Tesla Newbie - PPF Necessary?

[Sandeep Rath]

Hello fellow Tesloids!

As a newbie to the Tesla world, (and as someone who has probably watched by now some 200 hours of Youtube videos outlining the do's and don'ts of owning a Tesla), I am curious to hear from other owners - Is a PPF truly necessary? I live in Toronto which means my car will be exposed to snow and salt every winter. Does that influence the decision of PPF vs no PPF?

Thanks!

 

[Ostrichsak]

I don't. Lots will come along to say that they do though so I think it's your decision. I like the idea of doing like a matte/stealth PPF for a different look as well but just to wrap your paint with the standard gloss PPF to have the same look on the other end and the only potential gain from a rather large investment being potentially decreasing paint damage in a small percentage of scenarios isn't worth the investment.

For me, I can fix an AWFUL lot of damage for the initial price tag of PPF. In all of the years of owning Teslas I've had one single issue to the paint that was outside of normal wear and tear. The car was keyed and there's not even any guarantee that it would have prevented paint damage as it was pretty deep.

I was quoted a grand to repaint the door and my guess is that it would have bene the same price to repair even with PPF plus I'd have the cost of replacing the PPF on that door once it was repainted.

On top of that, there's no guarantee that the newly PPF'd door wouldn't have a different color due to the other panels being exposed to the sun for years.

Had I PPF'd all of my cars over the years it would have cost me a small fortune and likely wouldn't have prevented much of anything. Sure, it can save small rock chips but (back in the day when I used to PPF wrap my vehicles) in my experience anything that can damage the paint can also damage it through the PPF. The window of items that can be prevented is actually much smaller in real-world use than you might think or than the PPF marketing hype would have you believe.

 

[flai54]

Hello fellow Tesloids!

As a newbie to the Tesla world, (and as someone who has probably watched by now some 200 hours of Youtube videos outlining the do's and don'ts of owning a Tesla), I am curious to hear from other owners - Is a PPF truly necessary? I live in Toronto which means my car will be exposed to snow and salt every winter. Does that influence the decision of PPF vs no PPF?

Thanks!

PPF is a polarizing topic where you have people on both sides that argue whether you should or should not have PPF on your car to protect your "investment". I personally don't have PPF on my vehicle just because the cost to install PPF on the whole vehicle is sky high like ($6K). Some people will just do PPF on the front bumper/hood since that is most likely the area where you can get rock chips or dings when driving to save on costs. Some will argue that it just takes one ding and then you will regret not ever getting PPF but ehhhh.

The other thing I would worry also is that what happens if you get into an accident and then once the body is fixed you would need to do PPF again on that area since that is not covered by the PPF install shop folks for that type of situation. I would try to ask someone you may know that lives in your area who has a Tesla and ask them if they have PPF and if they don't...see how their Tesla has fared through the winter months so far if they have owned the Tesla for years.

 

[Sandeep Rath]

I don't. Lots will come along to say that they do though so I think it's your decision. I like the idea of doing like a matte/stealth PPF for a different look as well but just to wrap your paint with the standard gloss PPF to have the same look on the other end and the only potential gain from a rather large investment being potentially decreasing paint damage in a small percentage of scenarios isn't worth the investment.

For me, I can fix an AWFUL lot of damage for the initial price tag of PPF. In all of the years of owning Teslas I've had one single issue to the paint that was outside of normal wear and tear. The car was keyed and there's not even any guarantee that it would have prevented paint damage as it was pretty deep.

I was quoted a grand to repaint the door and my guess is that it would have bene the same price to repair even with PPF plus I'd have the cost of replacing the PPF on that door once it was repainted.

On top of that, there's no guarantee that the newly PPF'd door wouldn't have a different color due to the other panels being exposed to the sun for years.

Had I PPF'd all of my cars over the years it would have cost me a small fortune and likely wouldn't have prevented much of anything. Sure, it can save small rock chips but (back in the day when I used to PPF wrap my vehicles) in my experience anything that can damage the paint can also damage it through the PPF. The window of items that can be prevented is actually much smaller in real-world use than you might think or than the PPF marketing hype would have you believe.

Thank you for your detailed reply. Truly appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me!

 

[Sandeep Rath]

PPF is a polarizing topic where you have people on both sides that argue whether you should or should not have PPF on your car to protect your "investment". I personally don't have PPF on my vehicle just because the cost to install PPF on the whole vehicle is sky high like ($6K). Some people will just do PPF on the front bumper/hood since that is most likely the area where you can get rock chips or dings when driving to save on costs. Some will argue that it just takes one ding and then you will regret not ever getting PPF but ehhhh.

The other thing I would worry also is that what happens if you get into an accident and then once the body is fixed you would need to do PPF again on that area since that is not covered by the PPF install shop folks for that type of situation. I would try to ask someone you may know that lives in your area who has a Tesla and ask them if they have PPF and if they don't...see how their Tesla has fared through the winter months so far if they have owned the Tesla for years.

Thank you! Truly appreciate your help!

 

[holmgang]

I'm doing front PPF for the first time on my car. Why? we do tons of highway trips in regions of salt and gravel, and personal experience from previous car that these things really scattershot the front of the car.

I realize that for a 1-time sunk cost, I could repaint/repair the front end multiple times. But, the road trip also collect tons of bugs which require frequent cleaning and the PPF allows me to be a bit roughshod in that process.

Wouldn't pay 10% of the car's cost to do the whole car though. Seems wasteful.

 

[Sandeep Rath]

I'm doing front PPF for the first time on my car. Why? we do tons of highway trips in regions of salt and gravel, and personal experience from previous car that these things really scattershot the front of the car.

I realize that for a 1-time sunk cost, I could repaint/repair the front end multiple times. But, the road trip also collect tons of bugs which require frequent cleaning and the PPF allows me to be a bit roughshod in that process.

Wouldn't pay 10% of the car's cost to do the whole car though. Seems wasteful.

Thank you, @holmgang! Many people seem to be recommending exactly this approach - PPF just the front of the car... two follow up questions: 1) Do you worry that eventually, the front will continue to look glossy and new whereas the other parts of the car start to look a bit weathered down... and 2) Do you mind sharing what's the rough estimate you are getting for the job?

Thanks!

 

[Mrdrbot23]

I wouldn't say that PPF is necessary at all. It's a car - a depreciating asset that will get damaged by rocks, salt, etc. as you drive it. You can choose to care for the paint (or not) in any way that suits your lifestyle and budget.

I got full satin PPF on my MYLR. I kept my last car for 17 years and plan to keep the MYLR for a long time as well and I wanted to preserve the factory paint job. I know a lot of people say that it's just cheaper to repaint the whole car, but I wouldn't pay that amount to repaint a car after it's >5 years old (the timeframe when the paint damage may be enough to merit it). For the amount of money PPF costs, it makes more sense to me to be preventative rather than focus on fixing an even older, depreciated asset.

Plus my MYLR is black, as my last car was. It's a difficult color to keep looking nice and PPF makes that job easy for me.

Satin PPF has also been a bit of a wish for me. The first time I test drove a Tesla about 9 years ago, I saw another one there with satin PPF and I loved the way it looked. So I decided to go for it with the Model Y. It was very expensive but I'm fortunate to be in a place where it didn't compromise my retirement or other savings goals. And it's made me extremely happy. So it's been totally worth it for me.

With that said, if you're looking for some basic protection to avoid the worst of the damage that's inevitable, I'd suggest gloss PPF for the front bumper, hood, and the lower part of the rear doors right in front of the wheels. That seems to be a good compromise between price and protection from what I've heard from others.

 

[howardnj]

Here in NJ we get snow and whatever they put on the roads when snow is predicted.
I won't spend that kind of money for a vehicle that I intend to trade in once the warranty expires.
I think that many Tesla owners that do spend that huge amount of money are probably the ones that used premium gas in their previous ICE vehicles when using regular gas was just fine.

 

[ewoodrick]

Hello fellow Tesloids!

As a newbie to the Tesla world, (and as someone who has probably watched by now some 200 hours of Youtube videos outlining the do's and don'ts of owning a Tesla), I am curious to hear from other owners - Is a PPF truly necessary? I live in Toronto which means my car will be exposed to snow and salt every winter. Does that influence the decision of PPF vs no PPF?

Thanks!

It absolutely, positively is not required.

You hear about it a lot on forums, but I suspect that way less than 5% of the owners actually do it.

 

[Mike728]

It absolutely, positively is not required.

You hear about it a lot on forums, but I suspect that way less than 5% of the owners actually do it.

Probably less than 1%.

 

[fredzos]

Thank you, @holmgang! Many people seem to be recommending exactly this approach - PPF just the front of the car... two follow up questions: 1) Do you worry that eventually, the front will continue to look glossy and new whereas the other parts of the car start to look a bit weathered down... and 2) Do you mind sharing what's the rough estimate you are getting for the job?

Thanks!

i believe a rough estimate for front ppf job is around $1500 average

 

[Krugerrand]

All good answers here. Whether you do it or not depends on a wide range of factors.

First time ever owning dozens of vehicles (all but one used so no reason to bother), I did a half PPF (front fascia, hood, back of side mirror, rocker panels, bottom of doors, back fascia) and a whole car high end (lifetime guarantee) ceramic. I can tell you the combination has resulted in the car looking brand spanking new at almost 6yrs of age and over 105,000 miles.

One of the biggest advantages of that combo was reducing damage from road debris on the entire front fascia, that basically gives the world the middle finger and dares to be hit by everything as if it was the side of a barn.

Last year we had a grasshopper apocalypse on The Mountain and the grasshopper guts on the front of the car at the end of the apocalypse was so thick I could have hung ornaments from the car with no worries they’d fall off. While several treatments with specialty cleaner was required, and elbow grease, it did all come off and underneath shine. My other vehicle without any protection - let’s just say I was grateful for mud season.

You do you. I’ll just say as a first time user of PPF and ceramics - worth every penny to me for ease of cleaning, and continued brand new looks of a car I have always planned to keep until battery degradation hits 75% - so basically until the day I die as the car sits at only about 8% degradation.

 

[Ostrichsak]

i believe a rough estimate for front ppf job is around $1500 average

This is area dependent. In the Front Range of Colorado this is 2-3x this amount, easily. In fact, if you find 2x this amount... you're pretty lucky... based on what I've seen. Full wraps for a Tesla would be $7k+ in this area. Another reason why it doesn't make sense since all you're really doing is potentially preventing what is considered normal wear and tear.

You're not even guaranteed to protect it. The types of things that it might protect from would be considered normal anyway 50-100k miles down the line so... who cares? Your car isn't going to look brand new in 50k miles no matter what you do and this is considered normal anyway.

Even if you could, you're not going to net that much of a premium when you resell your car anyway. Especially when you consider that most trade their car in or use one of the car buying outlets and none of them will assign much (if anything) to your wrapped car. In the end, it's not an investment some will try to have you believe. If it is considered an investment, it sure is a crappy one.

There's also the potential of a botch wrap job that damages your paint in ways that wouldn't have happened at all.

I think that the vocal minority (or those who stand to gain personally from the advancement of the PPF opinion) in these threads make it seem like a necessity.

 

[holmgang]

Thank you, @holmgang! Many people seem to be recommending exactly this approach - PPF just the front of the car... two follow up questions: 1) Do you worry that eventually, the front will continue to look glossy and new whereas the other parts of the car start to look a bit weathered down... and 2) Do you mind sharing what's the rough estimate you are getting for the job?

Thanks!

(1) my region doesnt get much harsh sun, and imo paint fade is a very faraway worry. basically my thought process is: on my current car, i regret the front end getting beat up so much

(2) $1500-2000 around here. $500 for bumper alone.

 

[BamaRed]

I thought about over a year ago when I picked up my Y, but could not justify the costs from my local preferred installer. In that one year time, I have maybe one or two dings that need a spot of touch up paint. I would agree with others, not needed at all but personal preference choice. In a high traffic vehicle or area with salt and grime for you it might make sense. YMMV - Good luck and enjoy the car!

 

[sgMT]

Yes to the over 200 hours of YouTube videos. I’m a new owner too and wonder which way to go. Good info here.

 

[Ratm68]

Thank you, @holmgang! Many people seem to be recommending exactly this approach - PPF just the front of the car... two follow up questions: 1) Do you worry that eventually, the front will continue to look glossy and new whereas the other parts of the car start to look a bit weathered down... and 2) Do you mind sharing what's the rough estimate you are getting for the job?

Thanks!

#1 is really only true when the PPF is removed bc you'd be comparing protected vs unprotected. But if the PPF is still on, I'd would think the PPF to be more weathered overtime bc it can't stay clear forever and it's should be much easier to restore/paint correct on the car's clearcoat to bring back the shine

 

[Twiglett]

My six year old Model 3 has 6-7 paint chips which I corrected with a $50 kit.
Take a look on YouTube for why not ppf

 

[holmgang]

When my Model 3 got resprayed the shop made me a little touchup bottle from the same paint they used on the car.

There was no way I could correct the chips on the car with it. Looks like dabbing whiteout on a school paper.