Clear bra question

[Njjawn]

Hey guys I have a question for people with Xpel paint protection or guys who install it.

I brought my car to a tint shop that has done the tint for all my cars, my dad's cars, and my friends cars and they've always done a great job. They were listed as an Xpel authorized installer, so I figured I'd bring it there to get my new car clear bra'd. I was under the impression that xpel was a full wrap, not precut sheets, but when I picked up my car, it was clearly done with precut sheets. The edges weren't wrapped, and there were relief cuts and seams.

Did I get ripped off and given a different (less expensive) product? If Xpel is done in precut sheets then I'll be happy with what I recieved, but if not I'm going to be bringing my car back and demanding to get what I paid for. They even called me 20 minutes after i dropped it off to verify that i wanted it to be done with Xpel.

Also, it seems like when they were squeegeeing, they chipped the paint on the top ridge of the bumper, which I'm not too happy about.
http://imgur.com/sPbIMfU
http://imgur.com/YU6qMMU

[Wyattkb]

What do you mean by "full wrap"?

[Njjawn]

Originally Posted by Wyattkb

What do you mean by "full wrap"?

It is a full sheet, rather than a precut sheet, and it wraps the edges making it virtually undetectable, much like if you were to do a vinyl wrap.

[Wyattkb]

That's normal. It would not be possible to wrap it without the cuts in due to the thickness of the clear bra. I forgot what brand mine is but the shop I took it too had a laser cutter and cut thr sheets to wrap.

If the place damaged your paint, it's likely it wasn't a high quality shop which could skew your results.

Mine is smooth all across, you cannot tell it's there unless your nose touches the hood or you run your finger across it.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Turbo95eg6]

I believe Expel is one of the better products, but only comes precut. I had mine done with 3M, and the installer did a great job by wrapping and tucking into the edges so the paint is fully protected. Although, the 3m has some orange peel so I think all brands have different benefits.

This thread has some posts from people with more knowledge.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61449

[Turbo95eg6]

Originally Posted by Njjawn

Hey guys I have a question for people with Xpel paint protection or guys who install it.



Also, it seems like when they were squeegeeing, they chipped the paint on the top ridge of the bumper, which I'm not too happy about.
http://imgur.com/sPbIMfU
http://imgur.com/YU6qMMU

Holy shit, yes, that's unacceptable. The installer should be fully insured, I would would pursue to get that fixed ASAP. I was nervous as hell during my instal, but thankfully it was a friend with experience putting it on. I made sure to express how much I didn't want my perfectly corrected pain get scratched, and he took his time and it came out perfect.

[Njjawn]

Originally Posted by Turbo95eg6

Holy shit, yes, that's unacceptable. The installer should be fully insured, I would would pursue to get that fixed ASAP. I was nervous as hell during my instal, but thankfully it was a friend with experience putting it on. I made sure to express how much I didn't want my perfectly corrected pain get scratched, and he took his time and it came out perfect.

The installer is a body shop/tint shop. If I can't trust them to put a clear bra on, why the hell would I trust them to repaint it?

[Turbo95eg6]

Originally Posted by Njjawn

The installer is a body shop/tint shop. If I can't trust them to put a clear bra on, why the hell would I trust them to repaint it?

Did I ever say to get a paint job done at the same place?

[Njjawn]

Originally Posted by Turbo95eg6

Did I ever say to get a paint job done at the same place?

I guess that's true, but they're going to push for that rather than pay for another shop to do it
.

[spitfire481]

Xpel isn't pre cut. It can be cut by a plotter from software though. My guy does all the cutting by hand off of a master roll. All of my panel edges wrap around 1/4" under. Clear bra is all about the installers experience

[GhostShield]

Yeah they used a pattern and cut it with a computer and plotter. If they're XPEL guys then they probably used XPEL patterns and those are the best available. You def didn't get ripped off by any stretch so don't think that. Sounds like they did get lazy and should have extended the edges of the hood and fenders to wrap.

As far as not using patterns goes, it's more work and people are cheap and don't always want to pay. Of course it can be done custom with a bulk sheet. I still wouldn't do an frs or brz custom because the bumper is a tough one and I would still have seems and reliefs.

Lemme guess there's a relief by the headlights and a seem where the center lower strip connects to the main bumper peice?

[GhostShield]

Hood and fenders would be easy custom though. Just all depends what people are willing to spend.
And a "full wrap" to me is a the whole car being covered in PPF

[imom]

Originally Posted by Njjawn

Hey guys I have a question for people with Xpel paint protection or guys who install it.

I brought my car to a tint shop that has done the tint for all my cars, my dad's cars, and my friends cars and they've always done a great job. They were listed as an Xpel authorized installer, so I figured I'd bring it there to get my new car clear bra'd. I was under the impression that xpel was a full wrap, not precut sheets, but when I picked up my car, it was clearly done with precut sheets. The edges weren't wrapped, and there were relief cuts and seams.

Did I get ripped off and given a different (less expensive) product? If Xpel is done in precut sheets then I'll be happy with what I recieved, but if not I'm going to be bringing my car back and demanding to get what I paid for. They even called me 20 minutes after i dropped it off to verify that i wanted it to be done with Xpel.

Also, it seems like when they were squeegeeing, they chipped the paint on the top ridge of the bumper, which I'm not too happy about.
http://imgur.com/sPbIMfU
http://imgur.com/YU6qMMU

Squeegees don't do that unless he's a complete idiot. It looks more like he razor your car to cut the PPF. Precut film you don't have these issues...but the install will have to stretch the film a bit to get close to the edge. I heard this before where installers razor the owner's car.... that's why I want to do it myself and use knifeless system to cut the film or get precut kits.

I would ask the shop to fix the paint they damaged.

[GhostShield]

OP I just looked at your pics, idk what the hell that is? I can't say Forsure it's not a razor cut but razor cuts are usually super fine, not a big black strip of pAint missing.