The TRUTH About the REAL Cost of PPF 

can't believe we forgot that one, we will pin this comment, thanks

PPF taking a day is exactly the point we’re making, fully painting a car can take a week or more. The labor of a skilled painter is exponentially higher and more expensive than some Joe blow window tint installer who will be installing your PPF. The materials for painting a car cost exponentially more than PPF. The process is far more involved and laborious. So please tell me how PPF should cost anywhere near the same as a paint job? Because it’s done in 1 afternoon? Wouldn’t that mean that it’s relatively easy to do, and the labor costs should be extremely low? So how do we arrive at 6-10k, for 1 afternoon of work, when the materials are a few hundred dollars at most and probably less than that because a lot of the shops are retailers who get wholesale pricing on the film. I grew up around body shops, I know the process for painting a vehicle, it’s literally 1000x the work of PPF installation and the materials are more expensive. So how do you explain the prices being the same? Unless you’re being absolutely scammed. Somehow this industry has fleeced us all into thinking the pricing is normal, it’s not, when compared to virtually anything. I will give them credit PPF installation is maybe the most profitable business in the entire country, virtually 0 overhead, cheap materials, done in an afternoon, 2000-3000% profit on each installation. A couple hundred bucks turns into 9-10k, that might be the most profitable business in the United States, either that or it’s the biggest scam in the United States. Even if you considered the average joe blow tint installers time is worth more than a brain surgeon or rocket scientist, we’re still in the 1000%+ profit range. Just for example 7% is the average profit margin for a small business in the United States, 10% is considered sustainable, 20%-40% would be considered very good/ideal. Could you imagine any other industry with 1000%-3000% profit? The closest I can think of is pharmaceutical companies at 70%. Just for context PPF installation is 20x higher than the most profitable pharmaceutical companies in the world, an industry largely known for being greedy crooks. But hey, get your money I guess.

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

​@ChrisDavis333 wow that's makes alot of sense!!! Recently I was considering ppf for my c7 but not anymore thx alot plus I don't drive it that often

I'm at a toss up b/n either. I have a 14 981, 19k miles, that had hood and bumper resprayed and flawless. Like glass. Jet black. Bought and drove home 1300 miles. Rock chips everywhere. Had them touched up, then paint correction and decided ppf and ceramic. Touch ups didn't get knocked down enough, and ppf just enhanced where chips are. Should've left alone. Next porsche, old school wax every 6 weeks. Good enough

Thank you for taking on this burden so broke ass people lile me dont fall for getting something like this with my extremely limited money.

@@cmygamelife don’t do it brother. Edges look ugly after a while also.

What’s the name of the shop? Glad you found a great installer in Hawaii and hopefully you’ve left a review for him like this.

Thank you Doug!!

Very good point!

good to hear, we have 2 Porsche's getting full wraps this week!

Thanks fellow PPF goer

are you 100% up front about the need to hand wash before purchase, or is this something you make them seek out on their own? I find this to be the most scummy tatic of PPF companies and their history of warranty support in general is abysmal. . .

@SuperSuperPork this all makes sense now… sounds like you may have fibbed a little with a warranty claim 🥴

Thanks for watching

You're our kinda guy! 💪🏻💪🏻 Congrats

@@BlackoutTintingyour kind of sucker 😂

We often find people that don't value their vehicle don't value this product. All our customers get it. Most understand phone cases and screen protectors for cellphones though.

We think the coating after PPF makes the most sense. The trim plastic and glass need coated still anyway. And we think it provides the best performance, even if similar.

Always a mix of both. We’re constantly bulking hoods for complete coverage and getting in new body style vehicles before the patterns come out. When you know the install process it kinda just makes sense when to use what.

@@BlackoutTinting Thank you

check out xpel.com dealer locator, we're not too familiar with shops on the west coast

Take care of that car and congratulations

People spend money on a phone case without a 100% GUARANTEE that your phone will be safe. Maybe you don’t though, same is the case here, no pun intended.

🤣

Good to hear

That’s some sound logic. That’s our most popular package, Salim.

Thanks for watching, glad it helped

Maybe the cheap stuff or cheap paint jobs.

People get lots of rock chips in our area since we use a lot of rock salt in the winter. Check out our most recent PPF test video.

@@BlackoutTinting I live in Valdosta Georgia but travel to Florida frequently. Do see construction a lot. Highway being repaved.

Our roadways are not equal my friend.

I challenge you to get a quote from a "top tier shop" for a full resprsy for 7k and email it to me at josh@blackoutempire.com.

You don't have to spend 6k on a car to protect it, we always recommend the high impact areas

@@BlackoutTinting ....If I decided to just cover the high impact areas would I notice the difference between the covered and non-covered areas?

Nope. We hide most of the edges and the ones we can’t, you have to be inches away from the vehicle to know they are there.

@@BlackoutTinting ....I was confused then....thank you for the clarification!!! I'll now seriously consider this when new car time arrives. Rock chips are the bain of my car guy existence!

@@ferrynpalmer3875 You can also just try it out on the front bumper first and then add more later. But getting it on the high impact area early on is key.

Thank you

Wow! Where are you located?

The pressure is on!

We prefer graphtec at our shops!

XPEL recommend the Graphtec fc9000 and also are a distributor.

true, I think we've only raised our ppf prices once in the past 5 or 6 years

touch up and polish shops should be a thing then

Blackout Tinting Latrobe Blackout Tinting North Pittsburgh Blackout Tinting South Florida

We’re looking for new installers if you’re interested. Current schedule is booked out two months in the slow season 🥴

Get the person replying to comments working then.... getting work or not doesn't make you guys any less overpriced, but then again maybe you think salt Bae restaurant is totally worth it

Other than price is there anything else holding you back from getting your vehicle wrapped?

The PPF can take more of a beating than most people think. Especially because the thicker 10 mil film came out after this video was made. We just did a video on this. Three film is flexible enough that it doesn't even show most of the damage at all. It's incredible.

@@BlackoutTinting Saw the video, impressive. A couple thoughts. 30-40 mph tests are fine, but here in Florida everyone drives 70 + mph. You didn't spend much time showing the filmed side vs the bare paint side before removal. The quick view from a distance seemed to show the PPF side was a lot less damaged, but it was hard to tell. I'd have liked to see both up closer. The fact that the PPF protected the paint is great, but nobody is going to replace their PPF every month so it needs to look great without taking it off.

Agreed, the lighting conditions were a little challenging in the middle of the road there to show everything in good detail. The good news is, the film looked amazing other than the spots we did show, and this was an accelerated test technically in the terms of years of abuse

Please have your essay completed by 5pm on Friday if you want credit

Yeah! Cause it’s painted by women and dwarfs…😂

The importance of making this video grows almost daily on. Thanks for watching

We did a video demonstrating how PPF absorbs the rock impacts, even in extreme scenarios. We also don’t see that much PPF replacement, if we do it’s normally from a track car. You get more resale value from your car looking blemish free, but I think in the video we mention it would be selling to another party not a dealership.

I agree - shit is overrated. I am older so I have owned plenty of cars before ppf. If the cost is reasonable it may be worth it, but some shops are charging 7-10k for full ppf. Ridiculous! It's worth it for an exotic anything else. No.

We don’t charge that much, our most popular package is the full front end for $2100

@@BlackoutTinting how much for a 2023 c8 and a 2023 BMW M3

$2100 & $2100

Thanks. Really appreciate that and thanks for commenting.

We do a lot of front ends which is where most of the beating occurs. We’ve even protected Chevy Cruises. Our customers love their car just as much as one more expensive.

@@BlackoutTinting I’m concerned about seams. I was going to do typical full front, rockers and back bumper which protects back area from wheel debris. May just go full front which is basically 1/2 the price. Don’t like the patch look behind wheels as once the edges accumulate dirt they stand out like a sore thumb.

Your local shop should be able to put you at ease with all that

Don't you buy a $50 case to protect your $1,000 iPhone? lol

@@korswe actually I don’t. $15 case from Amazon is good enough. 😉

It's designed to take abuse

If you want to forget about waxing, go ceramic. If you want protection from physical damage go PPF.

Both. PPF on front of vehicle Ceramic everywhere else

You don't want to get paste waxes in the edges and don't take a buffer to it. Liquid wax or ceramic is more what it likes. Vinyl and PPF have different purposes - we have a video breakdown on those. If only doing the front end then overtime the back side might really show swirl marks and improper washing techniques - we also have videos regarding that. Our most popular package is front end ppf and ours has a 10 year warranty from XPEL. Check out reviews for your shop and ask to see their install work. Thanks for watching.

Definitely on the high end, we're closer to $5500 for that if you want to ship it over.

Thanks for watching, we obviously agree

@@BlackoutTinting More than 100% if that were possible. LOL

Our customers car payments are often a lot more than their mortgage. It is an investment. Thanks for partly watching.

@@BlackoutTinting And? Notwithstanding extreme outliers, the size of a debt payment toward a depreciating asset is mutually exclusive of being an investment.

Alright well have fun driving the wambulance

@@crvzer the simple fact cars get you to and from work or school or to the doctors makes it an asset to anyone. assets aren't only for monetary gain. and asset is something useful or of value to a particular persons life. that's not even counting if you are an enthusiast

@@Ominous.1 Whether or not an asset appreciates in value over time determines if it’s an investment. Notwithstanding extreme outliers, vehicles are not investments, which was the original suggestion. As that asset depreciates over time, as nearly all vehicles do, the value approaches zero in comparison to its original purchase price. So, while an asset may offer utility and convenience, if it does not appreciate in value, then it’s simply not an investment.

Thank you!!

Ok, no worries

We did a video on this showing this isn't normally the case, both in our testing and with our clientele. We rarely replace ppf because it is damaged in that way and when we do it is because of track use. There is also a 10 mil film now that is roughly 30% more protective than the previous 8 mil films. Definitely far from a main problem, we've seen only a few cases in the 5 years+ installing.

@@BlackoutTinting interesting, can you drop the link of that video? thanks in advance. another question: pre-cutted ppf can cause blackish dirty stuff on the edges?

@@jo0o0oke3e3er links don't work too well here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DihECFEwrA8.html but it was posted on our channel on March 9th 2023 and titled 'We Threw Rocks at a Rental Car After Protecting It' Edges can get dirty and show up on partial PPF kits and white cars if installers don't do a good job heating edges or if customers just never wash their cars that often.

Your mom has good taste

So what brings you to watch this video?

We have about 9 cars this week getting ppf in the one shop and I think only 2 of them are over 150k.. Our customers are more enthusiasts and the appearance of their vehicle is important to them.

My car is completely wrapped in PPF and I still do color change vinyl wrap over it. If done correctly, it shouldn't hurt it at all. The glue in PPF is usually much stronger than reg vinyl so it stays put when the vinyl is removed.

Our customers love keeping their vehicles looking good

And they have a lifetime warranty and offer free sharpening

XPEL

Our customers are definitely enthusiasts. They are just as proud of their car and want it looking as nice as the more expensive car owners do. I agree though, we don't put PPF on someone's car who thinks of it as point a to b. They might be fine with just the tint or the ceramic coating products we offer.

silentstormstudios I agree. This is not real-world for 99.999% of vehicle owners, including those with high-end SUVs. - I very recently asked 3 body shops how much to repaint my compact SUV. These are real body shops with known good reputations in this area. (Michigan) The range was between 6.5K to 10K. The one at 6.5K showed me a sizeable part of the cost is the cost of materials, and he showed me what the paints and clears themselves cost. - I am not convinced that hand washing the way people actually do it is better for the car's finish than a car wash. Hand washing reality is people will whet down the vehicle with a hose or not-to-high-pressure pressure washer. That gets rid of mud and that's about it. Next they use a sponge and soapy water, repeatedly dunk and clean the sponge in the soapy water bucket, rinse it off with a hose, and dry it with a chamois. Any other drying will be done with recycled bath towels and tee shirts. - Hand washing by people who take pride in their cars went out soon after car washes switched to wide felt strips that are being continually being washed themselves, where they wash a pre-whetted car, where it finishes being sprayed to cause the water to bead off, with the remainder touchlessly blown off with high-horsepower air dryers. IMHO, hand washing vs. the car wash is nor more than a tossup, if that. If the finish protection does not work in the car wash environment, it does not work for 99.999% of the people, not even people with expensive cars that take pride in keeping them looking nice. - The only place I can see something like this might be cost-effective would be for a clear bra...as long as it isn't crazy expensive. BTW, I'm looking at buying 2-year old immaculate vehicle that has amazing paint on it now, and thinking about what I should do to protect it in the beginning, because ever after it is going to be transportation and car washes.

Just Google it next time then 🤣

Probably got a nice Delmonico on there too 🤌

Thanks for watching

Consumerism will never become less at this point, it will only get bigger.

@@BlackoutTinting like I said I work in the industry and I know this. I keep all these thoughts to myself.

Thank you

Yes! I ran into that with a red camaro last year. Crazy money to repair!

4 grand paint job here would look silly billy

@@BlackoutTinting huh? Please explain?

@@teddym2808 Not much to explain. You can't paint a full vehicle here and it look half decent for 4 grand.

You might be somewhat limited to the shops around you. We have used a few in the past and XPEL is our favorite and one we use.

Skip the PPF and learn to do rock chip repair instead. PPF introduces a whole set of it's own issues that isn't worth the cost for most vehicles and use cases. There are exceptions, but PPF is overwhelmingly time and money poorly spent.

Our customers would like to prevent rock chips, not bandaid them. What brings you to the video?

That’s a good one!

💪💪 Thanks Doc