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PPF Paint Protection Film ...Thoughts?

VHRivian

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I have used the 3M product on a few vehicles in the past and self-installed. It held up great and did the job.

The comment above about the installer being the key is 100% correct. The first one I did was embarrassing (still did the job) and I got progressively better at it over time. The flatter the surface (R1 front end) the easier it is. I purchased from Ken at invisiblemask.com and it's really cheap to do on your own - the majority of the cost really is the skilled labor.

Having said all of that about doing it on your own, I 100% plan to have a professional do my Rivian. I will do the whole front end and below the door crease all the way around. It's one thing to cover the front of your Pacifica and have it be 7/10, but the R1S has to be perfect.
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RideAlong

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film has its drawbacks - best left to sensitive areas - factory application is ideal and should have a warranty
 

DuckTruck

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film has its drawbacks - best left to sensitive areas - factory application is ideal and should have a warranty
It'd be nice to have it installed by Rivian as an option and have it include a warranty. I've always wanted to pick up my pickup from the factory, but hate the idea of being on the road for two thousand plus miles before having the PPF applied.

I also hate the idea of taking delivery and then not being able to drive it for any length of time while someone unfamiliar with Rivian "practices" on mine.
 

Taycanfrank

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I've been really happy just using a ceramic coating. I have Kenzo ceramic on my Taycan, no PPF, and it has held up really well. I'm over 20k miles in, with a surprising amount of bad condition driving (ie.. regular trips down roads to hikes, skiing, etc..) and no scratches.

No, ceramic doesn't offer as much protection as PPF but it also doesn't have many of the drawbacks.

You can get a good ceramic coating and still have plenty of money left over to address minor dings/scratches before you approach the cost of a quality PPF install.
 

EarlyAdptr

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film has its drawbacks - best left to sensitive areas - factory application is ideal and should have a warranty
Do tell @RideAlong - what drawbacks specifically? For those of us like me with no previous experience.
 

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Taycanfrank

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Do tell @RideAlong - what drawbacks specifically? For those of us like me with no previous experience.
PPF is very reliant on the installer. Badly installed PPF can look terrible and peel over time. Especially given that the R1T/R1S is a car they likely will have no experience with you could end up with a poor job. The idea is for PPF to be as invisible as possible but you can always notice it a bit, and bad installations look like what it is; a layer of material over the car.

For the best PPF look you generally want to PPF and have a ceramic coating added over it. This can be quite expensive, but when done well is really spectacular in both making the car look beautiful and keeping it that way with much less effort.

PPF can require some maintenance over time. While damaged panels can protect the paint, they will need to be repaired or replaced and it can get expensive.

So the main drawbacks are;
1) Cost
2) Heavily reliant on quality installation
3) Can require maintenance over time, sometimes expensive.

Pros:
1) Can make it easier to clean the car and keep it looking beautiful for longer
2) Can offer the paint some protection against damage
 

RideAlong

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Do tell @RideAlong - what drawbacks specifically? For those of us like me with no previous experience.
if not applied correctly will split ,bubble have a dirt trapping edge and could permently damage clear coat when removed. Among other things. Leave it to the PRO's and ideally applied at the factory and comes with a warranty. At least you admit you have no experience , and that is a great way not to mess up a $70k hard to obtain vehicle !
 

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if not applied correctly will split ,bubble have a dirt trapping edge and could permently damage clear coat when removed. Among other things. Leave it to the PRO's and ideally applied at the factory and comes with a warranty. At least you admit you have no experience , and that is a great way not to mess up a $70k hard to obtain vehicle !
I can't imagine anyone doing much more than maybe the front edge of the hood on their vehicle. Even if I had the know-how and the skill, the ability to fully keep all dust out from under the PPF would seem impossible without the right dust-free environment. This is especially true given the time needed to complete the entire truck. I'm guessing some of the best shops have paintbooth-type clean spaces to get it right.
 

Temerarius

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I can't imagine anyone doing much more than maybe the front edge of the hood on their vehicle. Even if I had the know-how and the skill, the ability to fully keep all dust out from under the PPF would seem impossible without the right dust-free environment. This is especially true given the time needed to complete the entire truck. I'm guessing some of the best shops have paintbooth-type clean spaces to get it right.
Detox via wash, strip, and clay bar, then the real fun starts...

FYI... you CANNOT have PPF/colour vinyl put on if you had Ceramic done first, it won't stick right and your application person will hunt you down with a harpoon.

PPF/vinyl first, then Ceramic.
 

DuckTruck

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Detox via wash, strip, and clay bar, then the real fun starts...

FYI... you CANNOT have PPF/colour vinyl put on if you had Ceramic done first, it won't stick right and your application person will hunt you down with a harpoon.

PPF/vinyl first, then Ceramic.
Absolutely! Nobody wants to be that moron that comes home from the Olympics so proud of their gold medal that they have it bronzed. ?>?=?
 

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plugmein33

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I recently wrapped an Audi RS6 and came away pretty disappointed. Since I have more money than brains, I chose to wrap the entire vehicle at somewhere in the range of $6000. First problem was it started to peel in certain areas - around the sunroof, and rear hatch. Probably other places too but I stopped looking for them. Put a ceramic coat on top of the PPF, see earlier comment MMTB. Proper installation of PPF requires removal and disconnecting of a lot of parts. Maybe not the same on all vehicles. One of the best shops in NYC area doing mostly exotics managed not to reassemble everything perfectly. Now having said this, I did have the misfortune to have a valet put the rear quarter panel into a post. Yup, thought he was kidding when he broke the news. While there was a dent, the wrap took most of the damage. You don’t want to know what it cost to fix the dent. Now the rear needs to be rewrapped, and I will choose to pocket the $3000 from the insurance and forget rewrapping. If you really feel the need to do some wrapping, do the front end only. Detailer’s aren’t going to love me for this shared experience.
 

Texasrivian

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Hi all. Here is my experience with PPF. I think it’s super nice in the sense it doesn’t matter how you wash the car and don’t need to worry about swirls, but you really need to hold on to the car for at least 5 years to maximize the value else it is a waste. For me, I have been selling my cars well under 5 years and have been wasting large amounts of money. Sold the M2 after 5 months and plan to trade in the S3 after a year for the Model Y. I always say I’m going to be keeping this car for like a decade, but haven’t done that and end up trading it in for something newer. It’s not cheap and prices have been only going up. First car fully wrapped was a 2017 BMW M2 in Xpel Stealth 5500. Second car 2019 Tesla Model 3 in Xpel Stealth 5000. Third car 2022 Audi S3 in Suntek 5000. I have a Model Y on order and was quoted 7000 for Xpel Ultimate and 8000 for Xpel Stealth. As you can see, prices are 50% more today to get a full car wrapped. I know prices vary by shop, but the latest quote is directly from Xpel Austin and not a third party. I plan to only wrap the full front as that where the rock chips happen, but not the full car. I could understand exotics being fully wrapped, but not a vehicle that would be a daily. I plan to fully ceramic coat the R1S to help with washing, but will do it myself.
 

Texasrivian

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I recently wrapped an Audi RS6 and came away pretty disappointed. Since I have more money than brains, I chose to wrap the entire vehicle at somewhere in the range of $6000. First problem was it started to peel in certain areas - around the sunroof, and rear hatch. Probably other places too but I stopped looking for them. Put a ceramic coat on top of the PPF, see earlier comment MMTB. Proper installation of PPF requires removal and disconnecting of a lot of parts. Maybe not the same on all vehicles. One of the best shops in NYC area doing mostly exotics managed not to reassemble everything perfectly. Now having said this, I did have the misfortune to have a valet put the rear quarter panel into a post. Yup, thought he was kidding when he broke the news. While there was a dent, the wrap took most of the damage. You don’t want to know what it cost to fix the dent. Now the rear needs to be rewrapped, and I will choose to pocket the $3000 from the insurance and forget rewrapping. If you really feel the need to do some wrapping, do the front end only. Detailer’s aren’t going to love me for this shared experience.
I have noticed dust/dirt on some edges of my S3. Also, a piece near the trunk license plate wasn’t secured down well so it’s lifting with dirt. I used to be a huge advocate of PPF the whole car, but I am now against the whole car. Will only do full front going forward.
 

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I made some calls about pricing, and have decided to do paint correction & ceramic coating, no PPF.

For the cost of the PPF, you could pay to have paint fixed, IF needed for rock chips (or worst case of keying).
I think this will be my strategy, too- add the extra mils of protection with ceramic and keep the PPF money to have the shop work on the inevitable nics later.

…and I keep telling myself this is a truck. A daily driver and a to the mountains and off road fun toy, so treat it like one- take care of it but don’t baby it ??
 

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I want a place that will do a good paint correction too to take care of any swirling or orange peel, so I'll use a shop that can do all 3.
Good thing about Glacier White - you don't usually need to do as extensive a paint correction process with white paint (scratches are much harder to see) so that should hopefully translate to less cost.

PPF:I have had Xpel on every one of my vehicles for the last 15 years and it has absolutely saved me from tearing up the front end of whatever I have had it on. It is absolutely worth its weight in gold.

The R1T with that flat front end is going to be an absolute magnet for rock chips.

I usually do the partial PPF package that includes:
  1. Front Bumper
  2. Partial Hood
  3. B-Pillars
  4. Door sills
  5. Sideview mirrors
The great thing about white with the partial PPF is that the line where the PPF ends is nearly invisible but on darker color paints you can absolutely see it which can be off putting to some and leads many to get the full PPF which can be outrageously expensive.

Ceramic Coating: In my humble view, ceramic coatings are just not worth it. They cost 10 times more than applying a high quality paint sealant and unlike a paint sealant, you have to absolutely baby them. You can't go through any automatic car washes because the soap they use is too harsh and will strip the coating. You also have to hand wash. I repeat HAND WASH the ceramic coated cars with special (read expensive) PH neutral soaps and you have to wash your car regularly. If you leave the dirt and contaminants sit on the ceramic coating too long, you will need to use harsher soap to wash it off which then risks the coating.

Also, those long warranties that detailers advertise? Usually you need to prove you've been washing correctly with the right techniques, soaps, and frequency. Even then you may need to re-apply a top layer every so often.

Ceramic coatings, despite the claims, won't protect your car from chips or scratches.

I have been using this Paint Sealant Kit by Klasse forever and it is absolutely amazing. Depending on how rough I am on the vehicle, I can go 1 year before reapplying. No special soaps, washing techniques, or frequencies required and my local detailer (who now uses Klasse on his own cars) charges me what he would charge to do a regular detail ($199).

Also, the deep gloss is absolutely stunning and beats out ceramic coatings that I have seen. See my i3s getting a recent application below.

Rivian R1T R1S PPF Paint Protection Film ...Thoughts? Klasse
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