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PPF recommendations for a PPF/Ceramic Coating installer in SoCal (Inland Empire/Corona/Ontario) area??
- Thread starter tempest2001
- Start date
Sorry, been busy all week. As promised here are some pics of the install.
I initially wanted to get the entire car done in XPEL Stealth, but change my mind and got the XPEL Ultimate on the full front clip. I also had them add custom cuts to the high threat areas in the rear and added ceramic coating on top.
It was hard to capture in photos, but N-Tech added PPF to the bottom along the contours of both doors. Also, I felt they did a better job than most on the side mirrors, the PPF goes all the way to the edge of the mirror housing. They did a great job tucking the edges around the hood, quarter panels, and front head/fog lights.
As stated above, N-TECH is a small outfit with only two people (owner and a helper) doing the PPF. This leads to longer install times (they had my car for almost 8 days) but I felt they did a great job, especially for the price. Like many, I was hesitant to go with N-TECH due to their lack of reviews. When I was picking up my MY, they had several high-end supercars in the bay getting worked on. Hopefully, the pics will convince others who are on the fence about N-TECH.
I initially wanted to get the entire car done in XPEL Stealth, but change my mind and got the XPEL Ultimate on the full front clip. I also had them add custom cuts to the high threat areas in the rear and added ceramic coating on top.
It was hard to capture in photos, but N-Tech added PPF to the bottom along the contours of both doors. Also, I felt they did a better job than most on the side mirrors, the PPF goes all the way to the edge of the mirror housing. They did a great job tucking the edges around the hood, quarter panels, and front head/fog lights.
As stated above, N-TECH is a small outfit with only two people (owner and a helper) doing the PPF. This leads to longer install times (they had my car for almost 8 days) but I felt they did a great job, especially for the price. Like many, I was hesitant to go with N-TECH due to their lack of reviews. When I was picking up my MY, they had several high-end supercars in the bay getting worked on. Hopefully, the pics will convince others who are on the fence about N-TECH.
Looks great, I'm thinking of using them as well when I get the MY. It's on order since March with dates keeps getting pushed.Sorry, been busy all week. As promised here are some pics of the install.
I initially wanted to get the entire car done in XPEL Stealth, but change my mind and got the XPEL Ultimate on the full front clip. I also had them add custom cuts to the high threat areas in the rear and added ceramic coating on top.
It was hard to capture in photos, but N-Tech added PPF to the bottom along the contours of both doors. Also, I felt they did a better job than most on the side mirrors, the PPF goes all the way to the edge of the mirror housing. They did a great job tucking the edges around the hood, quarter panels, and front head/fog lights.
As stated above, N-TECH is a small outfit with only two people (owner and a helper) doing the PPF. This leads to longer install times (they had my car for almost 8 days) but I felt they did a great job, especially for the price. Like many, I was hesitant to go with N-TECH due to their lack of reviews. When I was picking up my MY, they had several high-end supercars in the bay getting worked on. Hopefully, the pics will convince others who are on the fence about N-TECH.
Sorry to hear that. I almost delayed my pick-up on March 22, but CarMax actually offered more for my trade so I pulled the trigger. It has definitely been a process just getting the car tinted, PPF, and coated. To add insult, Tesla had to repair the cable for my screen so all in all I was without my car for almost 1 month!
infornography
Member
Just wanted to thank you for the review. I was super hesitant going to them since I have an appointment with them coming up and some other person posted saying they had a bad experience with a PPF installer in Riverside but didn't say the name. Thanks for clearing it up. I'm super far from them though so it's going to be a little bit of a trick figuring out how to get back and forth.
I made my appointment with Ntech for later this month based on the positive experience here. I finally got the notice to pick up my car. So if it works out (praying) and everything is acceptable I'm heading down there to get it done. I told them I'll be providing positive review if they did a good job here. I'll post pics and feedback when the car is done.
infornography
Member
I'm picking up my car soon, dropped it off on 5/25. They also do Tinting with Xpel XR Plus. I couldn't find anyone who would do the roof for a reasonable amount near me but they will and the price wasn't bad at all. I should be picking my car up sometime this week. Went Full PPF all around with a roof tint since I already got the other windows tinted elsewhere. I was considering a ceramic coating on top of it, but it seemed to be the only thing that didn't seem to be a value.
How did it turn out? I was thinking about the rear if it would be too dark to drive at night after tinting.
Dropped off my car earlier this week at N-tech, will post feedback/pic here when I get it back. I got the full car Xpel ultimate, ceramic, and windows tint done, didn't do the roof though.
infornography
Member
I'm a little late, but IU'll give my review on N-Tech here.
I wanted a full body Xpel Ultimate PPF that didn't use pre-cuts but didn't want to break the bank.
I live in the San Fernando Valley and every installer around here that uses Xpel was by and away extremely expensive.
I got quotes from 5000+ just for an Xpel PPF. They also do Ceramic Coating and Tinting.
N-Tech's packages for PPF and Ceramic Coatings are pretty straight forward and cheaper by around $2000. They're also
Xpel certified, since that's how I found them. On Xpel's website.
I declined to use their ceramic coating service even though it was also pretty inexpensive but not that competitive as their
PPF installs. I also wasn't too keen on it since I haven't seen the Kamikaze brand featured on the ScottHD youtube channel
for their longevity test. That and, worse comes to shove I can install it myself for $70.
So how'd it turn out? Not bad. It's not perfect though. The installer listed on their site and yelp isn't the one who does every
car. His assistants and wife actually do alot of it. I've attached pictures of the finished product and it seems good enough
to me. Theres parts where you can tell they cut a corner or two ( literally ) but by and large I'm happy with how it turned out
considering it saved me $2000. I also got to see a bit of their pre and post prep work and it was pretty spot on. They really tried
to spot check alot of it. If I had to put any specific complaint its the literal cut corners on some of the edges to quick dry it rather
than squeegee it out and that while they did do the side mirrors, the portion of the side-mirror facing towards the interior of the car
didn't get PPF'd.
Their english is ok. Especially their assistant. But the owners pretty much speak mainly Japanese, so be patient as their assistant
doesn't work all the time, but they are very friendly. I also got a roof tint from them since again, no one in the valley wanted to
Xpel Tint the roof. I know Tesla already has a coating on top of it, but I really hated feeling that ambient heat on my head.
They tinted it no-problem.
tl;dr: Full Body PPF turned out good. Not perfect. Check to make sure they PPF the side mirror fully.
PPF was cheaper than anyone in the San Fernando Valley by more than $1000.
They also Xpel Tint windows AND the roof. 10/10 will go again.
I wanted a full body Xpel Ultimate PPF that didn't use pre-cuts but didn't want to break the bank.
I live in the San Fernando Valley and every installer around here that uses Xpel was by and away extremely expensive.
I got quotes from 5000+ just for an Xpel PPF. They also do Ceramic Coating and Tinting.
N-Tech's packages for PPF and Ceramic Coatings are pretty straight forward and cheaper by around $2000. They're also
Xpel certified, since that's how I found them. On Xpel's website.
I declined to use their ceramic coating service even though it was also pretty inexpensive but not that competitive as their
PPF installs. I also wasn't too keen on it since I haven't seen the Kamikaze brand featured on the ScottHD youtube channel
for their longevity test. That and, worse comes to shove I can install it myself for $70.
So how'd it turn out? Not bad. It's not perfect though. The installer listed on their site and yelp isn't the one who does every
car. His assistants and wife actually do alot of it. I've attached pictures of the finished product and it seems good enough
to me. Theres parts where you can tell they cut a corner or two ( literally ) but by and large I'm happy with how it turned out
considering it saved me $2000. I also got to see a bit of their pre and post prep work and it was pretty spot on. They really tried
to spot check alot of it. If I had to put any specific complaint its the literal cut corners on some of the edges to quick dry it rather
than squeegee it out and that while they did do the side mirrors, the portion of the side-mirror facing towards the interior of the car
didn't get PPF'd.
Their english is ok. Especially their assistant. But the owners pretty much speak mainly Japanese, so be patient as their assistant
doesn't work all the time, but they are very friendly. I also got a roof tint from them since again, no one in the valley wanted to
Xpel Tint the roof. I know Tesla already has a coating on top of it, but I really hated feeling that ambient heat on my head.
They tinted it no-problem.
tl;dr: Full Body PPF turned out good. Not perfect. Check to make sure they PPF the side mirror fully.
PPF was cheaper than anyone in the San Fernando Valley by more than $1000.
They also Xpel Tint windows AND the roof. 10/10 will go again.
Great info. My car has been there since Monday for full wrap and just regular windows tint no roof. Hopefully it'll turn out ok, I'll definitely check some corners/edges and mirror when I pick it up.
infornography
Member
It will definitely turn out ok. I really wish I was able to convey how happy I was at the end.
They were VERY friendly and not pushy at all with any of their services. I know the owner, Yoshi is an award winning detailer, but for me I was just happy they didnt just shrug off my car as "just another Tesla" when theyre also working on a Porsche GT3.
I honestly didnt feel like I got shortchanged on service which is what I really wanted to convey. At pickup they said if anything happened or anything started to lift thst theyll take care of it, and I believe them. Only thing I might have done was the hood maybe but the Tesla Service Center and N-Tech have had my car longer than me so...lol.
Case in point, my car got broken into recently and stuff is damaged on my less than 1000 mile new car that I recieved in April. But Ibalready made an appointment to drive the 2 hours one way with 0 traffic to go back to N-Tech because I trust in their work and I think they are more than fair on price.
Also I added my sad vandalized Tesla pictures to show proof that yea, i really am going back to N-Tech.
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Damn that's messed up. With the recent sentry camera software issues, I've decided to get a Blackvue dashcam + battery backup for parking mode just in case the built-in camera fails. I also ordered these stickers (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08JCD767D?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image) to hopefully add some deterrence lol I think I'm being paranoid. But I've had my other car broken into from the sunroof too and all they took was a crappy stereo and a pair of sunglasses, the damn repair cost way more than the stuff they took and they did it in broad daylight at my work place which supposedly has security guard patrolling but no cameras in the parking structure.
Hi I’m Yoshi, the owner of N-Tech. Thank you for review of our shop. I really appreciate it and we need customer’s opinion to improve our quality. I’m replying to some of your concern or questions to not confuse.
Please contact to us if you have any questions or concern since I rarely check this web. We can reply honestly. If you would rather phone call, you can call to Luna.
- Inside of mirrors : Since inside of mirrors don’t get rock chips, we normally don’t wrap it. Plus as we wrap only outside, we can put the edge of film inside. If you want to wrap inside too, we have to put the edge of film slightly outside, more visible area. But if a lot of customers request to wrap it, we can change it. Actually when we wrap with stealth, we wrap inside too because stealth is more color changing.
- Wrapping edges and corners : We have installed more than 100 model Y and I realized that the edge of hood and rubber of fender can touch and it cause pealing PPF while you’re loading (like 70 to 80% of Model Y). Also the back of hood, there’re no enough space for film to stay and wrap perfectly. That’s why we made the data like the attached picture. Depending of what kind of soap you use for car wash, it’s possible to peal. If it happens, you can contact to us and we can fix it. I saw some PPF installers do “One Piece” (not showing edges or corner at all) but sometimes it’s overwork for film. Our install is good balance of “Hidden lines” and “Stable film”. As we’re XPEL Certified dealer, we have responsibility to protect your car and satisfy customers by installing PPF proper way. We can guarantee the film stays same after some years.
- About installers : All of us are certified XPEL installer. Plus they had a strict training at my shop. The customized data which we use, is designed to reduce using cutter as much as we can. That’s why our quality doesn’t get affected by installers.
- About Kamikaze Collection : We don’t use any Kamikaze Collection’s products which you can get with $70. ( If you found it, please let me know. I would buy all lol ). We use “Kamikaze Collection Film surface Coating” which is “Pro Line” means sold only for professional certified detailers. I didn’t check all of ScottHD’s Youtube but I think he can’t get this.
Please contact to us if you have any questions or concern since I rarely check this web. We can reply honestly. If you would rather phone call, you can call to Luna.
infornography
Member
Hi Yoshi!
Super happy with what I got and I'm glad you chimed in, but I'll just add.
1. Yea, I don't think the Inside Mirrors are as important, but alot of people expect or assume it will be covered when they're getting a full PPF.
I think it's more of an expectation thing. So as long as it's made clear beforehand I don't think it will be a problem. Like me, I wasn't upset just surprised.
2. Again, yes, I agree it's a non-issue since I know it's a custom cut. I am happy that it's not "pre-cut" because having less then a centimeter of a corner exposed is less important to me than entire edges of paint exposed in a pre-cut. That and I had to nit-pick to even find the examples I pointed out. But I just wanted to point it out so people don't have the expectation but I'm glad you clarified why. It really helps!
3. Your installation, no matter who did it was great. No problems there. In fact, the reason I found you to begin with was because your shop was listed on Xpel's website. Also, Luna and Saiko triple checked the car when I went to pick it up just to make sure my 2 hour drive wasn't even a second longer. Luna checked and then called me. Then when I arrived Saiko did a check while I waited and then Luna did a final walk around with me before I paid. No problems.
4. This one is less than a "burn" but more of a "I don't know." I like using ScottHD's videos because he tests the longevity or how long the ceramic coat lasts. He's tested other brands that say their ceramic coat lasts for 5 years and instead it lasts for 6 months. That's more what I was getting at. If he tests it and it shows that it lasts and keeps its shine and water beading properties for more than a year, then I'm happy but they've even shown major brands ( he even started an google sheet to show when certain products fail ) fail well below their dates of efficacy. The $70 one I was referring to was the Adams Ceremic Coating which was inexpensive and lasted longer than a year. I'm not saying that the Kamikaze brand is bad, but because I couldn't see a test for it, and more expensive brands did badly, I can't trust it. Ceramic Coating is already a 50/50 in the car community. Some swear by it, some say it's snake oil so that's why I lean on 3rd part tests like ScottHD. I dont think anyone on the forum has experience with the Kamikaze Ceramic brand which doesn't help. I was tempted to get it just so I can write a review on it too but I couldn't pull the trigger.
Edit: also one more bonus point for N-Tech. I asked about paint correction since some shops basically say it's NECESSARY to do it before PPF so I was considering it. But Luna said it wasn't needed because the PPF will hide most if not all of any small swirls but if I insisted, they could do it. I said screw it and glad I took her advice because yea. Couldn't see any of the swirl marks that Tesla so graciously delivered to me with my new car. =P
Thanks for the great information Yoshi. That looks like my car! I can't wait to get it and see how it turns out. I appreciate your team's hard work. The mirror side and edges I think it's ok as well as long as peeling doesn't happen when we wash our cars which is usually by hand. Also have no issue with Kamikaze, I recently used their Intenso on my other car's windshield and other glass areas and it worked great and also just tried their Overcoat and seems ok too and I plan on using them on my Tesla when I get it back. But a lot of people for sure don't know who Kamikaze is because they're hard to get and they don't really advertise as much as other companies.
Alright guys, just picked up my car today from N-Tech with complete Xpel Ultimate Plus+Ceramic Coating+all windows tinted except windshield/roof. Overall, I would say I'm fairly satisfied with it and would definitely consider taking other cars there or recommend them if I ever have a need again. I was going to get the stealth but my wife didn't like it, yes I know, sometimes my wife wears the pants but you know what they say happy wife happy husband and I won't have to hear about it for how ever long I keep the car!!!
I think like Infornography said, it doesn't look perfect but per the owner, Yoshi, it is due to some areas having to peel more often than others in his experience so I'll have to take his word for it and trust they will warranty the area if it peels off. That is probably my biggest concern is about the peeling effect in the future. But it's only in very particular areas like the pictures shown, usually areas that have shar edges or near areas where the car has a padding underneath that it appears they can't grab onto and they also said there are special glue they put down to hold it in place. But they assured me they'll cover any peelings if it ever happens but I'm hoping I never have to use that assurance. They also cut around sensors in the front and back, if you search the forum you'll see some issues with covering the sensors completely. Mirrors are also covered only on the exterior, where it folds in when you lock the car are not covered.
There were a couple of small bubbles in the tint in the rear windows but I'm hoping they'll cure over time. They also indicated some areas where Tesla clearly has paint issues like thinner vs thicker and sometimes at certain angles you can see it. As an extra bonus, they also ceramic coated the windows but not the windshield and mirror which I was happy with because that would be less work for me. I was going to use the Kamikazi Intenso for Windows treatment anyways but that saves me some time for me to do the windshield. A lot of people here probably never heard of Kamikazi products and me neither until I did some research on them and only 1 yes only 1 distributors in the US has the right to resell them (Esoteric Car Care) which makes their products very difficult to find.
They indicated no car wash for 2 days but I think I'll go to the extreme and let the ceramic and Xpel cure for about 2-3 weeks before my first wash. I'll probably leave it in the garage for a couple of days and then start driving it. I'm also planning on using Ph neutral home hand car washes to keep it looking good as long as I can. Here are some photos and hope it helps you all and yes they are one of the lowest cost PPF/Ceramic places I could find. I called everywhere from OC/LA/other Inland places and this is it, one place Aerowerkz didn't even bother returning my quote request. so you might want to do your own comparison and see if those other places are worth it but I for sure wasn't going pay $10K+ to maybe cover the some of the sharp edges and full mirror. The only other thing to note is they do take a while (10 days or so) as they look to be a small family shop so less people which is ok with me because that means family care more about the business than hired labor sometimes.
I think like Infornography said, it doesn't look perfect but per the owner, Yoshi, it is due to some areas having to peel more often than others in his experience so I'll have to take his word for it and trust they will warranty the area if it peels off. That is probably my biggest concern is about the peeling effect in the future. But it's only in very particular areas like the pictures shown, usually areas that have shar edges or near areas where the car has a padding underneath that it appears they can't grab onto and they also said there are special glue they put down to hold it in place. But they assured me they'll cover any peelings if it ever happens but I'm hoping I never have to use that assurance. They also cut around sensors in the front and back, if you search the forum you'll see some issues with covering the sensors completely. Mirrors are also covered only on the exterior, where it folds in when you lock the car are not covered.
There were a couple of small bubbles in the tint in the rear windows but I'm hoping they'll cure over time. They also indicated some areas where Tesla clearly has paint issues like thinner vs thicker and sometimes at certain angles you can see it. As an extra bonus, they also ceramic coated the windows but not the windshield and mirror which I was happy with because that would be less work for me. I was going to use the Kamikazi Intenso for Windows treatment anyways but that saves me some time for me to do the windshield. A lot of people here probably never heard of Kamikazi products and me neither until I did some research on them and only 1 yes only 1 distributors in the US has the right to resell them (Esoteric Car Care) which makes their products very difficult to find.
They indicated no car wash for 2 days but I think I'll go to the extreme and let the ceramic and Xpel cure for about 2-3 weeks before my first wash. I'll probably leave it in the garage for a couple of days and then start driving it. I'm also planning on using Ph neutral home hand car washes to keep it looking good as long as I can. Here are some photos and hope it helps you all and yes they are one of the lowest cost PPF/Ceramic places I could find. I called everywhere from OC/LA/other Inland places and this is it, one place Aerowerkz didn't even bother returning my quote request. so you might want to do your own comparison and see if those other places are worth it but I for sure wasn't going pay $10K+ to maybe cover the some of the sharp edges and full mirror. The only other thing to note is they do take a while (10 days or so) as they look to be a small family shop so less people which is ok with me because that means family care more about the business than hired labor sometimes.
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infornography
Member
Will do. Personally, I think the ceramic coating was nice to have, but since I left the car there for so long, I might as well have them do it as well while it's there. If the paint was somewhat new or good condition, I think we might be able to do it like I did the glass coating maybe take a couple of practice small areas. If it ever wears out, I'll probably do it myself next time. Maybe I'll get the Xpel's own stuff or something to try. I'm not sure about Kamikaze because like I was saying, super hard to find and probably even harder to get any support as few places use them here in the US. But so far I've had good success with them, their windows coating is not like the Aquapel which looks a little weird to use, you just drip some onto small applicator cloth wipe on, wait 5m, wipe off, it's that easy and I'm far from even being a detail amateur either. There's a video on how to use it on this site, I've been buying car washing stuff from this place recently, they're pretty good and responds back to question quickly but a little bit on the pricy side but they also have tons of videos and supposedly they train detailers too. Kamikaze Intenso Glass Kit
infornography
Member
The Adams Paint Coating seems to be a great DIY bang for the buck. 910+ days and it still holds up.
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