doing is towing a kayak trailer on gravel/dirt roads.

I’m getting PPF and ceramic overtop. Some of it is for pure aesthetic purposes (black gloss PPF for the roof and wheel fenders/wells) to give it that nori green-black two tone effect. Then getting clear PPF on the front 3 panels.

PPF is supposed to help with protecting the paint. Near me, the roads aren’t great, there’s tons of massive trucks, and landscaping businesses that always kick up rocks and what not. I plan to keep the car for at least 3-5 years, so I wanted to protect the paint from minor damages and give it an aesthetic I have in my mind.

Then I’m getting ceramic overtop and all over. I don’t know the specifics of your ceramic from the dealer, but most detailing shops around me claim what the dealer offers isn’t normally the same quality as true detail shops.

This is the first car I’m doing this too. I like the idea of protecting my paint, giving it a more unique look, and keeping it looking brand new with some monthly care.

That being said, if the dealer did do a true ceramic job, I think the detail shop would have to buff it out, then apply the PPF. But I could be 100% wrong on that. If that is the case, feels like a waste of money in your case since you already paid for ceramic.

I’m no expert in any of this lol.

 

[robbymcg89]

It’s down to your personal preference and uses. The most off roading I’ll be doing is towing a kayak trailer on gravel/dirt roads.

I’m getting PPF and ceramic overtop. Some of it is for pure aesthetic purposes (black gloss PPF for the roof and wheel fenders/wells) to give it that nori green-black two tone effect. Then getting clear PPF on the front 3 panels.

PPF is supposed to help with protecting the paint. Near me, the roads aren’t great, there’s tons of massive trucks, and landscaping businesses that always kick up rocks and what not. I plan to keep the car for at least 3-5 years, so I wanted to protect the paint from minor damages and give it an aesthetic I have in my mind.

Then I’m getting ceramic overtop and all over. I don’t know the specifics of your ceramic from the dealer, but most detailing shops around me claim what the dealer offers isn’t normally the same quality as true detail shops.

This is the first car I’m doing this too. I like the idea of protecting my paint, giving it a more unique look, and keeping it looking brand new with some monthly care.

That being said, if the dealer did do a true ceramic job, I think the detail shop would have to buff it out, then apply the PPF. But I could be 100% wrong on that. If that is the case, feels like a waste of money in your case since you already paid for ceramic.

I’m no expert in any of this lol.

Ah, I never considered for aesthetics. My OT+ is white, but a gloss black roof would look cool.

 

[GreekMalaka]

Ah, I never considered for aesthetics. My OT+ is white, but a gloss black roof would look cool.

I saw this on Instagram earlier

 

[AtomicEric]

I am jumping in on the PPF. Never had before as all prior vehicles were used and 15 years old. The GX OT is new and will get some light use exploring dirt and class IV roads in New England. These often have a few spots where you will have a few branches and tall grass/saplings that touch the sides of the vehicles. There is a new XPEL optical clear PPF that has some self healing properties that will blends the light pin stripes over time with heat from the sun. Material is UV stable, hydroscopic with a built in ceramic top finish. For road rock dings, parking lot gentle door touches and trail scuffs this will be great and I'll feel more inclined to use it. Lastly NE winter road grime.

As for the Lexus installed ceramic, I would highly recommend NOT getting it. I did and the water beading was awful. I had a professional shop wash the car and they confirmed what I was seeing. Unfortunately my local dealer uses a different product than the dealer I purchased from 2.5 hrs away on LI. If they actually applied it, I do not want the product again. If they didn't, I now don't trust them. The warranty only covers for damage (after the fact issues) AND was only good for a maximum of $2,500. If you have a problem it will be to late or way more than that amount to fix. So I say go to a professional shop on you own pay a bit more and get a rear ceramic coat job done properly. Lesson learned on my end. Also, the dealer, detail shop and claims team had no recommendation on how to test if it was even applied other that saying the water should bead off the car. I can tell you it is not covered under paint protection plan and the dealer won't credit you back. Best case they put the same junk back on.

 

[jclaffee]

Living in the mountains it's basically PPF or lots of rock chips in your paint. I chose PPF.

 

[Bluegill]

Mine came with (very expensive dealer applied) PPF. I wouldn’t have bought it on my own. All my trucks get pin striped off road. This PPF will protect the front end from rock chips and highway debris for a while but I think it’s ugly. On my white OT you can clearly see the PPF on the front end giving a dull appearance to the finish. When the PPF starts to yellow (as it inevitably will) off it comes. It’s already separating around the headlight edges. I think I’ll take it back to the selling dealership and make a huge issue out of it since they fleeced me for thousands with the dealer add-on fee.

 

[AtomicEric]

Agree on the dealer PPF. I was at least warned by the dealer that the factory PPF on the front edge of the hood would show a seam and discoloration over time.

The shop doing my atomic silver GX is called Straight Jacket in CT. They will likely have a media clip on line of the work that is underway now.

I requested to have the plastic fenders, lower door trim AND the tailgate horizontal plastic light bar removed to have a separate film layer put down under these bits to create a shingle effect for water run off. After seeing the truck with these parts off it will definitely be a rust concern for any of us who deals with that. If you have washed your GX by hand and then towel dried it, you can see all the plastic seems allow the water to run off behind. As such, the salty brine will also drip in there and collect. Hard to know, but I think in 10 yrs there could be rust damage that goes unseen under these plastic trim bits even with regular washing.

The PPF shop noted this was the first time a customer requested such a thing be done but agreed it definitely made sense in the rust belt areas if you drive year round.

 

[Orzel]

Just had ours done, front treatment to try to avoid rock chips in the paint. Given the rather blunt nose of the GX and the exposed paint areas, the PPF is just cheap insurance against long term damage.

 

[Bluegill]

Agree on the dealer PPF. I was at least warned by the dealer that the factory PPF on the front edge of the hood would show a seam and discoloration over time.

The shop doing my atomic silver GX is called Straight Jacket in CT. They will likely have a media clip on line of the work that is underway now.

I requested to have the plastic fenders, lower door trim AND the tailgate horizontal plastic light bar removed to have a separate film layer put down under these bits to create a shingle effect for water run off. After seeing the truck with these parts off it will definitely be a rust concern for any of us who deals with that. If you have washed your GX by hand and then towel dried it, you can see all the plastic seems allow the water to run off behind. As such, the salty brine will also drip in there and collect. Hard to know, but I think in 10 yrs there could be rust damage that goes unseen under these plastic trim bits even with regular washing.

The PPF shop noted this was the first time a customer requested such a thing be done but agreed it definitely made sense in the rust belt areas if you drive year round.

Man.....you are even more anally-retentive than me, and that's saying a lot!

I have noticed that the areas behind all the plastic bits on the tailgate hold a lot of water after running through the car wash. I go through a TOUCH-FREE car wash (don't ever do the rotating brush car washes!) and I pull into a nearby parking lot to dry the truck with a clean microfiber towel each time. The car wash has the big blowers but they leave a lot of water all over the truck, especially with the roof rack. First thing I do is pop the tailgate and leave it up for a couple minutes as I start to dry the rest of the truck. Then I close the tailgate and there is surprising amount of water that flows out when it closes. All that water is up under all the plastic trim across the tailgate. Then I dry the tailgate and of course have to pop the back window open and then pop the whole tailgate back open to get all the behind-the-scenes areas by the struts. Then close the tailgate and dry the outside again because more water drained out again. Then repeat this process until I go absolutely insane.

 

[Zaki6]

I have PPF for the entire front half of my 911 Turbo and ceramic coating for the rear half. The car is low and rock chips are very likely. I hand wash the car, never in automatic car washes.

The GX550 OT+ is a different beast.
I have ceramic coated the entire vehicle but no PPF because it is too big to hand wash. It is not recommended to use automatic car washes if you have PPF due to corner lift due to high pressure washes and the high pressure drying.

I don’t mind any tiny pebble chips in a tough vehicle like the GX, gives it character. If a rock is big enough or hits with enough force, no PPF will stop the dent.

 

[ggils2324]

I always PPF my cars…100% covered. It makes a huge difference in keeping it clean and protecting against minor dings. My wife scraped a wooden pole with her 2023 X7 and I thought it was scratched, however, the PPF took the brunt of the damage. I pulled the PPF off on the rear quarter panel, buffed out the minor scratches that were only surface due to PPF protection and it looked good as new. As others have pointed out, nothing will protect against direct force hits causing dents.

GIG ‘EM!!

 

[Sckill]

I'm putting PPF on mine, but only because I plan on taking it into the woods. Just planning on the front/sides and ceramic coat for the rest. If I kept it exclusively on roads, I'd just leave it as is or ceramic coat. The other 7 and 8 year old cars I have had driving in the northeast don't have PPF and have held up fine even with small rock chips here and there.

 

[rcroller]

No PPF on my OT+ but ceramic coated by my detail guy. Ceramic keeps that better than new car shine if treated properly. No automatic car washes! Got PPF on both my wife’s VW and the Porsche. Stone chips tear it up and then looks like crap just like the seams, discoloration, etc over time. If you’re going to use your vehicle it’s going to take some hits. Either way, unless you want a garage queen, I’d go with Ceramic and skip the PPF. If you do both PPF first then ceramic over, not the other way around. Very few PPF films are meant to stick well to ceramic coating.

 

[AtomicEric]

So on my last check in the shop had the rear gate cross bars light off. I was surprised to see that the painter strip of body color above the light comes off with it as well and is likely painted plastic. I didn't see the parts as it was in the truck, but the gate with the light bar looks as shown in the photo. Shop also removed handles and mirrors. Very stripped down and still looks good. Hood photo has PPF on it but not wrapped around edges yet. I am having a bit of silicone run on the top edge of the PPF that will be under the plastic light bar to keep any water trapped from getting under the film. Also asking to smear some under the fender lips for safe measure.