Is Color PPF Worth the Hype?
by Scott Sowers
The window film community is currently wrestling with questions about the cost, installation difficulty and practicality of color paint protection film (PPF).
Emerging technologies and shifting perceptions are taking color PPF into a world where changing a customer’s vehicle color is the main selling point.
“They’re either not happy with the color that they purchased, or that’s the only color the dealer had of that particular model,” says Chris Brooks, vice president of Kauff’s Tint and Wraps based in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Back in Black
Brooks says many of his customers over the last 10 years have known they’re going to have a car wrapped before even buying it.
“They ask me what color car is the best foundation for a wrap,” says Brooks. “I always tell them to buy black.”
Brooks says starting with a black base simplifies problems with PPF tearing around door jambs and revealing the paint underneath.
“Black goes with everything so that the color contrast won’t be as noticeable,” he says.
Color PPF is not new, but many manufacturers and installers note its popularity is spiraling upward despite any expense or installation challenges.
Brooks can attest to this. The 56-year-old entered the film industry by tinting car windows while still in high school. He branched out into residential work in the late 1990s before adding PPF in 2005.
“A customer asked for help putting a clear PPF kit from 3M on a Hummer H2,” Brooks says. “[The car] was square in the front with big flat panels, which made it relatively easy to wrap. Still, it took me probably 10 times the time I spend installing PPF now.”
Now, Brooks is an expert in all kinds of PPF. He says one memorable color PPF job involved turning the stainless-steel panels on a Cybertruck into metallic orange.
Color PPF doesn’t belong only on dry land, according to Brooks. He’s used it to transform boats, too.
“Kauff’s has turned a red boat blue and a white boat shadow gray,” he says.
Brand Options
Brooks is a long-time LLumar dealer, but says he often uses 3M products for marine work.
“There are probably 20 to 30 different brands now, though only 10 of those are prominent,” says Michael Honn, STEK USA business development manager. The Woodinville, Washington-based company offers a variety of PPF, window tint and windshield protection film products.
“A ton of new brands that most people have never heard of show up at trade shows every year, but there are actually only six to 10 color PPF manufacturers in the world,” says Honn. “All the other brands are just private-labeled.”
No matter what the label says, industry sources say color PPF offers the same advantages as clear PPF. Scratches disappear when heat is applied, and the material is hydrophobic, meaning water runs off before it has a chance to stain the paint.
Counting the Cost
Color PPF does have its challenges, and expense is one of the biggest. Brooks worked with a customer who planned to add clear PPF to the front of a metallic black Cadillac Escalade. A detailer worked on the vehicle and then delivered it to Brooks the night before the PPF was scheduled.
“I walked in the next morning and saw about a thousand scratches all over the vehicle,” he says, explaining that the dealer couldn’t fix the scratches without repainting the whole vehicle. The customer wasn’t exactly happy with the situation, Brooks says.
“We were scheduled to do PPF on the front and keep it gloss black,” said Brooks. “The customer hadn’t planned to spend more than $3,000 to wrap the front end. I quoted him $10,000 to wrap the entire Escalade. Luckily for the customer, the dealer picked up $7,000 of the $10,000 because they didn’t want to spend $20,000 to repaint.”
PPF jobs ringing in at multiple thousands of dollars is the rule, not the exception. Brooks says his average price to apply PPF to an entire car can be five figures, depending on the size. Even though financing might seem like a given at those prices, Brooks says his customers typically pay out of pocket.
Still, those eye-popping costs contribute to the discussion about whether color PPF is worth it.
“It’s even more expensive than clear PPF,” says Honn. “Color PPF is out of budget for a lot of people. It’s meant for people with multiple cars who have disposable income to invest.”
No Mistakes
Wrapping a car in a clear film leaves a little wiggle room for errors when lining up panels, cutting around headlights or properly covering a side mirror assembly, says Jeremiah Bienko, owner of SICKWRAP in Tampa, Florida. Color PPF isn’t as forgiving. Doing a total vehicle color wrap requires a high degree of skill as you are working with an expensive material.
“There’s only a small percentage of installers doing that kind of high-end PPF work with a lot of seams and without a lot of breaks,” Bienko says. “Even they still have areas on the car where they have to cut the film short.”
Bienko made his bones in the business first by working at a car wash and then a detailer before becoming an independent tint and film installer. He’s seen the industry change and thinks it still has a way to go.
“There’s a big warning that needs to be given out to installers here,” says Bienko. “They need to be careful. The clear PPF industry has been around for more than 20 years, and a lot of people are still having issues with partially wrapped mirrors, spaces, inlays and relief cuts in the bumpers.”
Honn considers clear film his company’s bread-and-butter product, while the colored market is still getting up to speed.
“It comes down to the installer,” says Honn. “Some shops are not going to be able to do a good job, and they’re going to get eaten alive. They’re going to get customers demanding refunds. It can very quickly spiral downward.”
It’s a time-consuming process, even for an experienced color PPF installer like Brooks. He says an automotive color PPF installation starts with removing window trim, mirrors, door handles, taillights, headlights and onboard cameras. Once the film is on, all the accessories must be reinstalled. Brooks says this process can take days.
Honn suggests that emerging installers practice on their own cars before advancing to paying customers. STEK offers a basic training course on applying clear PPF, and it also partners with AeroWerks, a Los Angeles-based performance shop that offers more advanced color PPF training courses.
Honn is aware that many industry skeptics doubt the quality of color PPF.
“We’ve always been tailored toward the high-end demographic,” says Honn. “We work really hard to make a high-quality product. If you’re dealing with a lesser-known brand, there’s always a learning curve.”
Talking Body
Film typically comes on rolls 60 inches wide and 75 feet long, which can sell for up to $2,600. Some manufacturers also offer shorter rolls.
Although color PPF doesn’t appear poised to put a dent in the body shop’s paint booths, collision repairs on vehicles with film installed often end up taking a detour.
“I’ve heard stories from body shops where they didn’t even realize PPF was on the car,” says Honn.
Once they do realize the car has film, the body shop often defers taking it off.
“They never want to remove it,” says Brooks. “Those customers come to me, and I pull the PPF off for them. If you go to a body shop, they start yanking at the film, which leaves all the glue behind. At Kauff’s, we can remove it with a steamer or out in the sun, which lets us pull it slowly enough to get the material off without leaving the glue.”
Market Growth
Despite the challenges and the high entry cost, the PPF business is growing.
According to data from the Fortune Business Insights Report, “The U.S. paint protection film market size was worth $79.6 million in 2022 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.4% during the forecast period. Increasing demand from the rapidly growing automotive and electronics industry is anticipated to drive the U.S. paint protection film market growth.”
The report also cites strong growth in the marine segment of the industry, something Brooks already knows. “There’s so much work out there that we need new installers,” he said. “We do 35 to 40 Viking yachts a year.”
As demand grows, so does the need for skilled installers. Shops that can handle installation and removal correctly are better positioned to take on that work. According to industry sources, color PPF’s future will depend as much on installer expertise as the product itself.
Scott Sowers is a contributing writer for PPFMag.
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