I know it's an old video but I just came across it now....as an installer I can say that installation could've been done better (it's really not awful though,I've seen FAR WORSE) but I feel like most customers expect PPF to be "bulletproof" where it's actually just supposed to be a sacrificial layer. Protecting your factory paint might be more expensive however not many people know just how difficult it is not only to match it when respraying but having the same factory quality paint. It also scares away potential buyers when/if you want to sell it (at least where I'm from) because they see a respray and assume it's been in an accident. Those edges can easily be cleaned and the scratches will heal with heat,rather replace film than an entire carbon panel which could cost more & at least that way your car will always be in "pristine factory condition".
It is so funny how this guy switches on and off an Indian accent and an American accent. He forgets to put on the American accent every now and then and it's the funny part. I find this with many Indians who go to the US to study or work and after a few years have this hilarious accent issue - under stress they default to total Indian accent, else they use an American accent for some words in a sentence that is jarring. I wish they stayed true to their roots and were comfortable with their Indian accent than struggle with a foreign accent.
They’re amateurs. All the edges should have been folded around the edges not done the way they did it for you. Also the door step is not hit by the sun so if you have a heat gun you can hit it with some and it should fix most of them unless they’re very deep.
some complicate bumper is not possible because the PPF has a limit of elasticity, also it may need to remove the whole bumper and head lights, which i think the cost at the end is higher than repaint the front bumper, hahahaha
Thanks for sharing your real world experience. Wrapping the edges would solve the pre-cut edge dirt problem. But then tho cost would go up significantly. Everything is a trade off. Can you do another video on the SUV? It looks like the film really took a hit. Thanks.
On the scratched trim area, before removing it, have you tried heating the PPF with a heat gun/hair dryer? Since PPF has self healing properties, heating it may remove the scratches again. Give it a try before removing it.
Thsi si really true for most ppf and xpel as well. Worst case scenario you can ask a detailer to polish it and I know that ppf can be polished like paint.
sorry man for your problems. but your installation on lexus is done by amateurs. Real proffesional never gonna put that car to the client. Trust me. Better find real proffesional shop where people know what they doing. Take care
Have you tried fixing those scratches on the door sill with a heat gun or blow dryer? Most PPF have a self healing characteristic that can repair minor scratches. Most beautiful Lexus by the way, just amazing!
That scratches on the door sills just means it's doing its job protecting whatever you covered up to protect. There's no scratch proof material that you can use to protect your car. Unless you have millions and billions to custom cut diamond.
It’s not a complain, it’s an observation. I understand the purpose of ppf, but I want it to look good as well. My point of the video is to showcase things you might not know or think about before you get ppf
As someone who’s learning through videos, you got played by the person who installed it, and they gave you an excuse so good that you believed it and fighting in their defense.
Late comment, but I'm not the only one thinking about PPF pros and cons who found this video. Thanks for the honest assessment. It's a refreshing contrast to the videos put out by youtube influencers who received a free or discounted ppf job or pro detailers who make a living from ppf and, unsurprisingly, love it.
about that door seal film, the scratched one.. No one says that you can't scratch the film. They say that the small scratches done by careless washing can heal in sun heat. But those deep scratches are not curable.. The best part is that they are in the film, otherwise they would be in the carbon fiber.. I see this as a pro - ppf argument.
@@PerryPapanier money isn't an issue for me which is why I take it for professional touchup? $5,000 of full PPF on a depreciating asset makes no sense to me
@@PerryPapanier I would only get PPF if I took my car offroading often. Like if I didn't have it the car would be BEAT UP by gravel rocks and stormy weather and need a full repaint. I just can't justify the cost of PPF replacement otherwise.
It looks like they haven’t wrapped the car correctly. In regards to your carbon fibre wrap. It has done its job by scratching the ppf and not the carbon fibre. If you take the ppf off, then you will have near perfect carbon fibre
I am the International Sales Director for an American PPF manufacturer, I’d be glad to A) answer any questions you might have about PPF B) get a proper installer with a proper film to replace all of this terrible workmanship.
I appreciate your help. I can be reached at info@luxurymicrofiberstore.com I’m looking for a good quality PPF installer. Looking forward to connecting with you
I talk about this a lot. I really appreciate you making this video tho because you are the customer. You. Are telling people your feedback as a customer. That carries more weight in my opinion. Because when I talk about this kind of stuff it seems more biased because I'm the guy who would put it on and remove it. People are less likely to listen to me basically and more likely to listen to you the actual and consumer customer. PPF is not a perfect system but it does protect your paint
@@atlasoverlandrecovery it should never harm the paint. It can only protect it. But often the rocks go past anyway and yous still get damage. But ultimately If money is not of concern then it's a decent idea to help stop chips. We install ppf for reference. The only time you will literally see it harm paint. Is when you remove it and you potentially literally peel paint off with the PPF because the glue is so strong. This is uncommon but it does happen
@@atlasoverlandrecovery IT CAN ....possibly harm the paint. I have seen removal of fairly new XPEL Ultimate on Audi R8 and it destroyed its paint cause the removal took the clear coat with it. But I have also seen removals where it was perfect and nothing went wrong. Pick your chances.
I just want to point out that good shops apply PPF without seems. You want to go with a shop that hand cuts the PPF and wraps the film over the edge of the car parts. This process requires more skill and partial disassembly of some parts, but it's the proper way to do it. When a shop does PPF correctly, you can't tell there is any PPF on the car, no matter how close you look. I think its only fair for this to be mentioned as the result you got is not always the case
Damn the shop you went to is your issue there buddy. Every issue you have should have been discussed at the point of sale and you should have either agreed or disagreed with type of installation they were going to do. They make ppf in 72” rolls and that fits the entire hood. You can also stretch the film, cuz that’s what it’s designed to do, and you will cover the whole hood. That’s a lazy job with a shop that didn’t want to buy the extra large 72” roll. They cheaper out on you my guy.
For the cost of ppf, I don’t care if it’s difficult, it should be wrapped around all edges. They are cutting corners by having the templates pre cut and simply installed. Some shapes need to be hand cut to avoid this. I wouldn’t deal with that. For 6-10k, I want it perfect. And I mean seamless. Otherwise what is the point of the high charge.
I watched your other video, which I feel should have been included with this one because in this video, you do NOT come across as giving advice to people about what to look for and be weary of. You seem to be telling people "I went to a reputable shop and it looks like this, so don't get PPF". So because of that, I am commenting with time stamps for the viewers who will not see the other video... I am a PPF installer (you won't find any videos through this account as it is my personal account - but I do own my own detailing and restyling shop in which I have 15 years experience and a very strong reputation as a custom/bulk PPF installer where we disassemble and cover everything), so I am speaking from professional experience here. You have a good start with pointing flaws out to to potential PPF buyers, but the review is lacking context and explanation. Before time stamps, I'll just point out that while installer experience IS important, this is a clear example of it not mattering/showing. A shop with 15-20 years of experience should NEVER put out this kind of work. This is arguably below even dealership work. 3:42 "and again, this isn't an example of a BAD job..." That is indeed a bad job. It's a pre-cut kit that was installed poorly enough to require re-cutting/trimming and the lines were cut crooked like crazy. 4:15 "a spot where the PPF is damaged..." You mean where it did its job and saved your paint from the rock chip. 4:20 "and then a little bit on the corner..." Again it's the poor quality shop/install using a precut kit not fully wrapping edges. 5:35 " this just looks like garbage..." Yes, because it did its job, protecting your CF from carelessness coming out of the car. PPF is sacrificial, and when it builds up enough damage, it is to be replaced. Also another example of a poor quality shop...they only covered half the carbon fiber, and with a gloss film over a matte CF. Matte PPF should've been used across the whole surface. 7:05 "it's the little edges that bother me...." Another great example of a poor quality shop doing the work. The LC has an oversized hood (larger than 60" in both directions), and a good shop knows that, so they will make sure to order and use 72" material instead of the standard 60" to properly cover the hood in one piece. This shop was lazy or cheap (or both) and simply didn't want to order the right material for your vehicle. Overall, the lesson to be learned here (and taught/passed on to your viewers) is to do your research on the shop and go on location to see examples of their work or current projects. Make sure you ask questions regarding which type of install you're getting (custom/bulk or pre-cut), ask if there will be seams, and if so, where and why. Ask what will be removed/disassembled (trims, badges, lights, moldings, etc.) Also, go with your instinct, is the person you're speaking with trying to convince you to buy something or trying to really push a sale or are they knowledgeable and trying to help you get what's right for you? Are they setting expectations as to what you'll be getting? Too many shops focus on the brand and length of warranty...when in reality, it's all about the installer and quality of the work.
Thank you for sharing this information. After watching this I don't think I will get the PPF. Those details would drive me crazy, especially after spending so much money.
I have Kavaka PPF on my C8, professionally installed and an excellent job compared to this Lexus. However an odd thing, if you look at the car it’s perfect, then I put on my polarized sunglasses and see gray shading and spots in the film. Color is Silver. Kavaka says this is normal. If I knew this I never would have had the PPF done. Anyone else seen this phenomenon ? Remember make sure you use polarized sunglasses not all sunglasses are. Thanks
My experience is almost all good PPF come with their own pros and con. I made this video because it’s important to set your expectations as a customer especially when you pay 5-7k.
This is normal. Polarized glasses use a polar filter lens which filters light directionally. The spots you see are variations in the thickness/orientation of the film stretch where it was squeegeed. Your glasses are filtering out light refracted at a specific angle. If you take your glasses off and look at the film through them while rotating them, you'll notice the spots appear and disappear or change location as the glasses change direction. All manufacturers warn about this. IMO, a very poor reason to choose to not get PPF. It's only visible with polarized glasses and changes absolutely nothing of what the car looks like (or how the PPF will perform) to the proper naked eye. You could just get regular sunglasses which is a simpler option.
I'm fairly sure a lot of installers actually wrap the panels these days...so the edges are actually around the edge of the panel and you don't have those visible edges. Almost like how they do a vinyl wrap. That would literally solve most of what you showed on the front bumper with those ugly corner areas. Might have just been a sub par installer.
I have an LC as well…. Really not sure if I want to drop $2200 to wrap front clip on this vehicle. It’s a Niory green so any chips do show up and concearn is of course a big hood that seems to collect every single bug lol. I’m not planning on tracking it but with CA freeways being so shitty I’m still a bit paranoid. Expel makes good product but when removed it can also damage factory paint…. Too many decisions
I think this is not the problem of the PPF but that it feels like the installer could have done a better job... I am not installer myself, but they could have wrapped the PPF around...
3:25 - looks like they rushed to have it done for you or something? They cut the PPF manually and that's how it ends. Companies that have automatic plotters which cuts PPF dont do these mistakes. 3:46 - yes, it is an example of a bad job xD
I'm on a marathon of vids on PPF, ceramics or waxes for my soon to be delivered 2024 vehicle. One thing for sure, I'm in a good company of neat freaks like me. Everything has to be perfect yada yada. But it's all good 😂😊😂
The ppl was a pre cut kit this is what happens with this a good installer has the machine to make the ppl longer so you can wrap the edges then you won’t have this problem
Protection and aesthetics are different things, PPFs only purpose is to protect paint, nobody said it will make your paint look better. That's just common sense
Sounds like as much as he is repeating consider your options, he should have done a better job at that himself. Look at how much the PPF saved his kick plate! He doesnt like hiw it looks when all he has to do is peel it off and the carbon fiber will look new again.. hate to see it if it wasbt protected. So i guess im a little confused at his complaints as the PPF seens to be working as advertised. It seems more like he should know personally his level of attention to detail and understand that he may not be happy with any protection at all because of the give and take aspect of most protective systems. Im sure he woild be more unhappy to see all his carbon fiber scratched up by his own doing or seeing a rock jammed in that little corner on his front bumper. I would think most people already know pros and cons, your decision, your money, at the end of the day make sure you take your own advice before blaming others who are just providing options. Thank you for options!
Paint is for body shops and more experienced tradesmen. Ppf and vinyl is more practical at the tuning shop. Actually, that's bs. I was just trying to be obtuse.
Just got my tesla m3 , by far the most expensive car i ever bought.. the whole tesla community will tell you to put ppf on your tesla.. yea right, unfortunately i don't have the $4000-6000 that i cost to out ppf on the full car.. but i went ahead , victim of that hype and paid $1000 to ppf the rocker , door bottom, and front bumper.. now im broke. I do not believe i will ever recover that money.. but atleast im less nervous when i drive my tesla on a dirt road.. and in the snow. For the rest i will see how my finance goes…. I also bought small piece of ppf and added them my self on few spots.. like the mount roof rack points.. and the rear trunk sill.. using slip solution and tac solution i was able to to like pro.. almost.. there are some very very small tiny imperfection.. but im learning.. i wouldn't do the front bumper myself but if you want to practice , try adding door sill ppf by yourself, those are great areas to learn how to ppf. In conclusion, i don't think we should ppf a whole car.. big waste of investment, you won't get a better price because your paint is pristine.. you will grt couple,of,hundreds bucks at most,
Your video is 2 years old. Sure the protection you put on is going to scratch from you getting in and out of your car every day - at least it is still protecting what is under the film. You said that car is 2 years old, so that make the car now 4 years old. You are too fussy. Myself, I will be doing just waxing to protect my new car when I get it. The car is going to get scratches, dinged, nicked, etc, unless you keep your car in the garage all the time and don't drive it. End of story
Ima tell you people who looking to get ppf as installer myself you paying what you’re getting. You want most of the edges wrap. It’s going to cost you more money. Most shops do precuts. Why it’s faster. Bulking takes longer. So it all comes down to the person what you willing to spend.
Hi, my intention in this reply is not to make you look foolish but simply to inform you of a couple of area’s in your presented video that needs to be corrected or for you to be informed of. First, your PPF installation is not typical of how many professional PPF shops would have left those lines in the PPF film, at least not in the part of the world where I live, [North America]. So it is not a fair assessment of you warning your viewers of what they can expect if they choose to have PPF done on their vehicles. The next area where you may be confused is on the drivers-side door panel where there were some light scratch marks on the ceramic film that you stated you attempted to polish out. What you need to do for those light scratches is to use a hair-dryer or a heat gun, set the heat setting to high and slowly blow hot air back and forth along the PPF on the ceramic film strip, unless these scratches are extremely deep you should see them disappear. As for the area’s on your front bumper and hood, I would suggest purchasing some auto degreaser [read the label and follower the directions on it], once you have removed all of those thin dirt lines, I would then wash down the areas and dry them, I would then apply a good brand of wax to those areas’ to eliminate future discolorations, note: you could also purchase some ceramic and apply it to those areas instead of using a wax. Hope this helps.
@@atlasoverlandrecovery The PPF does not harm the cars paint. Depending on how poorly the PPF was applied, there should not be any bubbles on the cars surface; if the PPF was done by one's self, then there are possibilities of bubbles but depending on the size of said bubbles, the user may be able to remove them or at least min. them.
This is why I try to stay away from PPF all together. But here I am getting back into the whole PPF world. The problem I have with it, is that for the money it cost, it goes from being a paint protection product to a vehicle enhancement product. And that's where the drama starts.
I did the same car a couple months ago and on that interior door piece I put a matte ppf on it to keep the matte look. Just be careful taking that piece off cause you can potentially rip the matte clear on the door jamb. Also that hood can be done in one piece. The video is somewhere on my RU-vid channel.
I came out of this video with this thought. If you want to PPF to keep your car perfect, know that PPF will make it imperfect immediately. Thanks for the great video.
This is a thought provoking and interesting conversation. I had a very nice Kavaca ppf installation done on a recent new black car. I believe the both the material and installation was top notch. I enjoy paint care and have the tools and products to remove imperfections. However I have been hesitant to try any more aggressive techniques on the ppf areas other than a wash. This has left the treated areas looking slightly worse than others albeit protected. The cost savings goes a long way to a respray if necessary and I can likely get small chips professionally fixed. This video and conversation has me seriously considering a skip of ppf on my next car
If you have already decided on ppf then it would be worth seeing a Kavaca installation. I could definitely see an improvement when compared to Xpel on a dark car. However I bought a new car in November and decided to forgo ppf altogether.
New car Dealerships are now forcing you to pay for at least some level of ppf. B4 you even view the car, theyve already installed their shitty quality ppf. Not to mention crap level ceramic coating they they added to the sale price.
They need to find innovative ways to make money. I’ve heard many customer tell me they have ceramic on the car, that’s what the dealer told them. Educate yourself to understand what you’re getting and always ask questions.
i will not cover the bumper, because the cost is high as i repaint the bumper, also the ppf cannot cover the complicate bumper shape and fold over it, i will only cover the hood, the other areas i will do ceramic coating only also you can try STEK PPF
I can live with a chip or scratch. What I can't live with is peeling clear coat. Which PPF may also carry that risk of peeling the clear coat with it if removal is necessary due to damaged/worn/yellowed PPF. Therefore, I always prefer professional coatings that have proven themselves in the SUN such as Opti Coat pro. I do have PPF though on door sill areas though as some high performance vehicles are so WIDE.
I did a DIY full front end of PPF for my own 21 Honda Odyssey. It was very difficult process especially for the edges especially that I didn’t know it would be difficult to make it perfect in the edges.
My ppf was done on my all black Mercedes. RU-vid taught me it will not be perfect and car color does make a difference. I'm satisfied with my ppf job. Having a white car will highlight the dirt buildup along any exposed edges over the years.
Yeah those edges are not done right. Always do the research and find a guy who would spend extra time to make sure every detail is perfect. Makes all the difference.
this video is full of of misinformation, the wrap job of the PPF is not good at all. Also the PPF in the door seal, to heal the scratches you use a heat gun or hair dryer on high not polishing. If your film turns yellow after time then it was not good to begin with, most high quality PPF films now days have 10 year warranty against these defects. The purpose of PPF to provide a layer that can be sacrificed in order to protect the paint underneath. A good installer would have removed the front bumper and all the trim from it in order to wrap the part completely
This wrap was done by a professional shop. I see a lot of sloppy work like this. My point is you need to know what you’re getting into. This can happen to to anyone. If done right, it should not look like this, but unfortunately this is very common.
iv got a great idea to fix your corners. clean it really well then put a thin coat of clear silicon around all the edges and just run your finger over it. that will probably fix your issue. I put it on my vynal wrap edges and you can't even see it
I have PPF on my Ferrari. So the dirt on the edges is almost only visible on White cars, then also the carbon door panel is never exposed to heat and sun so it doesn't heal automaticly. Use a heat gun and it will be as new again... Polishing PPF is not advised because you will take a bit of the "self healing by heat" top layer. Also i dont understand why they didnt fold the PPF inwards so you cant see the edges.
Sounds like trying sell ceramic coating. But u dont tell ppl that ceramic coating is not going to protect the car from the rock. The film is made for protect the surface. Coating is for more like water repellent.
Hello, thank you for your honest opinion and sorry for your troubles…I’m in the process of buying a new Tesla and, as I have found from other Tesla owners in RU-vid, it’s one of the cars for which most people recommend PPF primarily because of Tesla’s traditionally bad quality paint and, especially, because of the car’s front bumper design which seems to get a lot of hits from bugs and other debris. Despite these recommendations, I’m on the fence as to whether I should have at least the front half of my car with PPF. As you said, PPF is expensive and I’m trying, in my mind, to decide whether a better financial decision would be to just pay for the repair of any chips that may occur over the years…Therefore, I’m inclined to just have a ceramic coating done, which should protect the shine of the paint from dirt, bird droppings, etc., and forego the PPF. Any thoughts? Thank you
I recently got a white Tesla model S plaid and decided to just to ceramic coating. See my other video I show the full process and explain why I did what I did. BTW - I love Teslas, good choice 👍
@@luxurymicrofiber4007 Thank you very much for responding. I believe your approach to preserving your cars is the most sensible, even in places where it snows and the weather doesn’t “cooperate”…The ceramic coating helps you protect the shine in your paint and should a small chip occur, it’s much cheaper to have it professionally repainted than to pay at least $2k for PPF. After all, how often will your car get hit by road debris if you live in a modern city with decent roads? I chose grey for my new Tesla because, quite frankly, it is (in my opinion) the car color that shows the dirt…
About to get my 21 type r whole front in with ppf.. I’ll keep y’all updated, knowing the curves that both of these cars have I think it’s a great example to see what the outcome is. 😮💨
@@jayscul-de-sac6820 It’s one of the best investments I’ve made. It is beyond easy to clean the car now and the whole front end always look like new 🤝 also protects your headlights and body from any damage or aging. 10/10 recommend
Ive done my own ppf on my genesis g70, tons and tons of tiny curves, the first one u mentioned at 3:09 could have been eradicated with more heat after lifting and re applying from the apex of the curve outward. Heat and pressure makes 3m very tacky and it would stick. Sorry man, i wish i could’ve fixed it for you
The door sill plate scratches may look ugly, however imagine if that was without PPF.....all of those scratches would be on your actual carbon fiber. At the end of the day, it is paint protection film, not paint perfection film.
This isn't clickbait and there's a lot of value in sharing these real and common pitfalls, but having read the comments and then watched the part 2, you went from "I don't care how good the shop is" to "this is a bad example of PPF". Just saying, if you want your viewers to learn the truth you should edit the description or pin a comment here accordingly for all the future viewers, because many will just take what you present here at face value without realizing that part 2 should be the one with all the views.
Well, that's the thing about cost. You need to replace the PPF every few years. Not sure the cost outweighs just getting the car repainted. I had an Acura that I had PPF put on it but didn't realize how often I should replace it. The sun will shrink the PPF a bit over the years and the edges will leave glue where it originally was. This glue just doesn't pick up dirt but tiny rocks. Imagine putting coarse beach sand on glue that is on your car.... Yeah, I murdered my paint job in those areas taking the PPF off myself. Some areas were ok, but other areas were rough. I'm going the cloth/leather car bra method next time.
I also had an LC 500 and had the same front PPF installed as you I got it done at Tint World they used SunTek PPF installation is far more important than the actual brand of material they use. Obviously SunTek is a good brand but one of the key things is the SunTek film is a bit on the thinner side compared to something like Xpel so it’s easier to work with. My installer also had exposed edges only on the end of the hood from what I remember but I had no dirt build up after a year and a half. I’ll probably order a 2023 LC and get the whole car PPF next time
The PPF you have on your cars look like precut. If you got the bulk install (I think that’s what it’s called) the edges would be wrapped. It cost more for bulk and it takes longer
This is standard paint protection film installation process still worth the money to protect paint. Do you prefer rock chips or corner dust ( which you can easily clean) But if you wanted perfection, you should have requested PPF as wrap where they do it as vinyl wrap. It cost more but for high end cars that you keep for more than 5 years or more, it is worth it.
