Paint Protection Film in Sydney, Fitted In-House

What paint protection film stops

Stone chips are the reason most people fit film. At motorway speed, a small stone hits the front of a car hard enough to punch through the clear coat and colour to the primer. Once that happens, the only proper fixes are touch-up paint or a respray. Film spreads the force of the impact and takes the mark instead.

The damage film takes for your paint

• Stone chips and road rash on the bumper, the leading edge of the bonnet, the mirrors and the front of the guards.

• Sandblasting on the lower panels and behind the front wheels, where grit is thrown up on wet roads and gravel.

• Fine scratches and swirls in the film's top coat, which level out again with warmth.

• Bird droppings, bat droppings, sap and bugs, which sit on the film instead of etching the clear coat on a hot day.

• Light scuffs from bags, keys, pets and fingernails on the panels covered, such as the rear bumper loading lip and door handle cups.

• UV fading of the colour underneath, because quality film is UV-stable.

Where film reaches its limits

Film isn't armour. A large rock at speed can still chip through it, although the film usually absorbs most of the damage. A deep gouge, a dent or a scrape along a bollard cuts the film, and the panel under it may need repair. Film also can't fix damage that's already there. It goes over chips and scratches; it doesn't fill them.

Paint protection film coverage packages

Most cars don't need film on every panel. The real question is which panels take the hits the way you drive, and where you're happy for a film edge to sit. These are the four packages we fit most often. We can also film single areas, such as a rear bumper loading lip, door edges or a roof leading edge.

How to choose your package

Think about where you drive and how long you'll keep the car. If you're on the motorway every day, the front is under constant fire, and full front is the sensible minimum. If you take the car up the Hume or out west on country roads, add the sills and the front of the rear guards. If the car is new, dark or matte and you'll keep it for years, full body means no panel ever needs touching up.

When you bring the car in, we'll walk around it with you and point out where it's already picking up chips. That usually tells you more about the right package than any package name does.

Gloss, matte or colour paint protection film

Film comes in different finishes, all with the same self-healing urethane and the same impact protection. The right one depends on the paint you have now and the look you want.

Clear gloss film

The most common choice. It keeps the factory finish and adds a deep, glossy top layer. On well-corrected paint, you have to look along a panel's edge to find it.

Clear matte film

Matte film turns gloss paint satin, a popular way to get a stealth look without a full wrap. On factory matte or frozen paint it does a bigger job. Matte paint can't be polished, so a chip, a scratch or a stain on it is very hard to fix. Film over it protects the finish and keeps the sheen even.

Colour PPF

Colour film changes the car's colour the way a vinyl wrap does, but it's thicker and it self-heals. It costs more than vinyl, so it suits owners who want a new colour and chip protection in one layer. If the change is mainly about looks, compare it with car wrapping, and our guide to car wrap vs paint explains how a wrap stacks up against a respray.

How we fit paint protection film

Most of a film job is preparation. Film is clear and sits tight on the paint, so anything trapped under it, from a speck of dust to a swirl mark, stays visible for the life of the film. This is what happens to your car, in order.

1. Look at the paint and quote

   We go over the car with you in good light, note existing chips and any resprayed panels, and confirm the coverage and film in a written quote.

2. Wash and decontaminate

   A full hand wash, then iron, tar and sap removers and a clay treatment, so nothing bonded to the paint ends up sealed under the film.

3. Correct the paint

   Swirls and light scratches are machine-polished out of the clear coat on the panels being filmed. Film protects paint; it doesn't hide what's wrong with it.

   

4. Cut the film for your car

   The film is plotter-cut from a pattern for your make and model, so each piece is already shaped before it reaches the car instead of being trimmed to size on your paint.

5. Lay, position and squeegee

   Each piece is laid onto a slip solution, slid into position, then squeegeed to push the solution out from underneath. Edges are wrapped around the ends of panels wherever the car allows.

   

6. Heat, stretch and seal the edges

   Curves, vents and sharp corners are worked with gentle heat so the film lies flat without tension that could lift it later. Edges are pressed down and checked again.

   

7. Inspect and hand over

   The whole car is checked under inspection lights before you collect it. You leave with written care instructions and the maker's warranty details, and we send a check-in message a week later.

Paint protection film on a new car

The best time to fit film is before a new car has done many motorway kilometres. Every trip adds chips, and film can't undo them. Many owners book the film for the week they collect the car, so the paint is covered before its first long drive.

New doesn't always mean perfect paint, though. Cars are washed at the port and again before delivery, often in a hurry, and they can arrive with light swirls, holograms or water spots. We inspect new paint as closely as old, and a light polish is often all it needs before the film goes on.

If the dealer offers a paint protection package, ask exactly what it is before you pay for it. It's often a sealant or coating wiped on before delivery, which is a different product from film and won't stop a chip. You can decline it and book film with us instead.

New-car owners often have everything done at one visit: film on the front, a ceramic coating over the whole car and ceramic window tinting on the glass. That's one booking and one invoice, and the car is protected inside and out from the start.

Pairing PPF with a ceramic coating

Film and a coating do different jobs, which is why they work so well together. Film absorbs impacts on the panels that face the road. A coating is a thin, hard, glassy layer that makes the surface slick, so dirt, droppings and water let go. Coat over the film and the filmed panels wash as easily as the rest of the car, and the film's top coat stays cleaner for longer.

If you're choosing between the two rather than combining them, our guide to PPF vs ceramic coating compares them side by side.

Our service

Ceramic Coating

A ceramic coating is a liquid layer that bonds to your clear coat and cures hard, slick and glossy. Water beads off, grime lets go and washing gets quicker. We decontaminate and correct the paint first, then coat it by hand in a clean indoor bay at Revesby or Condell Park.

Caring for paint protection film

Film is easy to live with. Treat it like good paint, and it keeps looking like good paint.

• Let it settle first. Wait for the time on your care sheet before the first wash, and leave the edges alone while the adhesive sets.

• Hand wash with a pH-neutral shampoo and the two-bucket method, using a soft mitt and a clean drying towel.

• Keep a pressure washer back from the edges. A close jet aimed into an edge can lift it, so rinse across the film, not into it.

• Skip brush car washes. The brushes scuff the top coat and drag grit across every panel.

• Clean off droppings, sap and bugs promptly. Film resists them far better than paint, but anything baked on for weeks is harder to shift.

• Use film-safe products. Keep cutting compounds and solvent cleaners off the film; a coating or spray sealant made for film keeps it slick.

Looking after matte film

Matte film needs a little more care, because anything that adds gloss leaves shiny patches. Use a shampoo with no wax or gloss enhancers, never polish or wax it, and blot it dry instead of rubbing hard. A coating made for matte finishes is the easiest way to keep it clean.

Using heat to heal light marks

Fine swirls and light scratches in the top coat fade on their own on a warm day. To speed things up, pour warm water over the mark or leave the car in the sun for a while. A cut right through the film won't heal, but that piece can be replaced on its own.

What decides the cost of paint protection film

Every film job is quoted for the car in front of us, because no two cars take the same amount of film or time. These are the main factors:

• Coverage: a partial front uses a fraction of the film and fitting time of a full body.

• The car's size and shape: big bonnets, deep vents, aggressive bumpers and sharp body lines take longer to fit cleanly.

• The film: clear gloss, clear matte and colour film are different products.

• Paint correction: paint that needs a lot of polishing before film adds time to the job.

• Edge work and parts removal: wrapping edges, or removing badges, mirror caps or trim for a hidden edge, takes extra time.

• A coating over the film at the same visit.

Send us the make, model and the coverage you have in mind, or bring the car to our Revesby workshop or our Condell Park workshop, and you'll get a written quote. The quote is free and fixed, with no extras added on the day. We take cash, credit, debit, Afterpay and AMEX.

Why have your PPF fitted by Tinting Xperts

We've been fitting film to cars in south-west Sydney since 2016, and a team of 30+ fitters now works across our two workshops. Paint protection film is fitted by the same people who correct the paint underneath it.

• Indoor fitting only. Film goes on in clean indoor bays, never in a driveway or a car park, because dust under film is there to stay.

• Paint corrected first on every job, so the film seals in a clean, glossy finish.

• Patterns cut for your model on the plotter.

• The maker's warranty on the film, in writing with your invoice.

• Everything under one roof: film, coatings, paint correction, tint and wraps in one booking.

Ready to protect the paint? Ask for a written PPF quote and we'll book the car in at whichever workshop is closer to you.