Paint Protection Film

[IainCameron]

Hi there,

I am in the process of buying a new Boxster and have been thinking of applying Paint Protection Film to the front of the car before the first stone chip dents my pride and joy!

I have seen this protective film on some cars and wonder if it is worth the money.

Is there anyone that has had this product installed on their car and can give me feedback on the product and who fitted the product to the car?

There seems to be two manufacturers of the film, 3M and Paintguard.


Best regards,

Iain Cameron

 

[John H]

Russell Patterson Morgan in Perth do this as a service, and they did a very impressive demo of it when they invited the club there last year.

 

[Robin M]

Just be careful that you check for any Stone chips you may pick up whilst taking the car to them. They put my film over the stone chip which shows a white chip on a black bonnet and did not ask me if I wanted it touched in before applying the film. If you do go there or anywhere else, take some touch up paint and ask them to fill in any blemishes they find before putting on the film. I did not notice the chip when I dropped the car off which is surpising as normally I see anything like that. Mind you it depends on the colour of the car how much it can be seen in any case. In the end I touched it in on the film to mask it. If you end up doing this use acrylic paint so it does not melt the film.

 

[kitchens]

Have had a previous car done not convinced it was worth it as you could see the outline clearly ,it was a yellow car .Some car colours are not suitable and you can never polish it as you get a different shade .Imo if the car gets that bad paint it ,would not get it done again

 

[clyde]

I've always thought of this as the automotive equivalent of keeping the polythene on your new livingroom suite to "keep it looking good". [] []

 

[Waitforme]

I suppose it's just taking the already protected rear qtr panel just a bit further.
With all the curves on the front of a Boxter I'd imagine the guy would have to be pretty good to get it wrinkle free.

I'd be interested to see the final result .

 

[IainCameron]

Thanks to all of you for giving me feedback on this subject.

I have since discussed this topic with Polished Bliss of Kintore and this is what Clark had to say:

As for Paint Protection Film, it's personal preference really. In all honesty I'm against it more than for it for several reasons; Unless you get a good quality film with low orange peel levels then the panels it's applied to can lose a bit of clarity and give the "poor respray" look. Unless you're careful, product residue can quickly build up round the edges and if you pick up any scratches there's only so much you can do to remove them whereas on normal paintwork you can usually polish them out no problem. My father swears by it and has it applied to his 993 and Focus RS whereas I just prefer to get the front end painted every couple of years (if it even needs it - My Impreza was done at Kinghorn last summer and hasn't picked up 1 mark since as I keep my distance from the car in front) which is usually about the same price as your typical paint protection film application anyways. Russel Patterson (he has the Morgan dealership in Perth) is where my father got his Focus done last year. If you decide to go for it then I would recommend them as they did a very good job!


So I have decided not to get the paint protection film installed after viewing some of your good comments and also becasue Clark made a good point about the cost and the possible reqirement to have a deep paint cutting job or re-spray later in the car's life.

Maybe this information will assist other Porsche owners in the future.

My thanks again to those of you who commented and gave me feedback.

 

[Sandy59]

Here's a link to the final result on my car - http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=53993

Things have moved on a bit from then and most of the edges can be folded over now apparently. Very few people ever actually noticed the film to be honest, and not a single stone got through in 12k miles, easier to wash too. Slight orange peel effect as you may see, but apart from that and the cost I thought it was great, complete piece of mind as also very resistant to key damage.