I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: opinions on PPF install quality
I had PPF installed a few days ago. When I dropped the car off it was immaculate. I had made sure of that and even put cling film over it to drive it the 200 meters to the garage. It was very clean with no marks or scratches anywhere. When I collected it the car looked great but then it was a low light garage at the end of the afternoon.
I get it home and notice debris stuck under the PPF below the badge. I took it back the next day and the installer pulled some back and picked out the larger pieces. He said it’s protection rather than perfection and a bit of dust is inevitable. He said especially under badges.
Today I was giving it a gentle wipe down and have found so many bits of trapped grit, stretch marks, you name it.
I am really disappointed but I’d like some other people’s opinions. It cost me £1640 for frontend only. Here is a little YouTube video I made this morning: https://youtu.be/HN0-kkX_iAk?feature=shared
I’m likely going to ask for a full refund on Monday. I don’t think it’s going to be easy.
£1640 big ones too. Phew!
If there is any ‘good’ that comes of it, it’s a pubic service example of why I’d refuse to let someone do something to a car that is a want, rather than a need. Some of those cuts/outlines look minging too.
Thats not good to hear… and a lot of money, I got half the front end done in PPF bonnet, wings,full bumper,both mirrors, window surrounds,black roof bar on the RF,and both black rear quarters, all for £460.00 plus the rest of the car was ceramic coated that was 6 years ago the film is still 100% and this year I ceramic recoated the rest of the car …to keep the paint tip top…I would deffo be going back and ask it to be put right…
Do the forum (and the world) a favour too, when it all pans out (even if you get a refund), say who did it to save someone else sleepwalking into using the same place.
The front bumper PPF pattern seems to suggest it might be Suntek and if I remember correctly XPEL has a slightly different pattern.
Installers usually say bubbles are a normal part of PPF and eventually evaporate under sun. This wasn’t my experience and thankfully I have very few. A large bubble did appear at the bottom of front bumper after collection to which the installer quickly rectified by pulling the edge and resealing it.
That has to be mate’s rates since it’s way too cheap even back then.
I’ve seen PremiumShield up close by the same installer as mine who they switched to after Suntek. The quality of work is indistinguishable meaning it’s really down to the installer’s skills. Strangely, the same installer switched to STEK a year or two later.
It appears the non-bubble marks on your ND’s PPF maybe a case of the installer stretching the PPF too much.
If you were to get the front bumper PPF redone, ask whoever is doing it to remove the badge and supply them a new one since they are relatively cheap. This will give you better coverage underneath
yep mates rate but if I had of paid full it would only have been £680.00 all in and you got 2 x 1 ltr bottles of ceramic wash and top up …I think they do it now for under £770.00
Sorry, I should have clarified that since they used a pattern, the installer should be able to delete the badge cutout from their computer like mine did. A potential issue is that since the badge area is recessed, it may be prone to the PPF lifting on the edges.
Also, a warning about the side skirts and from experience, you may eventually find dirt getting trapped on the top edges. Mine weren’t wrapped around as are seemingly yours and it’s a bit annoying seeing them up close. I will eventually get them re-done
Yeah I would too, it seems like an awful lot of money to stop stone chips, perhaps I’m just not sure about the entire PPF thing, but saying protection not perfection seems a strange comment to me,
Agreed. And let’s hope ‘yet another’ internet forum thread don’t cumulate with no one be none the wiser who did it, and some poor sucker goes there oblivious.
I have never really been convinced by PPF to be honest. It always felt like a tricky thing to get right to me and frankly at those sort of prices I would rather have a front end respray for half that cost every 5 years.
TVR’s are prone to stone chips as they are fibreglass which is notoriously prone but the last front end respray I was quoted for a few years back was around £800, it is likely a bit more now. I know my total TVR respray was around £4800 about 5 years ago. I’m guessing an MX 5 would be cheaper thanks to not being fibreglass.
Really hope you get it sorted out to your satisfaction.
Sorry but that is totally unacceptable and does not even come close to professional. I’d get someone from a body shop to look at it before you take it back and get an estimate for proper repairs just incase these cowboys get difficult.
