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Model Y DIY Xpel Ultimate PPF

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@maximus96 I'm definitely interested in the tint. Any tips you can pass along?
For the front windows, i made a mistake of shrinking it as shown in the video above. It shrank unevenly. So for the passenger side, I smeared a layer of bath soap (Irish Spring) on the window first and waited for it to dry. Then wiped a 4” path along the outer edges of the window (top and two sides) with a wet rag and tacked the tint film on the wiped area flat (let the finger distribute in between the wiped areas). Then heat shrank and squeegee from top down as shown jn the video above.
 
Hey guys,
Thank you for all the helpful information. I went ahead and purchased a full vehicle kit for my Model Y.
Question:
I installed the hood only, which was very easy, I had few little white bubbles, I popped them, but now I have a white ring around the bubble, trapped air maybe? will it dry out or do you think I have to redo it? I will post pics when ill get home tonight.

I think I'm not pressing hard enough when squeegeeing the water out.
 
dumb q... with all the water splashing everywhere would it damage the car? how about front windshield? I'm planning on taking mine in to a shop for tinting
The water sprayed at the door windows won’t do any damage. Most are squeegeed out the sides and not down the window. Whatever that makes it down the window comes out of the drain hole at the bottom of the door. The windshield takes more prep work and the installers will wedge a microfiber rope at the bottom to catch all the water. You shouldn’t have any problems with a quality shop.
 
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Hey guys,
Thank you for all the helpful information. I went ahead and purchased a full vehicle kit for my Model Y.
Question:
I installed the hood only, which was very easy, I had few little white bubbles, I popped them, but now I have a white ring around the bubble, trapped air maybe? will it dry out or do you think I have to redo it? I will post pics when ill get home tonight.

I think I'm not pressing hard enough when squeegeeing the water out.
It's virtually impossible to squeegee all the water out. The thin layer under the film which you can’t really see later combines and form a visible bubble. For water bubbles, just wait for them to evaporate and disappear. Could take several days. For air bubbles, I used a needle and syringe filled with clean water. Inject the water into the bubble and then squeeze out the water.
 
I bought a pack of these to extract water and air from the bubbles. Works really well and you can't see the puncture since it is so small.

1634175148443.jpeg
 
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I tried PPFing the rear a couple of days ago. It is definitely the most difficult part of the car to do. It appeared impossible at the beginning. I almost gave up, but persisted and got a satisfactory result in the end. If you are thinking about doing this, it is doable, and just be patient and persistent at it. Once you get the center section down flat (first picture), you are almost home-free. The second picture is when it was nearly done with the film trimmed.
Screen Shot 2021-11-10 at 3.46.12 PM.png
Screen Shot 2021-11-10 at 3.46.36 PM.png
 
I tried PPFing the rear a couple of days ago. It is definitely the most difficult part of the car to do. It appeared impossible at the beginning. I almost gave up, but persisted and got a satisfactory result in the end. If you are thinking about doing this, it is doable, and just be patient and persistent at it. Once you get the center section down flat (first picture), you are almost home-free. The second picture is when it was nearly done with the film trimmed.View attachment 731560View attachment 731559
Looks like you did this piece with bulk (not precut)? Any particular reason? Also what size roll did you use?
 
Looks like you did a really nice job. Pretty amazing how you can run a single sheet across that kind of a U-shape and not have any creases.
Thanks. I think that it’s a testament to the film's ability to stretch and shrink to fit the compound curves. When I first put he film on the car, it looked like the skirt on a hoover craft and I thought that there was no way to flat it out. But pulling the film horizontally following the contour of the U-shape, tack down both sides and then stretching vertically caused it to lay flat.
 
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Another area that I did bulk instead of pre-cut kit was the rear bumper. The two ends needed a lot of stretching because they are rounded in all directions, like wrapping a basketball. I cut the film about a foot longer than needed on each end to use as handles to grab onto for stretching. I struggled a bit trying to stretch vertically because there wasn't any extra film for me handle, but it turned fine.
Screen Shot 2021-11-15 at 10.05.30 AM.png
 
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I'm thinking that paying a pro to do the front bumper, then tacking the hood and headlights as a DIY might be a good combo since they're pretty flat. Debating the value of doing the front fenders, as only a tiny strip of panel is exposed to the incoming air.

Are you guys removing/reinstalling the hood emblem or installing a kit with the T cut out?
 
I'm thinking that paying a pro to do the front bumper, then tacking the hood and headlights as a DIY might be a good combo since they're pretty flat. Debating the value of doing the front fenders, as only a tiny strip of panel is exposed to the incoming air.

Are you guys removing/reinstalling the hood emblem or installing a kit with the T cut out?
The rear doors are vulnerable areas too. My MY came with partial PFF from the factory., but I removed them and PFF the whole door. I removed the emblem when I did the MS, but for the MY, I just cut around. I am happy with either way.
 
The rear doors are vulnerable areas too. My MY came with partial PFF from the factory., but I removed them and PFF the whole door. I removed the emblem when I did the MS, but for the MY, I just cut around. I am happy with either way.
Luckily doors seem pretty easy as well. It's really just that front bumper that looks like a major PITA. Personally I will probably just use front flaps, as we don't have road salt or sand to worry about where we live.
 
Why on earth does it cost so much for an "expert" to install this PPF? The kit itself costs about $900. I'll give you that. But there is no reason at all for a guy to charge $6000 to install on the entire car. That is nuts. At that rate, he'd be paying himself about $250 an hour.

If these guys asked for maybe $800 for labor and $1000 for the kit, I'd be more than happy to hand it over to them to do. That's around $40 an hour which is a solid rate. Heck, I could have the entire car repainted in 10 years for less than $6000 today.
 
why would they not charge what the market is willing to pay?
Because for every $100 less they charge, they would get a significantly larger customer base. People who own Toyotas may go do it, not just Teslas. That would increase their revenue.

Also, unless the shops are all colluding on pricing, there is no reason why another shop would not try to undercut the price to get more customers.

Which brings me to the original question: why is the labor rate so insanely high for PPF? This isn’t a deeply specialized skill like heart surgery. An amateur could do a decent job with enough time and a little practice.