What goes into a new car protection package?
A full package protects the paint, the finish and the glass with four separate services, and every one of them can be booked alone. The table shows what each does, where its price starts and how long it keeps the car.
| Service | What it protects against | Starting price | Time at the shop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paint correction | Swirls and haze already in the clear coat | Quoted after inspection | About a day (one stage), 1–2 days (two stage) |
| LLumar Platinum PPF | Rock chips and scratches on covered panels | $850 Partial Front, $1,550 Full Front | 1 day to 5 days by package |
| Graphene-ceramic coating | Grime bonding to paint and film, loss of gloss | Quoted per vehicle | 1–3 days |
| LLumar window tint | Heat, glare and UV through the rear glass | $220 coupe, $240 sedan, $260 SUV | 2–4 hours for a typical full tint |
The paint film is LLumar Platinum, which heals light scratches with heat and carries LLumar’s 10-year limited warranty, which the shop’s terms describe as covering yellowing, cracking, bubbling and peeling. The glass film in every starting price is LLumar ATC; IRX nano-ceramic and AIR clear ceramic are upgrades quoted per package, and all three carry lifetime cover on the film and on the shop’s labour. Every PPF package and its panel list and the full window tint price sheet are published.
In what order should a new car be protected?
Correction first, then PPF, then coating, then tint. Each step either prepares the surface for the next one or would be trapped under it if the order were reversed.
1. Paint correction, only if the paint needs it
Prep washes before delivery can put fine swirls into brand-new clear coat. Film and coating both seal in whatever sits underneath, so any polishing has to happen first. The shop measures paint thickness before a polisher touches the car, and paint that arrives clean simply skips this step. More on the stages is on the paint correction page.
2. Paint protection film
The paint is decontaminated, then LLumar Platinum is cut from software templates for your model and laid on the panels in your package. Film edges are tucked around the panel wherever its shape permits. Where a bumper’s shape forces a relief cut, you’ll see its position before any film goes down.
3. Ceramic coating
One coating covers filmed and unfilmed panels alike, so water and dirt leave every surface of the car the same way. Packages run from one layer (Essential) to four layers over full correction (Signature). Keep the car dry for 24 hours after pickup.
4. Window tint
Tint works on the inside of the glass and never touches the paint, so it closes out the visit. The plotter cuts each piece for your year, make and model before it’s heat-formed to the glass by hand. Don’t lower the windows for 3–5 days afterwards.
Behind the driver, any shade is legal, and so is film on the rear window provided the car has an outside mirror left and right. Under MVAR s. 7.05(8), though, the front door glass gets no film at all and the windshield only a 75 mm strip along its top edge. The shop will film front glass on request, but on a new car that means driving with something that isn’t road-legal in BC, risking a $109 ticket or a Notice & Order to remove it and pass an inspection; we go through that with you before you decide. The full rules are on tinting front windows in BC.
Whether to book all four together or spread them over several visits is answered in doing tint, PPF and coating in one go.
How many days will the car be at the shop?
It depends on which pieces you book: tint alone is usually a same-day job, while full-body film alone needs 3–5 days. Typical times for each job:
| Job | Typical time |
|---|---|
| Window tint, full car | 2–4 hours; most cars same day |
| Enhancement polish (one stage) | About a day |
| Two-stage correction | 1–2 days |
| PPF, Partial Front | Usually one day |
| PPF, Full Front or Track Package | 1–2 days |
| PPF, Full Vehicle | 3–5 days |
| Ceramic coating | 1–3 days |
Times add up when jobs are combined, so ask for drop-off and pick-up dates along with the quote for the set you choose.
Why protect the paint before the first winter?
Because BC winter roads are spread with small stone, and a new bumper and hood can meet it on the first highway drive of the season. Film on the nose takes those hits instead of the paint.
TranBC, the BC transportation ministry’s blog, explains why highways get small rocks rather than sand. It says “no piece of winter abrasive is allowed to be over 9.5 mm” on main highways, that the stones cause “windshield chips and paint dings”, and that speeding up from 80 to 110 km/h “will almost double the impact energy”. Closer to the shop, City of Langley crews treat priority routes with brine and use salt, or salt mixed with sand, on the roads. A Partial Front covers the full bumper, headlights, mirrors and part of the hood and fenders; a Full Front takes the hood and fenders edge to edge.
What about a leased car?
Film is removable, which makes it a reasonable fit for a lease, but your lease agreement decides what is allowed and what counts as wear at return. Read it, or ask the leasing company, before you book.
If the agreement says aftermarket film has to come off, tint removal is a one-to-three-hour job, priced per window, and the shop uses steam rather than blades on rear glass so the defroster grid comes through intact. Front glass rules don’t change for a lease: film on the front side windows is just as illegal on a leased car as on one you own.
How does this compare with the dealer’s protection package?
Treat a dealer’s paint protection add-on as an unknown until you know exactly what it is, and ask before you sign. Four questions sort it out: is it film, a coating or a sealant; which panels does it cover; who installs it; and who do you call if it fails?
PPF from the shop is LLumar Platinum on a named list of panels, carries LLumar’s 10-year limited warranty, and has a published starting price you can check before you commit. The side-by-side breakdown is in dealer paint protection packages vs PPF.
What should you book first?
If the budget covers one job before winter, make it film on the front of the car; tint and coating can follow on a later visit. A Full Front from $1,550 protects the whole hood and fenders, and a Partial Front from $850 covers the most-hit zone.
Use the quote form to tell us the car, list which of the four services you want, and say whether the paint has been checked for swirls. Brookswood Tint is at Unit 312, 20560 Langley Bypass, open Monday to Saturday, 9:00 to 17:00, and was established in 1989.
