Paint Protection

[Tokay444]

https://www.ceramiccoatexpert.com/po...-scratch-proof

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by spcmafia

I've used a combination of Ceramic and graphene wax.

If you are DIY, on a budget, Graphene is the way to go. It last way longer than, again, budget ceramic coatings. Turtle Wax makes an amazing Graphene wax. Very easy to apply and upkeep.

Don't want rock chips? Maintain proper distance according to your speed on the road and don't tailgate, obviously it can't always be helped.

Don't want swirls and other minor scratches? Don't use shitty products when washing/drying your vehicle, DIY and never EVER bring it to an Automatic Car Wash with brushes. Use microfiber towels and sponges, a two-bucket method, and a properly rated pressure washer.



No amount of clear coating with prevent physical damage as well as PPF. Sure, it can have a degree of elasticity, but sucks at preventing dirt/contaminants and it would still not give you the level of protection PPF would give you.


OP, depending on your budget, and what sort of deal you can get, you can't really go wrong with either. But you're trying to keep the surface as damage free as possible, go with PPF.

What graphene wax do you use? Is it the turtle wax spray wax? I’m still using SiO2 waxes.

[spcmafia]

Originally Posted by saltywetman

anyone know much about graphene? was reading some articles talking about how graphene is the successor to ceramic coatings being even more longer lasting?

Graphene is amazing, I've only used budget applications and I can attest, being the vehicle care nut that I am, that it will last longer that ceramic coatings, again, budget-friendly wise.



My vehicle maintenance schedule involves stripping away any wax/sealant layers before the winter with a clay bar and applying a fresh layer of paint sealant. Let it properly cure and then apply a graphene layer. At a clear coat, I want to say molecular (not appreciated by the naked eye) level, it may not be the correct word to use, it applies two layers of protection to the clear coat. Physical on the other hand, I just have to drive carefully. But it sets me up for the salt on the road and constant rain. I make it through by managing a quick wash whenever the temperature allows and the car maintains an acceptable level of water bending and dirt protection.

Coming the spring, do the same thing which covers me all summer and fall months. Just apply extra layers of graphene to keep that second layer of protection. Plus I just enjoy washing the car and admiring a high gloss finish whenever I can.

[spcmafia]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

What graphene wax do you use? Is it the turtle wax spray wax? I’m still using SiO2 waxes.

Yup! Turtle Wax! Love it, I switched to the liquid wax instead of the spray, since the spray is a little trickier to properly dry and polish and it doesn't make my microfiber towels water resistant lol, easier to wash.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by spcmafia

Yup! Turtle Wax! Love it, I switched to the liquid wax instead of the spray, since the spray is a little trickier to properly dry and polish and it doesn't make my microfiber towels water resistant lol, easier to wash.

Thanks, I’ll keep an eye out for their liquid wax, haven’t seen it in store yet.

[spcmafia]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

Thanks, I’ll keep an eye out for their liquid wax, haven’t seen it in store yet.

I gotchu fam. Highly recommend applying it with an orbital polisher.

https://www.amazon.com/Turtle-Wax-53...53057426&psc=1

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by WolfpackS2k

PPF is totally worth it! And I don't know what conditions people are driving in to get theirs torn up, because I have previously used it for years and never encountered any issues with damage. And I'm a freaking magnet for road debris (even had to get my roof repainted once from paint chips after a semi [not even in my lane!] ran over a sheet of dry wall, making it explode). My father recently had the PPF replaced on his S2000 (was roughly 15 years old and yellowing) and it had no tears/holes in it.

The film on the front of my FRS was literally in tatters. It was not a cheap or inexpensive film but the standard 3M stuff. Rock salt thrown up by the sanders in winter, stones from the hundreds of gravel trucks around here (this region is a prime supplier of glacial gravel) and general debris from the highway all contacting the front of the car at 70+ MPH took it's toll. Anything that was big enough to chip paint would also tear to film leaving little flaps waving in the wind. Every now and then I would trim them back with a razor blade so they didn't stand out to bad. Now, I was driving about 35,000 miles a year back then so it had far more than the the average exposure.

All in all the PPF does a great job against the little stuff but anything large enough to actually chip or ding is still going to leave a mark. It isn't a reflective force field.

I drive far les now so the front of the Hakone is in much better shape but even then I have a couple of good sized chips that need touch up. This is mainly why I went with ceramic to make the paint look better and will just touch up the larger marks on the front until the point they warrant a respray. I figure that if I have to spend $500 every few years to have the worst exposed areas repainted I am still ahead of the game.

Reality is that the only way to not ever get any marks on your car is to cover it, keep it in a garage and never, ever, drive it. It is not a collector car, expensive exotic or rare classic so I fully expect and accept it is going to have some small dings and chips forever.

Hell I even left a couple untouched on the FRS as trophies!

Right front fender. Huge bolt I saw coming in what seemed like slow motion but could not avoid due to traffic. I left it untouched for 6 years just to see the body panel rust resistance. It is probably still like that since the lower panels seem to be well treated and it only ever developed slight surface rust.

[CincyJohn]

Originally Posted by Tokay444

You’re projecting an awful lot for a guy that doesn’t know how hardness/ toughness works.
From the article… “ Formulating coatings with much higher inherent hardness is done with ceramic enamels. While these are excellent for scratch resistance, their impact and chipping resistance is quite poor, excluding them from many applications such as automotive.” Except, we have now development them to be used in automotive applications, not for their chip resistance, but for their scratch and contamination resistance.

"Scratch resistance can be used to describe anything from ultra-fine scratches, like polishing marks and fine scratches due to dirt and debris, to large scale damage such as finger nail scrapes around door handles. Furthermore, it can relate to surface defects or much deeper damage such as abrasion down to metal (such as that found under bedliners) or scrapes down to metal from shopping carts, or keys. Another common defect is marring defects from objects that are pressed against the finish. Each of these types of scratching can respond differently to the film properties. The best coating for one type of failure may not be the best for another type of failure. There are many types of scratch tests and you must choose the test that best replicates the size of the damaging object, the force with which that object is being pushed into the finish and other factors."

We get it you, are a distributor for Gtechniq. Shouldn't you be posting in the commercial classifieds?

[Tokay444]

I am not a distributor for Gtechniq and am not a commercial vendor.

[RToyo86]

100,000km and 4 years of daily use with very similar road conditions @Tcoat described.
Lots of highway on my morning commute. Roads are salted heavily as a government town. Sandblasted with salt and scuffed from road debris impacts.

Bumper film is toast, the other panels held up pretty good.





Driver fender


Passenger side bumper

[CincyJohn]

Originally Posted by RToyo86

100,000km and 4 years of daily use with very similar road conditions @Tcoat described.
Lots of highway on my morning commute. Roads are salted heavily as a government town. Sandblasted with salt and scuffed from road debris impacts.

Bumper film is toast, the other panels held up pretty good.

Still better than the alternative - no ppf, just repaint every 2-3 years. My personal experience on that end is even if it is just a front bumper respray and even if the paint match is close to perfect, it doesn't hold up near as well as the factory paint job and ends up looking like sh-t in a year or less. In fact, it made me wish I hadn't resprayed at all.

[Spektyr]

Originally Posted by CincyJohn

Still better than the alternative - no ppf, just repaint every 2-3 years. My personal experience on that end is even if it is just a front bumper respray and even if the paint match is close to perfect, it doesn't hold up near as well as the factory paint job and ends up looking like sh-t in a year or less. In fact, it made me wish I hadn't resprayed at all.

Someone put a brand-new GR86 bumper on their BRZ - bought it from the dealership and iirc they said they paid $585 for it or something close to that.

Definitely more expensive than a repaint, but that's going to be factory-quality paint and - bonus - you end up with a spare bumper you can resell to offset the cost or just hang onto in case someone messes up the new one.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by CincyJohn

Still better than the alternative - no ppf, just repaint every 2-3 years. My personal experience on that end is even if it is just a front bumper respray and even if the paint match is close to perfect, it doesn't hold up near as well as the factory paint job and ends up looking like sh-t in a year or less. In fact, it made me wish I hadn't resprayed at all.

I have had the total opposite experiences where repaints were a perfect match and stood up far FAR superior to the factory paint.
The trick is probably as simple as getting a quality respray with proper prep.

[Tokay444]

Originally Posted by Spektyr

Someone put a brand-new GR86 bumper on their BRZ - bought it from the dealership and iirc they said they paid $585 for it or something close to that.

Definitely more expensive than a repaint, but that's going to be factory-quality paint and - bonus - you end up with a spare bumper you can resell to offset the cost or just hang onto in case someone messes up the new one.

Since when do they come painted?