What's the difference between a ceramic coating and PPF?

They solve different problems, and most customers who are serious about protecting a car end up doing both. Paint protection film is the one that gives you actual physical protection. It is a thick, self-healing urethane film, around 8 mil, that absorbs impact before it reaches your paint. Rock chips, scratches and road debris are what it is for, and it is the only one of the two that will genuinely stop a chip. A ceramic coating is only a few microns thick, roughly a hundred times thinner than film, and it works chemically rather than physically. Its real strength is maintenance: it makes the car far easier to wash and dry, and it resists UV, oxidation, bird droppings, sap and chemical etching while adding noticeable depth and gloss. What it will not do is stop a rock. So film protects the paint and a coating protects the finish while making the car much easier to look after. The most popular way to get both is a hybrid package: film across the front end, where almost all the rock chips actually happen, and a ceramic coating over the rest of the car. Plenty of customers also have us coat over the film itself, so the whole vehicle beads and cleans the same way. Tell us how you use the car and we will tell you which combination is worth it.