CT5-V Stealth PPF on aCT5-V Blackwing - Walk Around Video. Black Raven.

[arod221]

The wheels are available though!!! and the center cap can be powder coating to match your Infrared tint coat!!!

 

[Tall Steve]

well then, here's right field...its getting sold tomorrow!

DAMN!

 

[TFG]

well then, here's right field...its getting sold tomorrow!

Well this has taken an interesting turn.

 

[PrimeTime]

Well this is not paint it's a film that goes over the paint to protect it. High quality films these days are actually really easy to keep clean. Put ceramic on top and you are playing on easy mode.

Source: Professional detailer

Good info!! Suntek has a Ceramic PPF film now that carries a lifetime film and labor if it fails?,,,,, AND, from what I'm told if you really want to go over board you can ceramic coat the rest AND/OR the entire car to include film...sounds like you heard the same from a pro.

Lifetime warranty? Ok actually Suntek has been doing PPF for a while along with 3m. It's the chips, I think Im concerned about vs. the Ceramic coating which I quote my film guy said "like putting nail polish on the car WOW, however she can chip easier then film" so be advised? Can't deny the amazing shine the ceramic coating leaves on the whip when its done right. Beautiful! Hmmm. Cost is comparable amongst the 2 types from seasoned detailers in my area. I like the look of the ceramic coating I confess.

Im at 20 miles, and breakin is like watching grass grow on the 5BW! Sweats and jitters!!!!Editorial!

 

[PrimeTime]

Saddle up, the Mrs and I ride tonight! Goodnight to all!

 

[565565]

Good info!! Suntek has a Ceramic PPF film now that carries a lifetime film and labor if it fails?,,,,, AND, from what I'm told if you really want to go over board you can ceramic coat the rest AND/OR the entire car to include film...sounds like you heard the same from a pro.

Lifetime warranty? Ok actually Suntek has been doing PPF for a while along with 3m. It's the chips, I think Im concerned about vs. the Ceramic coating which I quote my film guy said "like putting nail polish on the car WOW, however she can chip easier then film" so be advised? Can't deny the amazing shine the ceramic coating leaves on the whip when its done right. Beautiful! Hmmm. Cost is comparable amongst the 2 types from seasoned detailers in my area. I like the look of the ceramic coating I confess.

Im at 20 miles, and breakin is like watching grass grow on the 5BW! Sweats and jitters!!!!Editorial!

Here is my personal feeling on this. Ceramic coatings, even the higher end pro stuff like Cquartz finest reserve really doesn't provide much protection against real scratches and some minor protection against swirls. It is mostly good for its hydrophobic properties, which makes the car easier to clean. It's a barrier so you don't have to bust out the clay bar and decontamination each time. It's not nearly as thick as nail polish. Think of it as a wax or polymer sealent that lasts about 3 years in ideal conditions. It doesn't mean you can machine wash the car however much you want, in fact once you ceramic coat your car, the detailer will often give you a little card to hang from your mirror to remind the dealer not to wash it. You have to be fairly careful with the coating and take as good care, if not even better care with it than the paint.

On a daily driven car you will see it start to wear off behind the wheels first, as the hydrophobic properties and shine become less. You can claim after 2 or 3 years that the product is still there because the water is still beading in some areas, but no one would be satisfied with the protection remaining. So realistically you have to reapply every 2 to 3 years. Usually detailers recommend you use various refresher products that contain a little bit of silica in it, like Reload to try to prolong it a bit more.

Applying ceramic coating isn't too hard especially if you use the higher grade consumer stuff, but the hard part is the paint prep. Unlike wax, ceramic coatings highlight rather than hide swirls and imperfections, so you have to decontaminate, clay, paint correct prior to ceramic coating. That's where most of the cost is for a detailer to put on a ceramic coating.

Ideally you'd do this paint correction once, but honestly you do need to do the paint correction again when you reapply because of the formentioned difference in wear on the coating.

PPF is a film that is much much thicker than ceramic coating. It can protect against deeper scratches and most PPF will have a thin layer that will self heal swirls and light scratches in the heat of the sun. Wrapping a whole car by yourself is pretty much not possible unless you have alot of time and a clean facility. I've done bumpers and small pieces behind the wheels with decent success.

I personally think that if you are planning to keep a car for just a few years, then don't do any of this. You won't get your investment back. If you arent OCD about car paint, then dont do any of this, it's pointless. If you are planning to keep a car very long term, and you obsess over the paint appearance, then I personally think that doing full PPF and doing the ceramic coating yourself is a more sensible financial alternative.

With PPF you don't need to paint correct the PPF after its placed (good detailer paint correct prior to PPF) , and putting on the ceramic yourself can be done in an afternoon for 2 to 3 coats. This is why so many detailers push for people to package ceramic coating on top of PPF, it's a job that's 10x easier for them than ceramic without the PPF. It's free money for them.

If you do it yourself, get some polisher to remove high spots if you mess up. Then in 2 to 3 years, just reapply yourself, again no need for paint correction, and so on and so on. I do 2 coats of Cquartz UK 3.0 and 1 coat of Cquartz Sic. People claim that the professional stuff lasts longer, but in those independent tests on youtube, nothing really lasts beyond 2 to 3 years, and that's on a test panel that isn't driven or blasted by the road.

If you are thinking of doing PPF, then I wouldn't drive it until you get the PPF. Many people don't even let their cars drive to the detailer, they get transported in an enclosed trailer so there is no chance of rock chips prior to PPF installation.

Those are my opinions on this whole PPF vs ceramic vs PPF and ceramic debate.

 

[PrimeTime]

Here is my personal feeling on this. Ceramic coatings, even the higher end pro stuff like Cquartz finest reserve really doesn't provide much protection against real scratches and some minor protection against swirls. It is mostly good for its hydrophobic properties, which makes the car easier to clean. It's a barrier so you don't have to bust out the clay bar and decontamination each time. It's not nearly as thick as nail polish. Think of it as a wax or polymer sealent that lasts about 3 years in ideal conditions. It doesn't mean you can machine wash the car however much you want, in fact once you ceramic coat your car, the detailer will often give you a little card to hang from your mirror to remind the dealer not to wash it. You have to be fairly careful with the coating and take as good care, if not even better care with it than the paint.

On a daily driven car you will see it start to wear off behind the wheels first, as the hydrophobic properties and shine become less. You can claim after 2 or 3 years that the product is still there because the water is still beading in some areas, but no one would be satisfied with the protection remaining. So realistically you have to reapply every 2 to 3 years. Usually detailers recommend you use various refresher products that contain a little bit of silica in it, like Reload to try to prolong it a bit more.

Applying ceramic coating isn't too hard especially if you use the higher grade consumer stuff, but the hard part is the paint prep. Unlike wax, ceramic coatings highlight rather than hide swirls and imperfections, so you have to decontaminate, clay, paint correct prior to ceramic coating. That's where most of the cost is for a detailer to put on a ceramic coating.

Ideally you'd do this paint correction once, but honestly you do need to do the paint correction again when you reapply because of the formentioned difference in wear on the coating.

PPF is a film that is much much thicker than ceramic coating. It can protect against deeper scratches and most PPF will have a thin layer that will self heal swirls and light scratches in the heat of the sun. Wrapping a whole car by yourself is pretty much not possible unless you have alot of time and a clean facility. I've done bumpers and small pieces behind the wheels with decent success.

I personally think that if you are planning to keep a car for just a few years, then don't do any of this. You won't get your investment back. If you arent OCD about car paint, then dont do any of this, it's pointless. If you are planning to keep a car very long term, and you obsess over the paint appearance, then I personally think that doing full PPF and doing the ceramic coating yourself is a more sensible financial alternative.

With PPF you don't need to paint correct the PPF after its placed (good detailer paint correct prior to PPF) , and putting on the ceramic yourself can be done in an afternoon for 2 to 3 coats. This is why so many detailers push for people to package ceramic coating on top of PPF, it's a job that's 10x easier for them than ceramic without the PPF. It's free money for them.

If you do it yourself, get some polisher to remove high spots if you mess up. Then in 2 to 3 years, just reapply yourself, again no need for paint correction, and so on and so on. I do 2 coats of Cquartz UK 3.0 and 1 coat of Cquartz Sic. People claim that the professional stuff lasts longer, but in those independent tests on youtube, nothing really lasts beyond 2 to 3 years, and that's on a test panel that isn't driven or blasted by the road.

If you are thinking of doing PPF, then I wouldn't drive it until you get the PPF. Many people don't even let their cars drive to the detailer, they get transported in an enclosed trailer so there is no chance of rock chips prior to PPF installation.

Those are my opinions on this whole PPF vs ceramic vs PPF and ceramic debate.

That sir, is outstanding insight! Thank you for the detailed reply! Well said.

 

[arod221]

Here is my personal feeling on this. Ceramic coatings, even the higher end pro stuff like Cquartz finest reserve really doesn't provide much protection against real scratches and some minor protection against swirls. It is mostly good for its hydrophobic properties, which makes the car easier to clean. It's a barrier so you don't have to bust out the clay bar and decontamination each time. It's not nearly as thick as nail polish. Think of it as a wax or polymer sealent that lasts about 3 years in ideal conditions. It doesn't mean you can machine wash the car however much you want, in fact once you ceramic coat your car, the detailer will often give you a little card to hang from your mirror to remind the dealer not to wash it. You have to be fairly careful with the coating and take as good care, if not even better care with it than the paint.

On a daily driven car you will see it start to wear off behind the wheels first, as the hydrophobic properties and shine become less. You can claim after 2 or 3 years that the product is still there because the water is still beading in some areas, but no one would be satisfied with the protection remaining. So realistically you have to reapply every 2 to 3 years. Usually detailers recommend you use various refresher products that contain a little bit of silica in it, like Reload to try to prolong it a bit more.

Applying ceramic coating isn't too hard especially if you use the higher grade consumer stuff, but the hard part is the paint prep. Unlike wax, ceramic coatings highlight rather than hide swirls and imperfections, so you have to decontaminate, clay, paint correct prior to ceramic coating. That's where most of the cost is for a detailer to put on a ceramic coating.

Ideally you'd do this paint correction once, but honestly you do need to do the paint correction again when you reapply because of the formentioned difference in wear on the coating.

PPF is a film that is much much thicker than ceramic coating. It can protect against deeper scratches and most PPF will have a thin layer that will self heal swirls and light scratches in the heat of the sun. Wrapping a whole car by yourself is pretty much not possible unless you have alot of time and a clean facility. I've done bumpers and small pieces behind the wheels with decent success.

I personally think that if you are planning to keep a car for just a few years, then don't do any of this. You won't get your investment back. If you arent OCD about car paint, then dont do any of this, it's pointless. If you are planning to keep a car very long term, and you obsess over the paint appearance, then I personally think that doing full PPF and doing the ceramic coating yourself is a more sensible financial alternative.

With PPF you don't need to paint correct the PPF after its placed (good detailer paint correct prior to PPF) , and putting on the ceramic yourself can be done in an afternoon for 2 to 3 coats. This is why so many detailers push for people to package ceramic coating on top of PPF, it's a job that's 10x easier for them than ceramic without the PPF. It's free money for them.

If you do it yourself, get some polisher to remove high spots if you mess up. Then in 2 to 3 years, just reapply yourself, again no need for paint correction, and so on and so on. I do 2 coats of Cquartz UK 3.0 and 1 coat of Cquartz Sic. People claim that the professional stuff lasts longer, but in those independent tests on youtube, nothing really lasts beyond 2 to 3 years, and that's on a test panel that isn't driven or blasted by the road.

If you are thinking of doing PPF, then I wouldn't drive it until you get the PPF. Many people don't even let their cars drive to the detailer, they get transported in an enclosed trailer so there is no chance of rock chips prior to PPF installation.

Those are my opinions on this whole PPF vs ceramic vs PPF and ceramic debate.

UK 3.0 is super durable and remains very open after its application making it awesome to add a layer of SiC on top of to get a much better shine. the two coatings play well to each others strengths. That's the combination we use at my shop for our basic CQuartz paint protection service. you are right though...the application process doesn't take long, the cost is in all of the prep work.

 

[Neveready]

Here is my personal feeling on this. Ceramic coatings, even the higher end pro stuff like Cquartz finest reserve really doesn't provide much protection against real scratches and some minor protection against swirls. It is mostly good for its hydrophobic properties, which makes the car easier to clean. It's a barrier so you don't have to bust out the clay bar and decontamination each time. It's not nearly as thick as nail polish. Think of it as a wax or polymer sealent that lasts about 3 years in ideal conditions. It doesn't mean you can machine wash the car however much you want, in fact once you ceramic coat your car, the detailer will often give you a little card to hang from your mirror to remind the dealer not to wash it. You have to be fairly careful with the coating and take as good care, if not even better care with it than the paint.

On a daily driven car you will see it start to wear off behind the wheels first, as the hydrophobic properties and shine become less. You can claim after 2 or 3 years that the product is still there because the water is still beading in some areas, but no one would be satisfied with the protection remaining. So realistically you have to reapply every 2 to 3 years. Usually detailers recommend you use various refresher products that contain a little bit of silica in it, like Reload to try to prolong it a bit more.

Applying ceramic coating isn't too hard especially if you use the higher grade consumer stuff, but the hard part is the paint prep. Unlike wax, ceramic coatings highlight rather than hide swirls and imperfections, so you have to decontaminate, clay, paint correct prior to ceramic coating. That's where most of the cost is for a detailer to put on a ceramic coating.

Ideally you'd do this paint correction once, but honestly you do need to do the paint correction again when you reapply because of the formentioned difference in wear on the coating.

PPF is a film that is much much thicker than ceramic coating. It can protect against deeper scratches and most PPF will have a thin layer that will self heal swirls and light scratches in the heat of the sun. Wrapping a whole car by yourself is pretty much not possible unless you have alot of time and a clean facility. I've done bumpers and small pieces behind the wheels with decent success.

I personally think that if you are planning to keep a car for just a few years, then don't do any of this. You won't get your investment back. If you arent OCD about car paint, then dont do any of this, it's pointless. If you are planning to keep a car very long term, and you obsess over the paint appearance, then I personally think that doing full PPF and doing the ceramic coating yourself is a more sensible financial alternative.

With PPF you don't need to paint correct the PPF after its placed (good detailer paint correct prior to PPF) , and putting on the ceramic yourself can be done in an afternoon for 2 to 3 coats. This is why so many detailers push for people to package ceramic coating on top of PPF, it's a job that's 10x easier for them than ceramic without the PPF. It's free money for them.

If you do it yourself, get some polisher to remove high spots if you mess up. Then in 2 to 3 years, just reapply yourself, again no need for paint correction, and so on and so on. I do 2 coats of Cquartz UK 3.0 and 1 coat of Cquartz Sic. People claim that the professional stuff lasts longer, but in those independent tests on youtube, nothing really lasts beyond 2 to 3 years, and that's on a test panel that isn't driven or blasted by the road.

If you are thinking of doing PPF, then I wouldn't drive it until you get the PPF. Many people don't even let their cars drive to the detailer, they get transported in an enclosed trailer so there is no chance of rock chips prior to PPF installation.

Those are my opinions on this whole PPF vs ceramic vs PPF and ceramic debate.

Right on man. I 100% concur based on my experience with 6 of my cars coated with ceramic and or PPF within the last 15 years.

Thank you for putting this thought down for us.

 

[ls1inoc]

Anyone in SoCal able to knock out my rift carbon 2 5 BW? I’m looking to do at least complete front and rockers but a stealth would look interesting too! I haven’t driven it really since I’ve been hunting for a shop to handle the ppf. :/. Got the new bronze wheels in to swap out too!

 

[Neveready]

Anyone in SoCal able to knock out my rift carbon 2 5 BW? I’m looking to do at least complete front and rockers but a stealth would look interesting too! I haven’t driven it really since I’ve been hunting for a shop to handle the ppf. :/. Got the new bronze wheels in to swap out too!

I vetted these companies out when I moved here 6 years ago. They use Xpel which is awesome PPF. Xpel Fusion PPF has ceramic baked in the PPF so I'd consider that when calling.

Call Tyler at American Wrap Company in Thousand Oaks. He's the best in SoCal, very professional, has won several awards and has a larger operation. Since Tyler is the owner, I'm not sure if he will do your car or if someone else will. They PPFd the front of my Cayman.

I can also recommend Brian at Linezero PPF. Brian is the owner, has been applying PPF for years through another company but he opened up his shop a few years ago. Brian will be doing your car. He did my wife's Mazda CX-9, front PPF and Ceramic coated the rest.

I've used both of these guys and they did an amazing job. Tyler charges more but he's established. There may be a few months wait depending on when you call either of these guys.

 

[RDATLTE]

Anyone in SoCal able to knock out my rift carbon 2 5 BW? I’m looking to do at least complete front and rockers but a stealth would look interesting too! I haven’t driven it really since I’ve been hunting for a shop to handle the ppf. :/. Got the new bronze wheels in to swap out too!

I can recommend Protective Film Solutions.

 

[TFG]

Anyone in SoCal able to knock out my rift carbon 2 5 BW? I’m looking to do at least complete front and rockers but a stealth would look interesting too! I haven’t driven it really since I’ve been hunting for a shop to handle the ppf. :/. Got the new bronze wheels in to swap out too!

Call Ghost Shield.