I think it may be more of an evolution of auto interests for me; these days I`d much rather spend a weekend doing this:
...as opposed to doing this:
I`ve also kinda reached a point where I`m quite satisfied w/ the products and methods I use (which does include toppers) hence the "Chasing of Unicorns" is no longer a priority, no longer a need to squeeze out an extra measure of gloss or protection as over the last 6 years, I`m quite pleased with what I`ve `found` for my needs. And one thing I`ve found is that for my daily driver, the best way to go moving forward is post-Winter decon followed by an application or 2 of Gyeon CanCoat w/ occasional toppers for fun, another application or 2 of CanCoat in the fall and a polish when needed. A full on multi-year coating just isn`t worth it for this car that will turn a multi-year coating into a 2 year max coating w/ 20k annual miles of freeway use and limited maintenance due to it being the `red-headed stepchild` of our `fleet`, last in line to be taken care of. With 4 cars, I can only work up the motivation to fastidiously keep 3 on the maintenance `front-burner`.
As to the topic at hand, PPF brings another variable into the equation, perhaps one that lends more credence to the use of such products. A coating on top of PPF does have some benefit in my mind, with the PPF taking care of possible physical damage and the coating on top dealing with any possible environmental incidents. Now I`m not all that comfortable w/ polishing PPF at this point so with those 2 cars, an extra-protection/sacrificial layering approach is mentally re-assuring and given that coatings have somewhat of a shorter longevity on PPF than they do on bare paint, a little extra can`t hurt in my mind. Although the STEK Dynoshield on the Corvette has a hydrophobic topcoat built in and the self-healing capabilities are helpful in reducing the need to polish, I may vey well get to the point after a few years where the `topper` is doing most of the heavy lifting after the coating fades. It`s still something I have to get a handle on being only our 3rd season with PPF but given the seasonal use and limited mileage our PPF`d cars see (10k miles a year, no Winter, always garaged) I could see getting to a point where the `topper` is the primary protection/self-cleaning medium of those cars. Only time will tell.
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