When it comes to market leaders, Xpel is the name that comes to mind in the world of Paint Protection Film (PPF). Over recent years Xpel has dominated the market and is probably the one company that has changed the game in leading the boom in PPF popularity.
In this guide we are going to run through everything Xpel, from their latest products to what makes their film so good, and why you should choose Xpel for your car’s PPF.
Xpel was founded in 1997 in San Antonio, Texas, to bring Paint Protection Film to everyday car owners. PPF had been around since the 1950s, and was first widely used to protect helicopter rotor blades during the Vietnam War. It spread to other military and industrial applications, protecting equipment and surfaces from environmental and physical damage. But cars were still relying on paint, lacquer and polish.
Xpel's vision was to utilise this old film technology to create a clear protection film that would protect vehicles’ paintwork from rock chips, scuffs, and scratches. The major problem to overcome was that existing PPF was relatively ‘stiff’ and designed to be applied to flat or regular shapes. Xpel developed a PPF that could contour and stretch around the complex curves and shapes of car bodywork.
The introduction of a self-healing feature in 2011 brought huge amounts of attention to the PPF market, and this really was the turning point for Xpel. This new PPF had thermoplastic properties. So, the heat generated by a car’s engine under the bonnet, or even just direct sunlight on the bodywork, would reform and smooth over scratches, splits and scrapes. Previous protection films would inevitably start to look scruffy after a few years as they did their job – they protected the paint, but retained the damage. The new Xpel PPF wrap would look fresh and smooth for a decade or more.
Fast forward 20 years, and Xpel now has one of the largest installer networks in the world, with installers based on every continent. With roughly 600 installers alone in the UK, their presence is huge, and you would find it hard to locate a PPF installer who hasn't used an Xpel PPF product.
And Auto Protek was the very first PPF installer in the UK to be certified by Xpel for installing its products. That was in 2015, and we have maintained – and pushed beyond – those standards ever since.
Xpel manufactures PPF in four key varieties:
Xpel Design Access Program (DAP) hosts one of the largest pattern databases in the world, with over 80,000 templates for just about every vehicle make and model. DAP is now running on the 11th generation. These patterns ensure that the PPF film sections will perfectly fit every part of every car, accounting for the critical measurement differences you need to cut a two-dimensional shape and apply it to a three-dimensional car panel.
Speaking of cutting, Auto Protek joins Xpel’s powerful DAP database with a Graphtec FC8600-160 plotter cutter. So the digital patterns provided in DAP are reproduced to the highest levels of accuracy and precision.
DAP 11 also puts other powerful features at the installer’s disposal. Endless ability to edit these patterns enables each Xpel Certified installer to resize, join, add wrapped edges, combine patterns, and add just about any shape you could think of.
It's not just Paint Protection Film patterns: DAP also has a huge window tint database. This provides a smooth, precision-cut pattern for window tint films that do not need to be trimmed down or manipulated.
Whichever version Xpel Ultimate, Ultimate Plus, Stealth, or Armour the care and maintenance is pretty much the same across all products. Manufacturer recommendations are to clean the film at least once a month, preferably using a wash mitt and the two bucket method (one with the water/shampoo mixture for washing your car and one for rinsing the mitt) with grit guards. This will keep the top surface of the PPF film clean and bright for the best appearance and prevent any contaminants from building up on the surface.
Avoid using any petroleum-based cleaning products and go for pH-neutral products. When using a high-pressure power washer, we would advise keeping the nozzle at least four feet away from any film edges. Getting too close risks lifting the film or blowing water underneath it.
We would not recommend using a paste carnauba wax as this can build up on the unwrapped edges and will leave white lines that can be hard to remove if left for a long period of time.
All of Xpel's films can be machine polished if needed to remove some very light etching, but this should always be done by a professional. The self-healing topcoat does a great job at removing light scratches and swirl marks, but this can become damaged if it is polished too far or by using the wrong products.
This advice applies whether you just have Xpel Fusion on your car or also have Fusion Plus ceramic coating applied on top of the film. Xpel always recommend using their own aftercare products, these are specifically designed for the Xpel paint protection film line and are the best products for keeping your film in top condition.
It’s an obvious question, and one that we can generally answer with: Yes! In more detail, a full Xpel PPF wrap is on high-value vehicles (£100,000+), where appearance is key to value and cosmetic repairs can be very costly, can directly ‘pay for itself’ by preserving more of (or even adding to) the vehicle’s value than the cost of the wrap. This goes especially for vehicles with customised paint jobs or rare paint options.
For vehicles of lower value, a full PPF wrap offers less direct financial payback. It will be worth it if you are planning on keeping the vehicle for a long time, since a 10-year-old car with paintwork that is ‘as new’ because it’s protected by PPF will be worth more than one with 10 years of weathering, fading and inevitable damage. It can also be worth it if you drive on roads or in conditions that generate a lot of chips or scratches that would otherwise incur frequent repair and correction bills.
But there is a non-financial value as well. How much do you value keeping your car looking at its best? How much do you value your time in cleaning and polishing? How much do you value your peace of mind by not worrying about scratches, chips, bird mess or bug splats? It’s hard to put a cost-value on these things, but if your car is your pride and joy, it can still make Xpel PPF worth it, even if it’s not directly reflected in the value of the car.
And you don’t have to get a full wrap. Since the majority of paint damage happens to certain parts of the car (nose, front bumper, bonnet edge, sills), a partial PPF wrap can protect against most common threats at a much lower cost than a full wrap. For cars that aren’t premium, exotic or classic with big price tags, this can make the numbers stack up again.
We hope that this detailed guide has answered your questions about Xpel PPF. If you have any more, or want to discuss your specific requirements, please contact us and a member of our team will be happy to help.
Whichever version Xpel Ultimate, Ultimate Plus, Stealth, or Armour the care and maintenance is pretty much the same across all products. Manufacturer recommendations are to clean the film at least once a month, preferably using a wash mitt and the two bucket method (one with the water/shampoo mixture for washing your car and one for rinsing the mitt) with grit guards. This will keep the top surface of the PPF film clean and bright for the best appearance and prevent any contaminants from building up on the surface.
Avoid using any petroleum-based cleaning products and go for pH-neutral products. When using a high-pressure power washer, we would advise keeping the nozzle at least four feet away from any film edges. Getting too close risks lifting the film or blowing water underneath it.
We would not recommend using a paste carnauba wax as this can build up on the unwrapped edges and will leave white lines that can be hard to remove if left for a long period of time.
All of Xpel's films can be machine polished if needed to remove some very light etching, but this should always be done by a professional. The self-healing topcoat does a great job at removing light scratches and swirl marks, but this can become damaged if it is polished too far or by using the wrong products.
This advice applies whether you just have Xpel Fusion on your car or also have Fusion Plus ceramic coating applied on top of the film. Xpel always recommend using their own aftercare products, these are specifically designed for the Xpel paint protection film line and are the best products for keeping your film in top condition.
It’s an obvious question, and one that we can generally answer with: Yes! In more detail, a full Xpel PPF wrap is on high-value vehicles (£100,000+), where appearance is key to value and cosmetic repairs can be very costly, can directly ‘pay for itself’ by preserving more of (or even adding to) the vehicle’s value than the cost of the wrap. This goes especially for vehicles with customised paint jobs or rare paint options.
For vehicles of lower value, a full PPF wrap offers less direct financial payback. It will be worth it if you are planning on keeping the vehicle for a long time, since a 10-year-old car with paintwork that is ‘as new’ because it’s protected by PPF will be worth more than one with 10 years of weathering, fading and inevitable damage. It can also be worth it if you drive on roads or in conditions that generate a lot of chips or scratches that would otherwise incur frequent repair and correction bills.
But there is a non-financial value as well. How much do you value keeping your car looking at its best? How much do you value your time in cleaning and polishing? How much do you value your peace of mind by not worrying about scratches, chips, bird mess or bug splats? It’s hard to put a cost-value on these things, but if your car is your pride and joy, it can still make Xpel PPF worth it, even if it’s not directly reflected in the value of the car.
And you don’t have to get a full wrap. Since the majority of paint damage happens to certain parts of the car (nose, front bumper, bonnet edge, sills), a partial PPF wrap can protect against most common threats at a much lower cost than a full wrap. For cars that aren’t premium, exotic or classic with big price tags, this can make the numbers stack up again.
We hope that this detailed guide has answered your questions about Xpel PPF. If you have any more, or want to discuss your specific requirements, please contact us and a member of our team will be happy to help.