Paint Protection Film

I would pass. Just keep it regularly washed, twice yearly waxed. Deal with chips as they come with touch up paint.

 

To apply the film, it'll cost $500+. To repaint a chipped hood, about $300

 

Definitely worth the investment...i have on 4 my car's and some are old over 4 years and have on signs of tear or wear.....stay out of auto cars wash..and don't use high pressure water gun near the edges....
Another car that i have is 2005 Ford Excursion with factory 3M plastic on paint...and still it is good like it was when new

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And if you order a packet that includes other things it is not very expensive for what you get

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Just a word of caution with the front bumper protection. I got this addition because this time of year in my location there are lots of stones on the highways. It looks great and I don't ever see it peeling off. The other day I was driving home on the highway and a small lump of ice blew off the semi ahead of me and landed on my hood right in the center of the protector. It created a small (but very noticeable to only me) ding in the hood. I took it to the dealer yesterday to get their dent and ding guys to look at it and they said that there was a good chance that they would damage the protector in the process of removing the ding -- and that it may then be more noticeable after the repair. I asked if they could remove the protector and they doubted it without damaging the paint (and repainting wouldn't be covered by the dealer). So now I have to live with the ding (it breaks my heart).
Obviously, for fuel efficiency, Toyota went with a very thin aluminum for the hood that will dent easily

 

You want a totally useless answer?
Read on.
On my 2010 Black Honda Fit, I had a clearbra put on. 3M product I believe. I think it did help protect against rock chips.
On my 2013 Prius...I looked around and the cost had gone up so much, that I passed. Going the touch up paint route, with the idea that at worse, I could decide to repaint my bumper/hood in 3-5 years if I thought in looked bad enough to need it.

Traded in My Prius last year, and I think the hood/front end looked fine.

So what does that tell you?

I do think paint protection..helps.
Is it absolutely necessary?
Might have more to do with your routine driving conditions and/or the color of your vehicle. I felt with Black, chips showed up much more visibly.
I really didn't notice or see any with my Sea Glass Pearl.
I also have opted to NOT go the paint protection route...at least thus far with my new Black Honda Fit. But if I start to notice a lot of chipping? I might change my mind. I'm going to let it show me how necessary or unnecessary it may be.

I have read, researched and the quality of the product you are installing is important. So if you decide to invest, do some research. My original product was 3M but that was nearly 7 years ago, so I suspect new products exist.

PS.
At least with my installation, the hood protection only went about 2/3rds of the way up the hood. Which I guess is normal. But it did leave a nearly invisible edge. But that edge WAS kind of burden to deal with when waxing the vehicle. You didn't want to get wax in or along that edge. Buffing it out so it didn't show was a real pain.

Also I once got some RODAN sized bird defecation on the clear bra, and it caused clouding. Which I had to take to a detailer to get buffed out. There was some type of chemical reaction between the Clearbra and...well the chemistry of the bird poop.

So there are some drawbacks to Clearbra or paint protection.

 

Ha, RODAN. Had not thought of that in years.

 

The first trip the car takes is across the state to Monmouth Beach to get shrink wrapped. It saved the rocker panel when I was side swiped. After 7+ years and 102000 miles there is some wear on a couple of edges, some damage from stones, and a tear from a license plate & frame. Definitely get the full hood, the top of the rear bumper cover, and the cups in the doors done.

It will take a pro at least a good part of a day to do the job depending on the weather. Some of the pieces can be a real PITA so I'm happy to pay the guy who knows what he's doing to apply it. The 2006 & the 2010 Prius were done here:

Armortec
6 River Ave
Monmouth Beach, NJ 07750

732-829-5014

"Reno" works out of his garage and is located about 2 blocks from the ocean. If you call, tell him Jim says "hi" and that you found him through priuschat.

 

My 2013 Prius had a lot of chips, primarily on the front bumper. Because of that I got the paint film on the Prime. Wonder if an aftermarket 3M film applied by a body shop is cheaper than the one from Toyota? Toyota's film doesn't protect the whole hood and you can see the edge of it on the hood.

 

What areas are you getting PPFed? The black areas in the nose? The fenders?
Front of the roof?
Are you getting the shop to separate the PPF covering the white bumper cover from the two rectangularish portal covers?
What is the purpose of those 2 portal covers in the front bumper cover?

 

It only covers the painted areas of the bumper and hood, not on the black or roof. The portal covers conceal tow/tie-down eyebolts, I think.

 

There's only one way to discover who is cheaper--ask. The guy doing the "film job" at the dealer could be that same "body shop guy" working as a subcontractor. His van or truck may be nondescript and probably parked in an empty bay out of site. He'll be wearing either a dealer or manufacturer branded shirt so he'll blend in with the dealer's employees.

I believe the outside shop will cover more of the car for a lower total cost. Reno (above) also covered the rocker panels and the door cups which you won't get from just using the patterns. He would have covered the top of the rear bumper cover but the car came with the applique. The headlights are covered. I don't know whether or not the film is responsible for keeping them clear.

The mirror backs have taken the most abuse. A license plate frame and screw have damaged the film on the front bumper.

There are different grades of film available. Ask the shop what they recommend and why.

 

The plastic caps covering the headlight washers and the hole for the eye bolt are not covered with film.

 

I have put it on 3 cars, 2 of them being Prius', which includes my recent Prime purchase.
My opinion:
Do not attempt yourself. A professional with experience is needed.
If you keep the car a long time it is worth the extra expense
If you sell the car after just a few years you will never recover your investment.
I like Xpel Ultimate since it can self heal minor damage (proven on my car) + 10 yr warranty
My independent installer is cheaper than the Toyota dealer and wraps around the edges where possible
Paid $525 for the complete front fascia, body colored painted piece in front of the hood, the first 11 inches of the hood, and the door mirrors. Door edges done for free.

 

Check the prices for the protection film at local shops vs. the price the dealership charges. Things like this are often huge mark up items for the dealership, and available elsewhere at a more fair price.

 

Thank you for everyone posting here, this forum is very good read

I've had the protection on my last 2 vehicles, the last one being my 2010 Prius, when trading it in the dealer was really impressed may have just been a snow job, with how well the car looked on the front end and where I had the protection applied. I am an aggressive driver, due to my commute most of its tollways or major highways with a lot of road debris which I know at the factor in getting chips. They were not planning on trading the car in/reselling it to another wholesaler they were planning to put it on their lot. He indicated likely they would just remove the film for the bottom edge showed some wear and tear that is closest to the road.

I'm bummed a little bit, I will have had the car 2 weeks, prior to being able to get the film applied to this one.

Without a doubt as posted above, have a professional do it, they should be doing it in a paint shop environment where there is very little dust.

The guy I go to has a plotter/cutter that literally cuts the material just before he applies it. He subscribes to a larger system that has all the patterns available.

 

Hi I just bought a 2018 Pruis IV and I'm in Illinois. Can you tell me where you got your wraps done? Sorry I'm not much of a car gal but really like to keep my car looking good and have done some work on my 2008 Pruis myself. I travel the state frequently so I'm thinking this might be worth looking into. thanks

 

Yeah I paid the $900 for the film on my 2018. The dealer's film installer did a pretty good job although there are some kinks in the film around the curved areas in the front "bumper" areas.

Keep in mind, the factory-installed paint protection film covers MUCH less surface area than if you had it done by the dealer's installer (YMMV).

I can testify to this as I purchased a 2017 Prime with the factory pre-installed paint protection film and it did NOT cover much of anything (i.e. a much smaller section of the hood was covered) and almost nothing in the front end was covered. Also smaller sections of the left and right side view mirrors were protected.

When I got my 2018 Prime (my 2017 had an unfortunate meeting with a large iron object on the freeway - but that's another story), it did not come with factory installed protection film so I decided in a moment of weakness to go with the dealer's installer to save time. The dealer's installer covered the entire front end and a much larger section of the hood and side view mirrors. There's some items that I want them to address, but will check with them when I take my car in for it's 1 year oil change.

Things to keep in mind - when you clay bar your Prime (you want to clay bar it first thing after you get it!!), make sure to go "with the grain" otherwise the clay gets gunked up at the edges of the protection film. I forgot a few times and it's kind of irritating to see the yellow clay at the edges of the film. Ah well - live and learn.

 

I bought the 3M pro film and put it on myself (with a friend who did 3 cars before). It was a royal pain, but worth it. It took roughly 12hrs of work for us with 24hrs of drying and occasionally smoothing out bubbles.

It's totally worth paying someone to put it on for you though. There are a lot of curves, especially the front bumper. That was a BEAST to do. The flat panels were ridiculously easy to do yourself.

After the install my friend said he's never helping anyone else put on PPF... lol.