Layering Protection
By Chris DiMinico
There are many benefits from combining paint protection film (PPF) and ceramic coatings. Ceramic coatings have been around for a couple of years now and have really been gaining popularity in replacing products such as waxes and sealants.
Coatings typically are made of silicon dioxide or silicon carbide, giving them many characteristics, including low density and high strength, oxidation resistance (no chemical reactions to environmental elements), high hardness and wear resistance, excellent chemical resistance, hydrophobic (it doesn’t interact with water, which results in high water sheeting properties), low thermal expansion, increased glass, sacrificial exterior surface and ease of maintenance.
These are all positive characteristics to protect the painted surface of your vehicle’s clear coat and/or PPF, both of which are urethanes. In addition, it gives you the ability to up-sell ceramic coatings on the rims, calipers, glass and all interior surfaces.
PPF is an ultra-durable, non-yellowing thermoplastic film (urethane) coated with an ultraviolet (UV) stable pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) that is virtually invisible when applied on the vehicle’s surface. The material was originally used by the U.S. military to protect carbon fiber helicopter blades from debris that is stirred up during the landing process.
Wrapping the entire vehicle with PPF can be very expensive, costing upwards of $6,000; however, this is by far the best way to protect a vehicle’s paint from environmental contaminants and other road debris. By combining PPF with ceramic coatings, you’re able to achieve the ultimate protection for your vehicle at a reduced price point, yielding chip resistance, enhanced environmental protection, increased gloss and ease of vehicle maintenance.
“Layer protection” by installing a full-front-end PPF kit and rockers, which protects the full hood, full fenders, side view mirrors, front bumper, splitter and headlights. Then layer an application of a ceramic coating on all of the vehicle’s painted surfaces, as well as all of the ones with PPF. This will give the consumer the rock chip protection they desire on the front while combining the added protection of the ceramic coating on the rest of the vehicle.
Layering protection will give your customers a dynamic appearance that will last, while also decreasing the time and effort required to maintain the vehicle.
Chris Diminico is the president of AutoNuvo in Holliston, Mass.
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