Full-body paint protection film starts from $4,800. The exact figure depends on your car — panel sizes and curves differ from model to model, and an SUV takes a lot more film than a hatchback.

There are three packages. All three cover the whole car. What changes is the film.

• ClearHC1010
  Our most popular film. Virtually invisible, haze particles and road grime wipe off it, and light scratches self-heal in the sun.
• ProHC1020
  A thicker film that takes harder knocks and heals faster. It uses our clearest adhesive, so it lifts off cleanly years later without marking the paint.
• MaxHC1030
  The thickest film we make, for cars that cover serious mileage or owners who want the maximum protection we can put on.

Send us your model and we will come back with the figure for your car the same day.

Because someone will always do the job cheaper. Whether you can trust the result is a different question, and three things matter:

• Workmanship is almost impossible to judge on day one. The edges lift, the corners start collecting dirt and the seams begin to show months later, after the car has been washed a few dozen times.
• Film quality varies enormously. Part of our business involves serving discerning supercar owners, so we are extra careful with the quality of film we choose.
• Business stability. A warranty is only worth whatever the business behind it is worth. Many detailers disappear after a couple of years, and a “10-year warranty” becomes meaningless.

If you are choosing one, choose film.

Ceramic coating is a chemical layer a few microns thick. It makes paint glossy and much easier to wash, and it is good at that. What it cannot do is absorb anything physical. A stone thrown up on the expressway goes straight through it.

Paint protection film is a physical layer, many times thicker, and it absorbs the impact instead of your paint. Light scratches and swirl marks in the film automatically self-heal with mild heat or sunlight.

Our film also has a water-repellent top coat, so you get the easy washing as part of the same job. Some owners still do both, with film on the panels that take the hits and an additional ceramic coating on top. It is not necessary, but also fine.

Your car is cleaned and inspected first. Whether it needs polishing depends on its condition. A new car usually does not. A car that has been on the road for a while often does, because film laid over swirls locks them in.

We will tell you which it is once we have seen the car.

A full-body installation usually takes three to five days. Bigger and more complicated cars take longer, because every curve, cutout and badge is wrapped by hand.

Yes, the car stays with us for that time. It sits inside the showroom, not on the street.

Do it when the car is new, before anything has happened to it. The film keeps the paint in the condition it left the factory, so there is nothing to gain by waiting.

A car already on the road can still be done, but film does not undo damage that is already there. Very light swirls can become less visible under film. Deeper scratches that have gone through the paint will still show.

Yes. Small bubbles and hazy patches straight after installation are moisture and solvent from the wet-application process, and they clear on their own as the adhesive cures. They usually go within a few days, occasionally up to two or three weeks in humid weather.

If bubbles are still there after a month, or if any of them have visible debris in them, that is an installation issue rather than curing. Bring the car back and we will re-lay the panel.

The film carries a warranty of up to ten years. Getting there depends on how it is looked after.

That means washing it regularly and getting bird droppings, tree sap and leaves off before they bake in the sun. Use a non-abrasive sponge or mitt, and keep harsh chemicals off it.

Light scratches and swirl marks, yes. Warmth speeds it up: direct sun, warm water, or a hair dryer held at a moderate heat and distance.

Deep cuts that reach the base layer or the adhesive will not heal, and neither will impact damage. Self-healing is for the fine marks a car picks up from washing and ordinary use.

It should not. Yellowing, blistering, cracking and delamination are manufacturing defects, and the warranty covers them.

The film does need looking after, though. Follow the wash routine and it should still look right in year eight.

Wait 72 hours before the first wash, so the adhesive cures fully.

After that: a pH-neutral car shampoo and a clean microfibre mitt. Work from the top down and rinse the mitt often, so grit is not dragged across the film. Dry with clean microfibre.

Touchless automatic washes are fine. Brush and cloth washes are not, because they drag grit across the film and can lift the edges. Keep pressure-washer jets away from the edges, and avoid solvent cleaners and abrasive polishes.

Yes, when it is removed properly and within its service life. The adhesive is designed to release from cured factory paint, and the film comes off with controlled heat.

One thing to tell us first: paint that has been resprayed, touched up or is already failing can lift along with the film, so mention any previous bodywork.

Partly. Film is a thin, flexible cushion that absorbs abrasion and spreads impact, but it will not stop a panel deforming. A door edge striking with any real force still dents metal.

What it does prevent is the paint chip and scratch that normally comes with a ding. You are left with a dent instead of a dent with bare paint exposed to the weather, which matters for corrosion and for what the repair costs.

Paint condition is one of the first things a car is judged on at trade-in. We buy and sell cars for a living, so we watch swirls, chips and stone marks get priced into valuations every week.

Film keeps the original factory paint intact underneath, which is what a valuer is looking for. On a car you plan to sell on, it is one of the few things you can spend money on that the next buyer can see.

Send us a photo, or bring the car down to the showroom. We will take a look and sort it out.

We are a car dealership with a permanent showroom. The same team that installed your film is the team you deal with afterwards.

We are at 3 Depot Close, #01-01, Singapore 109840, open Monday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm.

Call us, or send your car model on Instagram @dmdetailinglab or TikTok @dm_detailing_lab and we will arrange a date.