Help me decide whether PPF and/or ceramic is worth it

arbybaconator

arbybaconator

New member
I picked up a new Lunar Rock pro last week, and i'm currently debating whether or not do some additional paint protection. It is very likely I will keep this vehicle 10 years.

The truck that I bought has the paint package installed currently, as it came with it. It's the factory installed PPF around key areas in the front. Unfortunately it doesn't protect everything, and I already have a rock chip just below the hood where there is no PPF.

I have a quote from a local shop who is willing to do full body PPF (Premium Shield Self Healing) and a 3 year Ceramic Coat (Feynlabs) for $5500 total, including tax. This is lower than other shops I have called in the area, and this shop has great reviews on Yelp, so they seem trustworthy. I like the idea of Full-Body so as to not have miscolored panels next to each other after a few years.

I'm having difficulty decided whether or not it's even worth it to get the PPF and ceramic coat at all. My truck will be parked outside in the Texas sun 24/7 (never under any trees, thankfully). And this will mostly be used as a Daily Driver outside of a few camping and very light offloading trips every year.

I like to keep my vehicles clean, but I do not obsess over it. Do y'all think it's worth it to go with the PPF/Ceramic? Is it overkill? This wasn't something I ever thought about with my last car, but it seems to be all the rage these days, and I think it's skewing my decision. I've spent more time agonizing over paint the past few days than I did making the decision to buy a 4runner.
 
I picked a new lunar rock pro also and wouldn't let my girlfriend drive it till we did the whole front end, roof, a pillars, lower part of the door will xpel and the had it ceramic coated I paid $2200 for the expel and the c quartz finest ceramic coat was $1800 I won't go with out either one when I buy a new car and feel if you can afford pro what another few grand
 
If you want to keep 4 Runner for many years focus on the frame because it will rust out if not taken care of. Body and paint has never being an issue.
 
arbybaconator said:
I picked up a new Lunar Rock pro last week, and i'm currently debating whether or not do some additional paint protection. It is very likely I will keep this vehicle 10 years.

The truck that I bought has the paint package installed currently, as it came with it. It's the factory installed PPF around key areas in the front. Unfortunately it doesn't protect everything, and I already have a rock chip just below the hood where there is no PPF.

I have a quote from a local shop who is willing to do full body PPF (Premium Shield Self Healing) and a 3 year Ceramic Coat (Feynlabs) for $5500 total, including tax. This is lower than other shops I have called in the area, and this shop has great reviews on Yelp, so they seem trustworthy. I like the idea of Full-Body so as to not have miscolored panels next to each other after a few years.

I'm having difficulty decided whether or not it's even worth it to get the PPF and ceramic coat at all. My truck will be parked outside in the Texas sun 24/7 (never under any trees, thankfully). And this will mostly be used as a Daily Driver outside of a few camping and very light offloading trips every year.

I like to keep my vehicles clean, but I do not obsess over it. Do y'all think it's worth it to go with the PPF/Ceramic? Is it overkill? This wasn't something I ever thought about with my last car, but it seems to be all the rage these days, and I think it's skewing my decision. I've spent more time agonizing over paint the past few days than I did making the decision to buy a 4runner.
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I would do PPF but not ceramic pro. The former will definitely help with rock chips. The latter is worth doing only if you have no desire to wax your truck and/or you want that ‘pop’ and water resistance.
I did the PPF over the entire hood/front end/mirrors and have zero regrets.
Frankly, I think you’re better off waxing it every 6 months, especially since it will be in the sun.
Just my $.02


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
whether or not it's worth it is is solely up to you and what your budget can handle


just be aware of the merits of each mode of protection though. PPF offers a good amount of physical protection at a much higher cost compared to a ceramic coat. Ceramic coat on it's own does keep a car noticeably cleaner for longer. car washes are much easier to do too. that's something PPF can't claim.


i personally went with just ceramic coat diy'd (if you know how to polish/wax a car and can spare a couple of days it isn't all that different).
 
I did ceramic on my lunar rock, and its been great (2 months since I picked it up).

I have had PPF on my last 6 cars, but decided against it on this one when taking delivery, and had ceramic done instead by a very reputable local shop that I've always used for detailing.

It did not make sense to worry about rock chips from highway miles, when the vehicle will likely get pin striped on trails.
 
<<<< said:
If you want to keep 4 Runner for many years focus on the frame because it will rust out if not taken care of. Body and paint has never being an issue.
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Yes I agree.

Thousands of dollars for some kind of ceramic hens teeth treatment is ... well... stupid when you could buy a Ryobi DA and a quart of Klasse All in One and get great results.
 
Two days after I bought my 4Runner I noticed a few chips on the front bumper and found out how soft the white paint is. I found a guy who did the 3M PPF for a few of the high end car manufacturer dealers in the area and did a cash deal with him on the side.
He did the entire front factory bumper, front of hood and fenders. All 4 door edges and door handle pockets, mirrors, headlights, fog lights, and rear bumper edge. The cash deal was $800. He said the front bumper was probably the hardest or 2nd hardest he’s done, that’s including some exotic cars.

I also hired him again to do the front of the roof to protect where the Gobi wind deflector rubs for $20.

Just know with the PPF after about 7 years it’s best to have it removed and redone. Otherwise it will start to crack not long after and becomes like removing slivers. That was his warning to me. If you do a google search you’ll know what he means.

I drive my truck through many tight really over grown trails here in northern Minnesota forests and most of the scratches get removed from hand waxing it twice a year, spring and fall. Probably helps that I have white too. The black plastic between the the side door windows shows a lot of the scratches.

I would skip the ceramic and just wax it.
 
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For a 4 runner probably not. For a $200k exotic maybe. As far as ppf, don’t forget it deteriorates over time and when it’s time to take it off....
 
If I could have afforded PPF, that’s 100% the way to go, but I’m not spending the $6k.

I had mine ceramic coated. It’s worth it me to bc I like how long I can go in between washes, the paint really pops, and it protects a little from swirls and light scratches.

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I did PPF on the front and half the hood on mine, traded for converting his small shop to LED. I was considering doing the whole car, BUT I figure, let it be and in a couple years I can PPF in a Flat Black or some other color and its like getting a "new" car.
 
Absolutely worth it for the PPF. I got my Lunar Rock Pro a few weeks ago and immediately got full PPF and NO ceramic coat.

I took it on trails and the paint was protected when I was scraping the sides of my brand new truck against trees. That alone was worth the $5k cost. Came out of the trail with the paint perfectly in tact and the PPF is self healing.

The thing shops won't tell you is that ceramic coating is easy to apply, relatively cheap, and not that time consuming. The difficult, expensive, and time consuming part is paint correcting the car. However, on a brand new truck you shouldn't have to do any paint correction. You can buy enough ceramic coat to do the whole truck for like $100 and do it yourself in a day or two.

The full PPF though, very much recommended if you're driving off road, highway, etc. It will keep you protected from scrapes, rock chips etc. I would remove the factory stuff and apply XPEL or STEK instead as it's likely higher quality than the factory stuff and comes with a solid warranty.
 
First thing I did was take my 2021 TRD PRO to my friends shop who happens to be the best PPF installer in my area. He usually does all high end exotics. He did the entire front end (whole hood, headlights, bumper, front fenders, a-pillars, front roof edge, door handle cups and also interior door handle trim and touch screen in Xpel ultimate) the edges are all wrapped as well so you minimize the edge lines you might see over time.

He then ceramic coated the entire vehicle with Xpel fusion ceramic coat. My magnetic gray metallic looks amazingly glossy.

He told me the film he would take off in 7 years. But with the ceramic coat on top, plus how I take care of my vehicles, I could probably stretch that closer to 10 years.

I am very happy with the results. I say go for it if you can.
 
I sold my black 2002 Isuzu Trooper in 2015. Paint looked awesome.
Hand wash often, wax once a year, no way I would spend 3, 4, or $5,000 on a specialized coating, unless I was filthy rich and it was a really fancy car.
I just got one of those Meguiar’s synthetic claybar pads, going to try that on my forerunner before I wax it the next time, pearl white. Not impressed with the paint quality but shines up nice.
DIY ceramic sounds good too. But like was said before I think the paint correction- cutting and buffing correctly is the hard/ $$$ part.
 
18 trd off road said:
I picked a new lunar rock pro also and wouldn't let my girlfriend drive it till we did the whole front end, roof, a pillars, lower part of the door will xpel and the had it ceramic coated I paid $2200 for the expel and the c quartz finest ceramic coat was $1800 I won't go with out either one when I buy a new car and feel if you can afford pro what another few grand
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1800 for ceramic coat [emoji44]. I need to go into business. I used c quartz and it took me 2 days for less than $200.

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk
 
I'll be ceramic coating mine (self-installed) with Cquartz 3.0, topped with Cquartz SiC.

Yes, it's worth it. I coated my M3 and it made it a breeze to clean, and lasts much longer than any wax ever could. :vader:
 
<<<< said:
Brand new paint is always soft, always has being.
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How long is brand new paint soft for?

In my case to get it from Japan to the Midwest, then the couple weeks to complete a dealer trade. Still soft. Maybe it’s just Toyota blended paint quality that’s been mentioned throughout this site?
 
I had mine ceramic coated 2-1/2 years ago. The paint and clear seemed softer than my previous black 2001 4Runner prior to my current Pro.
Dealership washing screwed the clear up and it could not be clayed out. Got $500 back from the Toyota dealership and took it to a Ceramic Pro shop for the 5 year package that was $1300.
As mentioned before in this thread paint correction is key and mine needed it. I don’t detail wash my car anymore. After four wheeling I take it to the do it yourself spray wash and clean the chassis, engine, etc. and then take it to a car wash that specializes in ceramic coating. $50 a pop, but, I don’t care. I only do it about 4 times per year. Had pin stripes from almost two months ago from Cleghorn and did the yearly $150 recoat and buff out and I can’t even see all the pinstripes I had prior. The worst part of my paint now besides being scuffed on the back bottom from going airborne (see avatar), is the clown who put a huge door dent in my drivers door. I like to have my vehicles look nice, but, I want to use it. Saturday’s detail. Always comes out better than a new black 4Runner. Paint correction is the key.
 

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