Xpel Stealth PPF

[Wennfred]

How long have you had it on for? Did Auto Armour tell you if there were any issues like this, for you to bring it in? I feel if the scratches are not going away through heat, that the shop should be the one correcting it.

Sorry, I just saw this post, my complete frontal Xpel PPF was installed April 2019 and it’s been 1 year 3 months and anything that was PPF still looks brand new. So last month I took it back for inspection and they really liked how well I maintained the paint job. Xpel PPF still looks brand new, no scratches or rips. I got Feynlab Ceramic Coating on it last month. If I had a bad rip in the PPF, the guys will work with me to replace the area that was damaged at a reasonable cost but thank god so far it’s holding up really good. I’ve had everything but the bathroom sink hit the front and side fenders of the car by debris from trucks and leaving it outside for a day or 2 in the San Diego sun, those scratches are gone. Self healing works.

Fred

 

[Wennfred]

 

[Wennfred]

I hit it with Tri-Nova shampoo & conditioner, foam it up good and rinse with the pressure washer, comes out good as new. I tried stuff like meguiars ultimate wash & wax in the past but those leave a film after that you have to buff off causing more work that isn’t needed.


Fred

 

[Wennfred]

Seems to me that 5 Points did a good job since it did held up well for a year and you was pretty happy with it. Someone posted above about the Stealth or matted film acts differently to self healing, I don’t have any experience on that since mine is the glossy version of Xpel. Where or how did you get those deep scratches?

Fred

 

[2020]

Don't fall for the "self healing" B.S. I've seen the videos where they scratch the PPF with a wire brush and run hot water over it and the scratches disappear. I've had my car fully PPF'd so I could run it in my local soft car wash. After a few weeks swirls everywhere. When I complained to my installed he offered to buff them out and recommended I not use the car wash. This defeated my whole purpose of PPF: I didn't want to put so much effort in washing and waxing the car if I did not have the PPF. Especially in light of the cost. So I have mixed feelings on PPF- the good is that you do have relative protection of the paint. The bad is you still get swirls and rock chips are just as noticeable as in a car without PPF.

 

[Wennfred]

Don't fall for the "self healing" B.S. I've seen the videos where they scratch the PPF with a wire brush and run hot water over it and the scratches disappear. I've had my car fully PPF'd so I could run it in my local soft car wash. After a few weeks swirls everywhere. When I complained to my installed he offered to buff them out and recommended I not use the car wash. This defeated my whole purpose of PPF: I didn't want to put so much effort in washing and waxing the car if I did not have the PPF. Especially in light of the cost. So I have mixed feelings on PPF- the good is that you do have relative protection of the paint. The bad is you still get swirls and rock chips are just as noticeable as in a car without PPF.

Rock chips? Swirls? What brand PPF did they install?

Fred

 

[Apprunner]

I have XPEL installed by Auto Armor and the car looks brand new after a wash. No swirls at all and the stupid rocks that fly everywhere in San Diego highways have been completely negated. My windshield looks like it got it way worse as the PPF did a great job. The self-healing is awesome on the XPEL so if yours has swirls, you got swindled because XPEL self heals and I've seen it first hand.

 

[Wennfred]

I have XPEL installed by Auto Armor and the car looks brand new after a wash. No swirls at all and the stupid rocks that fly everywhere in San Diego highways have been completely negated. My windshield looks like it got it way worse as the PPF did a great job. The self-healing is awesome on the XPEL so if yours has swirls, you got swindled because XPEL self heals and I've seen it first hand.

I got my Xpel installed on the Model 3 last year in April by Auto Armour as well and in June they did the Model Y, so I don’t think that guy got Xpel, Since we live close to the border we have tons of trucks here in San Diego so I’ve been hit with everything and have had scratches from debris and with all of that still no paint chips nor swirls, I just leave the car out in the sun and the car still looks brand new.

I would contact Xpel to see if that shop that guy used is an authorized dealer or have Xpel check his wrap to ensure it’s the real deal.


Fred

 

[infamous1]

Seems to me that 5 Points did a good job since it did held up well for a year and you was pretty happy with it. Someone posted above about the Stealth or matted film acts differently to self healing, I don’t have any experience on that since mine is the glossy version of Xpel. Where or how did you get those deep scratches?

Fred

I have no clue how I got the scratches. I always hand wash my car and I have never taken it to the machine wash. The lady at 5 point insinuated that I either took it to a machine wash, drove my car through a bush, and even went off-roading with my car. I thought it was pretty funny she accused me of taking my car off-roading. I chatted with another guy and he said he hit a bush. He left his car under the sun and the scratches were gone. Not sure why mine is not doing the same thing. =(

 

[2020]

I have no clue how I got the scratches. I always hand wash my car and I have never taken it to the machine wash. The lady at 5 point insinuated that I either took it to a machine wash, drove my car through a bush, and even went off-roading with my car. I thought it was pretty funny she accused me of taking my car off-roading. I chatted with another guy and he said he hit a bush. He left his car under the sun and the scratches were gone. Not sure why mine is not doing the same thing. =(

Also it depends how critical you observe your paint job, the fine scratches will be there especially on a black car. After owning a few high end/exotic cars your eye unfortunately catches any flaws in the paint or finish.

 

[6thDAY]

BTW... I asked 5 point to fix my side mirrors as the edges were lifting off again for the 3rd time, I never got a call back from them. Totally never going back to them.

I definitely made a mistake with 5 Point Auto Spa as well, I should have went with Auto Armour originally.

 

[XPEL]

Does anyone have the Xpel stealth ppf on their Model 3? I’ve had it for about a year and it held up great up until now. I’m starting to notice some scratches on my car. Took it in to the shop that installed it and of course they are saying that it’s not covered under warranty because the scratches are too deep. Even insinuated that I drove my car through a bush or went off-roading. Lol. The scratches are very fine and are not deep at all. I use microfiber towels when washing my car. To my understanding, this is supposed to self heal. Has anyone had the same issue?

infamous1,

Sorry for the delay. XPEL STEALTH PPF is self-healing but only the top .5mils of the film are able to self-heal. The best thing to try is to use hot water to heal the scratches. If they don't heal with that, then the scratches are deeper than the self-healing layer and will not self-heal. We're happy to help any way we can, we just can only do so much if the scratches are through the self-healing layer. That means that something caused those abrasions. The positive side of that is that your paint is protected.

No, It can not heal as well as the gloss. The Stealth has a thinner self-healing layer, but it does have one.

This was one of the many warnings my installer informed me off when I went with the Stealth over the Ultimate Plus. It doesn't scratch up as easy as vinyl does, but you should really take care when washing. Like most car washing, the dirtier it is, the more careful you need to be.

There's a lot more to it than just switching to a microfiber from whatever you had been using.

Just to clear this up, XPEL STEALTH and XPEL ULTIMATE PLUS (gloss) film have the same self-healing properties and layer thickness. The top .5 mils of the film.

There is an Xpel rep on this forum. I don't know if they would be able to help answer any questions about this.

@XPEL

Thank you for tagging us and again, we apologize for the delay.

 

[2020]

I can assure you the self healing marketing is b.s. You will get fine scratches on the film under normal wear and tear. If you don't drive the car and wash the car without touching it then maybe you will be fine. This is no different than putting a nice layer of wax on the car, it will also protect from fine scratches, however it will most likely not help with deep scratches as in PPF. I am still a believer of PPF for protecting the paint of your car, but not on the hype of the "self healing" marketing.

 

[Dolemite]

I can assure you the self healing marketing is b.s. You will get fine scratches on the film under normal wear and tear. If you don't drive the car and wash the car without touching it then maybe you will be fine. This is no different than putting a nice layer of wax on the car, it will also protect from fine scratches, however it will most likely not help with deep scratches as in PPF. I am still a believer of PPF for protecting the paint of your car, but not on the hype of the "self healing" marketing.