Paint Protection Films

[steve911]

The "Clear Bra" (Don't know this exact product as it was on my car when I got it) is starting to yellow somewhat.

What is the current "standard" out there in terms of clarity, gloss and longevity?


thanks

 

[3whitevipers]

After about 5 yrs or so they all begin to "yellow"-- looks horrible on white or light color cars over time. Exposure to UV really speeds up the the condition. For that reason I've not used the film. Another point is that a stone impact will dent the film looking much like a chip in the paint. The film will however prevent the sand blasting of the paint from very small bits that get tossed up from the road, but then film itself then begins to look "cloudy" from the blasting effect. There is definitely a trade off to these film coverings--Dave

 

[ACRucrazy]

Sooo why not just remove them and replace them after 5 years if they start to yellow? You would still have fresh paint underneath with no chips?

 

[3whitevipers]

1.5K cost for a good re-film job plus the possibility of paint damage during the film removal. I had a buy order for a white 2005 Ford GT pending inspection. When I looked at the car in 2008 to purchase it, I discovered that most of the car was "filmed" causing a great discoloration issue between the filmed areas and the non filmed areas. The car was white with blue stripes. It had the 3M film on it or at least I was told that. I asked for the film to be removed but no one would guarantee that there would not be paint damage--so I passed because the car really looked bad. The car had 3400 miles on it, so I assume that a lot of the time the car sat indoors with out a lot of UV exposure. This experience has soured me on the films so much that my Vipers, Vette, and Cobra are not filmed at all.--Dave

 

[Garron]

I installed ventureshield in 2007, no yellowing or anything to date. I have had to replace the flim on the drivers side fender three times due to a lot of bad luck from stones. No problems removing the flim at all.

I keep my car very clean.

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Everything is covered on the front of the car

 

[texas_venom]

Thats very high on the price and is not the standard... depending on how much of the car you are going to get covered. My rate fro the full hood, full fenders, bumper, lights, mirrors and rocker panels is less than $1500... so you might want to look for another installer. Second there are no issues at all with removing film from factory paint. I have replaced film on dozens of cars and not one single issue with factory paint. The only time to worry about that is if the film was installed on fresh paint that hadnt fully cured. Then its a potential issue... or if the quality of the respray was poor. But anytime you respray a car you kill the resale value as people will assume it was damaged in an accident... I have seen this happen numerous times. And finally there are numerous films out there that have come out that are very resitant to yellowing. Suntek, Xpel Ultimate, and Avery Nano Fusion are the best new films out there. If there is yellowing then have it replaced under warranty. Its that simple. As a side note most of the yellowing issues caused before were due to using products on the films that contained petroleum distillates... which have a chemical reaction with the urethane and causes it to discolor. If you use the correct product on the material (Zaino is a great product) then you will not have any yellowing issues at all.

By the way, reach under your rocker panels and tell me that maybe you should haev gotten film installed. They get destroyed under there... my 2004 had film installed when it was brand new and 20,000 miles later not a single pit on the rocker panel... or anywhere else for that matter.

 

[PDCjonny]

Thats very high on the price and is not the standard... depending on how much of the car you are going to get covered. My rate fro the full hood, full fenders, bumper, lights, mirrors and rocker panels is less than $1500... so you might want to look for another installer. Second there are no issues at all with removing film from factory paint. I have replaced film on dozens of cars and not one single issue with factory paint. The only time to worry about that is if the film was installed on fresh paint that hadnt fully cured. Then its a potential issue... or if the quality of the respray was poor. But anytime you respray a car you kill the resale value as people will assume it was damaged in an accident... I have seen this happen numerous times. And finally there are numerous films out there that have come out that are very resitant to yellowing. Suntek, Xpel Ultimate, and Avery Nano Fusion are the best new films out there. If there is yellowing then have it replaced under warranty. Its that simple. As a side note most of the yellowing issues caused before were due to using products on the films that contained petroleum distillates... which have a chemical reaction with the urethane and causes it to discolor. If you use the correct product on the material (Zaino is a great product) then you will not have any yellowing issues at all.

By the way, reach under your rocker panels and tell me that maybe you should haev gotten film installed. They get destroyed under there... my 2004 had film installed when it was brand new and 20,000 miles later not a single pit on the rocker panel... or anywhere else for that matter.

This man knows his business.

 

[sfm79]

1.5K cost for a good re-film job plus the possibility of paint damage during the film removal. I had a buy order for a white 2005 Ford GT pending inspection. When I looked at the car in 2008 to purchase it, I discovered that most of the car was "filmed" causing a great discoloration issue between the filmed areas and the non filmed areas. The car was white with blue stripes. It had the 3M film on it or at least I was told that. I asked for the film to be removed but no one would guarantee that there would not be paint damage--so I passed because the car really looked bad. The car had 3400 miles on it, so I assume that a lot of the time the car sat indoors with out a lot of UV exposure. This experience has soured me on the films so much that my Vipers, Vette, and Cobra are not filmed at all.--Dave

What a surprise, white with blue stripes..... See you in a few weeks Dave

 

[texas_venom]

This man knows his business.

I try to stay on top of all the new products coming out in the industry as tecnology is increasing greatly in PPFs. I am still kicking around the idea of going to the VOI this year as a vendor to show some of the new products off and what they are capable of. If I can find out if there is an area around there to potential to do some installation work I will go for sure. But its hard to get all of this together on short notice. And thats a long drive...

 

[3whitevipers]

I have absolutely no chips under the rocker panels because I made small rock deflectors out of clear Lexan to prevent this. I had a thred on it some time ago, but the moderators immediately removed it. --never really did know why as I was not trying to sell anything. I was new to the club at that point so, I assume that I violated some cardinal rule. I showed how I did it, how I made patterns, provided pictures, and where to buy the Lexan. It's really very simple and effective. I'm in Florida where we do not get a lot of rock or rock salt on the roads, so my solution works fine for me.---Dave