AudiFlyGuy

Flying Scotsman

What colour is your car? That has a huge bearing on care....automated car washes no way..... You should be polishing and waxing or ceramic coating the car.

AudiFlyGuy

KevinGary

PaperLion

I decided not to get the XPEL, partly because I reached out to XPEL and they said my dealer is falsely claiming they were/are using XPEL and offered to do the job for the same price dealers quote. I figured one or the other or both were being shady. Within a month I had 2 deep rock chips on the hood. 2 grand is outrageous but I wish I'd done it now. FWIW the dealer touched up the rock chips, which mostly hides them, as a courtesy when I tried to make a claim on the "Pure protection" paint and leather coverage, which they did not honor officially.

As much as I like the car, I dont think I'll ever purchase another Audi. The sales and support experience has been too dodgy.

a4 4snow

So I will give my opinion here from what I have used in the past on my own vehicles and what I used when I used to own a detailing company.
The questions you really need to ask yourself are:

1. How long you plan to keep the car
2. How much maintenance do you want to do
3. What's your budget

PPF is a great idea to cover high impact areas (front of car) but some people don't like the look as you can see the lines. Also PPF is not for the life of the car, you should get a good 3-5 years before needing to think about replacing it, those that say it lasts longer are liars as rocks may not chip the paint but they do start eating into the PPF and dirt will eventually start lifting the PPF. I have had numerous cars and trucks covered in PPF from different installers and different films none of them last forever.

Ceramic coating is great if you want low maintenance as you don't need to polish and wax/seal your car. That said you will want to apply a topper of some kind to prevent water spots etching the ceramic coating, again I have had lots of experience here and water spots on ceramic are not the easiest to get out. If you don't want to go the ceramic route I would check out some of the newer sealants out there, I like P&S bead maker and Optimum sealants.

Interior care is a mixed bag, for light cleaning I use ONR from Optimum (also is a quick detailer and waterless wash great product to try) or P&S interior cleaner both are safe on leather and don't leave a gloss on the surfaces. For leather protectant/conditioner I use Leather Masters, its ok but haven't fell in love with any leather conditioners out there.

AudiFlyGuy

AMDG75

+2 same here. The film could really save you as it has for us 2 x (see thread: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-...-time-2960613/


Agree with your analysis. One minor disagreement: I am now at 5 yrs with Xpel ultimate, which has protected the surfaces very well. The film is still intact with no lifting. There is one small gash in the rocker panel piece (paint is fine) and, the only chip in the paint is on the roof where there is not Xpel. Also, as noted above, Xpel has saved me twice from having to have any part of the car repainted. As you point out, nothing is forever so we'll see how long it serves me.

Again, as KevinGary notes, having the film and ceramic coat makes washing soooo easy. Takes me about an hour to hand wash. I have not been to a car wash. I use two buckets and my go to items include: ONR (great stuff to which I am addicted , have used below freezing - see threads elsewhere), Cobra guzzler waffle weave, water blade to speed things along, Sonax wheel cleaner/IronX when needed and Invisible Glass. For the interior, damp microfiber is all you usually need. If road salt creeps over my WeatherTech mats, then you need vinegar/water solution. As for ONR (1) I have a detached, unheated garage so ONR and two buckets of warm water is all I need (2) my son lives in an apartment complex where a hose is available for a few months in the summer so ONR has been great for him.

a4 4snow

Like others said get some sort of PPF on the front at minimum, and have a ceramic coating applied to the whole car. After that washing is pretty simple, if the car isn't too bad a product like ONR is all you need either as a quick detailer or as a rinseless wash. If it's winter or the car has sat for some time then it takes a quick wash with normal car soap and a topper. The toppers (or some sealants) work wonders on the ceramic coatings to help them stay cleaner longer and most double as a drying aid. Most ceramic coatings will also give you a nice deep gloss and give you a bit more scratch resistance. Optimum is the maker of Opticoat, but they make the ONR and several other really decent products, they aren't the cheapest out there but you also don't need a lot. P&S is more of a commercial brand but is starting to market themselves to the consumer crowd a bit more especially their bead maker. P&S is actually priced reasonable and I have been mostly satisfied with their products. As @AMDG75 says Sonax makes an awesome wheel cleaner and waiting for my current product to run up so I can switch back; same goes for the Invisible Glass.

@AMDG75 per your comment with the PPF it really depends on the damage, I have been lucky on some damage not lifting but not others. If you hand wash, the area isn't subjected to direct splashing from the road, and don't use a pressure washer you limit your risk here and it could stay that way for years to come, but it's really the luck of the draw. I have found vehicles like my truck don't fare so well just do to the amount of dirt they endure and the climates I operate them in, but in every case the pain under the PPF is better off than not having PPF.

Raidin

Since you're keeping the car for only 3 years, I would not recommend high-end PPF for cost reasons. You may as well get the cheap stuff that lasts a few years since you may not be able to get your investment back when selling/trading it.

Your best bet is to have the car detailed, inside and out, then get cheap PPF or ceramic coat it, then get an interior coating (like Opti-coat or whatever it's called). This means you don't have to clean the interior except wiping stuff off the stain-resistant coating, and the exterior will be easy to clean using a spray cleaner with no water or soap. If you have to use an automatic wash, you should be ok since the ceramic coating will take the abuse over your clearcoat. Just be careful with automatic washes if you have PPF, as they could pull it off at the edges, usually best never to go to one if you go with PPF.