6G Paint Questions - Durability? Ceramic Coat or PPF?

[CO/ZA]

All of the Japanese brands use cheap paint, Lexus may be the only exception.

German cars have the best paint overall, with American brands somewhere in the middle.

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[npats]

Ceramic = Help with scratches lasts 1-3 years realistically depending on the coating and how you wash and maintain the car

PPF= Will help with Paint scratches and chips. Lasts about 10 years and some of the PPF are self healing in the heat which will remove scratches occurred to the ppf.

 

[AZ Flag Steve]

Ice cap here… it’s an AZ car! PPF dock installed on front end. First thing I did day after it came home was diy paint correction and diy ceramic coat. Been doing waterless washes once a week unless it has rained or snowed then a hand wash only. You could say I’m a bit retentive regarding pride in ownership and my vehicles. I live in northern az where the city and county spread cinders on the roads in winter so the real test is coming! Happy with paint otherwise.

 

[NWRes]

Currently Everest is my top choice, but test drove a '25 Ice Cap and the storm trooper look was really vibing for me. Underground is also in the mix.

Subaru has notoriously soft paint and Texas roads are terrible for rock chips. I got my Outback ceramic coated at a local place for $2000 when I got it and it has held up well. I know ceramic isn't stopping rock chips, would need PPF, but the paint still looks great.

Question, how are your Everest and Ice Caps holding up? Did y'all do any ceramic or PPF. Or do we just not care because these are off road vehicles.

Currently Everest is my top choice, but test drove a '25 Ice Cap and the storm trooper look was really vibing for me. Underground is also in the mix.

Subaru has notoriously soft paint and Texas roads are terrible for rock chips. I got my Outback ceramic coated at a local place for $2000 when I got it and it has held up well. I know ceramic isn't stopping rock chips, would need PPF, but the paint still looks great.

Question, how are your Everest and Ice Caps holding up? Did y'all do any ceramic or PPF. Or do we just not care because these are off road vehicles.

Currently Everest is my top choice, but test drove a '25 Ice Cap and the storm trooper look was really vibing for me. Underground is also in the mix.

Subaru has notoriously soft paint and Texas roads are terrible for rock chips. I got my Outback ceramic coated at a local place for $2000 when I got it and it has held up well. I know ceramic isn't stopping rock chips, would need PPF, but the paint still looks great.

Question, how are your Everest and Ice Caps holding up? Did y'all do any ceramic or PPF. Or do we just not care because these are off road vehicles.

Not sure why I have not had any problems with anything about our ride as others have. I realize that folks forgo the Zurich coating that Toyota pushes but I had it done anyway on our Cutting Edge finish just to try it before taking delivery back in March plus both upper and lower PPF. After 11,000 miles, several trips through a standard brush car wash ( I am careful about which car wash I use) plus hand washes I have yet to find a blemish in the finish. Only chip is in the windshield. And at this time of year with the cold, snow and rain I won't be doing any hand washes for a few months. And after a trip through a car wash last week I wiped it down with Meguiar's Quick Wax. Looks great. Not my first rodeo with this stuff. I have a show car that will never see the inside of a car wash and a 2004 lifted Chev 2500HD I purchased new that still looks good after 230,000 miles, lots of mud, dirt and rocks. I sold our 2003 Sequoia and bought this new ride. If there is anything I have learned its take good care of the vehicle and it will take care of you for a long time.

 

[Joestac]

NOTE OF ADVICE : never run one of these through a carwash unless you want swirls everywhere.

After reading more of the comments it confirmed my theory. I implored the dealer to leave the truck as it came off the ship. "Are you sure? we only hand wash them" they said... I did not want to risk it..... The abided by it and so far I only hand washed it a few times and once it's dry, it looks spotless (so far with a collection of other scratches I made..)
No swirls anywhere.

Yeah. I spent $2000 ceramic coating my OBW and only hand wash. The paint on this vehicle has held up better than my WRX, which is nice. I try like heck to avoid auto-washes. When I drove my WRX from TX to NY it was unavoidable since I didn't want that salt sitting on my car.

 

[Joestac]

Ice cap here… it’s an AZ car! PPF dock installed on front end. First thing I did day after it came home was diy paint correction and diy ceramic coat. Been doing waterless washes once a week unless it has rained or snowed then a hand wash only. You could say I’m a bit retentive regarding pride in ownership and my vehicles. I live in northern az where the city and county spread cinders on the roads in winter so the real test is coming! Happy with paint otherwise.

I am with you. I used to spent 3 hours hand washing and detailing my WRX. Hard to find that time these days, which is why I was curious how Toyota paint was compared to Subaru.

 

[Joestac]

This is disappointing to hear as a prospective owner. My 2012 Wrangler which has been through all sorts of conditions literally has only three paint chips. The paint on that thing seems to be an inch thick!
Of course I have issues that had nothing to do with paint, but at least they got the paint part right!

Yeah, paint is an odd one. I had a 2015 Ford Edge that I drove on these roads for 5 years and went through auto-washes. The paint looked better on that vehicle than my Subaru did after 6 months. Filled with paint chips. Reddit/Forums were filled with people who hate Subaru paint for this reason.

 

[theapoco01]

I did not do any paint protection on my ORP. I had BlueRunner 1 for 18 years and now plan to keep BlueRunner 2 for probably 12 to 15. Dings, dents and scratches are just going to happen. The $5K I would have spend on PPF/CC will appreciate to $15-$25K in 15 years, which more than make up for the small loss in resale value. Drawback is that I will be driving a vehicle that looks progressively bad (or good depending on your point of view) while others will be driving nice and shine runners for years to come. To each his own I guess.

This is how I like to think of it as well. PPF is way too expensive to justify. I expect all the used cars I buy to have a couple rock chips. Why would I invest even $1-2k to make the care look more pristine for the next guy.

 

[Desmolicious]

This is how I like to think of it as well. PPF is way too expensive to justify. I expect all the used cars I buy to have a couple rock chips. Why would I invest even $1-2k to make the care look more pristine for the next guy.

$3000 for ceramic coating that lasts maybe a couple of years? $5000 for ppf? I am buying a 4Runner not to baby it. I can wax the thing once or twice a year myself. And apply an ebay ppf front edge kit for $100 if I even cared!

How on this Flying Spaghetti Monster's earth did what essentially is a wax job become a $3k expense? And yes, even back in the old days before ceramic coatings to properly detail your car you would first prep the paint, polish it etc.

 

[Joestac]

$3000 for ceramic coating that lasts maybe a couple of years? $5000 for ppf? I am buying a 4Runner not to baby it. I can wax the thing once or twice a year myself. And apply an ebay ppf front edge kit for $100 if I even cared!

How on this Flying Spaghetti Monster's earth did what essentially is a wax job become a $3k expense? And yes, even back in the old days before ceramic coatings to properly detail your car you would first prep the paint, polish it etc.

I fell for the ceramic coating on my WRX because it was "only" $1700 with full tint and 7 year warranty from the dealer. After two years and only handwashing, my paint that was not rock chipped still looked great and repelled water. However, I have to imagine I could achieve close to, or the same by just waxing it myself once a month. Or, applying the cheaper ceramic at home kits. I am not a fan of PPF because at some point you are going to have to pull that off and replace it.

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