Have you ever paid more for a used car because it had PPF (paint protection film)?

[vbb]

I have a couple of high-end detailing shops in my area that are very active on social media. They are putting full body PPF (XPel, STEK or SunTek) on everything from exotics to 4Runners and seem to have a never-ending supply of customers. I remember having one of those front end pre-cut 3M clear bra deals installed on a car over 10 years ago, but since then this market has really evolved. The custom, full body installs are upwards of $5K, and some of them are nearing $10K when you account for paint correction and interior coatings. I am not doubting the results at all, but I'm wondering if the secondary buyers are paying more for cars where this has been done?

When I shop for a car, of course the paint condition is important. That said, I don't think I would ever pay much more for a car specifically because it had a full body PPF job done, unless maybe it was just installed and still perfect. Maybe I'm in the minority though. I know the installers always tout how much their work helps with resale, but I'm not sure.

[generalZee]

It depends on the buyer. I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to cars so PPF is a big plus. I am actually in the market for a low mile M2C currently and can say I would pay more for one that has it. For internet sales, it helps too. As a buyer, I am less worried about the paint condition of a car I cannot inspect up close that has PPF. So, I am more willing to buy sight unseen.

[ASAP]

I've owned M cars... non m cars, all types of brands... and I really one of those people that thinks PPF is completely not worth the $ they are charging these days... it's cheaper to repaint a whole car lol.

[tdott]

It factors into the overall condition of the car.

[pikkagtr]

PPF keeps the front end newer for a longer period of time
OCD people will appreciate a daily driven car with zero rock chips
Even a single rock chip in a conspicuous place on a bright color car could be used to negotiate down
So you'd not likely pay more persay, maybe you'd pay asking price as it's in pristine condition
But you'd likely ask for a discount if it had 5 rock chips

[Redd]

Give PPF the same consideration you would give to paint. If the PPF is well looked after and in good condition - AND it is something you intend to do anyway - it is OK to give it a premium.

On the flip side, PPF will wear over time. Depending on the quality/price of the PPF, it may introduce orange peel texturing to the paint. Precut PPF installs are prone to get dirty and peel at the edges. All PPF will yellow over time. PPF, when damaged (eg cuts, nicks, deep scratches) cannot be as easily fixed as paint clearcoat. You cannot do spot touchups on PPF like you can with paint. Lastly, there is always the risk of PPF pulling off the clearcoat when removed (even by experts), and labor to properly remove PPF is not cheap.

So take all that into consideration before you decide to pay a premium for PPF or not.

[FC4]

Absolutely not. I wouldn't even consider a PPF'd car as it's an automatic deal-breaker. It's one of the easiest ways to ruin a car...if it survives the 19 year-old disassembling and reassembling the entire car without breaking anything, you're left praying that the paint doesn't peel off with the PPF when it's time to remove it.

You guys ever wonder why there is such wide gap in F40 market prices and more and more of them are wrapped and/or repainted?

[chad86tsi]

I bought my BMW used last spring. While shopping I looked at 2 M5's in person, one had PPF, the other didn't. They had similar miles. I'm quite particular and had a very specific list so most cars didn't even make the cut to get looked at. the 2 M5's met the list of expectations, but one was out of contention immediately once I saw it in person; the one without the PPF. The rock chips were just a disaster on that front end given the low miles. It needed to be repaired at that price point. I didn't even ask to drive it.

I did look for that feature in listings, and few had it. I'd not assign a lot of financial value to it, but it will make a huge difference in how it presents to a buyer. That may or may not translate into actual value returned to the seller. My opinion, it will make the car show much better, but may only return ~25% of cost.

[dgoldenz]

Good selling point? Yes. Pay more for a car with it? No.

[whyzee125]

Almost everything is a scam these days. Ceramic and PPF really aren't all that, they're just heavily pushed on social media and they use a ton of the same buzzwords. Don't get me wrong, I've considered getting the front of my hood and possibly my bumper PPF'd, but they charge more than a full paint job oftentimes to do the whole car and you're left with a surface that will still age and have to be removed and/or replaced at sometime. Same thing with ceramic which is more overhyped than PPF IMO.

No, I wouldn't pay more for one with PPF but sure PPF in good shape beats rock chips. Factory paint is honestly usually really robust and doesn't seem to get many chips in a normal non-abused life unless it lives in the salt belt.

[Drop the hammer]

I just bought another 2018 m2, with 8000kms on it and full xpel stealth wrap and m performance exhaust, +oem bmw winter wheel up. Car Looks great! Alpine white with stealth. Basically car shows better than new. Didn’t pay any more than a used unwrapped car. So I’d say they did not get any premium at all. $67k cdn. The wrap was probably 6k to do.

[vbb]

Originally Posted by Drop the hammer

I just bought another 2018 m2, with 8000kms on it and full xpel stealth wrap and m performance exhaust, +oem bmw winter wheel up. Car Looks great! Alpine white with stealth. Basically car shows better than new. Didn’t pay any more than a used unwrapped car. So I’d say they did not get any premium at all. $67k cdn. The wrap was probably 6k to do.

I know this is just one story, but this is exactly my theory. The used car market is primarily driven by model year, mileage and condition. Many of the expensive factory options tend to not see a big return, and aftermarket modifications often see no return at all or even a loss. The PPF installers routinely sell their customers on the notion that cars with PPF will get more money than cars without when it comes time to sell, but I don't know how true that is.

In your case, I would imagine the price of that 2018 M2 with 8kms would have been the exact same if it had no PPF but the paint was still in great shape with minor defects. Of course if a car looks like it has been sandblasted with rock chips and scratches then yes, that's going to be less... but I think a car that had a previous owner that took care of the car, but had a small chip here or small scratch there would essentially have been the same price. So that approximately $5K-$6K PPF job would have done nothing on the resale market. I think this is even more pronounced when it comes to trade value. A dealership isn't likely to give you anything extra, so your best hope is to sell private party to an owner that really appreciates it, or who was going to do that install himself and even then you'd be lucky to recoup 25% of the install value over what the car would have sold for anyway.

I think the PPF installers are fantastic marketers.

[chad86tsi]

Originally Posted by vbb

I know this is just one story, but this is exactly my theory. The used car market is primarily driven by model year, mileage and condition. Many of the expensive factory options tend to not see a big return, and aftermarket modifications often see no return at all or even a loss. The PPF installers routinely sell their customers on the notion that cars with PPF will get more money than cars without when it comes time to sell, but I don't know how true that is.

In your case, I would imagine the price of that 2018 M2 with 8kms would have been the exact same if it had no PPF but the paint was still in great shape with minor defects. Of course if a car looks like it has been sandblasted with rock chips and scratches then yes, that's going to be less... but I think a car that had a previous owner that took care of the car, but had a small chip here or small scratch there would essentially have been the same price. So that approximately $5K-$6K PPF job would have done nothing on the resale market. I think this is even more pronounced when it comes to trade value. A dealership isn't likely to give you anything extra, so your best hope is to sell private party to an owner that really appreciates it, or who was going to do that install himself and even then you'd be lucky to recoup 25% of the install value over what the car would have sold for anyway.

I think the PPF installers are fantastic marketers.

Yes, think of the dealers end of taking a trade in.

Say Person A brings in a car in perfect condition (due to PPF), and the offered trade-in is $50K. You paid $5000 for that PPF shortly after you got it.

Person B brings in an identical make/model/mileage car with moderate rock chipping, enough to need either a front end re-spray or extensive chip filling and blending. Say the dealer cost will be $1K for this. A dealer may work your value down to $48K "due to paint condition" (they will want to make $1K profit on this repair).

Person B comes out $3k ahead on condition vs upgrade costs. THey only way Person A can break even with Person B is if they can get a dealer to give them an extra $3k for that PPF. It's unlikely they will get that much, the PPF itself will be "used" at that point (depreciated and have it's own damage).


I think PPF is for people that want to keep their cars a long time, or exotics where original paint may increase future value. Or people that have extra money and hate wear/tear on a car, but those tend to trade early anyway.

PPF does a good job, but I question the financial value.

[John4C]

I wrote this in one of the FB groups a while back and I think it holds up (on if PPF is worth it)…


“I actually think it matters more if you want to sell the car soon. An example:

Scenario A: If you keep the car 10 years and do full PPF you’ll need to replace the full PPF at least once (and probably be creeping up on the third time) so you’re paying 5-7k twice, call it ~12k+ to protect the original paint. This completely ignores the small, but non-zero, probability the paint is damaged when you remove the PPF, which made the whole exercise worthless.

Scenario B: If you lived with any rock chips, had them touched up by a quality detailer, etc and then resprayed the front bumper (~1k, maybe 2-3k max if there are other chips and you go to a top place and count a few chip fixes in between).

So when you go to sell it, will the PPF, which will be close to needing to be replaced, make the car worth 9k+ more than the same car with an off Carfax, high-end bumper respray that you disclose to a new buyer? Absolutely not. On a car beyond a few years a rock chip respray is really not a big deal. That’s my only point. It’s definitely the trend to get full PPF (and people are happy to sell it to you) but I sometimes struggle to understand how it’s worth it or needed.“


So I tend to agree with the sentiment in this thread. It really has no positive impact to resale IMHO (contemplating the cost to do it). If you do put PPF, you should go in appreciating that you’re doing it for yourself not for resale. I’ve had a full PPF car and it was great because I never worried about swirls, etc but idk if that was worth the 6k I paid. I did sell that car and IMHO I sold it for the same price I would've got with no PPF.

[///MPhatic]

Yes, my Lotus had port-installed Starshield (an old 3M product). I bought the car used with 9,400 miles on it and paid extra for the factory PPF.

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by John4C

So I tend to agree with the sentiment in this thread. It really has no positive impact to resale IMHO (contemplating the cost to do it). If you do put PPF, you should go in appreciating that you’re doing it for yourself not for resale. I’ve had a full PPF car and it was great because I never worried about swirls, etc but idk if that was worth the 6k I paid. I did sell that car and IMHO I sold it for the same price I would've got with no PPF.

This. I've done PPF to the full front clip on basically every car I've owned in the past say 10 years (12ish cars I believe). I've always done it for me and only me. I hate rock chips, I hate what the northern climate winters do to the front end of cars, and I'm generally just less anxious driving my cars with PPF than without it. Much like ceramic coating, I'm under no false impression that it will somehow garner me more money when I resell the car (especially since I turn over cars like underwear). It's a losing financial proposition for me, but one that I'm willing to deal with and absorb for what it does for me during my ownership of the vehicle.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

I'm under no false impression that it will somehow garner me more money when I resell the car (especially since I turn over cars like underwear). It's a losing financial proposition for me, but one that I'm willing to deal with and absorb for what it does for me during my ownership of the vehicle.

In Missouri it's possible to 100% of the time recoup some of your PPF investment because the bugs are so bad in the Summer that every vehicle without it has a severe number of chips after just 2 years of ownership. Simply removing the film with hot water reveals the perfection underneath and will get you more in the sale or trade, every time.

And with a car like the M2 that has wide sticky tires and no mud guards, it's almost a necessity.

This is my driver's side rocker after just 15K miles.

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

In Missouri it's possible to 100% of the time recoup some of your PPF investment because the bugs are so bad in the Summer that every vehicle without it has a severe number of chips after just 2 years of ownership. Simply removing the film with hot water reveals the perfection underneath and will get you more in the sale or trade, every time.

And with a car like the M2 that has wide sticky tires and no mud guards, it's almost a necessity.

This is my driver's side rocker after just 15K miles.

Right, but like was mentioned earlier, are you going to recoup the full cost that you paid? Look I get PPF as well on all my cars and I see the benefit, but I don't do it thinking about resale value. If by some chance someone wants to pay me more because it has it applied (or I remove it and the bumper is in perfect condition) I'd be very happy but again that's not why I made the investment.

[diablo2112]

No. I'd never pay more and for a higher-end vehicle with PPF, I'd insist on a proper inspection to insure all parts are properly installed.

Think of it this way: would you pay more or less to buy a vehicle partially disassembled by a third party, often someone not trained on your particular vehicle and incentivized to do the job as quickly as possible (via a fixed-price contract)? Answer is obvious. No thanks.

[Donatello.]

I'd pay a few extra bucks, but not a bunch more. Wish I did PPF on my Hellcat.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

Right, but like was mentioned earlier, are you going to recoup the full cost that you paid?

I'd say it depends. I got a great deal and got track pack PPF on my M2 for $2100. The car is immaculate, and will stay that way because of the PPF. I might not get it all back, but I'll get a lot, and sell the car quicker because again, of the condition.

I buy right so I don't have to worry about it. I've heard this same argument about my FI-R's, but I bought them so right that I can use the tires completely and still get all my money back.

I guess it helps having photography as a pet. If and when it comes time to sell, I'll get it all, or damn near it, bet.

G What? (Explore) by Andrew Thompson, on Flickr

[dreamingat30fps]

No. I buy cars to drive them. All my cars have some rock chips or dings or what not. Might as well buy the car with the rock chips pre-installed. That way I avoid the heart ache of having a rock chip on a pristine car.

I don't apply any to my cars either regardless if I buy new or used. I do apply some ceramic coating myself to all of them. I don't think it does anything as far as protection, but it does make water bead like a mofo and that makes washing and blow drying way easier.

Also it depends how you plan to sell the car. If it's a rare car and you are selling it yourself to an enthusiast then maybe. If you are selling to carmax, carvana, vroom etc which is what most people do then I highly doubt they give 2 shits about ppf.