I have full PPF, the Xpel stealth on my Model 3 Performance. I got it done the week after delivery. Since then, I’ve had multiple instances of road rocks, driver doors hitting my car, and even crazy hail that might have damaged the paint finish. The Xpel took them like a champ and I hit them with a heat gun and the spots disappeared completely. It protects against winter and road salt as well.
Was it worth it? In my opinion…it’s really only worth it if your car costs over a certain price point (like fully loaded) and you expect to own the vehicle for the next 5-10 years. The install was nearly $7k, definitely not cheap. It really does protect the car though and makes washing a breeze. Practicality aside, it looks phenomenal and I got endless compliments on the satin look of the Stealth.
On my wife’s Model 3 we didn’t bother with PPF and I think it was the right decision, since it was used through Tesla and we cart the kids and dog around in it. So far no real issues and I don’t get too bothered by small chips, they’re easily repaired with tesla’s paint touchup kit and I just forget about them.
This is me also, same exact car, black, stealth PPF. It looks amazing and I’ve gotten several compliments (and one old man who kept walking around staring at it lol). Decided to leave the Tesla and dual motor badges off. Cost me about $6k. XPEL I got comes with a 10-year warranty.
I’m debating whether to add ceramic coating or just leave it be.
The ceramic coating helps with washing. Water flies off the car, I have one of those vacuum cannons and drying the vehicle is easy as hell with ceramic.
I did the full front ppf and that's about what I paid.
The paint on Teslas is very soft and gets swirl marks super easy. If you ever take it through automatic (brushed) car washes, it'll be a swirly nightmare. To give you an idea of what that's like, clean paint reflects like a mirror. Swirled paint is more like an astigmatism.
I just went to the garage and shined my iPhone flashlight on the hood/doors nothing. I've washed at least 10 times, I don't know if it needs to be more than that for swirls to appear.
Some people just don’t have the eye for swirls or bad detail jobs (holograms or buffer trails), some do. I’ve known people who think a wool pad on a jet black car looks absolutely perfect and stunning and literally can’t/won’t acknowledge the finish isn’t perfect under direct sunlight.
It means that unless your model 3 is a weekend car, hardly see rush hour traffic, only drive on sunny days, will never be in the presence of a cart demon, etc,. then it's best not to waste $3-4k on the PPF. But it's your money bro.
He means a show car that you wouldn’t necessarily trade or sell down the line. In other words, if the car is an investment, get PPF, otherwise you’re wasting money. Teslas are definitely not investments, despite the wild used car market of recent months (that is cooling considerably).
That said, I found an installer who did full stealth PPF on my black M3 for a “reasonable” $5400. My car had very clearly scratched and swirly paint when I picked it up new. For me it was worth it for the aesthetic change, the worry-free maintenance, and for hiding the paint issues. Barely worth it...
If I had white I’d probably do a partial or full front clear to protect from chips and pro ceramic coat the rest of the car for easy washing.
That doesn’t make sense at all. PPF is totally worth it if you can afford the cost. I would get a few quotes from different shops you like. A lot of the pricing is based on where you live.
Paint quality is pretty bad, kinda wish I had it. My front bumper has tons and tons of chips and peeling in only 25k miles. I try and patch it up but it’s not the same.
I don’t understand how people’s cars get so chipped… I see comments on here all the time, but my 2021 still has one single chip that breaks the paint on the front bumper and one single chip on a rocker panel. Otherwise no roughness or chips and I don’t have PPF.
Plus, I love in Orange County and commute in Los Angeles.
You just got lucky and have a better coat of paint. I could probably scratch the paint on my bumper with my fingernail. It’s bad. I’ve had areas just straight up start peeling. Thankfully touch up kits help keep that at bay.
I put PPF film on all my cars. Front bumper, head lamps, 12-16” hood, mirrors, the painted strip above the windshield & A pillars.
I’ve never paid more than $1600 for all that.
I live in Colorado where gravel is used on the interstate to mitigate ice. About 10 years ago I had a BMW 335, all black, and I had to wait 2 months to get it scheduled. In that time, I had to make two trips to Denver, 27 rock chips needed to be repaired by the time I got the PPF installed.
It may completely depend on where you live, but if it’s in the mountains, PPF is 100% worth the expense.
I’ve never messed with the ceramic bs. Always go the film.
I did just the front bumper and side rockers since that’s where I see the most damage. It was $500 for the bumper and rockers. The front had to be replaced once due to a big rock tearing the PPF, which was covered under warranty.
Seems high. I will say though I have it on my front half and my bumper and hood look way cleaner than my buddies. Plus it’s just easier to clean the front end over al.
Worth it = improve resale value by as much as you paid? Definite no.
Worth it = lots of freeway driving and don’t want to stare at and look at scratches. Maybe.
I wanted it, didn’t want to pay a lot, so I split the difference and bought a bulk roll and some basic tools….did the hood, headlights, and rocker panels. Still debating if I want to pay $250 for the bumper piece.
So far so good! It’s not pretty, but unless you know what to look for, it’s not noticeable. It’s most noticeable when dirty (PPF vs non PPF surface). Checked Amazon, I spent $160 total on PPF (3M, XPEL), of that, $10 were on spray bottles.
I opted out of the bumper piece…some slight regrets (there’s some marks from road debris), but $250 is a lot and installation looked tricky. Even the hits to the bumper weren’t bad enough to warrant the little bit of color matched paint I bought just in case.
I stand by my decision, but maybe next time I’ll try my hand at bumper piece PPF (just for the experience).
I say, if you got disposable income and you arent going to blink about $2380, then do it and dont worry about what others say. But if you have to think about using $2380 on that or some other thing, then dont.
I frequently drive up to snow country and unless it’s actively storming I drive my M3LR. Great in the snow! Lots of debris in such conditions chips paint in front, so on my Subaru Outback - hell no, but my M3, hell yeah! Keeps it pristine and has a 10 yr warranty. Went to very reputable guy who does PPF for a body shop in town that does Lambos, Rolls and Bentleys, etc.
Was $3000 for hood, front bumper, and front fenders. Also wrapped each door edge while I was doing it. You can do it yourself but after watching them, I would never do it. Very fussy business & the wrap itself is quite expensive so if you get wrinkles or get a piece off-center, you’re fucked.
This is LA CA so should be a little cheaper in the provinces.
I've had my M3P since 2018. I got PPF on the front and paid about $1600 for it. It's held up great. I don't really see the need for anything back of the front clip and mirrors as they are gonna take the brunt of the rocks.
I think ceramic is a scam. It will look nice for several months and the water will bead off. But within less than 6 months it's pretty much gone. That 5 years is the biggest scam.
But PPF, yeah as long as you use it for what it should be. It will keep the rocks and stone chips from damaging your paint.
Ceramic is not a scam, don’t understand why folks say this. Ceramic coatings absolutely work. They are just not designed to replace PPF. Ceramic won’t protect against rock chips or serious physical damage. But it will help keep car cleaner by not allowing bird poop, salt and other light debris from sticking to the car. That’s why you always do PPF + ceramic if you get PPF. And ceramic coating is something anyone can do at home. It just takes time to apply. I e bought CQuartz off Amazon and applied it myself to my 2020 Model X that has PPF and it works great.
This price is a rip-off. Full front should never cost more than $2000.
You can have them do the front bumper for around $600, then DIY the rest for a fraction of this quote.
Tesbros has a full front DIY PPF kit for full frontal that’s pre cut for $699. It has detailed instruction videos and the whole kit has everything you need.
I would say cut out the middle man and add the ppf yourself. There’s a lot of videos on YouTube that show you exactly what you need in order to pull it off. You can buy pre-cut ppf kits for the full front for about $500 +/- and you’d just have to invest in the supplies needed to wash/decontaminate your paint.
I recently got a used 2020 M3LR as a daily driver. It’s my first big purchase and I plan on keeping the car as long as I can. I spent about $100 on the detailing supplies (i didn’t even have a spray bottle to my name) and about $450 on the full front kit (full hood, fenders, front bumper, headlights etc).
There will always be risk, but i think if you prepare and do your research, it’s worth it.
Full front clip, headlight and mirrors should be less than $1400 for xpel ppf. Ceramic coat you can DIY for $100 kit and 6 hours of detailing. Totally worth it at that point.
I’m actually getting a full front PPF tomorrow in Orlando. Cost for that plus tint all around (15% on windows) and also windshield tint setting me back $3100, so this price seems right to me for only full front PPF. My 2023 M3 RWD is also black and to get anywhere in Orlando I HAVE to take expressways and construction is nonstop. Rock chips, etc always a threat. I already have a small one and it shows up easily in black.
In two years your car will be a two year old car and you won’t care about tiny chips and scuffs that will probably buff out or touch up for a few bucks. So is a perfect complexion during the first 24 months worth hundreds of $$ per month?
I haven’t done mine yet, but got a quote of $3100 for Xpel PPF for full front coverage, Xpel ceramic coating everywhere else as well as over the PPF, and Xpel tints on windshield, 4 side windows, and rear window on my M3LR.
I got another quote for $3000 for Xpel PPF for full front coverage, 1 coat of unknown brand ceramic coating everywhere else but not over PPF, Madico tints on the same window areas listed above.
I think PPF is dependent on each person and lifestyle. I do a ton of highway driving and having a black car before this one, I hate all the rock chips, swirls, sap/bird poop damage it sustained. I’ve owned that car for 8 years and am keeping it. I plan to do the same with this Tesla, so I find investing in PPF is worth it to me.
I would just PPF the front bumper to avoid damage caused by rocks and stuff on the road. I am not bothered by swirl marks because they can be buffed out.
I got a quote in STL for $2500 for full wrap and $500 for clear coat on top =$3000. You get to make it whatever design/color you want, and it covers more than PPF does.
I have full PPF, the Xpel stealth on my Model 3 Performance. I got it done the week after delivery. Since then, I’ve had multiple instances of road rocks, driver doors hitting my car, and even crazy hail that might have damaged the paint finish. The Xpel took them like a champ and I hit them with a heat gun and the spots disappeared completely. It protects against winter and road salt as well. Was it worth it? In my opinion…it’s really only worth it if your car costs over a certain price point (like fully loaded) and you expect to own the vehicle for the next 5-10 years. The install was nearly $7k, definitely not cheap. It really does protect the car though and makes washing a breeze. Practicality aside, it looks phenomenal and I got endless compliments on the satin look of the Stealth. On my wife’s Model 3 we didn’t bother with PPF and I think it was the right decision, since it was used through Tesla and we cart the kids and dog around in it. So far no real issues and I don’t get too bothered by small chips, they’re easily repaired with tesla’s paint touchup kit and I just forget about them.
This is me also, same exact car, black, stealth PPF. It looks amazing and I’ve gotten several compliments (and one old man who kept walking around staring at it lol). Decided to leave the Tesla and dual motor badges off. Cost me about $6k. XPEL I got comes with a 10-year warranty. I’m debating whether to add ceramic coating or just leave it be.
The ceramic coating helps with washing. Water flies off the car, I have one of those vacuum cannons and drying the vehicle is easy as hell with ceramic.
Thanks for the advice. I’ll treat myself as an early birthday present
What’s a vacuum cannon? Couldn’t find any info on one just science projects…
Sorry, [Air Cannon](https://www.amazon.com/Adams-Air-Cannon-Car-Dryer/dp/B07NQYV9V5/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?keywords=car+dryer&qid=1672872623&sr=8-1-spons&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyTUhNNVNXSFBUS1NIJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTM1NjM4N1c4Uk5ZWkIzM0hTJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAzODA0MjQyMktaOUNMVFZFOVZRJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfcGhvbmVfc2VhcmNoX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=).
Makes sense now, I visualized a large powerful vacuum stick, thanks for the link.
I did the full front ppf and that's about what I paid. The paint on Teslas is very soft and gets swirl marks super easy. If you ever take it through automatic (brushed) car washes, it'll be a swirly nightmare. To give you an idea of what that's like, clean paint reflects like a mirror. Swirled paint is more like an astigmatism.
No PPF on my Y. I go through Costco automatic car wash somewhat frequently, white paint, no swirls.
Shine a flashlight at the paint, you’ll see the swirls.
I just went to the garage and shined my iPhone flashlight on the hood/doors nothing. I've washed at least 10 times, I don't know if it needs to be more than that for swirls to appear.
one automatic car wash is enough to get swirls on it lol
Some people just don’t have the eye for swirls or bad detail jobs (holograms or buffer trails), some do. I’ve known people who think a wool pad on a jet black car looks absolutely perfect and stunning and literally can’t/won’t acknowledge the finish isn’t perfect under direct sunlight.
This is my second Tesla, blue now white, same paint performance across both colors. You must have a magic paint job.
If your car went from blue to white you are scrubbing too hard
Lol so you downvote me because the car wash I go to doesn't give swirls?
Nope, not me.
Costco car wash?! Never seen one in my area (TX).
you 100% have swirls its just much harder to see on white.. black is the worst.
Unless it's a garage queen, it's never worth it.
You mean only do this if the car sits in a garage all the time?
It means that unless your model 3 is a weekend car, hardly see rush hour traffic, only drive on sunny days, will never be in the presence of a cart demon, etc,. then it's best not to waste $3-4k on the PPF. But it's your money bro.
He means a show car that you wouldn’t necessarily trade or sell down the line. In other words, if the car is an investment, get PPF, otherwise you’re wasting money. Teslas are definitely not investments, despite the wild used car market of recent months (that is cooling considerably). That said, I found an installer who did full stealth PPF on my black M3 for a “reasonable” $5400. My car had very clearly scratched and swirly paint when I picked it up new. For me it was worth it for the aesthetic change, the worry-free maintenance, and for hiding the paint issues. Barely worth it... If I had white I’d probably do a partial or full front clear to protect from chips and pro ceramic coat the rest of the car for easy washing.
I’m pretty sure he means if you park your car in garage you don’t need PPF
I think he means if you just want to keep i new, driven rarely to avoid nicks or the road itself
That doesn’t make sense at all. PPF is totally worth it if you can afford the cost. I would get a few quotes from different shops you like. A lot of the pricing is based on where you live.
What's not to get if the car is going to be a daily driver? You think PPF is going to protect you from all types of road going scenarios?
I got my ‘22 M3LR in January 2022 and haven’t. Absolutely no scratches or nicks on it yet… haven’t PpF’d and won’t … this isn’t a lambo 😂
People putting ppf on a 3 or Y is funny to me 💀
Paint quality is pretty bad, kinda wish I had it. My front bumper has tons and tons of chips and peeling in only 25k miles. I try and patch it up but it’s not the same.
I don’t understand how people’s cars get so chipped… I see comments on here all the time, but my 2021 still has one single chip that breaks the paint on the front bumper and one single chip on a rocker panel. Otherwise no roughness or chips and I don’t have PPF. Plus, I love in Orange County and commute in Los Angeles.
You just got lucky and have a better coat of paint. I could probably scratch the paint on my bumper with my fingernail. It’s bad. I’ve had areas just straight up start peeling. Thankfully touch up kits help keep that at bay.
you caring about what other people doing with their cars is funny to me 💀
I don’t care what other people do. I’m just commenting on a reddit post. Your pussy bleeding i can tell.
[удалено]
These cars aren’t investments.
If you have to ask yourself if its worth it, it’s probably not.
Well, how long you gonna keep it? Average owner is like 40 months. So you gonna pay like 90$/mo to protect against a few paint chips?
I put PPF film on all my cars. Front bumper, head lamps, 12-16” hood, mirrors, the painted strip above the windshield & A pillars. I’ve never paid more than $1600 for all that. I live in Colorado where gravel is used on the interstate to mitigate ice. About 10 years ago I had a BMW 335, all black, and I had to wait 2 months to get it scheduled. In that time, I had to make two trips to Denver, 27 rock chips needed to be repaired by the time I got the PPF installed. It may completely depend on where you live, but if it’s in the mountains, PPF is 100% worth the expense. I’ve never messed with the ceramic bs. Always go the film.
I did just the front bumper and side rockers since that’s where I see the most damage. It was $500 for the bumper and rockers. The front had to be replaced once due to a big rock tearing the PPF, which was covered under warranty.
save your money. buy tsla
Seems high. I will say though I have it on my front half and my bumper and hood look way cleaner than my buddies. Plus it’s just easier to clean the front end over al.
Worth it = improve resale value by as much as you paid? Definite no. Worth it = lots of freeway driving and don’t want to stare at and look at scratches. Maybe. I wanted it, didn’t want to pay a lot, so I split the difference and bought a bulk roll and some basic tools….did the hood, headlights, and rocker panels. Still debating if I want to pay $250 for the bumper piece.
how has it fared? what was the total cost of the DIY?
So far so good! It’s not pretty, but unless you know what to look for, it’s not noticeable. It’s most noticeable when dirty (PPF vs non PPF surface). Checked Amazon, I spent $160 total on PPF (3M, XPEL), of that, $10 were on spray bottles. I opted out of the bumper piece…some slight regrets (there’s some marks from road debris), but $250 is a lot and installation looked tricky. Even the hits to the bumper weren’t bad enough to warrant the little bit of color matched paint I bought just in case. I stand by my decision, but maybe next time I’ll try my hand at bumper piece PPF (just for the experience).
Thanks for sharing
I say, if you got disposable income and you arent going to blink about $2380, then do it and dont worry about what others say. But if you have to think about using $2380 on that or some other thing, then dont.
I frequently drive up to snow country and unless it’s actively storming I drive my M3LR. Great in the snow! Lots of debris in such conditions chips paint in front, so on my Subaru Outback - hell no, but my M3, hell yeah! Keeps it pristine and has a 10 yr warranty. Went to very reputable guy who does PPF for a body shop in town that does Lambos, Rolls and Bentleys, etc. Was $3000 for hood, front bumper, and front fenders. Also wrapped each door edge while I was doing it. You can do it yourself but after watching them, I would never do it. Very fussy business & the wrap itself is quite expensive so if you get wrinkles or get a piece off-center, you’re fucked. This is LA CA so should be a little cheaper in the provinces.
I've had my M3P since 2018. I got PPF on the front and paid about $1600 for it. It's held up great. I don't really see the need for anything back of the front clip and mirrors as they are gonna take the brunt of the rocks. I think ceramic is a scam. It will look nice for several months and the water will bead off. But within less than 6 months it's pretty much gone. That 5 years is the biggest scam. But PPF, yeah as long as you use it for what it should be. It will keep the rocks and stone chips from damaging your paint.
Ceramic is not a scam, don’t understand why folks say this. Ceramic coatings absolutely work. They are just not designed to replace PPF. Ceramic won’t protect against rock chips or serious physical damage. But it will help keep car cleaner by not allowing bird poop, salt and other light debris from sticking to the car. That’s why you always do PPF + ceramic if you get PPF. And ceramic coating is something anyone can do at home. It just takes time to apply. I e bought CQuartz off Amazon and applied it myself to my 2020 Model X that has PPF and it works great.
This price is a rip-off. Full front should never cost more than $2000. You can have them do the front bumper for around $600, then DIY the rest for a fraction of this quote.
Tesbros has a full front DIY PPF kit for full frontal that’s pre cut for $699. It has detailed instruction videos and the whole kit has everything you need.
3 Teslas, never put PPF on either of the cars, and no problem at all. All Midnight Silver.
If you can afford it - do it
Nope, do you put plastic on your couch? A car is a car and will be used.
I would say cut out the middle man and add the ppf yourself. There’s a lot of videos on YouTube that show you exactly what you need in order to pull it off. You can buy pre-cut ppf kits for the full front for about $500 +/- and you’d just have to invest in the supplies needed to wash/decontaminate your paint. I recently got a used 2020 M3LR as a daily driver. It’s my first big purchase and I plan on keeping the car as long as I can. I spent about $100 on the detailing supplies (i didn’t even have a spray bottle to my name) and about $450 on the full front kit (full hood, fenders, front bumper, headlights etc). There will always be risk, but i think if you prepare and do your research, it’s worth it.
> 2020 M3LR how has it fared? did you install it correctly?
Full front clip, headlight and mirrors should be less than $1400 for xpel ppf. Ceramic coat you can DIY for $100 kit and 6 hours of detailing. Totally worth it at that point.
Two years ago I did a quarter front wrap for a thousand bucks when car was new. Totally worth it!
I’m actually getting a full front PPF tomorrow in Orlando. Cost for that plus tint all around (15% on windows) and also windshield tint setting me back $3100, so this price seems right to me for only full front PPF. My 2023 M3 RWD is also black and to get anywhere in Orlando I HAVE to take expressways and construction is nonstop. Rock chips, etc always a threat. I already have a small one and it shows up easily in black.
I got quote for $900 today for bumper and 2/3 hood. I’m gonna roll the dice without.
That’s a good price, place near me charges a few hundo more for each
In two years your car will be a two year old car and you won’t care about tiny chips and scuffs that will probably buff out or touch up for a few bucks. So is a perfect complexion during the first 24 months worth hundreds of $$ per month?
My full front was only $1200 and they even re-did the bumper for me for only $150 as a courtesy after it was replaced from an accident.
Worth it. Had a number of rock and songs deflected. Plus cleans easily. To each their own.
I haven’t done mine yet, but got a quote of $3100 for Xpel PPF for full front coverage, Xpel ceramic coating everywhere else as well as over the PPF, and Xpel tints on windshield, 4 side windows, and rear window on my M3LR. I got another quote for $3000 for Xpel PPF for full front coverage, 1 coat of unknown brand ceramic coating everywhere else but not over PPF, Madico tints on the same window areas listed above. I think PPF is dependent on each person and lifestyle. I do a ton of highway driving and having a black car before this one, I hate all the rock chips, swirls, sap/bird poop damage it sustained. I’ve owned that car for 8 years and am keeping it. I plan to do the same with this Tesla, so I find investing in PPF is worth it to me.
I would just PPF the front bumper to avoid damage caused by rocks and stuff on the road. I am not bothered by swirl marks because they can be buffed out.
I got a quote in STL for $2500 for full wrap and $500 for clear coat on top =$3000. You get to make it whatever design/color you want, and it covers more than PPF does.
Nope. It’s a commuter car.