Hi all,
I just had full body PPF installed on my GT4 from a highly recommended local installer. The installer said it was a 100% custom install with bulk film. They wrapped edges as much as possible without doing much disassembly.

This is my first experience with PPF so to be honest I'm not sure what to look for. I feel like they did a good job overall (no stretch marks or fingers) and the wrapped edges on the hood/fenders look nice. But there are a few spots that I'm not super happy with. In general, there are some places where the edge of the film does not reach the edge of the paint, and also one spot where the and cut edge is kind of rough.

I'm not sure if my expectations are reasonable or if I'm nit picking too much, so wanted to check with some experts before I reach out to the installer.

1. There is a bit of a gap between the edge of the film and the bottom of the headlights. It's minimal on one side, but noticeable larger on the other side. I was kind of hoping the edge of the film would be more flush with the headlight.
The side with the larger gap:




2. There is a bit of an uneven cut where they went around the antenna wart. Maybe I shouldn't expect it to be perfect since it is hand cut, but it kind of bothers me.



3. Underneath the door handle, the film comes from the top and bottom but does not meet. They didn't remove the handles so I understand this area is probably hard to work on.



4. Gaps on some of the edges (like the door seal trim and outer edges of rear diffuser) are larger than I was expecting. I guess I was expecting the film to be more flush with the edges. There are also some relief cuts in the reflector channel and license plate area of the rear bumper, but I think that is probably unavoidable due to the shape of the bumper.




What do you guys think? Are any of these areas things I should bring up with the installer? Or is this considered a good install and I'm just being too picky?

 

I think the first question is how much did you pay? You can have more disassembly and a better install than that but it will cost more. There's also worse than that with pre cut kits and would cost less.

 

It's your car, go ahead and be picky. I understand some of the issues that you point out.

 

It’s an acceptable install but not ‘great’, I’d give it a C+ or B- lol. The biggest issue you will face in the future will be once dust starts seeping into the edges and the film will need to be trimmed further making less and less area covered. Hope you didn’t pay very steep for this job.

 

Definitely not an excellent job..... My car is full custom wrap and I can only find seams and cut lines in very few places..... When I first saw my car after it was done, I have to ask the installer if they have finished the PPF job, it was that good because I couldn't tell the film was on the car.....

Headlight




A-pillar, doors, fender, and Windshield PPF

 

It was $7.5k. I think that is on the lower end for the Bay Area? The highest quote I got from other shops in the area was $12k.

I believe they only removed the tail lights, splitter, and badges. So I wasn't necessarily expecting a crazy good, completely invisible job, but it would be nice for the gaps at the edges to be less noticeable.

 

Thats kind of disappointing to hear. This installer was recommended by some well regarded Rennlisters so I didn't really want to doubt the quality of their work... thought maybe I was just being too picky.

Do you think I have any recourse? Is it reasonable to ask the installer to remedy the problems (I guess this would require redoing a lot of the panels)? Or just suck it up and lesson learned for next time?

 

Thanks for the pictures! Did they do a lot of disassembly on your car? That looks really good. I guess I shouldn't expect that level of work without paying top dollar, but I'd be happy just to have the film edges flush with the edges of the paint. I think my installer actually did a good job wrapping edges on the door/A pillar junction. I would think it's easier to cut the film edges flush with panel edges than it is to wrap the corners, so not sure what went wrong.

 

I would ask them to re-do the doors properly and also the roof. While it is ‘acceptable’, i don’t think this is a $7.5k job. At $4-5k that would be acceptable.

It may cost you extra but you can ask them to remove door handles so there won’t be any cuts. And they can remove the wart as well to avoid weird cut lines.

The bumper and the rest seems fine. Again at $12k even those are unacceptable but at your price point i’d be ok with it. Even the best taken care of car will probably require removal and new film at about 15 years.

 

I think that's an unacceptable job, no matter the price. I paid $2k in the Boston area for a full front job (full hood and fenders and bumper), and the work was A+.

 

The issue you might have with all of the untucked seams is that if you wash your car a bunch, the soaps / debugging sprays (especially on the headlights) / etc will eventually eat away at the adhesive and create bubbles that dirt starts to sit in. The doors wouldn’t bother me as much personally, but the light areas seem straightforward to disassemble and do right.

 

I think it was a very poor job based on the photos provided. If you're unhappy now,you'll be unhappy for ever with it. Have to say I'd be well pissed!! Did they say they would be doing just an average job when you dropped the car off..?
A premium car deserves a premium job would be my thinking.
All the best with what you decide.

 

While it pay not be a five star install, your car isn’t really any less protected than if those flaws weren’t there. That’s a good thing.

To my eye, the inconsistent gaps are the unfortunate side effects of a hand cut job. The seam in the door cups are unavoidable. The antenna wart should be fixed.

I know that we’re all different in our OCD levels, but personally, I’d soon forget about all of this after enjoying driving the car

 

Things like this are making me reconsider PPF entirely.

Even after a recommendation, you run the risk of this happening and having to either throw a fit to get it fixed, or be unhappy with it. And as most of us are probably aware, literally anything we're not happy with as car nuts can lead to being unhappy with the overall car and "moving on" for the next hopeful candidate...

And you won't know until the job is done and have to go over it with an electron microscope. What a pain in the ***.

FAR too much damn money for clear plastic. I'm back to thinking I just suffer through the scratches and swirls like I always have and somehow survived. To hell with this.

 

I think it doesn't look bad! I've had my car fully PPfed for exactly two years and I have some small imperfections that I have noticed, and I went to one of the best regarded PPF installers in the country . I think no job is perfect and it will hold up well.