Paint Protection Film or Ceramic Coating?

These get compared as alternatives and they are not really alternatives — they solve different problems, and plenty of cars have both.

What a ceramic coating does

A semi-permanent chemical layer bonded to the clear coat.

• Excellent chemical resistance — bird droppings, sap, lovebug residue and mineral spotting are far less able to etch through it.
• Genuine UV resistance, which matters enormously in Florida.
• Hydrophobic — water beads and sheets off, which reduces spotting and makes washing easier and safer.
• Gloss and depth on corrected paint.
• Measured in years rather than months.

What it does not do: stop a stone chip. A coating is microns thick. It has no impact resistance.

What paint protection film does

A thick, self-healing urethane film applied to panels.

• Genuine impact protection — stone chips, road debris, light abrasion.
• Self-healing on light scratches with heat.
• Protects specific high-risk panels: front bumper, hood leading edge, mirrors, rocker panels, door edges, and behind the wheels.
• Measured in many years.

What it does not do as well: it is not typically applied to the whole car, and it is a substantially larger investment.

Which one for Florida

The Florida-specific threats are chemical and UV — sun, sap, droppings, lovebugs, mineral spotting. Those are exactly what a coating addresses, which is why coatings are the more common answer here.

PPF earns its place on a car doing highway miles, on a vehicle with expensive paint, or on the specific panels that take road debris.

Together

The usual best arrangement on a car worth protecting properly: film on the impact areas, coating over everything including over the film. Each does its job and the coating makes both easier to maintain.

The condition attached to both

Neither is a substitute for washing. Both are applied to corrected paint, because both preserve whatever is underneath them.