WHICH PPF COVERAGE SHOULD I GET
WHICH PPF COVERAGE SHOULD I GET?
If you love super cars, follow them on social media, there are high chances that you will come across the term Paint Protection Films (PPF) or car wrapping often also referred as Clear Bra. PPF includes the process of wrapping the car or coating the entire car or major areas prone to getting chipped by stones with the help of a transparent protective film to preserve the original paint of the car.
While the Paint Protection Films (PPF) have been around for some time, the previously used films were really not impressive. They were quite crude as compared to the PPFs used nowadays. Films used earlier were thick and had a slight color tint in the film. They were not completely transparent and thus change the color of the vehicle slightly. Moreover, it was a cumbersome procedure to fit them and it was obvious that the car had the film applied as the edges were not seamless. Therefore, they were not the ideal fit and many car owners refused to use them.
However, with the advancement of technology, today’s paint protection film has improved considerably. PPF available nowadays have the capacity to self-heal. Yes, that’s right, they can repair themselves. If the protection film gets a mild tear due to light debris or stone impact, the film can mold itself back to its original form within a time span of 24 hours or even less. However, to speed up the curing time, it can easily be done with the help of a hair dryer or by pouring hot water.
DOES YOUR CAR NEED IT?
Now the question, “Do I really need to protect my car with a film?” may be going around in your head. Well, the answer to this question comes down to how much you love and care for your car. Or rather how expensive your car is? When you are driving the car, stone chips are bound to happen.
When driving around, I usually see supercars owners using the protective film on their vehicle and for the right reasons. They love their cars and they are extremely expensive to repaint!
Let’s take up the example of Ferrari F12. It is almost compulsory to protect the paint of F12 with full body PPF application as the car was spec’d with Rosso Berlinetta paint – A triple layer paint that comes with pearlescent paint finish which is extremely difficult to repair, once damaged. As the new paint cannot be matched with other panels therefore not installing protection film on the car will be stupidly expensive. However, if you have got a standard paint job done without any fancy metallic, you can easily choose to opt out and not use the film on the sensitive parts of the car.
Apart from protecting the car from a stone chip, another great benefit of PPF is a preservation of the underneath detailing. Before opting for PPF, gets a thorough detail of the car, completely decontaminating the bodywork, buffering it to achieve an epic shine, and to conceal imperfections. The difference that PPF would make here is that it would freeze the state of detail in time, preserve the gloss and the original paint in perfect condition to make the car shine even through the film.
By getting the protection film installed, washing of the car also becomes a lot easier. While we don’t recommend a hand car wash option for your beloved car, you can still go for it if you have the PPF installed. So the next time when you come to wash your car, there’s no need to be careful or use the two bucket method. You don’t even need to swap between mitts to avoid scratching the clear coat. Dirt has a hard time sticking to PPF and the rain water easily beads off the film.
YOU CAN PICK DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PAINT PROTECTION FILM TO APPLY TO YOUR CAR
Standard Protection
When it comes to paint protection film, you have a lot of options to choose from. To begin with, you have the standard protection film. This film offers the most basic coverage and generally focuses on specific areas that are ultra prone to getting battered or chipped by the elements. This film would cover the lower and front side of the bumper along with the wing mirrors. This is rather a minimal level of protection that will guard your car against a large amount of potential damage but you still know that your car paint can get the chip at places which have not been covered.
Full Frontal And Sensitive Areas
Along with standard protection, you can choose the full frontal and sensitive area protection. This includes everything that you can easily see when standing and looking at the car head-on. This level will cover the entire bonnet, front edge of the roof, the front side of the rear wheels, which are generally the widest point of a car.
Complete Body Protection
This is the boss of all paint protection films. As the name suggests, you get complete paint protection provided by the full frontal kit along with the rest of the car. However, the beauty of this kit is that it easily protects the paint detail along with offering easy car care. By opting for the complete body kit, you can be sure that there will be chips anywhere and there is complete consistent finish all around the vehicle. While it is a costly option but not more than what it would take to get the car repainted.