PPF and ceramic coat pricing??

[Hakmamba]

Here's my breakdown, I went with XPEL Ultimate Plus (good history with XPEL products), and XPEL XR Prime Plus Tint all around. Not sure if I'm a fan of the front windshield tint just yet but that's another topic for another time. Ultimately or more importantly is to find a reputable dealer/installer. If any issues arise, these can be addressed easily for warranty work or just as a quality standpoint. I've personally had my Mountain bike fall off a rack in my garage and the bike landed on the hood of my car, the pedal ran down my hood a good 13 inches. The XPEL ppf was actually scuffed real bad, but ultimately it saved any paint damage and after some PDR, the hood was looking flawless. My XPEL installer at the time, replaced it no cost to me outside the PDR cost, so find a good installer.

The installer here didn't go pre cut and actually made all the cuts himself. One thing of note as some have pointed out, alot has to do with the cars shape as well such as raised or flat hoods, and fender flares. In the ITS case, a majority of the front bumper consist of the diamond (whatever Acura calls it) grill and won't be ppf'd vs like EV cars. Just know what can be covered and what is also a relatively cheap plastic use item that can be replaced vs paint/headlights etc. I can say I've never been a fan of half front/hood/fender ppf's on the aesthetics standpoint. On certain paint and level of dirtiness of the car, the visual line from the ppf can look just fugly, but ultimately any protection is better than no protection. In the end don't skimp out and get what you can afford and aligns with your use case, find one with good reputation using a known brand and warranty.


$1900 for the Front PPF

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[Clark_Kent]

Here's my breakdown, I went with XPEL Ultimate Plus (good history with XPEL products), and XPEL XR Prime Plus Tint all around. Not sure if I'm a fan of the front windshield tint just yet but that's another topic for another time. Ultimately or more importantly is to find a reputable dealer/installer. If any issues arise, these can be addressed easily for warranty work or just as a quality standpoint. I've personally had my Mountain bike fall off a rack in my garage and the bike landed on the hood of my car, the pedal ran down my hood a good 13 inches. The XPEL ppf was actually scuffed real bad, but ultimately it saved any paint damage and after some PDR, the hood was looking flawless. My XPEL installer at the time, replaced it no cost to me outside the PDR cost, so find a good installer.

The installer here didn't go pre cut and actually made all the cuts himself. One thing of note as some have pointed out, alot has to do with the cars shape as well such as raised or flat hoods, and fender flares. In the ITS case, a majority of the front bumper consist of the diamond (whatever Acura calls it) grill and won't be ppf'd vs like EV cars. Just know what can be covered and what is also a relatively cheap plastic use item that can be replaced vs paint/headlights etc. I can say I've never been a fan of half front/hood/fender ppf's on the aesthetics standpoint. On certain paint and level of dirtiness of the car, the visual line from the ppf can look just fugly, but ultimately any protection is better than no protection. In the end don't skimp out and get what you can afford and aligns with your use case, find one with good reputation using a known brand and warranty.


$1900 for the Front PPF

Let me guess: Is your issue with the tint on the windshield optical clarity?

 

[Hakmamba]

Let me guess: Is your issue with the tint on the windshield optical clarity?

Yup , at night it just hard to really ever focus on any of the lights. Maybe it’s an adjustment period but I can see where long stretches night drives could lead to a lot of fatigue. Worst case scenario I pull it off. This is my first time ever with a front windshield tint. Anybody else experience this?

 

[Clark_Kent]

Yup , at night it just hard to really ever focus on any of the lights. Maybe it’s an adjustment period but I can see where long stretches night drives could lead to a lot of fatigue. Worst case scenario I pull it off. This is my first time ever with a front windshield tint. Anybody else experience this?

I've had tinted windshields on two cars and I'll never do it again until the optical clarity of these films improve. I always hear, "It's so clear you don't even notice the film is on the windshield!" That's not true. What you're experiencing is normal. If you have a discerning eye you will absolutely notice there's film on the windshield. It's like anything else, everyone has a different definition or threshold for certain things. Anyhow, I was not at all happy with it. On a related note, I have XPEL Prime XR Plus on one car and I'm not impressed.

I have no plans to tint the FL5; however, I have Exoshield installed and it's been great. The optical clarity isn't perfect, but it's excellent. On the rare occasion you'll see artifacts, but you really have to look for them.

 

[Integra23]

$1800 ppf full front includes

Yup , at night it just hard to really ever focus on any of the lights. Maybe it’s an adjustment period but I can see where long stretches night drives could lead to a lot of fatigue. Worst case scenario I pull it off. This is my first time ever with a front windshield tint. Anybody else experience this?

I have had tint on my front windshield for every vehicle I have had in the last 10+ years. I absolutely hate driving cars without it and feel like a vampire in them.

 

[optronix]

I've had tinted windshields on two cars and I'll never do it again until the optical clarity of these films improve. I always hear, "It's so clear you don't even notice the film is on the windshield!" That's not true. What you're experiencing is normal. If you have a discerning eye you will absolutely notice there's film on the windshield. It's like anything else, everyone has a different definition or threshold for certain things. Anyhow, I was not at all happy with it. On a related note, I have XPEL Prime XR Plus on one car and I'm not impressed.

I have no plans to tint the FL5; however, I have Exoshield installed and it's been great. The optical clarity isn't perfect, but it's excellent. On the rare occasion you'll see artifacts, but you really have to look for them.

Interesting takes, and I guess tint is another one of those ultra-subjective topics.

I couldn't disagree more. Talk about "optical clarity" issues from tint but puts PPF on the windshield?? That's cognitive dissonance to me.

What amount of tint are you guys doing on the windshield? Anything above 70% shouldn't really even be noticeable.

What, specifically, is wrong with XR Prime? I've had Huper Optic and 3M crystalline, they were both great too but XR prime is right up there with them, and I could agree that the heat repellant factor is probably better with the Prime.

I have had tint on my front windshield for every vehicle I have had in the last 10+ years. I absolutely hate driving cars without it and feel like a vampire in them.

This is where I've landed. Sure you can notice there's film on if you look for it, but the trade-off of heat repellence and not being forced to wear sunglasses every time I drive in the daylight is easily worth any dip in "optical clarity". I don't have a problem driving at night. Maybe you have to focus on keeping the windows clean a bit more. If you're a big fan of polarized sunglasses maybe that would make you not like tinted windshields.

I guess they're not for everyone, but I personally don't see the point of tint at all if you're not going to do the windshield.

 

[Clark_Kent]

Interesting takes, and I guess tint is another one of those ultra-subjective topics.

I couldn't disagree more. Talk about "optical clarity" issues from tint but puts PPF on the windshield?? That's cognitive dissonance to me.

What amount of tint are you guys doing on the windshield? Anything above 70% shouldn't really even be noticeable.

What, specifically, is wrong with XR Prime? I've had Huper Optic and 3M crystalline, they were both great too but XR prime is right up there with them, and I could agree that the heat repellant factor is probably better with the Prime.



This is where I've landed. Sure you can notice there's film on if you look for it, but the trade-off of heat repellence and not being forced to wear sunglasses every time I drive in the daylight is easily worth any dip in "optical clarity". I don't have a problem driving at night. Maybe you have to focus on keeping the windows clean a bit more. If you're a big fan of polarized sunglasses maybe that would make you not like tinted windshields.

I guess they're not for everyone, but I personally don't see the point of tint at all if you're not going to do the windshield.

Exoshield is a completely different substrate so equating it to paint protection film is a nonsensical argument. Not to mention, you couldn't apply paint protection film to a windshield even if you tried. Have you had Exoshield installed on a vehicle?

I'll preface my comments on Prime XR Plus with this: I'm a big fan of XPEL as a company. Their PPF is great and I have quite a bit of experience with it as far back as 2014. They make exceptional paint protection film. Prime was positioned as this exceptional top-tier film when in reality, it performs about as well as 3M Crystalline, which has been on the market for over ten years. It's also relatively expensive for what you're getting. I came from Spectra Photosync IRD (on two separate vehicles) and that's the best film on the market, and candidly, Prime is not even close. For example, Photosync's 70 VLT film will objectively outperform XPEL's 30 VLT film.

 

[optronix]

Exoshield is a completely different substrate so equating it to paint protection film is a nonsensical argument. Not to mention, you couldn't apply paint protection film to a windshield even if you tried. Have you had Exoshield installed on a vehicle?

I'll preface my comments on Prime XR Plus with this: I'm a big fan of XPEL as a company. Their PPF is great and I have quite a bit of experience with it as far back as 2014. They make exceptional paint protection film. Prime was positioned as this exceptional top-tier film when in reality, it performs about as well as 3M Crystalline, which has been on the market for over ten years. It's also relatively expensive for what you're getting. I came from Spectra Photosync IRD (on two separate vehicles) and that's the best film on the market, and candidly, Prime is not even close. For example, Photosync's 70 VLT film will objectively outperform XPEL's 30 VLT film.

You heard it here guys, let's all scrape off whatever tint we have and go with this... spectra photosync stuff.

Googling it just makes it look even more dubious. Are you literally their only customer? Oh, I saw a couple Tesla guys use it- all makes sense now lol.

Ask a "which tint is better" to 100 different people and get 100 different answers. I'm fine with 3m, suntek, xpel, or huper optik; I've had them all and couldn't really tell you a tangible difference, regardless of whatever "VLT" figure their marketing material claimed. Throwing out an unqualified "I'm not impressed" is almost as quick a way to lose credibility as... throwing out random acronyms and saying something is "objectively better". Unless you've got some compelling actual evidence to share, I think this is a zero-sum discussion.

Are you one of those $1600 headphones guys too?

Anyway, I would never consider putting something on the outside of the windshield as scientifically that doesn't make sense to me. Call it PPF or exoshield or whatever you want to call it- I'm not interested. It was just... interesting to me that apparently some random film or whatever that is exposed to the elements and literal rubber/silicone wipers scraping across it is somehow less susceptible to reducing optical clarity than tint. Everyone's eyes are different, it makes sense that some people would prefer not to have tint applied on the windshield, and I even used to think I was one of them. I just wanted to make sure it was clear that your "optical clarity" comment was subjective.

 

[Integra23]

sooo.. what did ya pay for the exowrap?
Thought this was here for PPF and Ceramic coating pricing?

 

[suzysparks]

I just got back from my shop and they quoted me $800 for just the front bumper; Xpel. Still thinking about it, but leaning no. Getting ceramic next week. I had them come out and look at the car, in the sun. First look, they said the paint looked pretty good. They don’t think it will need paint correction, or very light. Guess I’ll find out for sure next week.

 

[vexingv]

Has anyone gotten full vehicle PPF applied?
Curious as to the approach to your installer took. With some of the more challenging aspects.

This installer i'm considering says he removes trim pieces, mirrors, door handles, and emblems to perform provide a mostly edge-free, seamless wrap. Emblem removal, i'm probably okay with and that may present itself an opportunity to swap to the black chrome badges.

However, i'm a bit nervous about removing parts/panels or trim from a brand new car. The build quality of this car (or at least mine) is already so hit or miss with panel gaps or misalignments and there are various complaints of creeks and rattles online. From some online videos of the 11th gen civic, removing the door handles requires opening up the interior door panel, opening the door switch controls, and slicing open some insulation/sound deadening in order to reach the door handles and unclip wiring harness. He was also planning to pull the black plastic/rubber trim piece beneath the windows. He says they should pop right off and pop back in. This shop is a small-time operation, but has worked on high end cars per their Insta profile and pics and says would replace any damaged parts if needed. Still, I'm not sure of the risks/reward/benefit in this situation--after all the ITS is not some garage queen, hype/supercar--i just want it to be protected for everyday driving, parking it on the streets, and PPF makes maintenance and washes easier too. The installer starts with a template/plotter and extends the cuts a bit so it can be wrapped around panels. I actually find the pre-cut templates preferable since cuts are not made on the car or free hand. But he did show me that not all panels currently have a template from xpel at least (no rear bumper and no roof templates yet).

Thoughts?

 

[optronix]

I just got back from my shop and they quoted me $800 for just the front bumper; Xpel. Still thinking about it, but leaning no. Getting ceramic next week. I had them come out and look at the car, in the sun. First look, they said the paint looked pretty good. They don’t think it will need paint correction, or very light. Guess I’ll find out for sure next week.

It's best to avoid getting any sort of coating before PPF, the film won't apply properly so the coating will have to be removed and they may charge you extra. You can put most coatings/wax on top of PPF.

I just applied AMMO Reflex Pro last night, and mine did not need paint correction at all. There were a couple slight imperfections but overall very few scratches (all probably done by me after delivery) and no holograms/water spots. Perfectly acceptable for a daily driver. Unless you're full on OCD or planning on trying to win concours events, you should be fine to just apply ceramic or film without a correction.

I'll take pictures later, I finished up way past dark.

 

[suzysparks]

It's best to avoid getting any sort of coating before PPF, the film won't apply properly so the coating will have to be removed and they may charge you extra. You can put most coatings/wax on top of PPF.

I just applied AMMO Reflex Pro last night, and mine did not need paint correction at all. There were a couple slight imperfections but overall very few scratches (all probably done by me after delivery) and no holograms/water spots. Perfectly acceptable for a daily driver. Unless you're full on OCD or planning on trying to win concours events, you should be fine to just apply ceramic or film without a correction.

I'll take pictures later, I finished up way past dark.

Yeah, we have PPF and ceramic on our MDX. I just need to let them know when I drop it off this week. Still leaning just towards the ceramic.

 

[Angeloand]

Anyone in the Bay Area have recommendations or can chime in on how much they paid for front ppf and ceramic coating? This was one of my quotes, others i've looked at in the immediate area are about the same. Wonder if this is on par with what other people are paying.

PPF is Xpel.

Also noticed the different amount 9h layers for ceramic coating anyone know which is the best value out of the four

 

[Azkyrie6]

Anyone in the Bay Area have recommendations or can chime in on how much they paid for front ppf and ceramic coating? This was one of my quotes, others i've looked at in the immediate area are about the same. Wonder if this is on par with what other people are paying.

PPF is Xpel.

Also noticed the different amount 9h layers for ceramic coating anyone know which is the best value out of the four

The price you’re paying for PPF is a bit on the high end. But nationwide prices are relatively high.

Ceramic coating price is decent. But still far more than what it’d cost to do it yourself. Ceramic Pro 9H is the much cheaper option compared to CQuartz and Gtechniq. Cquartz will generally look better and preform better than 9H.

You should also know, if you’re selecting Xpel PPF with 9H nano coating, you will void your warranty from day one; it contains SiO2 and TiO2 for hardening.

Highly encourage looking at STek Dynoshield and HEXIS bodyfence, both have ceramic coat embedded in their PPF.

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