3m Vinyl wrap worth it?
 

Hey guys, I've gotten two rock chips this month alone from highway driving and I'm thinking of wrapping the front bumper but will cost 465$ with labour cost..

Does anyone have any experience with results with vinyl wrap such as if its worth the money or even if it protects against rock chips?

Literally three threads below the one you just posted ;)

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127225

vinyl wrap is thin. it wont keep you from getting rock chips, you need ppf film for that

I had PPF installed the day I bought the car.

It saved it from those little rock chips that look like someone sand blasted the front of your car.

It will not save your car from anything larger than a pea. I have multiple spots a rock or other small road debris hit the PPF and cut right through it damaging the paint and in 1 case denting the hood.

I live in AZ where driving on the highways is like sandblasting your car daily.

I found that after having my bumper, half the hood, and half the fenders wrapped I still managed to get rock chips. A huge problem area is the roof where the windshield ends and roof begins. Tons of rock chips there right on the leading edge.


tl:dr if you have $465 to spend on PPF go for it. But know it will not prevent all rock chips.

What PPF did you get? I have had mine on the car for 60,000 miles and it has prevented 98% of all rock chips, even larger rocks.

I want to say it was Suntek.

So if I take into account the damage my paint would have without it I would say it prevented 98% of all rock chips as well. But that 2% was what got me irritated.

When I say I still managed to get rock chips, I meant I was getting rock chips in places I did not expect to get and did not have the PPF applied such as the top of the roof, the A pillars, infront of rear wheel wells. There are 2 places where it blasted right through the PPF and the holes are the size of a pea.

Note I live in AZ where it is a no fault state, meaning our highways are full of work trucks, dirt haulers, etc that literally throw rocks out the back daily since they wont get in trouble. I have replaced my windshield 4 times since 2014, not due to cracks but due to all the micro chips in the glass.

I would say I am on the extreme end of the abuse PPF would see and say its worth it. But just know its not going to stop everything and you will still get chips. If you are really worried about the paint just PPF the whole front end but IMHO the paint is not the best on our cars to begin with and is not worth spending upwards of $1k to have the complete front end done.

This is the only thing that ensure no rock chips... Good for the environment too.. win win..

The idea with PPF on the front of the car isn't to keep the car spotless. It's to prevent the front of the car from becoming sandblasted in comparison to the rest of the vehicle. A car that is driven will accumulate rock chips over time. Only if you have a supercar do you spend money on PPF for the entire vehicle.

However, with PPF on the front of your daily driver, the front is protected from the overwhelming majority of chips it would normally accumulate. Which means that over many tens of thousands of miles of driving, it will accumulate just the occasional rock chip much like the rest of the car. Those can be touched up with paint if necessary. But at least after 60,000 miles, you won't have a car that has occasional rock chips on the roof and trunk, but a front end that looks like it was put through a sandblaster, lol.

I had Toyota install 3M PPF from the dealer prior to picking up my 86.

Full hood, Bumper, mirrors and half fenders. Definitely worth every penny.
Cleaning is a breeze, along with the added protection it offers. The self heal properties was enough for me.

I literally spray bug remover on, then a bit of water and scrub it with a microfiber without any worry of marring the paint.