Ceramic Coating and/or Paint Protection Film?

No garage, or trailer queen here. Any car wash would never touch my truck. Most i've done is take a garden hose to it after seeing too much mud, and salt spray. I'll hit the chassis pretty good in the winter with the hose when the salt buildup gets too much. The cosmoline coating has done its job.

 

PPF is great but expensive. The technology has come a long way in the last 15 years. I have done the full nose on two of my other cars, and cried at the price but now they are rock chip free. This was 5 years ago and it is supposed to have a 10 year life. I have been waxing over the PPF on the nose and regular paint on the back. I regret not spending the $ on the full body of these cars. I have had to remove some water spots and nearly avoided damage that the PPF would have protected. Friends, neighbors, and strangers all comment on how these cars look new 5 years later and always ask what my secret is. I tell them PPF+ regular washing and waxing. Simple but effective.

My Tacoma is currently in the shop for a full PPF and Ceramic on top of that. Using Ceramic Pro on top of that. If I had to budget between PPF OR Ceramic I would prefer the PPF.

I don't have much experience with the Ceramic (long time old school waxer here) but after seeing it and reading about it I thought it was worth a try. The Tacoma has so much surface area if this could cut down time and expense I am all for it.

No garage queen here either. I just want it all. Will be venturing off road way out in the desert, but I do like a clean shiny truck too. I think you can have both!

 

This is really helpful, thanks. Planning to have my Barcelona Red TRDOR off road in the desert too. Like I said in my post, I’m hoping to do PPF at least on the full nose, then ceramic coating on the whole truck. For me the ceramic coating is less about the truck looking clean and more about protecting it from UV here in AZ. I just don’t wash my cars very often. Lol How much PPF I do will depend on budget and what estimates I get. That’s awesome you found a place that does PPF and ceramic coating - I’ve so far only found ones that do one or the other but having it same place would be much easier and more cost-effective too I imagine.

 

Ha ha, I'm soooo spoiled being garaged. And I'm too lazy to sling a hose. As soon as I'm done playing, I run into a carwash asap. I'm sure they must hate me, but I don't always hit the same carwashes. And thankfully, my Krown rustproofing has also done it's job.

 

Mine was installed by the SE Toyota Port as extra protection. I found that it started to yellow and I never could remove the water stains from the hood. So I removed all of it and am very happy with just using a good wax. I would suggest installing a bug shield on the hood that seems to help.

 

You think the paint quality is worth protecting?

 

I have never had any problem with my paint. I wax my truck every four months and wash it every week.

 

I just wash my truck every few weeks. I avoid automatic washes and just hand wash or use the high pressure car washes.

for waxing I was going to do a major diy ceramic coating but decided that since it’s a lot of work and money I wanted a product that was easy to use and use often.
What I went with was MagGuires hybrid ceramic liquid wax 3 times a year. Initially I did two coats. No I just do I quick single coat every few months. Every other wash I use the matching hybrid ceramic detail spray after I wash and dry it. Still looking good it shines, water beads up, the rain washes most of the nasty junk off it.
These products are under $20 each at Walmart and Amazon so very much available to purchase.

 

Besides the clouding and dirt nibs, I don't see problems with most colors or than the white,

but I'd be hard pressed to justify what is $4 - $6,000 in half to full ppf on this quality of a pain job,

Front clip, fenders & A pillar would go a long way in reducing rock chips however.

 

I know a lot of people are against the high pressure self washes... how has that worked out for you?

I live in an apartment with street parking and don't plan on going through touch car washes. Gotta come up with some sort of washing plan. I'm a lazy detailer and considering PPF on the hood & fenders. Ceramic everywhere else.

 

I don't do car wash's of any sorts, nor use a pressure washer on my truck. Right now i've been busy scraping dried on bird poop off the truck. Its been a tough month so far, and i suspect its going to get worse from these birds.

 

It's OK not the best wash honestly I can do way better washing by hand with a bucket and a hose.
It does however get it clean ok if I use the foaming brush thing it's better. I wouldn't use the brush if it looks filled with dirt though. I like the self service wash because is cheaper than the automatic with the brushes and it gets the winter grime off or is a quick way to get off bird crap if I don't have time to hand wash or it's too cold.

I it can be tough in an apartment to do things. I'm in one to but I'm the owner, I have off street parking and I do whatever I want. I wish I had a garage though.

 

Well i went and did it, my trucks first wash by hand in 2 1/2 years. You can thank the bird's for making me do it. I couldn't take wiping all that crap off with a wet rag every other day. At any rate the truck looks good with the wife's hybrid ceramic wash. The poop wash's off real easy with that stuff, and a hose.

 

What's everyone's best recc for 2 stage polish?

 

I went ahead and had the front end of my truck PPFd ( ceramic pro Kavaca ) and the rest of the vehicle ceramic coated ( ceramic pro ion ). Not a single rock chip so far though I don't do a ton of driving.
I wash the truck by hand with microfibre towels, 2 bucket method every 2 months. No regrets spending the money.

 

I love polishing a coating my truck. So I go with ceramic coating. Did it prevent the dreaded 2nd gen clear coat failure? Nope. Possibly delayed it a few years but in the end, paint died.

My 3rd gen gets it. It's very shiny and protected.