Gloss Vs. Stealth PPF – What it does, and which should I pick?

paint protection film

You just bought this brand-new car and are suddenly being bombarded with ads from detailing places trying to sell you something called PPF. You have no idea what it is, and don’t even know why your car should need it. After all, the paint has a clear coat which should protect it, right? Not quite, and that clear coat can be a lot thinner and more fragile than you’d think.

Paint protection film, also known as PPF or clear bra, is an extra added barrier against damages for the painted portions of your vehicle. Covering parts of the vehicle like your bumper, hood, fenders, side mirrors, or rocker panels can help to prevent unexpected and unnecessary damages like rock chips, road rash, scuffs, scrapes, or stains. The average cost to repaint a bumper is around $500, and even more if you need to also redo the hood or other panels on top of that because of chips in the paint.

Paint protection film or Clearbra installation

Here at Automotive Elegance, we use only XPEL products in our installations, using only their Ultimate Plus and Stealth lines of paint protection film to transform and protect cars. The primary difference between the two is that Ultimate Plus leaves a shiny glossy finish, much like that brand new car you’ve just picked up, while the Stealth line leaves a satin or matte finish to the overall car.

Paint protection film application

You just bought this new car, and now you’re left with this decision of what to choose. It came from the factory with beautiful glossy paint, but you’ve seen some of the Stealth PPF on cars on Instagram while researching and now have no idea what to pick! You were gifted some money to purchase this new car but managed to get a heck of a deal on your trade and didn’t need to use it, so you’ve decided to use it to fully PPF your vehicle so you can get more for your trade down the line.

In choosing the Ultimate Plus gloss option, your vehicle would look brand new like it just rolled off the truck at the dealership every day. Providing protection to the full vehicle would also help the paint not to fade, especially as your house doesn’t have a garage to store your new car in and you haven’t gotten those pine trees cut down yet that just love to drop sap on your roof and hood.

But you saw so many of those cool Stealth matte cars on Instagram, and even saw one in one of the dealerships you were looking at, and your new car would look so cool matte. Your friends would be so jealous of how cool your new car looks, but you worry that it won’t offer the same protection as the Ultimate Plus gloss film.

Not to worry, both Ultimate Plus and Stealth offer the same amount of protection for your vehicle regardless of where they’re placed. The texture of the Stealth film won’t trap any extra dirt and is the same thickness as the Ultimate Plus. Ultimately, it comes down to what final look you want for your vehicle.

Call us! Here at Automotive Elegance, we specialize in Paint Protection Film, Ceramic Coatings, and Window Tints using products from XPEL. Recipients of the XPEL US Dealer of the Year Award in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, we’ve protected it all! Visit us a https://www.automotiveelegancellc.com/ to schedule a booking.