XPEL vs Ceramic Pro PPF & Film

[BigE]

There has been a lot more noise/postings on this forum pertaining to PPF than I think I have seen on any auto forum, with the exception of Tesla, which may be due to their early paint issues. That being said, in the beginning, I was totally against a Full body PPF until I saw the Glacier White with XPEL Stealth. I also made the mistake of showing my wife, as our R1T will be her daily driver and it was love at first sight with the Stealth for her. As we are now hopefully getting within weeks of delivery of our Rivian after years and years of waiting and anticipation, I started reaching out to local XPEL Dealers for pricing on PPF and Window film. I have gotten little or no responses from XPEL dealers. So last night I submitted a request for a quote from Ceramic Pro which in research looks to be on par or better than XPEL. This morning I had a great conversation with the owner of a local Ceramic Pro shop...he was super knowledgeable about Rivian and the R1T. He also knew of the Rivian/XPEL partnership and said he would match Rivian's pricing on either package, front or full, matte or gloss. So key differences I see with going with Ceramic Pro in my situation, are a great dealer with tons of 4-5 star reviews, Ceramic Pro Kavaca Matte PPF comes with a 12 yr warranty vs. Rivian/XPEL 5 yr. Ceramic Pro also has top-quality window film some warranted for life, etc so in the end, I guess it really does matter the quality of your local dealer. In this case, the Rivian/XPEL offer helped me negotiate a great deal. Just something to consider.

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[COdogman]

That’s a great warranty. If he’s matching the price that’s a great deal. I’m just going with the factory installed Xpel front coverage. Will be nice to not have to deal with it after delivery.

 

[Rtpdeacon]

There has been a lot more noise/postings on this forum pertaining to PPF than I think I have seen on any auto forum, with the exception of Tesla, which may be due to their early paint issues. That being said, in the beginning, I was totally against a Full body PPF until I saw the Glacier White with XPEL Stealth. I also made the mistake of showing my wife, as our R1T will be her daily driver and it was love at first sight with the Stealth for her. As we are now hopefully getting within weeks of delivery of our Rivian after years and years of waiting and anticipation, I started reaching out to local XPEL Dealers for pricing on PPF and Window film. I have gotten little or no responses from XPEL dealers. So last night I submitted a request for a quote from Ceramic Pro which in research looks to be on par or better than XPEL. This morning I had a great conversation with the owner of a local Ceramic Pro shop...he was super knowledgeable about Rivian and the R1T. He also knew of the Rivian/XPEL partnership and said he would match Rivian's pricing on either package, front or full, matte or gloss. So key differences I see with going with Ceramic Pro in my situation, are a great dealer with tons of 4-5 star reviews, Ceramic Pro Kavaca Matte PPF comes with a 12 yr warranty vs. Rivian/XPEL 5 yr. Ceramic Pro also has top-quality window film some warranted for life, etc so in the end, I guess it really does matter the quality of your local dealer. In this case, the Rivian/XPEL offer helped me negotiate a great deal. Just something to consider.

What shop and where in NC?

 

[BigE]

What shop and where in NC?

BuffMasters in Wilmington. I spoke with Phillip.

https://ceramicpro.com/wilmington/

 

[Rivian_Hugh_III]

There has been a lot more noise/postings on this forum pertaining to PPF than I think I have seen on any auto forum, with the exception of Tesla, which may be due to their early paint issues. That being said, in the beginning, I was totally against a Full body PPF until I saw the Glacier White with XPEL Stealth. I also made the mistake of showing my wife, as our R1T will be her daily driver and it was love at first sight with the Stealth for her. As we are now hopefully getting within weeks of delivery of our Rivian after years and years of waiting and anticipation, I started reaching out to local XPEL Dealers for pricing on PPF and Window film. I have gotten little or no responses from XPEL dealers. So last night I submitted a request for a quote from Ceramic Pro which in research looks to be on par or better than XPEL. This morning I had a great conversation with the owner of a local Ceramic Pro shop...he was super knowledgeable about Rivian and the R1T. He also knew of the Rivian/XPEL partnership and said he would match Rivian's pricing on either package, front or full, matte or gloss. So key differences I see with going with Ceramic Pro in my situation, are a great dealer with tons of 4-5 star reviews, Ceramic Pro Kavaca Matte PPF comes with a 12 yr warranty vs. Rivian/XPEL 5 yr. Ceramic Pro also has top-quality window film some warranted for life, etc so in the end, I guess it really does matter the quality of your local dealer. In this case, the Rivian/XPEL offer helped me negotiate a great deal. Just something to consider.

Can you share the photos of the white matte Rivian that changed your mind?

 

[BigE]

Can you share the photos of the white matte Rivian that changed your mind?

There’s a few videos on YouTube that show it pretty well. The Glacier White has a frosted look with a matte PPF.

I showed my wife this video last night so she could see the process of installing PPF. At the end, she was like, sign me up! Looks beautiful. It’s hard to see the difference on a phone, so watch on a big TV.

Hope this helps

 

[R1Sky Business]

There has been a lot more noise/postings on this forum pertaining to PPF than I think I have seen on any auto forum, with the exception of Tesla, which may be due to their early paint issues. That being said, in the beginning, I was totally against a Full body PPF until I saw the Glacier White with XPEL Stealth. I also made the mistake of showing my wife, as our R1T will be her daily driver and it was love at first sight with the Stealth for her. As we are now hopefully getting within weeks of delivery of our Rivian after years and years of waiting and anticipation, I started reaching out to local XPEL Dealers for pricing on PPF and Window film. I have gotten little or no responses from XPEL dealers. So last night I submitted a request for a quote from Ceramic Pro which in research looks to be on par or better than XPEL. This morning I had a great conversation with the owner of a local Ceramic Pro shop...he was super knowledgeable about Rivian and the R1T. He also knew of the Rivian/XPEL partnership and said he would match Rivian's pricing on either package, front or full, matte or gloss. So key differences I see with going with Ceramic Pro in my situation, are a great dealer with tons of 4-5 star reviews, Ceramic Pro Kavaca Matte PPF comes with a 12 yr warranty vs. Rivian/XPEL 5 yr. Ceramic Pro also has top-quality window film some warranted for life, etc so in the end, I guess it really does matter the quality of your local dealer. In this case, the Rivian/XPEL offer helped me negotiate a great deal. Just something to consider.

Leverage!!!

 

[Prime]

There was a point I was considering matte ppf on our white model y performance as I liked the stealth look too. I saw some long term reviews from owners especially with white where certain things would stain the ppf bug splatter tree sap etc that stained and wouldn’t come off with any cleaning product. It seems like it was a hit or miss for xpel to warranty those issues. Don’t know how ceramic pro is but I would ask them. On other colors seems like it was less of an issue because it wouldn’t show as much. But once I considered the cost of the full xpel stealth and the potential issues on white cars I avoided it.

 

[BigE]

There was a point I was considering matte ppf on our white model y performance as I liked the stealth look too. I saw some long term reviews from owners especially with white where certain things would stain the ppf bug splatter tree sap etc that stained and wouldn’t come off with any cleaning product. It seems like it was a hit or miss for xpel to warranty those issues. Don’t know how ceramic pro is but I would ask them. On other colors seems like it was less of an issue because it wouldn’t show as much. But once I considered the cost of the full xpel stealth and the potential issues on white cars I avoided it.

It's a good point and one that this dealer addressed. The dealer's suggestion was as follows and I think a good one...

He suggested applying Ceramic Pro’s PPF and Vinyl Base Ceramic Coat to all matte paint protection film for an additional $400 plus tax per layer and that 1 layer is sufficient. The coating will provide excellent stain resistance and hydrophobic properties. The film will come clean much easier and will not allow environmental contaminants such as bugs, tar, dirt, sand and sap to bond to the PPF and damage the surface. Lasts approximately 3 years per layer for daily driver.

 

[cjones1130]

It's a good point and one that this dealer addressed. The dealer's suggestion was as follows and I think a good one...

He suggested applying Ceramic Pro’s PPF and Vinyl Base Ceramic Coat to all matte paint protection film for an additional $400 plus tax per layer and that 1 layer is sufficient. The coating will provide excellent stain resistance and hydrophobic properties. The film will come clean much easier and will not allow environmental contaminants such as bugs, tar, dirt, sand and sap to bond to the PPF and damage the surface. Lasts approximately 3 years per layer for daily driver.

Did you end up doing it?

 

[timgradywy]

I went with Kavaca PPF (Ceramic Pro) from California Detailing in San Francisco. No regrets. Also had it ceramic coated at the same time. They did a great job. I checked out some local XPEL installers too, but they didn't seem quite as compelling (the product or the installers).

 

[superfluid]

I went with Kavaca PPF (Ceramic Pro) from California Detailing in San Francisco. No regrets. Also had it ceramic coated at the same time. They did a great job. I checked out some local XPEL installers too, but they didn't seem quite as compelling (the product or the installers).

I"m getting ready to pull the trigger on Kavaca PPF. How do you like yours so far?

 

[woodcan]

There has been a lot more noise/postings on this forum pertaining to PPF than I think I have seen on any auto forum, with the exception of Tesla, which may be due to their early paint issues. That being said, in the beginning, I was totally against a Full body PPF until I saw the Glacier White with XPEL Stealth. I also made the mistake of showing my wife, as our R1T will be her daily driver and it was love at first sight with the Stealth for her. As we are now hopefully getting within weeks of delivery of our Rivian after years and years of waiting and anticipation, I started reaching out to local XPEL Dealers for pricing on PPF and Window film. I have gotten little or no responses from XPEL dealers. So last night I submitted a request for a quote from Ceramic Pro which in research looks to be on par or better than XPEL. This morning I had a great conversation with the owner of a local Ceramic Pro shop...he was super knowledgeable about Rivian and the R1T. He also knew of the Rivian/XPEL partnership and said he would match Rivian's pricing on either package, front or full, matte or gloss. So key differences I see with going with Ceramic Pro in my situation, are a great dealer with tons of 4-5 star reviews, Ceramic Pro Kavaca Matte PPF comes with a 12 yr warranty vs. Rivian/XPEL 5 yr. Ceramic Pro also has top-quality window film some warranted for life, etc so in the end, I guess it really does matter the quality of your local dealer. In this case, the Rivian/XPEL offer helped me negotiate a great deal. Just something to consider.

I'm curious if you went with the XPEL Stealth and how it has held up longterm

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