Everything you purchase, you seem to want to keep safe from harm. Whether it be screen protectors and cases for your phone, or sleeves for your laptop, you want to ensure it remains scratch and damage free for as long as it can survive. So why then, do people not care the same about their cars? I mean sure, you wouldn’t give two hoots if the car you drive is just some beat up old lemon, but there are more new cars on the road now more than ever (FCAI 2017). New cars today are more fragile, delicate, and quite frankly, aren’t exactly built to last like old cars. No wonder you hear the passing comment of “they don’t make ’em like they used to”. So it makes sense to want to ensure your car will last as long as it possibly can.
Now, there are preventative measures, such as ensuring it’s well maintained, cleaning it, and driving carefully. But, what about factors you can’t control. For instance, a small piece of gravel that’s been kicked up by a semi-trailer, and ricochets off your bonnet, or roof, or mirror, or any part. This is where paint protection film steps in. Its purpose is similar to that of bulletproof glass (please do not shoot at a car with paint protection film). It’s job is to absorb the impact by acting as a barrier. Its composition is made up of a polyurethane film, not too far off the stuff used on armoured glass. The use of paint protection film is to ensure that little to no harm comes to your vehicle. I mean, it’s not going to protect you if you another car slams into you at 60km/h. That job is reserved for your seatbelt and airbags. It will, however, stop those unruly scratches, stone chips, and even minor abrasions. It even protects your paint work from pollutants and contaminants, such as bird droppings, tree sap, dirt, dust and other unfavourable things that could damage your paint. Paint protection film can save you a tonne of money in the long run. While more affordable alternatives, namely ceramic coating, are available, they do not provide the protection against scratches and rock chips. Paint protection film does.
Paint protection film is also a fantastic way to preserve your vehicles colour, especially if it’s a custom colour! It’s a preferred product for classic cars, you know, the ones that were “made like they used to”. These cars are often high end classics, with discontinued paint finishes, so it’s no wonder they would want paint protection.