Maybe this PPF stuff will catch on !!!

highplains · March 6, 2019

:yeah PPF is designed to protect the value of your vehicle not increase it. I came into this from a collision industry job so I've been on both sides. PPF as a whole is not perfect, particularly the older generations of products, and I've definitely come across some nightmares but overall I still believe that it's a net positive product. It may not be for everyone but I have no reservations about selling it to my customers or utilizing it on my own vehicles.

prairiePPFer · March 6, 2019

I've been installing for ten years, and the only time I've seen removal of paint when taking film off is on vehicles that have been repainted. Or severely damaged by something that went through and wrecked the body panel anyway. When I first started out there were films that were coming off in small chunks and leaving tons of glue behind, but since I've learned the tricks of removing it properly, and film has gotten better, I don't have any problems. Unless the vehicle was repainted and film was installed too early, in which case, yeah. It's a gamble. We have a 3 week window until we will install after paint.

We do take it off of about 30% of trade ins, but our dealers seem to love it because it gives them the opportunity to resell it when people see what it does. Especially if you have a vehicle that didn't have it to do a side by side comparison on.

But yeah, maybe my opinion is coloured by the way our roads are here. Super dirty and tons of rock chips and bugs, so it certainly is worth it here.

Sunbreakers · March 7, 2019

We do a lot of PPF on different price levels of vehicles. We always stress that this is a sacrificial product meant to protect better than anything else they will find outside of leaving it in their garage. Is it perfect? No, but it is better than nothing. I don't know that it adds value so much as protection. I used to advise customers to remove prior to end of warranty and replace. That was when we had 5 year warranties...I would feel that most removals are just like tint removals...if you know what you are doing it comes off with little to no residue or problem. Body shops raise hell about tint removals...those guys have no clue what they are doing..same with PPF. The one struggle we have is most of our work is dealer work. We have some interest from outside of that, but just not that big of a market. I think when it becomes more mainstream...at least in our area, then the perceptions about it and popularity will improve as well. The dealer only side of things does make it feel more of a scam. Think of the dealer who charges $400 for tint on the front doors of an SUV. We have seen dealers get $1k for a whole hood, but they can discount down to what they actually pay us without losing anything and/or finance it into the deal so it serves a good purpose for them at least. For us it helps us keep our numbers up during slow parts of the year. Just my humble opinion.

LB55 · March 8, 2019

The ppf mfrs would like you to think that it adds value to your car. In fact it does not. Calculate the initial cost to instal. Then deduct what you are secretly being penalized at trade in time to remove the stuff from a dealer, and it easily adds up to north of 2-3k. Now add in the possibility of the paint coming off with the old PPF .. or the ppf itself coming off in pieces the size of your fingernail in the future.. and that number easily doubles.. or more. Dealers like to sell it on new cars because they get to step on it and add gross to their sale. That same dealer hates seeing the car come in on trade or have to bring it to auction with ppf.
It’s s suckers bet.

You’re not going to sell anything with that kind of attitude my friend. Open your mind, practice and check the EGO

TomTint · March 8, 2019

6 hours ago, LB55 said:

You’re not going to sell anything with that kind of attitude my friend. Open your mind, practice and check the EGO

We sell what we believe in ..just fine. But thanks for the laugh.

alberts316 · March 8, 2019

LOL, Tom will be just fine.

LB55 · March 8, 2019

We sell what we believe in ..just fine. But thanks for the laugh.

You’re welcome

XPEL Jeff · March 11, 2019

On 3/5/2019 at 11:31 AM, TomTint said:

The ppf mfrs would like you to think that it adds value to your car. In fact it does not. Calculate the initial cost to instal. Then deduct what you are secretly being penalized at trade in time to remove the stuff from a dealer, and it easily adds up to north of 2-3k. Now add in the possibility of the paint coming off with the old PPF .. or the ppf itself coming off in pieces the size of your fingernail in the future.. and that number easily doubles.. or more. Dealers like to sell it on new cars because they get to step on it and add gross to their sale. That same dealer hates seeing the car come in on trade or have to bring it to auction with ppf.

It’s s suckers bet.

Actually, many dealerships love it because they make money off of film three times.

1. Installed with the initial sale of the new unit

2. No reconditioning costs on trade in if customer brings car baclk to them

3. They get to markup the car on the pre-owned lot because it has film (or they easily remove it and charge to reinstall on pristine paint)

Edited March 11, 2019 by XPEL Jeff

TomTint · March 11, 2019

6 minutes ago, XPEL Jeff said:

Actually, many dealerships love it because they make money off of film three times.

1. Installed with the initial sale of the new unit

2. No reconditioning costs on trade in if customer brings car baclk to them

3. They get to markup the car on the pre-owned lot because it has film (or they easily remove it and charge to reinstall on pristine paint)

Negative on #2 and #3 .. there can be significant reconditioning involved. More often than not, the material needs to be removed and the dealer certainly deducts that cost from the ACV at trade.. ( car owner unknowingly takes the hit ) And if it's a nice clean trade, a dealer would rather have it off for resale..then try to hit the new owner with aftersell in the F&I office for new ppf..again ..customer takes the hit.

Now depending on age of the film and color of the car.. everyone hopes the paint is still attached to the car when Film is removed..and if it is..that it still matches the rest of the car that was not under said Film.

Speed · March 12, 2019

Would you pay more for a used car that looked perfect as far as paint chips vs one that was beat up? When searching for a used car, most would agree a lot of its value depends on how well it was cared for by the previous owner. If that owner cared enough it to go to the expense of having PPF applied, then they probably got their oil changed and routine maintenance done.

This Cayenne customer would call your snake oil comparison hogwash.