detail process sequence

[yello430]

72224Question for Mike and anyone with experience.

Am taking delivery of a new car with a 3 Layer Pearl paint job. Am going to have Ex-pel film applied to the vehicle. My paint guru suggested wrapping the car first, then doing any paint correction. While I trust his judgement, intuitively it makes more sense to paint correct first, THEN do the wrap. He said today's films hide the slight imperfections and that he could do any necessary corrections AFTER the film was applied. My past experience was to do all the paint correction, then add the film.

What do the experts recommend? Thank you!

[Bruno Soares]

Definitely correct first then wrap. The PPF does hide a lot of defects but you can’t correct the ones it didn’t hide after installing the PPF. That advice you got makes no sense.

[yello430]

Definitely correct first then wrap. The PPF does hide a lot of defects but you can’t correct the ones it didn’t hide after installing the PPF. That advice you got makes no sense.

Well, that's kinda what I thought as ell.
Thanks.

[richhinz]

Definitely correct first then wrap. The PPF does hide a lot of defects but you can’t correct the ones it didn’t hide after installing the PPF. That advice you got makes no sense.
I'm not an expert but let's say there is small scratches in paint. How can you get those out after the PPF is installed. I think I might be looking for different PPF installer. But that is me.

[yello430]

I'm not an expert but let's say there is small scratches in paint. How can you get those out after the PPF is installed. I think I might be looking for different PPF installer. But that is me.

Actually, the wrap installers DID recommend doing the paint correction first, then the wrap.
The paint correction guy suggested doing the wrap first. And believe me, this guy is great, he's done cars for me before.

[joebruin77]

Definitely do the paint correction first, then apply the PPF. I did a whole-car PPF with Xpel 2 days after taking delivery of my car when it was new. The PPF installer told me that I only needed to wash the car because the adhesive used to bind the PPF to the paint would hide any minor scratches and swirls. I would say this was true for about 85% of the swirls, but in direct sunlight you can still see some swirl marks. I wish I had followed my gut and had done at least a machine polish before having the PPF applied.

Also, IMO, you want to minimize any kind of polishing you have to do to PPF. It takes a lot of skill to polish PPF, as it is very easy to make mistakes and ruin the very expensive PPF.

Bottom line, IMO, your paint correction guy is absolutely wrong. Correct and polish the paint first, then do the PPF.

[yello430]

Definitely do the paint correction first, then apply the PPF. I did a whole-car PPF with Xpel 2 days after taking delivery of my car when it was new. The PPF installer told me that I only needed to wash the car because the adhesive used to bind the PPF to the paint would hide any minor scratches and swirls. I would say this was true for about 85% of the swirls, but in direct sunlight you can still see some swirl marks. I wish I had followed my gut and had done at least a machine polish before having the PPF applied.

Also, IMO, you want to minimize any kind of polishing you have to do to PPF. It takes a lot of skill to polish PPF, as it is very easy to make mistakes and ruin the very expensive PPF.

Bottom line, IMO, your paint correction guy is absolutely wrong. Correct and polish the paint first, then do the PPF.

Thanks, confirms my thoughts.

[98CayenneTA]

Do the correction first but don't add protection until after the PPF.

[Billy Baldone]

Ok, let me chime in with this perspective. In most cases when I have seen PPF applied before any correction was performed, It has been in my experience very difficult to see defects under it. If I have a customer come to me for a coating and the whole front clip is wrapped, I charge accordingly for not having to polish that area. I see both sides of it

[joebruin77]

Ok, let me chime in with this perspective. In most cases when I have seen PPF applied before any correction was performed, It has been in my experience very difficult to see defects under it. If I have a customer come to me for a coating and the whole front clip is wrapped, I charge accordingly for not having to polish that area. I see both sides of it

I understand that PPF is supposed to hide most minor defects. But I think it is important for vendors who install PPF to give very accurate information about what the customer can expect. In my case, prior to installation, my vendor said that the PPF would hide all minor scratches and swirls and that there was no need for any polishing. If he had said that the PPF would hide 85% of the minor defects, then I could have made an informed decision as to whether 85% was acceptable to me or if I wanted to either do a machine polish myself or pay him to do it. But saying that PPF will hide all defects (i.e. 100%) and that there was no need at all for polishing was, IMO, an overstatement and misrepresentation.

My previous car was a 2016 WRX in World Rally Blue. I loved that car, but it had a lot of scratches and swirls. So one of the reasons I was willing to pay for a whole-car PPF on my next car was that my car would be swirl free for years to come. This was an overstatement about the filling capabilities of PPF, IMO.