PPF and Cybertruck specific issues

[T35L4]

I'm wondering if others have had some similar experiences or feelings about PPF. I have a quality PPF - Stek colored matte black PPF.
After having the PPF installed for many months, and installed twice due to some separate issues I can mention another time, I can say some of the benefits of PPF needs to come with an asterix, especially with the Cybertruck. It might be more true for other cars. It is the single thing I stress out over most about the car (besides parking in crowded areas where the car gets too much attention). Here are some points where I am finding some issues through experience:

• PPF installation: It was not an easy process. Cybertruck specifically has sharp edges and having the edges wrapped was a nightmare. Because of the steel sharpness, the edges were hard to wrap by a professional. I had to repeatedly go back and also do my own methods of making the edges stick. They used a blowtorch on some of the edges and that seemed to have held it down. In other cases, after a few more days even after, some edges came back up, and I used adhesive promoter which helped keep those edges down (around the doors). There are edges that are in hard-to-reach places and cannot be accessed as easily in places like doors (such as the little gaps between pillars) there was much more of a pain. I also suspect that being in cold weather makes it much harder for the PPF to stick properly after installation. This is not as easy of an install as vinyl on the CT.
• PPF and the ease of maintenance: One benefit people say is that PPF is easier to maintain since you can just wipe the car down. I found that whether you have PPF or not, maintenance is roughly the same. I used to wipe the car down after using no rinse wash before, and I do the same now. It's not different. I have black colored PPF and in fact, it shows more streaks than not after wiping compared to when it was bare. I see other CT's on the road that seem to have the same problem. I can see people prob did a wipe down, but not enough so because there are plenty of streaks. In cold weather, you tend to drive a lot on salted streets and that is so much white salt that you pretty much still have to go to a car wash to get it all off and no amount of wipe down will get all the salt off just like without PPF.
• PPF and finger prints: I get fingerprints with PPF as well. It's slightly better than no PPF and on the bare steel but it still happens. This might be specific to colored PPF perhaps.
• Protective layer: The cybertruck was already a tough truck. I'm actually more paranoid about any potential damage now on the car if someone for example opens a door into my car than before since it might rip the PPF whereas with no PPF, the steel can handle that with no problem. From what I have heard, the Cybertruck still gets scratched and the steel will still have some wear on it after awhile so maybe in the end, it still helps a bit, but I guess it's situational. From all the youtube videos, it seems after removal, the surface should be fine but I've heard others say that after a long time, there may be issues with the adhesive being on the surface causing some wear issues.
• Ceramic coating: I found that ceramic coat is mostly invisible until you have something like cold weather where it creates a fog layer on the car. You can see the application streaks in those conditions. Not sure if that's due to the type of coating. I had PPF installed twice and the second time seemed to have been better so maybe they used a different coat the second time? They also used a different PPF so maybe that also makes a difference? I don't know for sure.
• Foundation Badge: If you have a foundation sticker applied on top of the PPF, eventually, it will start to have wear on it from rubbing against it and it will start to fray. I've seem some people have a badge applied under the PPF so it's raised which seems like a cool idea. If you remove it after awhile, the surface under where the foundation badge was will wear at a different rate than the rest of the car leaving a ghosting of where that badge once was. Not sure how that wears over the long term. I wouldn't have it applied on top though.
• Bubbles: they seem to come and go many weeks after it's installed. The installer removed them using a syringe a few times, but other times, they went away on their own and new ones come out sometimes much later. I just saw a new one today. Again, maybe it's due to the fact that I am in cold weather which makes the PPF expand/contract differently than warmer weather.

If I had to start from scratch, I'd probably still get PPF but don't expect you just apply PPF and it will be a perfect thing despite a high price tag. It definitely makes the car look significantly different and that's the most major benefit that I can say it helps with but some of the other benefits comes with big caveats. There's lots of little gotchas about PPF that you probably won't expect and these are specific to the cybertruck. Would love to hear if others have had this experience.

Sponsored

 

[bigbangbadaboom]

lol. everything you're saying is due to improper installation
PPF- zero issues with my install. STEK as well. He said it's easiest car to wrap.
Ceramic coating- ZERO streaking or lines in any condition.
Because of that ceramic coating, dirt, grease, everything rinses away EASILY
Bubbles- ALL GONE because the installer made a follow up appt to inspect the car again and remove all bubbles
foundation badge- sticker with the PPF but I had them do it "Stealth" so its under the PPF
You paid so much money for the PPF so most likely you won't remove it for the life of the vehicle
STEK comes with a 10 year warranty too

SO in the end.. your installer is the one that's causing you this grief

 

[T35L4]

lol. everything you're saying is due to improper installation
PPF- zero issues with my install. STEK as well. He said it's easiest car to wrap.
Ceramic coating- ZERO streaking or lines in any condition.
Because of that ceramic coating, dirt, grease, everything rinses away EASILY
Bubbles- ALL GONE because the installer made a follow up appt to inspect the car again and remove all bubbles
foundation badge- sticker with the PPF but I had them do it "Stealth" so its under the PPF
You paid so much money for the PPF so most likely you won't remove it for the life of the vehicle
STEK comes with a 10 year warranty too

SO in the end.. your installer is the one that's causing you this grief

Like I said, after the second PPF install, the ceramic coating streaking is no longer there.

I suppose dirt rinses away a bit easier than the bare metal but no matter what, you'd still want to wipe it down so the effort is pretty much the same because if you really want to clean it, you don't just rinse it and stop there.

The bubbles don't seem to be an install issue as they do remove them whenever I stop in, but again, new ones come up that were not there previously that come up weeks or even months later.


Looks like you're in CA which might explain why you are not encountering some of the same issues. We've had weather that hit 10 degrees Fahrenheit around the time of my install. Also, your avatar says you have a model Y. Do you also have a CT that was wrapped? The issues I pointed out are mainly CT specific.

 

[ChiTownCT]

What were the temps during your install? Dont they recommend 60+ degrees?

 

[TWRAPS]

My 5 cents

* Edge wrapping - Your installer used bad cut template (XPEL, 3M etc...). You get the TWRAPS Cybertruck PPF Wrap kit, and edges wrap like a dream. Here is a video documenting it (YouTube link).
* Fingerprints will show almost the same on glossy PPF, but if you went for satin/matte one, they are mostly a non-issue. Glossy PPF would be akin to regular car paint (in terms of fingerprints). Glossy black would show more than anything else I can think of. But again - if you went with satin/matte, the fingerprints will be minimal. You can refer to the above video as I touch the satin black CT multiple times through the video and it doesn't leave fingerprints.
* Protective layer - indeed, the CT has one tough body, but it's not immune to scratches or dents. What's worse are the corrosion looking spots and overall discoloration. I know many owners like it, I for one don't. I see that some owners who want to maintain the original look just put clear or tinted PPF or if fingerprints are a concern they put satin gray PPF - the truck looks and stays pristine.
* Bubbles - poor install or PPF. This is not normal.
* Removing it - none of us knows what to expect 5 years from now, but I've tried removing our TWRAPS PPF after 6 or so months post install and here is what it looked like (YouTube link).
* Foundation badge - true, likely to not last forever if applied over PPF. May cause issues if applied under. I made my own laser cut badges out of high density acrylic and they did great though but it's not as subtle look as the original laser engraving.

 

[jennybug678]

Wondering if anyone has any issues with the Stek Matte black PPF edges sticking? We got ours done for 9k and we keep having to get the edges fixed. We’re wondering if this will eventually stop happening or did our wrap guy do a terrible job? It was his first CT

 

[TWRAPS]

Wondering if anyone has any issues with the Stek Matte black PPF edges sticking? We got ours done for 9k and we keep having to get the edges fixed. We’re wondering if this will eventually stop happening or did our wrap guy do a terrible job? It was his first CT

STEK uses high tack adhesive if I am not mistaken so it sounds like the edges might not fold enough (bad cut template). How much does it wrap around the edges?

 

[T35L4]

Wondering if anyone has any issues with the Stek Matte black PPF edges sticking? We got ours done for 9k and we keep having to get the edges fixed. We’re wondering if this will eventually stop happening or did our wrap guy do a terrible job? It was his first CT

I had this issue and the installer kept addressing it but it seems to but sticking now

Sponsored