Did my PPF installer do a good job or is he BS'ing me?

[BurntToast]

2022 Neptune Blue GTS with color correction, full PPF using Premium Shield, and ceramic on top.

I'm not sure if my expectations are out of line or if my installer should have done a better job.

I've uploaded a few videos outlining my concerns and would appreciate anyone giving me feedback on how this install compares to yours.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1M1JFiq7VNsOMjpJIy9RPyBg1JSLWZ5__?usp=sharing

I appreciate anyone willing to give me a few mins - Thanks!

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[jvincent]

I'm not super picky about PPF and don't obsess over the little things. That being said, I am very not impressed with the job your shop did. The cuts around sharp corners show a lack of experience or expertise. They don't need to be there and are poorly done. Edges not laying down, and generally sloppy work, IMO, requires a redo. Preferably by a different installer.

 

[f10tt]

My 2 cents...I'm only a part owner of a detailing/ppf business so I don't know everything. If it was a car that we had done, I'd expect it back in to fix the areas in red below. I'd also go around to check all your edges so that they can trim whatever's lifting and seal down the rest.

• On the mirror - this is the way mine is on my Taycan and on the rest of my cars.
• On the front bumper - the relief cut on the drivers side is atrocious, but the passenger side looks ok. That drivers side is going to lift.
• On the roof - it looks like it just wasn't stretched enough. That could be one of those areas where dirt will get trapped and eventually it will look bad but I don't think it's the end of the world.
• On the rear bumper - we did NOT put relief cuts in but it took us 2 hours to lay around the lights properly. That being said, those relief cuts in the photo ending in XX79 is atrocious. There's no reason for that in my opinion.
• On fingerprints - my car is CWM and coated with OptiCoat Pro3. You can still see finger prints. I keep a couple clean microfibers from The Rag Company in my door pockets for when it really bothers me.
• On the door edge - take it back and have them trim that. its ridiculous that that many relief cuts had to be made. Mine is not like that.
• On the black plastic - we didn't ppf that on mine either but we did ceramic all the black plastic.

 

[Razor]

I had mine PPFed as well and what I can say after watching your videos is:
-The glue bits on the front means they had a hard time sticking the film on that part and they had to fix it instead of trying again with a new piece of wrap, they did a very bad job there.
-I have Suntek Reaction installed and it's better than XPEL, it even comes with Ceramic coated, the fingerprints still show like crazy on mine too, so I believe that's normal.
-The bubbles on the top of the door and the wrinkles on the insides of the doors are very bad and a half decent installer wouldn't make these mistakes.
-The black plastic parts cannot be covered, that's a fact.
-The sharp lines you see near the tailights are normal, that part is very tricky because it's very rounded, they had to do a cut in the PPF to allow it to sit properly on that surface without leaving wrinkles or bubbles.
-The mirror caps on mine aren't as bad as yours but they follow the same idea, it's not wrapped on the inner side and those creases too.

If I had to give your installer a rating, I would go for 6/10.

Thing is the Taycan has very sharp lines just like a Lambo or a Ferrari, and those types of lines take a lot of skill and patience to cover perfectly.

 

[maddie]

Hi,

I had similar questions when I got my car back from the installer in NYC. I have CWM in my Taycan S, so it’s a bit different. But again, a little dirt and you can see every mistake much clearer on the PPF. Here are some thoughts:
1. Mirrors: mine are similar as it’s almost too roundhouse to cover it all. But the cuts I have are very straight.
2. Curvature near lights where you show glue. I would definitely get that refixed. I don’t have that kind of glue anywhere.
3. Door edge, ask them to redo. there’s no reason why that’s the case.
4. Plastic parts: They can’t do PPF on it, unless sanded. They are usually left exposed and that’s fine too
5. Finger prints: spray some water or drive in the rain to see ceramic properties. The finger prints are unavoidable on metallic paints too (w/ expel and ceramic). They can be easily wiped though.
6. The bubbles: again, should be fixed.

Here’s a thread with the issues I questioned with my PPF.
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/ppf-details-washing-after-ceramic-xpel-fusion.9187/
But they are all fine & that was my first experience - so maybe I was being unreasonable. Now that Jve had the car over 6 months and people who have seen the PPF on it says the installer did a wonderful job.

 

[YLA G]

I have seen your left doorhandle at the back.. it’s bad.. also this is not acceptable at all!

 

[Alex74]

Mine is done ppf xpel and coating outside, rims and inside

 

[evn00b]

* The bubbles, imperfections should be fixed once your PPF is cured and your installer should have already scheduled a session 2 weeks out (at no extra cost). After finalization, it should look better than when you took delivery of the PPF-less car.
* The cuts on the door should not be there, period. Mine has a nice straight line and its hard to tell visually there's PPF unless you feel the edge.
* The relief cuts around the rear lights unfortunately will be there in some form but your install shows some glue I think, which should not be there. Ask them to re-do this entire panel. My installer re-did that entire panel when I was not satisfied (plus they had a tiny tear along one edge that I caught 1 week after delivery) but those relief cuts were there. Apparently for that panel, they rely on a computer cut due to the rounded profile. I am still not fully satisfied but I saw how they work it and I am not sure they can do much better without wasting a lot of labor and film, if at all.
* The mirror only gets covered similar to what you have. I specifically asked my installer about this and he had confirmed beforehand.
* Black matt plastic does not get PPFed.

 

[Rainforest]

My entire car is wrapped, and I've wrapped almost all of my cars. So I do have good knowledge of this stuff (not that others don't).

The mirror looks right. My installer wrapped all the way around, even the inside edge, but he warned me that he has to stretch the film a lot and it may lift later. It is very normal to leave the surface facing the window exposed because it is very hard to curve a flat piece of film at such extreme angles.

It's true that the rough plastic cannot be wrapped. For the rear taillight cut, mine has a cut right at the top edge which makes it almost invisible. My entire cavity is wrapped. So your installer didn't an inferior job there. But that area does need a cut somewhere.

Your rear door is a complete mess. That is totally unacceptable. Mine has no cuts along the edge and is completely wrapped over without any lifting.

For the front air intake, the bottom curve is indeed difficult to wrap. My installer had to do it a second time because it was lifting in the exact area where your installer used "glue". To be honest, I have never heard of an installer using "glue", so that makes no sense. But a skilled installer will eventually be able to wrap the bottom of the air intake successfully without any glue whatsoever. In fact, there should be no glue anywhere! I would not accept that "glue" patch if the car was mine.

Did I miss anything else? PM me if you want me to send you photos of my car. It is a flawless job if you ask me.

 

[VA_CT]

The installer should have done a better job. I agree with others and I would take the car back to redo the install

 

[Tdc]

i'm puzzeld that there is no one asking for the pricepoint of this install. For me i got different quotes and finally accepted one of the higher prices since the details matter to me, especially on a car like this. I have my PPF planned end of august since i dont even have my car yet..

i dont want to defend the installer in any way becouse the finish is not good at and i would complain as well. But price paid does make a difference into howmuch you can complain or what you can expect IMHO

 

[Teufel Hund]

i'm puzzeld that there is no one asking for the pricepoint of this install. For me i got different quotes and finally accepted one of the higher prices since the details matter to me, especially on a car like this. I have my PPF planned end of august since i dont even have my car yet..

i dont want to defend the installer in any way becouse the finish is not good at and i would complain as well. But price paid does make a difference into howmuch you can complain or what you can expect IMHO

Good point. Can I ask what is the range of what people are paying for full PPF and Ceramic coating? And if only PPF that’s fine too. Trying to get an idea of what to expect when I go to have mine done.
Thx

 

[BurntToast]

i'm puzzeld that there is no one asking for the pricepoint of this install. For me i got different quotes and finally accepted one of the higher prices since the details matter to me, especially on a car like this. I have my PPF planned end of august since i dont even have my car yet..

i dont want to defend the installer in any way becouse the finish is not good at and i would complain as well. But price paid does make a difference into howmuch you can complain or what you can expect IMHO

$7,950. I received 3 quotes from different installers and the other two came in at $7,500. I selected this installer because one of the owners told me they had experience with Taycans, but then I found that not to be true. At that point, I had already paid the deposit and saw some of their other work and it seemed good, so I moved forward.

All 3 installers had 4.6+ on Google with 150-250 reviews.

 

[TaycanHero]

$7,950. I received 3 quotes from different installers and the other two came in at $7,500. I selected this installer because one of the owners told me they had experience with Taycans, but then I found that not to be true. At that point, I had already paid the deposit and saw some of their other work and it seemed good, so I moved forward.

All 3 installers had 4.6+ on Google with 150-250 reviews.

It's easy to fake reviews. I'm no PPF expert, but your videos reveal a truly amateurish job.

I wouldn't even let them fix it as they'll probably damage the paintwork. Demand a refund and then take it somewhere recommended by someone you know, or ask to see finished examples before handing over any money.

 

[OTPSkipper]

2022 Neptune Blue GTS with color correction, full PPF using Premium Shield, and ceramic on top.

I'm not sure if my expectations are out of line or if my installer should have done a better job.

I've uploaded a few videos outlining my concerns and would appreciate anyone giving me feedback on how this install compares to yours.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1M1JFiq7VNsOMjpJIy9RPyBg1JSLWZ5__?usp=sharing

I appreciate anyone willing to give me a few mins - Thanks!

Thanks for posting all this detail. Makes for an excellent thread.

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