Xpel Ultimate Fusion

[0Vloc]

Did my first wash since getting Xpel Ultimate Fusion on the entire car. The hydrophobic properties are pretty neat, wonder how long it’ll last! Any of you have experience with this PPF?

 

[John]

I believe that's still fairly new so it's hard to say how long it will last. That's more dependent on your usage, mileage and how you maintain the finish.

Car looks great though!

 

[white98ls]

I'm getting Xpel's PPF and Fusion ceramic applied to my new 5BW next week before it's delivered to me! I had not heard of Xpel's ceramic product before, but in researching it seems like a very good one. Looking forward to it as I have never had PPF (except my Lotus Elise's factory "Starshield" applied when new in 2007) or ceramic before. That video is pretty cool!

 

[Throat Yogurt]

I just had Xpel PPF and Ceramic applied to my BW. I chose Xpel over another brand based on a few youtube videos showing the long-term performance of various PPF brands. Search youtube for "PPF Comparison" and plenty of videos come up.

 

[MatthewAMEL]

I am having the whole front done with Xpel, but I am using the Gtechniq Halo instead of Fusion.

 

[Neveready]

I had the whole car done with Xpel Fusion. It's amazing stuff and I'm so glad i did the whole car. My wife's mazda has the front clip done in Xpel PPF (non fusion with no ceramic built in) and ceramic on the rest of the car. I'm not really happy with the ceramic portion, there's scratches on various places and it's also much more difficult to keep clean now that it's been a year and 12k mi on the clock. I don't see any issues with the PPF on the front and it's easier to keep clean than the ceramic part, go figure.

The only thing to consider about PPF Fusion over the whole car is that there are some areas of the car that have no protection. Yes most of the corners are wrapped but the door sills or some of the window trim and plastic areas which would be covered with a traditional wax or ceramic coating. I still have to go over some of those areas myself with a spray wax or tradition wax.

Those who have full PPF, what have you done in these situations?

Senior moment edit: in relation to price I thought I'd be transparent about what was included:

My installer has a laser cutter so the pieces are precut.

He included all the basics plus all the little tiny gloss black fins in the front bumper, the bottom lips, the rear defuser, rockers, the larger gloss black panels in the doors and even the infotainment screen, as well as the 4 inside door jambs. He added PPF on the taillights at n/c but that would have been extra Ceramic coating was added to the door handles and thin gloss black window trims. He did not apply anything to the glass or the wheels. $5500 out the door.

When I got the car the back the first time there were a few bubbles and some edges that lifted and needed trimming; he took care of it right in front of me in 5 mins.

You know back in the day when PPF was first out, it was more acceptable to see exposed edges and bubbles. It was primarily about protection, for road warriors and special high end cars. Somewhere along the line people got really picky and they started pulling panels to wrap edges. There are even PPF installation contests which I think is kinda silly but hopefully you all get what I'm saying.

Anyone chime in if they had PPF applied to their door handles because my installer didn't want to mess with it.

 

[NewCaddy]

I am having the whole front done with Xpel, but I am using the Gtechniq Halo instead of Fusion.

Why not Gtechniq CSU?

 

[Throat Yogurt]

I had the whole car done with Xpel Fusion. It's amazing stuff and I'm so glad i did the whole car. My wife's mazda has the front clip done in Xpel PPF (non fusion with no ceramic built in) and ceramic on the rest of the car. I'm not really happy with the ceramic portion, there's scratches on various places and it's also much more difficult to keep clean now that it's been a year and 12k mi on the clock. I don't see any issues with the PPF on the front and it's easier to keep clean than the ceramic part, go figure.

According to my installer, a ceramic coating's lifespan depends on how it is washed and maintained. Did you do any maintenance coats on the Mazda?

 

[MatthewAMEL]

Why not Gtechniq CSU?

Halo is designed for PPF. I don’t use Halo on the non-PPF sections.

 

[Neveready]

According to my installer, a ceramic coating's lifespan depends on how it is washed and maintained. Did you do any maintenance coats on the Mazda?

Yes, I have used shine supply clutch which has 10% silica in it, and SiO2 and hydrophobic properties. I did that 2 times already.

I wash the car with a foam cannon and PW, if it's really dirty I foam it and use a bucket with a dirt guard and a wool glove.

The dirt seems to be sticking more than usual so the other day I used carpro iron-x decontamination spray and reload spray, I'll see if that makes any difference.

It's funny because the professional coating on the Mazda is more difficult to maintain then the Pinnicle stuff I used on my Cayman is carefree amazing. Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Ceramic Coating PRO

It's also the most toxic smelling product I have ever used, that must mean it works

 

[Neveready]

Halo is designed for PPF. I don’t use Halo on the non-PPF sections.

Woops, I used that Pinnicle stuff on the Xpel non coated ppf and it seems totally fine to me. Best using halo in the future

 

[LongGrayLine16]

Figure this is the right thread for this. BLUF: you get what you pay for with PPF.

Dropped my car off at what i thought to be a reputable tint/PPF place. Contaminants were sprinkled throughout the PPF and window tint. I didn't end up paying for any of it because of how bad it was ($350 for the tint and $1k for full front half PPF), but i did lose about 2 weeks of time with my car as it is now at a second shop getting everything redone.

Look at the amazing job they did

 

[Throat Yogurt]

Figure this is the right thread for this. BLUF: you get what you pay for with PPF.

Dropped my car off at what i thought to be a reputable tint/PPF place. Contaminants were sprinkled throughout the PPF and window tint. I didn't end up paying for any of it because of how bad it was ($350 for the tint and $1k for full front half PPF), but i did lose about 2 weeks of time with my car as it is now at a second shop getting everything redone.

Look at the amazing job they did

Oof, that's amateur hour. Did they also take it off or did you have to pay the second shop to do that?

 

[LongGrayLine16]

I never paid for the PPF and had them remove it before i left their shop. The tint was paid for and after all the bubbles went away i could clearly see all the messed up spots and contamination in the film. I spoke with them and we agreed to a refund for that, but he never processed it. So i did a chargeback to my credit card. Always pay with card folks.

The second place i took it to basically laughed at how bad they were with the tint.

 

[Andi]

Wow, that's pretty bad. Check the car thoroughly for paint cuts/scratches too...

 

[Tall Steve]

Wow, that's pretty bad. Check the car thoroughly for paint cuts/scratches too...

^^^^THIS^^^^

 

[LongGrayLine16]

Wow, that's pretty bad. Check the car thoroughly for paint cuts/scratches too...

I did. luckily they used a plotter to do most of the cutting. So most of their trimming was done in places away from paint. like the wheel wells and hood where the ppf should (they did a shit job at it) wrap around. they had most of the alignment right, just dirt, hair, black stuff all behind the film and poor adhesion on most corners and edges.

 

[white98ls]

That is indeed awful. But $1k is simply too cheap for full front half PPF.

 

[LongGrayLine16]

original shop was 3M film. So i was hopeful that they would be professional with the install.

new shop uses Stek. had never heard of them before. reviews seem to be positive though.

 

[white98ls]

original shop was 3M film. So i was hopeful that they would be professional with the install.

new shop uses Stek. had never heard of them before. reviews seem to be positive though.

The day I confirmed my order for Xpel PPF, a friend posted a video on why Stek was a bit better. Seems like either is good, I wouldn't worry.