A Guide For Those Wanting To Remove Paint Protection Film

rayaans · September 9, 2015

So the dreaded paint protection film - brilliant for protection - utterly disgusting in terms of aesthetics!

As you can see from the attached thumbnails its gone slightly yellow, on a bright white car! Not only that, take a look at the tyre gunk surrounding the edges - it does NOT come off by routine washing!

So I'd had enough of looking at this monstrosity and removed it!

I thought long and hard about it at first. I dont like stonechips but the likelihood of one hitting that spot is close to 0! In fact, the car is 2 years old and out of all the light scratches I polished out today - none were anywhere near the PPF!

Things you need:

Hairdryer
2-3 minutes total
A nice comfy bit of carpet to rest your knees on!
- some 18" biceps
And finally some tar and glue remover (Autosmart Tardis used here)

OK so this seems pretty simple, heat the damn thing and just pull right?! Nope, it's not that easy, for reasons I'll explain later on...........trust me...... I tried it this way first and it took ages!

So to begin with use the hairdryer and heat up one of the edges. Make sure you concentrate the heat on one just one edge and then use your fingernail to lift the sticky edge up.

Now - put down the hairdryer and without heating ANYMORE of the paint protection film just pull. This PPF is designed by 3M who designed it to be removed without heating! Now the reason I said "DONT HEAT ALL OF IT" is because the glue becomes sticky, therefore sticking to the PAINT! That way, you have to remove ALL of the glue from the paint!! When just heating one edge, you only get glue residue on that single edge and thats all making the job much much easier!

Lastly, the tiny bits of glue residue can be removed using tar and glue remover, in this case Autosmart Tardis - if you decide to heat the whole PPF, it'll take a lot of elbow grease - I tried it with one and it took 15 mins! With the other, I just heated one edge and pulled - it came of with barely any residue at all!

So, I hope this helps some of you who have light coloured cars (especially WHITE!) and want to remove this poor excuse of "protection".

Deadloak · September 9, 2015

Nice work, and a good guide.

David.

baxlin · September 9, 2015

I'd love to do this, but my Arctic Pearl car is leased, and I don't want a bill in two years' time.

rayaans · September 9, 2015

I'd love to do this, but my Arctic Pearl car is leased, and I don't want a bill in two years' time.

Shouldnt really matter - they probably won't notice it - if they do, just say they removed it before delivery lol

Cracksta · September 10, 2015

I wondered what that white pad thingy is (in your first picture, the right clear pad thing).

I have that on both my rear doors, it doesnt bother me that much as i've managed to cleaned the side so it doesnt stand out.

I think i'll wait a few more months and if i'm bored i might remove it, thanks for the guide!

rayaans · September 10, 2015

I wondered what that white pad thingy is (in your first picture, the right clear pad thing).

I have that on both my rear doors, it doesnt bother me that much as i've managed to cleaned the side so it doesnt stand out.

I think i'll wait a few more months and if i'm bored i might remove it, thanks for the guide!

The right pad thing with the black border is a random piece of paint protection film to supposedly stop stone chips and scratches. However, I can't really see how a stone is going to land on that 30 x 20cm spot, especially on the side of the car so I got rid of it - looks much cleaner now!

The left pad which is smaller (and not as dirty) is also paint protection film - I removed this too. I think its to stop scuffs when people get in the car but on my wife's previous car, it didn't have this and there were no scuffs so I'll take the chances.

Tel · September 10, 2015

2 years & no issues whatsoever but the car is mercury grey & I clean with a brush & dry with a Meguires Towel BUT always clean & dry from the centre of the applied film thereby pushing all grime away from the edges.

Tel

rayaans · September 10, 2015

2 years & no issues whatsoever but the car is mercury grey & I clean with a brush & dry with a Meguires Towel BUT always clean & dry from the centre of the applied film thereby pushing all grime away from the edges.

Tel

I dont like using brushes on the paint and the wash mitt couldnt get the gunk out of the edges. Also, it was yellow and I don't like how it interrupts the door, looks like an aftermarket add on so it had to go - few days now and no issues whatsoever.

However, the mrs did drive over a glass bottle in the middle of the road today and im praying there's not a puncture! The PPF wouldnt have been useful in this situation and therefore are useless.

Tel · September 10, 2015

Rayaan,

A mit or a sponge drags grit across the paintwork whereas a soft brush soaked in good detergent mobilises the grit and sweeps it away and you rinse the brush in your second bucket of clear water negating damage.Pefectionists use running water for the clear water phase & you will be amazed how much grit is in the bottom of the rinse bucket.

Sponge & Mits are old school as are chamois leather but using a Meguiars microsoft towel depends on absolute cleanliness to ensure no scratches.

My ISF was very dark grey whereas my F-Sport is mid-grey & both pass the"fluorescent " light test using my method which we all agreed in the Club years ago.

White cars tend to hide surface scratches so you are not aware of the potential damage your method could cause.

Tel

Martin F · September 10, 2015

I thought long and hard about it at first. I dont like stonechips but the likelihood of one hitting that spot is close to 0! In fact, the car is 2 years old and out of all the light scratches I polished out today - none were anywhere near the PPF!

Believe me Lexus will not have put that there without good reason, and there will have definitely been some justification to the bean counters for the extra expense.

rayaans · September 10, 2015

I polish my car in an LED garage, no issues with mitts and 2 buckets. The problem is brushes are hard and will scratch paint.

I don't think Lexus did their research properly tbh. I can't see why this 30 x 20 area has ppf on it but the front bumper doesnt

capese21 · September 11, 2015

I can't see why this 30 x 20 area has ppf on it but the front bumper doesnt

Stone chips on the bumper will not rust the part of the door protected by the film will. No car manufacturer fits things that are not required.

Ed

rayaans · September 11, 2015

I can't see why this 30 x 20 area has ppf on it but the front bumper doesnt

Stone chips on the bumper will not rust the part of the door protected by the film will. No car manufacturer fits things that are not required.

Ed

The whole car has a primer underneath it. The stone needs to penetrate the clear coat, base coat and the primer. Very unlikely.

In 20 years of owning cars, not one has rusted on the doors

Deadloak · September 12, 2015

I got a stone chip on the Honda's bonnet, that went a fair way through. It showed a bit of rust, but never developed into anything significant after 6 years of 20k motoring.

Which would have been more likely to rust than a door, and yes I was less fussy on the appearance of the Honda. Ultra reliable car, but just a mode of transport, not special.

David.

Rabbers · September 12, 2015

As evidenced by Rayaan's pictures, the 300h, especially a white one, looks a lot better without the protective

films. In fact, it is difficult to imagine anyone liking the films regardless of the colour of the car. And yet, even

if the chances of damage from stones etc., on the areas protected by the films are low, they are evidently not

so low as to have prevented Lexus management from signing off on the marketing of the 300h without them.

Presumably the risk of damage to those specific surfaces was felt to be sufficiently high on the basis of road

and wind-tunnel tests as to override aesthetic considerations.

Could it be that the films were added to the 300h's final specification as a quick and cheap fix to an issue

identified so late in the car's development as to have suggested costly body-design modifications and/or

production delays that management was unwilling to accept? For sure, the decision to add the films would

have seriously dismayed the 300h's design team.

After two years, the films on my car are showing no nicks or grazes that would prove their usefulness, but

this could simply mean that I have been lucky or that the films themselves are adequately resistant to

surface damage. Whatever the case, it is noticeable that the streaks of dirt that cover all surfaces of the

car after long motorway drives in bad weather and are, of course, a direct reflection of the aerodynamics,

are always thickest on or around the areas covered by the films, thus identifying the tendency of

potentially harmful particles of road dirt to strike and accumulate there when the car is in motion. For

this reason, I have kept the films despite my ever-increasing dislike of them. Maybe I'll give in to the

temptation of removing them the moment they show signs of yellowing, which so far they have not.

capese21 · September 12, 2015

Modern car paint finishes and particularly Lexus is soft and less durable compared to older cars.

My less than two year old fsport has more chips on the bonnet & bumper than my previous car had after 12 years. I see new ones appearing after every motorway journey.

The rate it's going it will need a full bonnet & bumper respray soon.

Modern (Lexus) paint needs the extra protection of plastic film in vunerable places.

Maybe the rear door picks up road spray from the front wheels?

I cleaned mine and they look ok but always less noticeable on Mesa Red than on a white car.

Ed.

Tel · September 12, 2015

I have driven @ high speeds on the Continent & have almost zero Road Rash after 2 Years but I never Tailgate 7 always have Meguiars on.

I wax & Poorboys the wheels & it is these that are susceptible to Rash in my experience.

Tel

rayaans · September 12, 2015

Modern car paint finishes and particularly Lexus is soft and less durable compared to older cars.

My less than two year old fsport has more chips on the bonnet & bumper than my previous car had after 12 years. I see new ones appearing after every motorway journey.

The rate it's going it will need a full bonnet & bumper respray soon.

Modern (Lexus) paint needs the extra protection of plastic film in vunerable places.

Maybe the rear door picks up road spray from the front wheels?

I cleaned mine and they look ok but always less noticeable on Mesa Red than on a white car.

Ed.

Surely they should have just stick a strip on the bonnet then? *bangs head against wall*

capese21 · September 12, 2015

Surely they should have just stick a strip on the bonnet then?

imho yes as its vunerable, the bumper certainly is as the (not so) Smart repair technician noticed yesterday. The part of the rear door that has it applied is also vulnerable maybe that's why Lexus specified it.

Ed

rayaans · September 12, 2015

Surely they should have just stick a strip on the bonnet then?

imho yes as its vunerable, the bumper certainly is as the (not so) Smart repair technician noticed yesterday. The part of the rear door that has it applied is also vulnerable maybe that's why Lexus specified it.

Ed

Maybe it is but I can't see how much as it only really sticks out 2cm or so on each side from the rest of the car when you look at width. However, having said that this is my wife's car so essentially, it is being used mainly in town and for school runs/shopping etc - therefore, its very very very unlikely to get a stone chip there!