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I work on 10-20 Tesla weekly. What questions do you have about Window Tint, PPF and coatings?
- Thread starter MinnesotaMX
- Start date
UltralightBeam
Member
Thanks for coming on here... My question for @MinnesotaMX is this.. If after a few weeks, there are some small bubbles in the tint, is it acceptable for the customer to come back in to request a re-do free of charge? In one of our best shops around me, (tout about how crazy they are about the extreme specifics even going over the car with bright LED lights to determine the amt of paint correction needed for PPF and Ceramic), I feel like I should be the same with the tint. I noticed some of it when I left and the guy said they can push those out at a later point in time and/or they'd go away when 'moisture leaves' or something like that... But to look at it now and realize my 10 year old car that had tint done by a competitor had zero micro bubbles...
I mean, you really have to look for them but I do have them in some spots.. Maybe I'm just nuts bc it's my car but IDK.. (Like overreacting to dead pixels) but they are one of the more expensive places in the area.
Also,
I mean, you really have to look for them but I do have them in some spots.. Maybe I'm just nuts bc it's my car but IDK.. (Like overreacting to dead pixels) but they are one of the more expensive places in the area.
Also,
Would you say it is acceptable to find very fine scratches on the outside of the back glass from cutting the rear film? Deep enough to register with a fingernail.
I just had my 3 day old Model 3 performance tinted and clear bra installed. When I went to pick it up, the rear defroster had about 6 areas where the defroster is damaged with missing bars. The installer says it cannot happen when installing tint. So I went and inspected the glass and found the knife marks on the glass from 2 pieces of film being cut on it. The installer slipped with his knife one of those times and hit the paint even making a 1-2 mm gouge.
Hes saying the defroster damage could not be his fault because he only installed tint and didn't remove it. I suspect his tint guy messed up and had to redo the tint.
I just had my 3 day old Model 3 performance tinted and clear bra installed. When I went to pick it up, the rear defroster had about 6 areas where the defroster is damaged with missing bars. The installer says it cannot happen when installing tint. So I went and inspected the glass and found the knife marks on the glass from 2 pieces of film being cut on it. The installer slipped with his knife one of those times and hit the paint even making a 1-2 mm gouge.
Hes saying the defroster damage could not be his fault because he only installed tint and didn't remove it. I suspect his tint guy messed up and had to redo the tint.
If you can only do one which do you do? PPF or Ceramic?
I can get the whole car done with one layer of Ceramic Pro light and then a top layer of Ceramic Pro 9H, this has a 5 year warranty for $1,500. For about the same price ($1,700) I can get a partial PPF (full hood, full bumper, headlights, mirrors, and part front and rear fenders) using Suntek Ultra, 10 year warranty.
There is a chance I'll do one and then the other a few months later (after a winter in NE Ohio), if I did ceramic first would that make doing PPF harder to install later?
I can get the whole car done with one layer of Ceramic Pro light and then a top layer of Ceramic Pro 9H, this has a 5 year warranty for $1,500. For about the same price ($1,700) I can get a partial PPF (full hood, full bumper, headlights, mirrors, and part front and rear fenders) using Suntek Ultra, 10 year warranty.
There is a chance I'll do one and then the other a few months later (after a winter in NE Ohio), if I did ceramic first would that make doing PPF harder to install later?
PPF for sure, ceramic prevents fine scratches by reducing the force needed to wash the paint. PPF prevents all paint damage to the effected areas.
What ceramic coating protects can easily be buffed out, what PPF protects needs a respray really take care of. Rock chips can be touched up by hand but its just not the same as a factory finish.
What ceramic coating protects can easily be buffed out, what PPF protects needs a respray really take care of. Rock chips can be touched up by hand but its just not the same as a factory finish.
Damn that sucks man! Thats the reason I didn't ppf the whole car, as I knew I couldn't prevent everything, and saw the damage a door did even with PPF. PPF will stop smaller rocks but is less useful against larger impacts
Probably some coal rollers kid who flings his door open at every chance.
Nothing really would stop that unfortunately, doors have a ton of inertia. Did it also dimple the door skin in addition to scratching the paint?
It didn't, just about a 1 inch white scratch diagonal. Almost as if something sharp scratched it as it was a pretty clean cut.
Glamisduner
Active Member
I'm considering taking my Model 3 to have bulk PPF installed for the front, then doing the DIY CarPro Cquartz UK 3.0 over the top and for the rest of the car myself. Any issues putting this version of ceramic over the PPF?
I'm having second thoughts on the bulk PPF now, but if the installer is good it should be fine right?
I'm having second thoughts on the bulk PPF now, but if the installer is good it should be fine right?
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hurjio
Member
Thanks for the explanation so it seems that I need to accept that my paint will get cut while scoring the PPF, even by an experienced installer. I guess it is a balance between accepting the paint being cut and more visible damage elsewhere...
Would pre-cut pieces mean less chance of the paint being cut?
hurjio
Member
When tinting the back window I got a bit of water / soap solution down into the glass that covers the horizontal slit for the brake light at the very bottom of the glass; This seems like it would happen often when tinting a model 3; but I cannot find a way to clean that spot on the glass (model 3) How do you get to the glass in this location to clean it?
Glamisduner
Active Member
MinnesotaMX, So the advise in this thread is to defiantly not get a custom PPF job and be sure to get as much pre-cut as possible?
Seems so. Worried that my paint will get cut is the biggest reason I have not yet applied PPF. I am paranoid OCD so it would be very stressful for me to drop off my baby and be worried that the paint is getting cut...
So would certain instalers have pre-cut pieces for a Model S and other Tesla models?
C141medic
Active Member
@MinnesotaMX Wouldn’t this work for a PPF install? And would it be an alternative to using a blade to cut?
WrapCut - Edge Cutting Tape - Vinyl Cutting Tape
WrapCut - Edge Cutting Tape - Vinyl Cutting Tape
EricUSC
Member
Thank you for answering questions! I have performed detailed inspections on 4 Model 3's with build dates of June, July, August and September 2018 and I have not seen an improvement in paint quality. We only accepted delivery of the August build and rejected the rest of them due to fisheyes that can only be corrected by a repaint. Given that my sample size is only four and yours is 10-20/week, have you seen paint quality improve, deteriorate, or remain constant on Model 3's built over the past few months?
Also, how would you approach adding PPF on a car that has fisheyes? I would imagine that the film won't adhere very well over the bump.
Also, how would you approach adding PPF on a car that has fisheyes? I would imagine that the film won't adhere very well over the bump.
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hurjio
Member
It might, I know they use it on some parts of the car when doing vinyl around weird curves. PPF might be too thick and might stretch the PPF. But I would imagine it's also inefficient for an installer to use it on a whole car. They have to spend additional time carefully laying out the cutting tape.
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