Paint Protection Film(PPF) vs Ceramic coating. Which one’s for you
Whether you’ve just bought a car or have owned it previously for some time, nothing beats the feeling of going out and looking at its bright and beautiful body gleaming under the light. However, cars inevitably wear with daily use exposed to the UV rays of the sun, rain, and other environmental factors. Makes you wonder, if only something could prevent this. But guess what? There is!
Car paint protection
Car paint protection involves applying a chemical layer of paint or wax coating or film on the body of a car to protect its surface from external damaging factors that cause it to wear out and look old.
So now that we know what car paint protection is, let’s look at the two most popular methods, Paint Protection Film(ppf) and Ceramic Coating, and which one is comparatively better for your car. Here is a list comparing the two so you can decide what’s best for your pocket and your car as well.
So What’s PPF?
Paint Protection Film is a fairly popular method of coating for not only cars but many everyday use items, one of them also being your phone screen. It has made many names for itself, a few of them being ‘clear bra’ and ‘clear paint film’. PPF is made of thermoplastic urethane that’s malleable and is a self-healing material-a bonus on your part.
These were developed during the third Vietnam war to protect US military tanks from being subject to environmental harm and are still quite useful to us even today. Today, ppf is available in many thicknesses and can heal itself after being scratched or scuffed for up to 10 years.
This thermoplastic wonder protects the painted surface from UV rays, stone chips, and abrasions while being almost invisible to the viewer’s eye. It’s as if your car has a second skin, and it doesn’t ruin the look of it as well.
They’re highly resistant to corrosion, successfully preventing damage from acidic elements, mineral deposits, bug and animal splatters, and acid rain.
The key advantage of this method is that it’s a self-healing material. Due to its elastomeric polymers that automatically revert to its natural shape, even on being scratched several times, or being accidentally scuffed by something, your car remains protected and it’s exterior unchanged.
Summing it up, PPF showcases a variety of highly advantageous aspects that give it the benefit of no doubt in its ability to keep your car shiny and brand new while also protecting it.
Now going to the main question, how much does it cost?
Depending on the size of your car, the film’s thickness and if the film has additional properties, as well as custom cuts, ppf costs range from 4-20 grand altogether.
Ceramic Coating
Moving on, unlike ppf, this coating is a clear liquid polymer that, when applied, bonds with the car paint to form a more permanent protective coating. Once applied it can be only removed by abrasion and no chemicals. If done right, a ceramic coating can even last for the lifetime of the car. While it doesn’t pose a threat to damage its appearance, rather it adds to it to look brighter and glossier.
It’s the perfect alternative to was coating and has several benefits, such as UV protection, enhanced chemical protection, high heat tolerance, and scratch resistance. Its permanence is a key point to its ultimate advantage of being time and cost-effective. Let’s dive into its core benefits.
Ceramic coatings are hydrophobic, which makes them extremely advantageous. They avoid water or any other liquids and don’t let that stick on their surface. This prevents your car from any kind of splatter or unpleasant-looking liquid patterns drying up and sticking to your car.
Whether it’s sunny or rainy, we always take our umbrella out to shield ourselves from the harsh sun and the cold rain. Ceramic coating does just that! It acts as an umbrella for your car that prevents it from harm from the harsh UV rays or rain that cause the paint to corrode or fade away. The bonus to this being that while it shields your car, it gives a clean, untainted, and new feeling, almost like you just bought it a few moments ago!
Ceramic coated surfaces are also easier to clean and maintain and unlike wax coats, it is a permanent solution to protect the car surface.
So what does it cost? Ceramic coats start from about 18 grand and go up to 35 grand depending on the size of your car and the treatment package you’ve chosen.
So which one is better?
Taking both the methods into consideration, PPF can undertake more abrasions and debris from daily travel before getting through to reach your car’s paint. However, eventually, these need to be replaced due to damage, discoloration or forming blisters on its surface that, essentially, ruins the look of the car.
However ceramic coating has a lot of chemical resistance and it is a permanent solution to protecting your car. While ppf makes your car look a bit duller, ceramic does the exact opposite. But comparatively, ceramic stands on the heavier side of the scale as it costs more than your average paint coating. But hey, on the bright side, it’s a lifetime investment.
When weighing your options, and looking at what’s better for your car, both offer a vast range of benefits, one having a stronger suit than the other keeping in mind your daily use of transportation. However, regardless of what you choose, both methods will end up favoring you.
