Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Those of you with clear film (PPF, Xpel what have you) look at my edges please

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
What material was used? Did you ask for a pre-cut or custom installation? Wrapped edges or not? Was the installer authorized by the film manufacturer? How much was your installation?

A proper full front installation takes us 1-2 days and a full wrap takes us 4-7 business days. So, I'd be very careful if someone is doing a full wrap in 1 day as someone earlier suggested.

Also, please give your installer the opportunity to fix things. If you're not happy with the job, you should simply email or drive to the installer, show him/her your concern, and see what they're going to do for you. A quality installer will always want his/her name to be properly represented, and will go the extra mile to make sure his/her client is happy.

I've had installs that have had edges lift, nobody is perfect; hence why we have complimentary follow ups. This allows for any lifting that would occur, to happen, and we fix those issues. I make sure to either fix, trim, or replace the panel so I'm happy with it. Usually, my OCD is far more demanding than any client of ours' expectations.

So, I'd say take everything you're reading on this thread with a grain of salt, see your installer, and work things out together. After all, you did your homework and he was qualified enough for you to take your MS to him initially; give him the opportunity to make things right.

Let us know how it turns out.

I concur.
 
I've left my car with him to fix it. Some pieces are being completely redone, others are being carefully trimmed. He promises it will be terrific and will be completely satisfied. He also said he's done over 100 Teslas which is hard to believe but I have no evidence either way.

So we'll see in a few days.

I appreciate everyone input and opinion, thank you.

- - - Updated - - -

Plus sign was supposed to indicate more for the doors. $2300 total.

Great to hear. It's easy to get caught up in the frenzy sometimes when one posts something like this in the forums. Best thing to do is relax, and with a clear head, try and resolve the situation with your service provider. Forums such as this are a great place to call out a company when all else has failed and the last resort is to share a poor experience that could not be resolved by a service provider that does more dis-service, than service in a community. Speaking only for us, we've had off days, but in the end we step up and take care of the RELATIONSHIP...and that's as simple as that. You can learn and tell a lot about a company when something goes wrong, and how they approach solving and resolving the issue.

Look forward to hearing the final outcome...keep us posted.
 
Paint protection film is a highly skilled craft that takes many years to become proficient and many more years beyond that to master. It is always recommended to see the work in person if at all possible to ensure the standards of the shop meet your expectations. We currently have 5 Teslas in the work bay. I will try to take some photos to show what custom wrap looks like.

Hope you get it resolved to your satisfaction.
 
Here are some examples of the edges and corners wrapped. The installer may not be able to replicate it, but most importantly it sounds like he is trying to assist you the best he can, which says a lot about a company's integrity.
 

Attachments

  • 20150225_110819_resized_2.jpg
    20150225_110819_resized_2.jpg
    2.6 MB · Views: 785
  • 20150225_121016.jpg
    20150225_121016.jpg
    756.7 KB · Views: 753
  • 20150225_121143.jpg
    20150225_121143.jpg
    757.3 KB · Views: 748
  • 20150225_124453.jpg
    20150225_124453.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 742
  • 20150225_124503.jpg
    20150225_124503.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 723
  • 20150225_124510.jpg
    20150225_124510.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 705
  • 20150225_124519.jpg
    20150225_124519.jpg
    1.1 MB · Views: 719
Last edited:
Those obviously look fantastic - how do you get them to wrap around all those pieces without removing sheetmetal?

The "how" part to this question is very difficult to explain. It takes precision and finesse as these areas are more difficult to wrap due to the sharp edges. Pushing it down in the wrong place would create creases in the film that will eventually cause the film to pop up.
 
We currently have 5 Teslas in the work bay.

I'm debating between two installers here. Let's say all else is generally equal, if one has wrapped Model S's and the other hasn't but has done plenty of other cars of all types, is there something special about the Tesla that would make it more difficult than other cars? Is having wrapped a Model S before a significant advantage?
 
I'm debating between two installers here. Let's say all else is generally equal, if one has wrapped Model S's and the other hasn't but has done plenty of other cars of all types, is there something special about the Tesla that would make it more difficult than other cars? Is having wrapped a Model S before a significant advantage?

Experience in years, if equivalent go with the company that has worked on the Tesla before. Nothing really special about it, but having an installer more familiar with the curves of the specific car would help on quality and installation completion time frame.
 
I'm debating between two installers here. Let's say all else is generally equal, if one has wrapped Model S's and the other hasn't but has done plenty of other cars of all types, is there something special about the Tesla that would make it more difficult than other cars? Is having wrapped a Model S before a significant advantage?

For what it's worth, I had my new P85D wrapped with Xpel last month by ACE Automotive in Denver. They were recommended by my DS and work closely with the service center. Ben did a full wrap which took 3 days. It was all custom cut. He did it at the service center so that I didn't have to take the car out in Colorado winter conditions before having it wrapped. We met before deciding on the wrap to discuss his experience and recommendations. Ben has over 10 years experience and is a cetified installer. The job came out beautiful. Over time and with heat exposure the Xpel finish seems to improve. I recently coated it with CQuartz UK which even improved the Xpel. The CQ UK aged and became harder over a couple of days and now feels like glass. BTW in a previous life I used to paint exotic cars and recognize a good finish when I see one. I can recommend BEN's work without qualifications. His working closely with Tesla to make for a seamless ( pun intended ) delivery really helped.

IMG_0436.JPG
IMG_0437.JPG
 
Last edited:
EV Steve - pretty cool to have him come to the service center for install, if not a little awkward perhaps for the installer! Car looks terrific.

Actually he does a lot of wraps at the service center in Denver. They have plenty of room and freeing up a bay for him to work was no problem. He and the Tesla detailer work well together. I hope yours turns out as well as you deserve. I feel your pain.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jimi_hendrick
I'm debating between two installers here. Let's say all else is generally equal, if one has wrapped Model S's and the other hasn't but has done plenty of other cars of all types, is there something special about the Tesla that would make it more difficult than other cars? Is having wrapped a Model S before a significant advantage?
For a high end shop that does their own custom measured pieces of wrap, having worked on multiple Tesla's will be an advantage because over time they'll learn tricks and make adjustments to their templates accordingly, rather than just using a pre-prepared set of templates.

I hung out at the shop doing my car at some points to see the progress. It was cool to talk about the car with the shop owner, they've done a lot of Tesla's and one thing that was interesting is how many small changes there are in the car.

He had to pull apart some panels on mine to get the Stealth wrap around the edges and he was talking about how frequently the hardware changes on the little things like the plastic tabs that the panels insert to.

When he pulled off the side mirrors, he pointed to some orange hardware that he said he'd never seen on any previous models, and that it impacted how he had to disassemble the mirrors. He joked that the next Model S that came in would probably have something even crazier in the same place.

Even the center caps, the T logos on them were a different size than the templates he had made for the last Tesla to come through.

You know how they mentioned how many hardware modifications a week they are making on the production line? All of those could potentially impact your installer. And they more they work with Tesla's the more they'll be able to adapt to it.
 
Problems resolved.

I got my car back from the Xpel place today and they appear to have fixed all of my complaints. Redid a alot of it, and re-trimmed the frunk film, and all looks terrific. Obviously I'll check it again in a week and a month to see how the edges hold up, but aesthetically I'm satisfied and impressed with the job now.

Thank you all for your input, I am so happy to finally have the car home and I'm taking her out to dinner tonight.