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XPEL (on Pearl White) Court Battle Coming, Need Ammo.

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The day I purchased my Model S (March 1, 2017), I drove it from the SC to my garage where a "professional" came to install XPEL, after arriving 2+ hours late and staying till almost 10:30pm, the job was complete. I had concerns since every install I've seen used a heat gun to "seal" the edges. He did not. Furthermore, said he didn't need to. Now (2 months and 2K miles later) the edges are accumulating dirt and peeling at the corners.

I reached out to the installer and drove the car to him today. He said my concerns were "minor *sugar*" and that it would happen regardless since it's a white car and dirt shows up on light colored cars. I'm skeptical. I told him I wanted it redone or removed and refunded (starting to prefer the latter based on his attitude). I'm sensing civil court in my future and would like to be prepared for his rebuttal claim that "White cars show dirt at the edges, that's just how it is."

TL; DR: Any other pearl white MS owners that can post some pics of their XPEL install (with focus on the edges and corners) to help me out?
 
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It might be worth contacting XPEL directly. As they have to use authorized installers, and they take their brand very seriously.

Hope that helps, and best of luck, post some pictures of right after the install and now. Thanks.
 
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Can't say about your case but we went with a full custom Xpel wrap on our car so we wouldn't have edges left by a kit installation. Only place we can see the edge is around the mirrors which are contoured such that they are probably hard to avoid. We had the work done in shop and not sure if the Xpel was heated.
 
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It might be worth contacting XPEL directly. As they have to use authorized installers, and they take their brand very seriously.

Hope that helps, and best of luck, post some pictures of right after the install and now. Thanks.

Here ya go...

IMG_0006.jpg IMG_0007.jpg IMG_0008.jpg IMG_0009.jpg
 
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Your installer's "one-day install & good-to-drive" was a red flag to me. My pearl white X was recently fully wrapped by a professional installer here in the area (after a lengthy prep, which included a fully clay and minor imperfection cleanup) & they did one section at a time, plus let it sit for a day before I could pick up. They also asked that I bring it back about two weeks after installation so they could inspect and verify the integrity of the wrap.

I just got home last night from a roadtrip, so pics right now wouldn't be helpful (it's dirty), but there is no peeling on any edges. That shouldn't be happening to you.
 
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"My installer told me that if I ever have a peeling issue that he would replace the section no questions asked." Jelloslug

Same here... Was he an authorized expel installer? If so you should have received a warranty card that covers the film and install for 10 years. FWIW, my guy Benjamin of Bemaro films uses a heat gun and torch to snug the edges and my car had to sit for a minimum of 15 hours before driving to allow the tight corners of the front bumper area to fully settle in. Here's a video of his handcut expel install on a pearl MX
 
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The day I purchased my Model S (March 1, 2017), I drove it from the SC to my garage where a "professional" came to install XPEL, after arriving 2+ hours late and staying till almost 10:30pm, the job was complete. I had concerns since every install I've seen used a heat gun to "seal" the edges. He did not. Furthermore, said he didn't need to. Now (2 months and 2K miles later) the edges are accumulating dirt and peeling at the corners.

I reached out to the installer and drove the car to him today. He said my concerns were "minor *sugar*" and that it would happen regardless since it's a white car and dirt shows up on light colored cars. I'm skeptical. I told him I wanted it redone or removed and refunded (starting to prefer the latter based on his attitude). I'm sensing civil court in my future and would like to be prepared for his rebuttal claim that "White cars show dirt at the edges, that's just how it is."

TL; DR: Any other pearl white MS owners that can post some pics of their XPEL install (with focus on the edges and corners) to help me out?

Hello N0Gas, we're sorry for the subpar installation that you received. This appears to be an installation issue, who was your installer that you used? You can privately message us or just post it here. Unfortunately, the warranty covers film defects such as yellowing, cracking, peeling, etc.
 
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Your installer's "one-day install & good-to-drive" was a red flag to me. My pearl white X was recently fully wrapped by a professional installer here in the area (after a lengthy prep, which included a fully clay and minor imperfection cleanup) & they did one section at a time, plus let it sit for a day before I could pick up. They also asked that I bring it back about two weeks after installation so they could inspect and verify the integrity of the wrap.

I just got home last night from a roadtrip, so pics right now wouldn't be helpful (it's dirty), but there is no peeling on any edges. That shouldn't be happening to you.

Our car was with our installer for a week for our full body wrap. I know it had to be prepped first and then throughout the week we saw on our Tesla app that various doors/trunks were opened and closed as they worked on the sections. Like bonnie above we were asked and brought our car back for a check. Believe hubby was told not to get the car wet (wash) for a week or so.

I believe I saw a thread or two on home installs and wondered how that worked. Our shop was really clean and the wraps were done in the "showroom" area of the building as opposed to the body shop area. After cleaning the car and prepping for film I could see where you'd want the work area of the application to be as free from dust and such for the best results. Since the film should last many number of years on your car and the labor and materials on a full wrap are an investment in the car, in the long run it pays to search out the best installers especially for a full car wrap given the time and amount of materials used. Our shop wasn't that convenient for us from our home but the owner spent a good deal of time explaining what they would do and answered all our questions. We knew they handled a lot of high end cars and had great social media reviews. Been in business doing this for quite a long time as well.
 
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Hello N0Gas, we're sorry for the subpar installation that you received. This appears to be an installation issue, who was your installer that you used? You can privately message us or just post it here. Unfortunately, the warranty covers film defects such as yellowing, cracking, peeling, etc.
I knew these guys were the best for a reason! I am still on the fence about getting this done to my CPO but I have had a few areas done to see how I like it, this probably puts me over the top to do atleast the bikini area of the car.

Great customer service!!
 
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I knew these guys were the best for a reason! I am still on the fence about getting this done to my CPO but I have had a few areas done to see how I like it, this probably puts me over the top to do atleast the bikini area of the car.

Great customer service!!

Thank you for the kind words! Also, at the bare minimum, we'd recommend doing the front bumper and headlights...What part of Texas are you in? Our headquarters is in San Antonio...with XPEL offices in Houston, Austin, and Dallas
 
Thank you for the kind words! Also, at the bare minimum, we'd recommend doing the front bumper and headlights...What part of Texas are you in? Our headquarters is in San Antonio...with XPEL offices in Houston, Austin, and Dallas
Houston. I am really on the fence to do it with my CPO. If it were a new car, it would have been done at delivery. So far I had the headlights done.