Sorry to hear about your situation Brumma; I just learned today that I might also have some razor marks from a previous installation (also, before I owned the car). I won't know for sure until my old film is completely removed (fingers and every other possible body part crossed).

That said, if there are razor marks, nothing can be done about that now. I can't see myself having the car repainted when it is otherwise perfect. So, in the end, I decided to go for the fully body wrap and give it as much protection as I could.

Just handed the keys over to Greg at Premier Protective Films Int'l in Norcal. I must say that the customer service has been great so far.

Greg, if you are reading this, please take car of my baby!

BTW Brumma, if my "friends" were ever critical about my car because of razor marks, I'd quickly ban them from ever setting foot inside the car


Eric

 

You allow passengers in your car ..??

Seriously, I do have rules about clothing, especially jeans that have the jagged zippers on the rear pockets. I've seen a few threads where AM seats have been shredded.

 

Just an update... I am really, really unhappy with the material and the installation. Over the last two weeks more and more bubbles, runs & flaws have appeared. In addition, there are some obvious squeegie marks where they damaged the film on installation (which I pointed out at the time and was assured that they would fade out as the material cured.) The worst areas are where the OEM stuff had been installed. I assume it may have something to do with the fact that these guys never cleaned off the remainder of the adhesive after they removed it.

More on the adhesive, etc... The places where the OEM material was installed in the rear arch high impact area were very difficult for them to remove. It also left behind a lot of adhesive residue, which they finally just gave up on saying "the rest will come off when you have the car polished." It didn't come off. Oh yeah, and they managed to pull off some of the paint along the edges of some panels. I keep finding more of that too.

More on the polish... I paid about $800 to have the car professionally polished the following day. The guy drove down from Orlando and he did an excellent job. He spent a lot of extra time on the car, especially since he had to try to get off the rest of the adhesive. It only managed to chew and gum up one of his pads, so he had to resort to scraping it off by hand. The car looked beautiful when he was finished. A few RIDS here and there, but no swirls. I expected the installers to prep the surface prior to installation, but all they did was wash the surface with soap and water.

More on the wash... They managed to leave swirl marks all over the doors of my freshly polished car! Needless to say I was freaked out and angry. I called and complained, but the owner couldn't see how they could have possibly left swirls. I was very polite and explained the situation, and he agreed to "take a look at" the damage. Perhaps I am a coward, but I detest confrontation so it is always difficult for me to complain. In the end I just couldn't bear to leave the swirls on there until he could fit me into his schedule, so I arranged to meet my detailer up in Tampa yesterday so he could repair the damage.

The material... They were very proud of their 3M material. I have to say this stuff is utter crap. It looked great when it was first put on, but seems to have no durability whatsoever. On my drive home I ran into a bunch of the dreaded lovebugs, which simply decimated the material. I was able to clean them off, but there is very obvious damage to the clear bra where they impacted. Of course, the painted surfaces look untouched after the wash.

I am seriously contemplating just ripping this garbage off. I think I will probably have them fix their work on the rocker panels and wheel arches, but I'm going to remove the stuff on the bonnet, fenders and headlights. I'll probably keep the mirrors and maybe the front bumper too. It didn't at all help to hide the razor cuts from the previous install either. Obviously, I'm also concerned that they'll screw up the paint again.

I feel like it would have been more fun to just burn the $1200 it cost for the installation. It would have been less stressful.

 

Wow Brumma; I feel for you....sounds like a pretty miserable situation all-around.

What company did you go with? $1200 seems pretty cheap for clear bra, assuming you did more than just the hood and fenders.

I have consistently been quoted around $2500 to do the entire front in a custom wrap (i.e., non-laser pre-cut kits), which includes, the front bumper, fenders, hood and side mirrors. In the end, I paid about $5500 to wrap the entire car.

I read some good reviews about a company out near Maryland/Virginia; in case you're interested, just send me a PM.

Good luck!

 

Thanks Macksamus, I appreciate the sentiment. (Somehow I missed your post until now.) It was a pre-cut kit for the most part--front of hood & fenders, front valance/bumper, headlights, doorsills, and mirrors. The only custom part is a larger-than-standard patch in front of the rear wheel arches to replace the OEM one.

I stopped by their shop this evening to have them correct a few issues and the end result is that the guy got rid of some of the marks, but he hazed the film in the process! It looked OK in the sun, but when I got it home in the garage I could see the hazing. The guy also must use towels made out of sandpaper because he still managed to put fresh swirls in the paint! I don't understand how--I watched him and it looked like he barely touched the non-covered area!

I give up on this guy. I'll probably need to have the rocker panels and wheel arches redone, so if anyone can recommend an installer in Florida, please let me know. I wish there was someone locally as skilled as Premier. Their stuff looks awesome!