My R1T Arrived!!! (& PPF?)

[njcoach24]

It’s just a car/truck. If you don’t care about minor rock chips and imperfections like every car then don’t spend the $. Applying this a few times a year has served me just fine for my Tesla for making it look shiny and cleaner.

Turtle Wax 53409 Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Spray Coating - 16 Fl Oz.

Thanks for sharing the link! I've never cared before but this truck is so nice looking lol. I never did a ceramic coat either, and the only car I ever did anything special to was a 2002 Mustang, I would wax that thing pretty regularly. I loved that car.

However, the other thing I've noticed is just with regular driving the tires do kick up a lot of dirt on the doors/side panels. So that has me thinking more about the PPF, which wasn't really interested in at all and talked myself out of it a couple of times over the last almost 48 hours.

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[RivianBowerbird]

I PPF'd the front clip and side rockers on my Tesla Model 3. I absolutely love it. My previous car was constantly getting rock chips due to all of the semis/construction trucks around Austin constantly spewing rock fragments everywhere. I've had a couple of impacts big enough to chip through it, but the front of the car looks essentially pristine. It's also wonderful for bug impacts, bird shit, and other such paint aggressors. I don't have to worry about swirling the paint while cleaning such things. I have/had no use for getting the entire car done, as the cost is ridiculous. The front of the car is really the only must-have. It really comes down to how much you care about paint chipping. I do care, and fixes always look like that, so it was worth the ~$2,500.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

SO EXCITED TO REPORT I RECEIVED MY R1T!!! First time driving/seeing one in person...glad it was the one I got to keep!

I've had so much fun driving around. It arrived with 11 miles and after 24 hours I've put about 150 miles on it. Driving around seeing people smile, give thumbs up, and watching gear guard videos has been so much fun. The truck is a dream and the closet thing I can compare it to would be an airplane.

So my question is about PPF. I'm really torn on this because it costs a lot of money. These are the two videos I've watched and they seem really great.

For PPF:
Against PPF:

I stopped at a local Tesla charging station today to see if any of the owners had it on theirs and the couple people I spoke to, none of them had it.

I guess it's a matter of doing touch up paint/buffing if I do get a chip/scratch vs doing the film and hope nothing goes through it/it stops what it's supposed to stop.

I'm wondering if just getting ceramic coating without PPF will just keep the paint nice. I know it wont do anything for rocks/scratches but at least I can fix if anything happens as it happens as opposed to having to replace film if needed.

Anybody feel strongly one way or the other? I would keep the color the same because I absolutely love it so it would be clear PPF.

I got Xpel on my Model X, but didn't get it on my Model S. Both were flat black and driven in the same manner.

The car with Xpel needs less frequent washes. A good rain storm makes the car looking almost good as new. It will eventually accumulate and with the self-healing Xpel I just run it through an auto car wash and it looks like it's been through a quick detail.

The PPF will not protect against door dings, I've got those on both. It will protect against light scratches, rock chips, permanent bug stains, road tar, etc. Regardless of marketing materials, PPF is able to get swirl marks, although they're not as apparent.

Ceramic will give some protection, add a LOT of depth to the paint, but it doesn't protect in the same way.

Would I get it again? Depends. It does work, but how much do you want to spend to protect your car? Everyone is different on this aspect. Some people wash once a week, others wash once a year. In general I would say the cost of PPF equals out in the long term because you're spending your paint correction money up front.

If I had silver, I probably wouldn't get it. Black? Yes. El cap? No. White? No. If you plan on keeping the car for less than 5 years? No.

 

[Spiffster]

150 miles? Too late, damage already done... Kidding. A lot of people, first thing they do when they get a car is send it to get PPF. Thats a bit anal IMO. I drove my Tesla 3 for a few months before I could even get it in for PPF. We have ONE shop in Denver at the time (Denver Autoshield) I really like those guys but damn do they need some competition. Anyway, I like PPF ESPECIALLY the stealth PPF (matte), which it looks like somebody in town already beat me to that since I have yet to receive my truck. The PPF definitely prevents damage though from my experience. We also had PPF on my wife's Audi e-tron, but went clear and not full body on that one. Of course thats the car that gets all the hate from people swinging doors open. The PPF on my late Tesla was thick enough that I would imagine it could prevent minor door dings.

 

[njcoach24]

semis/construction trucks around Austin constantly spewing rock fragments everywhere

Just this morning on my drive a truck two lanes over in front of me hit and bump and fragments of stuff went right behind it. I think I'm making myself more concerned than usual because of the price of the truck. I love that your car still looks fantastic with it.

Ceramic will give some protection, add a LOT of depth to the paint, but it doesn't protect in the same way.

Will it give the same depth to the paint when applied on top of PPF? I don't understand this part, how does applying it on top of plastic achieve what ceramic is actually intentioned to do?

 

[njcoach24]

150 miles? Too late, damage already done... Kidding. A lot of people, first thing they do when they get a car is send it to get PPF. Thats a bit anal IMO. I drove my Tesla 3 for a few months before I could even get it in for PPF. We have ONE shop in Denver at the time (Denver Autoshield) I really like those guys but damn do they need some competition. Anyway, I like PPF ESPECIALLY the stealth PPF (matte), which it looks like somebody in town already beat me to that since I have yet to receive my truck. The PPF definitely prevents damage though from my experience. We also had PPF on my wife's Audi e-tron, but went clear and not full body on that one. Of course thats the car that gets all the hate from people swinging doors open. The PPF on my late Tesla was thick enough that I would imagine it could prevent minor door dings.

Do you notice that the clear PPF reduces the brilliance of the paint where it is applied vs where it is not? The silver paint on the R1T has some incredible sparkle when the sun hits it, it is really impressive. I guess I'm also wondering how much shine you give up adding PPF?

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Will it give the same depth to the paint when applied on top of PPF? I don't understand this part, how does applying it on top of plastic achieve what ceramic is actually intentioned to do?

It's controversial. My opinion is applying ceramic over PPF is a waste of money. I don't think it bonds in the same way, nor does it shine in the same way. That said, many apply it on top of the PPF and swear by it. I personally can not tell the difference.

Do you notice that the clear PPF reduces the brilliance of the paint where it is applied vs where it is not? The silver paint on the R1T has some incredible sparkle when the sun hits it, it is really impressive. I guess I'm also wondering how much shine you give up adding PPF?

No difference in brilliance. But on light colored cars, I have seen where if you take it to a less skilled wrapper, they will leave too much spacing along the edges. This ends up catching dirt and you end up seeing the line where the wrap starts.

 

[Spiffster]

Do you notice that the clear PPF reduces the brilliance of the paint where it is applied vs where it is not? The silver paint on the R1T has some incredible sparkle when the sun hits it, it is really impressive. I guess I'm also wondering how much shine you give up adding PPF?

On the Audi, only the front has PPF. White paint. no noticeable difference at all. Even with the Stealth (ie: matte) PPF on the Tesla (Midnight Grey), you could still see the metal flake in the paint.

 

[SRTConvert]

Beautiful R1T! I'm still finalizing my color choice - down to LA Silver or Canyon Red. I will go with PPF. Probably Xpel, I may do the thicker Xpel in high impact areas (front, places where tires throw up rocks, etc.).

 

[BigE]

SO EXCITED TO REPORT I RECEIVED MY R1T!!! First time driving/seeing one in person...glad it was the one I got to keep!

I've had so much fun driving around. It arrived with 11 miles and after 24 hours I've put about 150 miles on it. Driving around seeing people smile, give thumbs up, and watching gear guard videos has been so much fun. The truck is a dream and the closet thing I can compare it to would be an airplane.

So my question is about PPF. I'm really torn on this because it costs a lot of money. These are the two videos I've watched and they seem really great.

For PPF:
Against PPF:

I stopped at a local Tesla charging station today to see if any of the owners had it on theirs and the couple people I spoke to, none of them had it.

I guess it's a matter of doing touch up paint/buffing if I do get a chip/scratch vs doing the film and hope nothing goes through it/it stops what it's supposed to stop.

I'm wondering if just getting ceramic coating without PPF will just keep the paint nice. I know it wont do anything for rocks/scratches but at least I can fix if anything happens as it happens as opposed to having to replace film if needed.

Anybody feel strongly one way or the other? I would keep the color the same because I absolutely love it so it would be clear PPF.

Most honest video ever on PPF. In my experience I agree with everything this guy says, PPF is just a waste of money. And good luck getting it off if you keep the car long enough that the PPF fails, which they all will given enough time. It now comes off in 1000 pieces and will cost you a fortune to get removed.

 

[njcoach24]

Beautiful R1T! I'm still finalizing my color choice - down to LA Silver or Canyon Red. I will go with PPF. Probably Xpel, I may do the thicker Xpel in high impact areas (front, places where tires throw up rocks, etc.).

Canyon Red is amazing looking in pictures. If I had seen the colors in person and it wasn't more money I probably would have ended up with it. I really loved Forest Green too but I just like the shine of the lighter/brighter colors.

 

[njcoach24]

Most honest video ever on PPF. In my experience I agree with everything this guy says, PPF is just a waste of money. And good luck getting it off if you keep the car long enough that the PPF fails, which they all will given enough time. It now comes off in 1000 pieces and will cost you a fortune to get removed.

The other part of it that has me worried is removing the badging and reapplying it on top of the PPF. And what happens when it comes time to remove or replace the PPF. Obviously it will all come off which would probably make it crazy.

 

[dixosw]

If I had silver, I probably wouldn't get it. Black? Yes. El cap? No. White? No. If you plan on keeping the car for less than 5 years? No.

Good write-up, thanks. Curious why you wouldn't get it on El Cap.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

The other part of it that has me worried is removing the badging and reapplying it on top of the PPF. And what happens when it comes time to remove or replace the PPF. Obviously it will all come off which would probably make it crazy.

Badging isn't a huge deal, they can reapply it when it's time to remove and/or replace the PPF. Upon request, places will also be able to cutout the badging/letter areas instead of removing it.

Good write-up, thanks. Curious why you wouldn't get it on El Cap.

I haven't seen El Cap in person but in general the scratches typically don't show as much on silver and grey. So if it's on the lighter spectrum (ie, Porsche's Seal Grey) I wouldn't get it. If it's a darker type of grey (Porsche Atlas Grey) then I'd probably still recommend it but that's a general recommendation based on the grey's I've seen in person.

 

[SRTConvert]

You'll be a less likely target of traffic enforcement in LA Silver over Canyon Red.

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