Industry glossary

Tint, PPF, ceramic coating, detail & wrap glossary.

The terms shop owners, technicians, and customers actually use — defined plainly. 32entries across 6 categories. Pulled from SalesThumb's customer + operator language guide.

Window tint6 Paint protection film (PPF)6 Ceramic coating6 Auto detailing4 Vehicle wrap5 Shop operations5

Window tint

VLT (Visible Light Transmission)aka VLT · Visible Light Transmission: The percentage of visible light that passes through a tinted window. A 35% VLT film lets through 35% of visible light — the lower the number, the darker the tint. State laws specify minimum VLT per window (front side, rear side, back glass) and most states require a top-strip-only treatment on the windshield above the AS-1 line.
AS-1 line: A horizontal mark on the windshield from the factory, located roughly 5-6 inches below the top of the windshield. Most US state tint laws permit film above the AS-1 line on the windshield (the 'top strip') but prohibit film below it. The exact distance is set by federal motor vehicle safety standards.
Ceramic filmaka Ceramic tint: A window tint film type that uses ceramic nanoparticles instead of dye or carbon to block heat and UV. Premium category — typically blocks 50-90% of infrared heat at the same VLT as a basic dyed film. Cooler interior, no signal interference (unlike metallic films), and longer color stability.
Carbon film: A window tint film type that uses carbon particles to block heat. Mid-tier category — better heat rejection than dyed film, cheaper than ceramic. No signal interference. Common choice for budget-conscious customers who still want better-than-dyed performance.
Dyed film: The entry-level window tint film type. Uses pigments dyed into the film to absorb light. Cheaper than carbon or ceramic but lower heat rejection and prone to fading over time (typically 2-5 years). Common in budget installs and rear glass where heat rejection matters less.
Roll length: The linear measurement of a film roll (in feet or meters). Tint shops buy film by the roll — typically 100ft or 60ft rolls — and track inventory by linear length consumed per install. Inventory software like SalesThumb auto-deducts roll length on job completion.

Paint protection film (PPF)

PPF (Paint Protection Film)aka PPF · Paint Protection Film · Clear bra: A thermoplastic urethane film applied to a vehicle's painted surface to protect against rock chips, scratches, and minor abrasion damage. Self-healing variants use heat to recover from minor scratches. Brands include XPEL, SunTek, STEK, and 3M.
XPEL DAP: XPEL's Design Access Program — a software + cutting plotter that gives installers pre-cut vehicle-specific kit patterns for thousands of vehicle make/models. DAP-driven cutting eliminates hand-cutting waste and produces consistent installs. SalesThumb's PPF inventory tracking auto-deducts film on job completion and fires a low-stock alert before you run out mid-install.
Full frontaka Full-front PPF: A PPF kit that covers the front bumper, hood, fenders, headlights, mirrors, and (often) A-pillars. The most common premium PPF install. Typically 2-3 day install for a single tech.
Track packaka Track package: A larger PPF kit that adds rocker panels, door cups, B-pillars, and rear-quarter splash zones to the standard full-front. Common for track-driven cars and luxury daily drivers in salt-belt climates.
Self-healing PPF: A PPF film property where minor scratches and swirl marks disappear when the film is heated (sun, warm water, or hair dryer). The film's elastomeric polymer reflows to fill micro-damage. Standard on most premium PPF brands as of 2026.
Hand-cut PPF: PPF cut to fit a panel during install using only a blade and the technician's eye, rather than a pre-cut DAP kit. Higher skill ceiling but higher material waste and more variable seams. Common for custom panels and one-off jobs.

Ceramic coating

Ceramic coatingaka Nano coating · SiO2 coating: A liquid polymer (typically SiO2-based) applied to vehicle paint that chemically bonds to the clear coat. Creates a hydrophobic, gloss-enhancing, scratch-resistant layer that lasts 1-10 years depending on product and prep quality.
Coating tier: A pricing tier based on coating product longevity and number of layers. Common tiers: 1yr (entry consumer-grade), 3yr (prosumer), 5yr (professional standard), 10yr (top professional), lifetime (limited warranty class). Each tier requires increasing prep stages and product layers.
Paint correction: The process of polishing a vehicle's clear coat to remove swirl marks, scratches, water spots, and oxidation BEFORE applying ceramic coating. Without correction, the coating locks in existing imperfections. Sold as 1-stage (light), 2-stage (medium), or 3-stage (heavy).
Decon (decontamination): The pre-correction wash + clay-bar + iron-fallout-remover process that strips embedded contaminants from paint. Required before any meaningful polishing. Usually 60-90 minutes of work on a sedan.
IPA wipe: Isopropyl alcohol panel wipe — the final pre-coating step that removes polishing oils and ensures the ceramic coating bonds directly to the clear coat. Skipping the IPA wipe is the #1 cause of failed ceramic installs.
9H hardness: A marketing term used by ceramic coating brands. Refers to the pencil-hardness scale, the highest of which is 9H. In practice, the actual scratch resistance varies widely between coatings; '9H' is more brand positioning than a verifiable spec.

Auto detailing

Two-bucket wash: A wash method using two buckets — one with soapy water, one with rinse water — to prevent dirt picked up by the wash mitt from being re-deposited on the paint. Standard for professional details and ceramic-prep washes.
Engine bay detail: A full clean + dressing of the engine compartment. Typical workflow: cover sensitive electronics, degrease, agitate with brushes, rinse, dry, dress plastic/rubber. Sold as a $50-200 upsell on full details.
Interior shampoo: Deep cleaning of upholstery, carpets, and headliner using a wet-vac extractor and dedicated cleaning solutions. Removes embedded stains, odors, and biological residue. Typically 90-180 minutes on a midsize vehicle.
Headlight restoration: The process of removing UV-yellowed oxidation from polycarbonate headlight lenses. Wet-sand → polish → UV-protectant coat. Restores light output significantly; results last 1-3 years before the lens yellows again.

Vehicle wrap

Cast vinyl: A premium vinyl film produced by casting liquid PVC onto a release liner. Conforms to compound curves, doesn't shrink, lasts 5-8+ years outdoors. Brands include 3M 2080, Avery SW900, KPMF, Inozetek, Hexis. The standard for color-change wraps and high-end commercial.
Calendared vinyl: An entry-level vinyl produced by rolling PVC through heated calendars. Cheaper than cast vinyl but stiffer, prone to shrinkage, and typically lasts 2-5 years. Common for short-term promotional wraps and flat-panel commercial graphics.
Yardage: Total linear vinyl required for a wrap quote, calculated from vehicle dimensions + complexity multiplier + waste factor. Most wrap shops use 1.3-1.5x waste factor on color-change wraps and 1.1-1.2x on commercial fleet to account for misalignment + miscuts.
Color changeaka Full color change wrap: A wrap install that changes a vehicle's apparent color by applying vinyl over the entire painted surface. Typically 3-5 days install for a sedan, longer for SUVs/trucks. Pricing ranges $2,500-$8,000+ depending on vinyl grade and vehicle complexity.
Fleet wrap: Commercial graphics applied to a company's vehicle fleet — logos, contact info, branding. Lower vinyl grade than color-change wraps, optimized for high-volume install + readable-at-distance design. Per-vehicle pricing typically $500-$2,500.

Shop operations

Close rate: The percentage of quotes that become paid jobs over a given window (typically 30/60/90 days). There's no verified industry-wide benchmark we can cite here — it varies too much by shop, market, and lead quality to be a trustworthy number. Track your own close rate and watch the trend rather than comparing to an outside figure.
COGS (Cost of Goods Sold): The direct materials cost for a job — film, vinyl, ceramic product, polish compound, etc. Tracking COGS per job is critical for margin analysis. Shop-management software like SalesThumb auto-calculates COGS from inventory consumption on job completion.
10DLC: Ten-Digit Long Code — the US carrier registration program required for businesses to send SMS marketing or transactional messages from a standard 10-digit phone number. Without 10DLC registration, messages are heavily rate-limited or blocked. Twilio handles the registration; typical approval time is 5-10 business days.
Bay: A physical work station in a shop where a vehicle is parked during install. Most tint/PPF/ceramic shops have 2-6 bays. Scheduling software lets operators block bays for the duration of a job (which may span multiple days for full-front PPF or color-change wraps).
AS-2 glazing: The federal classification for windshield laminated glass that has not been altered with after-market tint film. Most state tint laws prohibit any aftermarket darkening of AS-2 glazing below the AS-1 line.

Got a term you'd like defined?

Send us the term and a sentence about what context you'd want it defined in — we'll add it.