I took my brand new Model 3 to get the windows tinted and I decided to get the front of the car all the way to the doors with PPF. They kept the car for 3 days. I could not pick the car up on Thursday so they told me they would leave it in the sun to help the PPF cure and then move the car back inside during the night. I picked the car up this morning (Friday) and there are 15-20 small bubbles around the PPF. The owner says its normal and will go away in a couple weeks. If I would have known this I doubt I would have gotten the PPF in the first place. It looks like crap. Since picking my car up I have tried to educated myself and watched a lot of PPF YouTube videos. I know I should of did this before getting the PPF. I realize now I have of stretch marks over my PPF which I understand is not reparable and will not go away with time or sun or heat. It really looks bad and catches your eye. I really don't want to be a "Karen" but this is just unacceptable. I am planning on taken my car back tomorrow and see if they will redo the job or refund me. Has anyone ever removed PPF? I called another PPF shop in the area just to have some options. I called a shop that had lots of great google reviews and the guy I spoke to told me they have not once been asked to remove the PPF and said we have never priced a car for PPF removal?? Could this be possible? All the advertisements I am seeing say it can be easily removed and replaced.
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Bad PPF Install - My Poor Model 3 :(
- Thread starter Wes1356
- Start date
joebruin77
Active Member
Remember, if the original PPF was installed by a manufacturer-authorized installer, the PPF should come with a warranty. You did not indicate what brand your PPF is, but for example, my Xpel PPF comes with a 10-year warranty. So you should not have to pay to have this fixed or replaced.
If it were me, I would first ask the original shop to replace the PPF. If they refuse, then I would contact the PPF manufacturer. If it is a valid warranty claim against poor installation, then I'm sure the removal of the old and installation of new, correctly installed PPF would be entirely covered by them.
Good luck!
If it were me, I would first ask the original shop to replace the PPF. If they refuse, then I would contact the PPF manufacturer. If it is a valid warranty claim against poor installation, then I'm sure the removal of the old and installation of new, correctly installed PPF would be entirely covered by them.
Good luck!
Unfortunately, the stretch marks and bubbles are "installation errors". I don't know of ANY manufacturers that will do anything about this. The warranties they provide are for Product Issues only, such as changing color, lifting, peeling, forming bubbles due to adhesive failures etc. Your only options are to go back to the shop that installed it and try to get them to replace the material and hope they do a better job or go to another shop and pay to have them redo it.
Thanks. I had sent a quote request to them last week and still haven't heard back. Do you mind me asking how much it cost you and for what kind of coverage (partial or full)?
TBrownTX
Active Member
I'm sorry you had a bad experience, ad hope you can get it resolved. Everytime I start thinking about maybe getting PPF one of these threads pops up and reminds me that nothing is perfect.
Tim
Tim
Meanmug
Member
Hello! I'm also in Dallas and would like to get PPF for the front of my Model 3. Any regrets with Clear Bra North Dallas? What is reasonable pricing? (I've seen wildly different quotes.)
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Clear Bra is the best that I've seen so far. Mine was done a few years ago now, so there are some areas that I would personally like touched up, so I haven't gotten to experience that yet, but expecting good service.
If you want to send me a PM, you can see how it looks after ~3 years, and I can let you know how revisiting them goes.
The only other place that I would've taken it was Tritek (I go to them for all my building/vehicle tinting needs), but Tritek was $8k+. Clear Bra is a drive for me, but they charged ~$6k for PPF removal, paint touch up, new PPF install and ceramic on top.
I think you can get a deal with Clear Bra by going through a shop; the local shop I use for all my custom/suspension work is going to send a couple cars through them to verify, so may be able to save another $1-2k there.
If I was doing it all again, I would've gone with Clear Bra (through the local shop) or Tritek from the beginning (second option; better location to me, more expensive, but good service through the years).
If you want to send me a PM, you can see how it looks after ~3 years, and I can let you know how revisiting them goes.
The only other place that I would've taken it was Tritek (I go to them for all my building/vehicle tinting needs), but Tritek was $8k+. Clear Bra is a drive for me, but they charged ~$6k for PPF removal, paint touch up, new PPF install and ceramic on top.
I think you can get a deal with Clear Bra by going through a shop; the local shop I use for all my custom/suspension work is going to send a couple cars through them to verify, so may be able to save another $1-2k there.
If I was doing it all again, I would've gone with Clear Bra (through the local shop) or Tritek from the beginning (second option; better location to me, more expensive, but good service through the years).
Can I ask you a question? So not sure what you paid but I've got quotes on spraying a model 3 a different color, basically cover up scratches and paint job and was quoted 4k, at that price I could repaint the car twice for the price they charged on the 8k job. So a small touch up on a panel or even painting a panel i would guess would be roughly 500, maybe 1k. So my question is why do ppf, honestly it seems like such a shady service, at 8k their profit margin must be at least 6k after materials, that's so crazy, when you factor in they will be making better profit than someone that is painting a car which is way harder and more time consuming.
Sorry I hope this didn't come off as rude, I was just curious on the debate of paint vs ppf and what the benefit was for such an expensive ppf, if it was cheaper I would totally understand obviously.
Not the worst I've seen and not the best. They should simply remove it and reinstall at no cost to you.
thesmokingman
Active Member
Looks like you chose the wrong place to have it done. I'd get a refund, file a claim with your CC.
Depends on where you are, but a quality paint job can be well over 10K considering locally I've seen quotes of 2500 to paint two doors with a very minor scratch on the lower of one door. I will say we wish it would be 6K profit margins on a job as we could all then retire after a few years work. Keep in mind, taxes, employees wages, insurance, rent, electricity, bookkeeping, accounting, redo's and the list goes on relentlessly. Painting can also lower the value of the vehicle if not a factory color as well plus many other concerns. People also want to negate the polishing over the years and would like to see a nice shiny pretty car each time they look back at it vs having to watch it degrade at times with each drive. Many other reason why so many do ppf beyond this but these are a couple.
Never perfect but can be far better than this. Some of the issues are only bubbles as well but... This type of issue should simply be a removal of the film and restart. All of us clear bra installers can have challenges at times although we should recognize them and rectify before delivery. Water bubbles are not abnormal and some turn to an air bubble, but this is a simple fix. As you see around the tow hook the areas not wrapped, can lead to dirt getting under film. In the case of that pic the bumper was just down a little too much causing to overhang and likely had some water under it when delivered, and not noticed. Again, why it's best to get a quality install with every edge possible wrapped around the edge. Stretch marks or silvering can happen as well and if noticeable the piece should've been taken off and replaced if at all possible before delivery or appointment made or mentioned to come back and have the piece replaced.
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