I seem to chip a lot of windshields and with ceramic tint on the inside they get really expensive to replace. I discovered these films that are installed on the outside and think I'm going to give it a shot. Anyone have experience with a specific brand or any advice before I buy the WindshieldSkin brand & DIY it?

https://windshieldskin.com/pages/windshield-skin-installation-gallery

When I bought my new truck the sales guy mentioned a ceramic coating specifically to harden windshields against rock chips but I haven't seen anything too convincing.

Following as I don't get chips perse but a bunch of those very small pits that add up over time.

I have the Xpel exterior protection film on my car. I had to get it replaced under warranty about 4 months in - but it was an install problem. The film is not super malleable and it had waves and distortion I could see anytime I drove. It looked like you were drunk or not able to see straight.

They replaced it free of charge and it's been great since then. I also have the inside ceramic tinted as well and also got tired of replacing expensive windshields.

I would 100% get it again. Just watch the install and ensure it cures ok.

I have Xpel on several of my fun cars. It works. It has absolutely saved the Ferrari's windshield more than once. Totally worth it. I don't have any visual distortion issues.

Do yall do anything extra to maintain the exterior films and are these on any DD's?

My hesitancy with these films is needing to replace the film multiple times due to wear/scratching from wiper blades. At some point, film replacement would become more costly than a windshield (at least for a basic ***** F150).

I've used Racing Optics in the past. It's actually 3 layers of film, so when the 1st layer gets scratched/hazy, you just pull it off and you've got 2 more layers to work with. On my Jeep, each layer would last about 6 months at best, so a single application would get you a year and a half.

The film isn't too expensive, but applying it without leaving any bubbles was enough of a PITA that I gave up on it.

Found a shop right around the corner that does XPEL so going to drop in today & see what it's all about.

I've got XPEL on my X5 and it has definitely saved the windshield at least once in 18 months. A couple of distortions but don't notice them until my line of sight crosses them. I'm a fan of these and will get installed on future cars.

Ceramic coating is so thin it won't do anything to prevent chips or cracks.

It is 1000x better than Rain-X, however. I coated my current truck 4 years ago and it's still going strong. To be fair, my truck spends most of it's life in my garage as I work from home.

They quoted me $650 for my truck. Seems steep but if it saves the glass once it pays for itself. How much did yall pay?

I paid $800 for the Corvette's windshield's exterior XPEL film recently. $650 seems reasonable!

$595 from the Xpel corporate install store in San Antonio.