mqandil

Thanks Carl. The manual says it Measures coating thickness over wood, concrete, plastics, composites, and metal, but I have noticed that on non-metallic surfaces, sometimes it gives non-consistent readings, but I usually get multiple readings on non-metallic surfaces to make sure I get an accurate reading. Mark

supercup

Other cars - 1 white, 1 red, 1 sapphire blue - so it was not color dependent - he said some were worse than others but all 4 had some issues on the wing that needed to be corrected.

mqandil

Thanks for sharing. Again I wonder if this is happening as the wing may be painted separately from the rest of the car.
In general the paint condition was really good on my GT4, except for couple of places like the rear wing and also the edge of the hood where they tried remove the white protective wrap that came on the car and probably also while trying to remove some of the leftover adhesive that was under the protective wrap. Mostly the tech who is removing the wrap would just use solvent & hopefully clean rag to scrub the adhesive off the paint, introducing so many scratches. I actually did not want them to remove the protective wrap or do any cleaning to the exterior or interior knowing most of the scratches occur during the removal of this wrap, or while they try to detail the exterior and would rather let my detailer perform the new car prep. I only ask them to do a mechanical PDI on the car and leave the rest to me, but for some reason they missed my instructions about the wrap removal but they did not do any exterior or interior car prep as requested, and overall this worked out well as the car paint was mostly in Excellent shape except the couple of spots I referred to earlier. Mark

mqandil

I must have missed Carl post about the suspension damage. I looked and could not find it. Can someone send me the link to that post if you would. Much appreciated. Mark

Maverick1

I spoke to the gentleman who will be installing my Xpel paint protection film for over 30 minutes today and he said to tell the manager at the dealership to remove the plastic film and inspect the car, but not to wash or detail the exterior of the car at all.
Don't touch it.
He said from past experience most of the damage to the paint on brand new cars was from the dealer pdi's when prepping and detailing the new cars for delivery.
Said I should speak to the manager on the phone as well as email him explicitly stating that if the dealership goes against my wishes and details the car introducing damage to the paint, that the dealer will be responsible for any paint correction.
He mentioned that in one case the new car needed about 5 hours of corrective polishing to make it perfect, and that he has passed on these paint corrective invoices to dealerships and were paid.
The dealer actually should be happy to oblige considering it's far less work for them.

mqandil

Agree 100%. I would not let them remove the wrap if you can help it. It is usually a low paid worker who just tries to remove it, and most of the time they end up scratching the car while they try to grab the side of the film, and also while trying to clean the remaining adhesive with solvents. You are better off letting your detailer remove it. Mark

Maverick1

Thanks
I actually thought about doing that but my concern is what happens if my Xpel gent takes off the wrap carefully, and there is a nice dent?
The dealer would say "hey you took the car as is and your out of luck."
Tough call.

mqandil

Your welcome. That's was also my concern as well, but my detailer mentioned that usually you can tell if there is dent or even if it was hit during shipping without removing the warp, as the wrap is attached like a clear coat to the body of the car, and you can easily see any gouges or dents. The only other risk is there was a scratch or imperfections in the paint at factory prior to applying the wrap but I would think that is probably a small risk as I would hope the factory inspects these cars prior to wrapping them, but certainly your concern is valid and is similar to mine. The other option the detailer suggested for him to go with me to the dealership and remove the wrap himself while everyone is present and this way everyone interest is served and the detailer will be much more careful in removing it than the low paid worker at the dealership. Mark

IrishAndy

However the GT4 rear wing is manufactured the inconsistencies in the finish of the wing appear to be absolutely consistent between cars, regardless of color. I've seen 4 cars prior to detailing and they all looked like mine, with what look to be approx. 3500 grit sanding marks in the finish.

It's not hard to remove, but the finish - along with the differing clear coat reading you got - seems to point to painting by a 3rd party.

Not hard to remove thankfully. The standard scratches took no more than Menzerna 3500 to remove on mine. Any other random scratches introduced between the factory and the dealer (I had only a couple) obviously take what they take.

4carl

Mark, that was years ago with a new 996 GT3. I couldn't get the rear toe in spec it had almost 1/2" rear toe. That's right, one half inch toe in. The rear tires were shot in less than 1500 miles with one very weird track day.

The dealer couldn't figure it out (of course). I put it up on my lift and went over all the suspension putting a straight edge on the control arms. I found the lower left was bent, probably from being strapped down to the transporter.

They replaced the arm and gave me a new set on tires. Lesson learned! Good idea to look for damage from shipping. I also had a 996 GT2 that they must of hit something under the front.It had a large dent in the under-body under the nose.Another lesson #2 learned ! carl

mqandil

Thanks for sharing Carl. This is a good example of the more reasons, we got to be diligent when we inspect our new Porsches. Mark

mcdavis

Funny...purchased my PTG yesterday, and I have also instructed them not to touch the car until I get there....does someone have a PDI checklist? I'm planning to road trip, so I am also looking ar Xpel tracwrap - prior to the detail and wrap...

number 9

I had them put my car on the lift so I could check for obvious damage and to geek out over what a beauty the underside of this car is! I had no other criteria, paint imperfections were anticipated and I could care less about paint thickness as long as there were no obvious re sprays which would be noticeable with my color. I didn't even drive the car until after the paperwork so I guess I'm a little different than most. Dealers love warranty work and I have enough faith in my particular dealer to take care of me if a problem is discovered later as they have done in the past. Thankfully my Xpel installer was impressed that we had nothing major to overcome.

ClintonM3

You will have discrepancy among all the different body panels. If you measure a door, and it reads 4 mil, then the next panel over shows 8.5 mil, then you have issues. As long as the paint measurement are within a couple of mils of each other then you are fine. Different materials will naturally yield different thickness, ie wing vs door vs quarter panel. My Spyder has aluminum doors but not quarter panels. A mil or two is nothing, thickness of a human hair.

4carl

I agree after testing about 30 cars,Porsche.MB,BMW & Audi on the dealers lot you will have about a 2mil variance in paint thickness depending on the panel.

I have found the extra cost colors and metallics are thicker (I think they are painted off line) 6-8mil vs 3.8-5.8 mil on the no cost colors. carl