Ceramic and PFF coatings - status after year 5(+/-)?
12-01-2023, 05:21 PM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
Ceramic and PFF coatings - status after year 5(+/-)?
Primarily interested in protecting a new car from swirl marks from washing/drying/waxing. Would do touchless sprayer or 2 bucket hand wash, air blower for heaviest part of drying. Personally hand wax. Etc. Considering a coating.
Most info/threads focus on initial best case benefits. What happens after several years? Do the coatings wear off? Do they have to be manually removed (I saw thread of head gun and scraper tedious process)?
If it fades away, so be it. If it looks like peeling clear coat, then I will avoid.
Most info/threads focus on initial best case benefits. What happens after several years? Do the coatings wear off? Do they have to be manually removed (I saw thread of head gun and scraper tedious process)?
If it fades away, so be it. If it looks like peeling clear coat, then I will avoid.
12-01-2023, 08:33 PM
#2
Le Mans Master
Okay, so, a couple of things, since you may be confused. Without getting too technical...
1) "PPF" is Paint Protection Film. Literally, it is a plastic film that covers your body panels. Since you said you want to eliminate future swirl marks, this would be your only option. Nothing else will protect against physical damage such as swirls and scratches. Your paint will have a flexible plastic shield on top of the surface. If you want to apply a carnauba wax to the film, you certainly can. Synthetic sealants and ceramic coatings are applied to PPF all the time, as well.
2) A ceramic coating will take the place of your wax. To make it really simple, think of a ceramic coating as a really, really, really durable synthetic "wax".
3) Yes, both ceramic coatings and PPF have a lifespan. When a ceramic coating wears off, there is not much change in the paint's appearance. You will just notice the hydrophobics are poor---water beads will start to look like flat puddles that don't slide off the paint. When it is time to refresh, the car is usually cleaned, polished, and another ceramic coating application is done. When PPF starts to degrade, it can look yellow or look like it is less glossy. It will have to be removed and more PPF will then be installed. And neither product will ever look like peeling clear coat.
1) "PPF" is Paint Protection Film. Literally, it is a plastic film that covers your body panels. Since you said you want to eliminate future swirl marks, this would be your only option. Nothing else will protect against physical damage such as swirls and scratches. Your paint will have a flexible plastic shield on top of the surface. If you want to apply a carnauba wax to the film, you certainly can. Synthetic sealants and ceramic coatings are applied to PPF all the time, as well.
2) A ceramic coating will take the place of your wax. To make it really simple, think of a ceramic coating as a really, really, really durable synthetic "wax".
3) Yes, both ceramic coatings and PPF have a lifespan. When a ceramic coating wears off, there is not much change in the paint's appearance. You will just notice the hydrophobics are poor---water beads will start to look like flat puddles that don't slide off the paint. When it is time to refresh, the car is usually cleaned, polished, and another ceramic coating application is done. When PPF starts to degrade, it can look yellow or look like it is less glossy. It will have to be removed and more PPF will then be installed. And neither product will ever look like peeling clear coat.
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12-02-2023, 06:14 PM
#3
Drifting
Thread Starter
Okay, so, a couple of things, since you may be confused. Without getting too technical...
1) "PPF" is Paint Protection Film. Literally, it is a plastic film that covers your body panels. Since you said you want to eliminate future swirl marks, this would be your only option. Nothing else will protect against physical damage such as swirls and scratches. Your paint will have a flexible plastic shield on top of the surface. If you want to apply a carnauba wax to the film, you certainly can. Synthetic sealants and ceramic coatings are applied to PPF all the time, as well.
2) A ceramic coating will take the place of your wax. To make it really simple, think of a ceramic coating as a really, really, really durable synthetic "wax".
3) Yes, both ceramic coatings and PPF have a lifespan. When a ceramic coating wears off, there is not much change in the paint's appearance. You will just notice the hydrophobics are poor---water beads will start to look like flat puddles that don't slide off the paint. When it is time to refresh, the car is usually cleaned, polished, and another ceramic coating application is done. When PPF starts to degrade, it can look yellow or look like it is less glossy. It will have to be removed and more PPF will then be installed. And neither product will ever look like peeling clear coat.
1) "PPF" is Paint Protection Film. Literally, it is a plastic film that covers your body panels. Since you said you want to eliminate future swirl marks, this would be your only option. Nothing else will protect against physical damage such as swirls and scratches. Your paint will have a flexible plastic shield on top of the surface. If you want to apply a carnauba wax to the film, you certainly can. Synthetic sealants and ceramic coatings are applied to PPF all the time, as well.
2) A ceramic coating will take the place of your wax. To make it really simple, think of a ceramic coating as a really, really, really durable synthetic "wax".
3) Yes, both ceramic coatings and PPF have a lifespan. When a ceramic coating wears off, there is not much change in the paint's appearance. You will just notice the hydrophobics are poor---water beads will start to look like flat puddles that don't slide off the paint. When it is time to refresh, the car is usually cleaned, polished, and another ceramic coating application is done. When PPF starts to degrade, it can look yellow or look like it is less glossy. It will have to be removed and more PPF will then be installed. And neither product will ever look like peeling clear coat.
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FYRARMS (12-02-2023)
12-03-2023, 01:06 AM
#4
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2023 Corvette of the Year Winner - Modified
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I have some on my splitters, on the the harder edges my PPF has peeled a little... like the stage 3 side.. on the edges
Last edited by Gixxerman; 12-03-2023 at 12:35 PM.
12-05-2023, 01:31 PM
#6
Safety Car
Good luck getting a coating to last five years. Places that offer 5 year warranties are just going to use ceramic detail sprays once the coating starts to fail and you wouldnt be able to tell the difference by looking at it. I did a 3-5 year professional coating on my C6 about 2.5 years ago. The coating is starting to fail on the back bumper due to exhaust heat and the car not having cats. The rest of the car is still going pretty strong but it's probably towards the end of its life. I will hopefully be removing mine with a brand new product on the market, if that doesnt work I will polish the coating off but really hoping I don't have to do that.
Ceramic coatings will not help with scratches and rock chips regardless of what advertisements say. PPF WILL protect from that. I didn't do the PPF because you can repaint a front bumper for not much more than PPFing the car. Just my opinion.
You will not "see" the coating chip off. The only way you can tell is by water behavior and touching the paint. I may be putting some detailing videos together and putting them on youtube when I redo my car this winter.
If you want to keep the car scratch free, do a paint correction and use a good coating. Prep is EVERYTHING with coatings. Get yourself one bucket and six wash mitts. Clean soapy water in the bucket, use one was mitt per section of car. Never put the wash mitt back into the bucket. Hands down the safest way to wash a car if youre going to be actually touching the car. I use an electric leaf blower to dry mine and follow up with drying towel if needed. I have only hand washed my car five or six times since I coated it since I can just mist it with water and car shampoo, let it dwell, and rise almost everything away. Hope this helps
Ceramic coatings will not help with scratches and rock chips regardless of what advertisements say. PPF WILL protect from that. I didn't do the PPF because you can repaint a front bumper for not much more than PPFing the car. Just my opinion.
You will not "see" the coating chip off. The only way you can tell is by water behavior and touching the paint. I may be putting some detailing videos together and putting them on youtube when I redo my car this winter.
If you want to keep the car scratch free, do a paint correction and use a good coating. Prep is EVERYTHING with coatings. Get yourself one bucket and six wash mitts. Clean soapy water in the bucket, use one was mitt per section of car. Never put the wash mitt back into the bucket. Hands down the safest way to wash a car if youre going to be actually touching the car. I use an electric leaf blower to dry mine and follow up with drying towel if needed. I have only hand washed my car five or six times since I coated it since I can just mist it with water and car shampoo, let it dwell, and rise almost everything away. Hope this helps
12-06-2023, 10:04 AM
#8
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C7 of the Year - Unmodified Finalist 2021
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My cars are all garage kept, the vettes come out in summer. The Kamikaze coating on the 2019 is just fine, holding up very well for hydrophobia. Of course the nose of the car attracts rock chips like a magnet and it probably needs to be clayed, stripped, and re done. The coating on the 88 is still basically perfect, but I drive it less.
The coating I tested on my Tacoma before doing the vette is still hydrophobic but not holding up as well overall, vertical panels don't pop like they did.
The coating I tested on my Tacoma before doing the vette is still hydrophobic but not holding up as well overall, vertical panels don't pop like they did.
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BudgetPlan1 (12-06-2023)
12-06-2023, 11:14 AM
#10
Team Owner
Had SB3 Alpha Ceramic Coating applied in August 2019 and my 2013 Vette (garage queen) still beads and shines like it did when it was brand new.
