Sending you a PM.

 

Need help, I took my two day old 911 to get the 3m venture shield put on my car by a local person who seemed to be adept at protective films. My wife and I both agree that this seems to be a retarded installation, and every time we look at it, we find more flaws. The installer scratched the covering on the hood and told me to live with it for a couple of weeks, the material will settle and look clearer. Not sure If I believe him. I have posted pictures, these are just some of the fine examples. Every surface seems to have white bubbles or not tacked properly. Any advice will help.

 

Airportrat, I don't think you had a great installer on this. It's tough to tell from the photos, but the edges don't look right to me. Some of the bubbles and imperfections will iron/dry themselves out of over the next few days, and there will always be some slight imperfections, since this stuff is typically not installed in a clean room environment, but my gut tells me this isn't done right. My reccomendation is to let it cure for a couple of days, take some new photos in natural light, and let more in this forum, who are familiar with paint protection film have another look. Also, you may want to look back in this forum becuase I believe there is a reputalble installer that commented in this thread and has his business contact information listed. You might get in touch with him and email him some high-res photos to give his professional opinion. Best of Luck!!

 

I'm not an expert but here's my take based on limited experience and from what I saw during my install.

- The edges not being bedded down is a big no no.
- Scratches during an install and then being told to wait 2 weeks. Rubbish! It should look pristine.
- A load of tiny bubbles? Hmmm maybe a handful but that's it. I had none that I could notice. A pocket appeared the day after the install but disappeared once the car was in the sun for an hour. There were no tiny bubbles. I would assume its the installer rushing it. How long did he take? Mine took about 6 hours and meticulous prepping and "massaging" the film. I don't know the technical term for the elbow grease action.

Tell the installer how you feel and that you are not happy with the result. Could you take the car to a 3rd party for their assessment?

 

Does anyone have a good person in Los Angeles to get a good assessment of my inept installation.

 

I had a similar result with the same product and my installer told me the same thing - " takes a couple weeks... park it in bright sun to accelerate the process...". Well, after 6 months it looked mostly the same. I lost interest in pursuing it and ultimately traded the car in a month ago.
i will not use the same installer on my new 991. My suggestion would mirror what has already been said - find someone good, verify that your installation is inferior, ger your money back and have the new person do it.

 

I had my entire car covered about 2 weeks after receiving the car. For my situation I think it was a good idea, but I have a hard time recommending it for everybody. My car stays parallel parked on the side of the road 24/7, and gets washed only like once a month, max. It's also my daily driver. I wanted to minimize damage from rock chips, door dings, sun damage, keying, etc etc.... I used Llumar PPF. It does slightly change the look, and it does feel plasticky, but I feel like it's a nice disposable barrier between my car's paint and the environment. Make sure your installer is top notch (like mine was), as you really do not want the added headache of an improper install...you're doing this to make your life less stressful after all, right? I recommend having all edges tucked that can be tucked and full panels only (for the best look), and I would have a conversation about the risk of having razor cuts into the paint. Google search that last point if you wanna get nauseated. Good installers won't make that mistake. Also, if you are are the type of person who wants to keep their car looking pristine, I would say don't expect the PPF to be this invincible layer that lets you ignore acidic fluids that would etch into paint. If a bird poops on your car it's still recommended to clean it off right away. I'm not sure if all films behave like this, but my PPF still etched with bird crap and lovebugs after only 3-5 days of being left there, which was unable to be buffed out. I don't care though, because as I said, I see this film as something that is disposable (sacrificial barrier) and the etching was on the PPF rather than the paint. I'm really pleased with my install, and I'm glad I did it, but each person's situation is different.


-My pic of the dirty smurf as she sits now