PPF vs. Factory Paint w/ Ceraminc Coat sheen?

[rpgrigsby]

Perhaps a dumb question, but which is shinier, a high-end PPF like STEK or XPEL, versus factory paint or factory paint with ceramic coating? In other words, do I lose any shine by installing a full PPF?

[cronut]

Probably ceramic coating, then wax, then PPF in that order. When film gets pulled I don't think it retains the original shine as much though it will remain clear. I am skeptical there is a huge difference among PPF brands.

[JABCAT]

If installed correctly, you won't notice any difference in shine or metallic appearance with the ppf installed.

[silvermanor]

Most good PPF has ceramic infused in it.

[Dieingbreed]

The only honest answer is PPF reduces the 'clarity' of the paint. In other words its like 95% amazing all the time, but i find when the sun is very bright like in july august you can tell something is on the car.

[Phizzzle]

You'll probably lose the shine over time if the car is parked outside and neglected. A prior car I had for 5 years and had XPEL on the front and full ceramic coating done. Still looked amazing after all those years. You could only tell that the car has PPF by examining closely and looking for spots where a rock hit and lifted a small piece of the film.

[ppointer]

+1 on PPF up front and ceramic the rest.

[TimmyTurbos]

From my understanding the ceramic is on top of the film, not "in" it..Meaning it will eventually wear away - so I think applying a new coat every couple years will be the best bet. Now for clarity I was directed by my installer that if I wanted a very clear film to go with STEK. I'm glad I did.. You have to really look for edges or a seam to know it's even on the car. The film also has a ceramic coat topping that is very glossy. It's also very easy to wash now. Nothing really sticks. His reasoning for STEK is he says other films have orange peel. You never really notice because most factory paint also has some orange peeling. I'm definitely no expert here, but I'm happy with my choice.

[dudley@07726]

I spray Optimum Spray Wax on top of my full PPF'd M340i.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by rpgrigsby

Perhaps a dumb question, but which is shinier, a high-end PPF like STEK or XPEL, versus factory paint or factory paint with ceramic coating? In other words, do I lose any shine by installing a full PPF?

I don't have experience with STEK as it's not super common in my area, the one with the best paint clarity IMO is Suntek/LLumar compared to XPEL. I have both XPEL and Llumar on my car, (Xpel on the roof/window trim (A little over a year old) Llumar on the rest of the car (6 year old).

Also from experience, when a bird dropped shit on my car mid drive, it left a crater/etching on my XPEL film on the roof but the Llumar on my trunk lid was fine. It probably sat on my car for like 10 minutes as I was driving home. Just from this experience alone, I will not get buy XPEL again and would purchase LLumar again. My 6 year old Llumar was not impacted by this but my XPEL was?

In terms of shine, my Llumar film is shinier more than the XPEL and my Llumar/XPEL is still shinier than on a newer Alpine white BMW without PPF lol.

[Venti26M2CS]

The two protect against different things. PPF protects the paint from physical objects scratching and chipping your paint. Ceramic creates a slick hydrophobic surface that makes dust, road grime, bird shit, etc not stick to and damage the paint surface.
Yes a very small % of brilliance might be lost when ppf is applied, but if done by a good installer, you will not notice a difference.
In a perfect world… ppf+ceramic+carnuba wax (or some of the spray waxes and speed detailers some people swear by) combo will keep the car protected and keep that paint looking like it’s dripping for years.

And pulling ppf off in the future is a pain no matter what, and will require a full detail but again, if done well your paint will be original underneath.

Net: if you get ppf, don’t cheap out on it. If you get 3 quotes, 2 of them are $8k and 1 is $4k. You’re not getting an $8k ppf install for $4k if you follow what I’m saying