For those of us who purchased a used car with the clear bra already installed, how would you know if the paint has been cut until the film is removed? I haven't examined mine close enough but it looks like it would be hard to distingush a cut and the edge of the film until its removed. Mine looks like its a pre-cut film.

 

A close examination by a reputable installer should be able to find any cuts in the paint. A poor installation will have jagged non straight cuts in areas, these are the places to look first. Best of luck.

 

If it is done by a quality precut installer, then you really should not worry. Lifting, visible imperfections (stretch marks, creases, etc.), jagged cuts are signs of a poor application and there is that potential. It comes down to the importance of a quality installer.

 

Very clean job! I want to learn how to do it

 

Wow too bad Premier is only a West Coast Installer...I've toyed with the idea of putting one on my car(s) before but am on the other coast and after reading this post am scared shytless of poor quality work! Those pics are just horror shows...makes you want to just keep the car as it came from the factory instead of butchering it.

 

There are quality installers on the market. Just be sure to look at the work prior to choosing an installer. Those who take pride in their work would not hesitate to show off their craft.

 

Why didn't he just tape the car up with blue painters tape for the ride.

I hear this too often about installers cutting paint. This is why I went with a pre cut kit.

I wish you guys were on the east coast since I have heard that you guys are the best in the country. That said, I know you guys do complete wraps also so don't you need to cut on the car also? I suspect when you are really good at it the risk is minimized but isn't there always a small chance of cutting the paint when doing complete wraps?

What film do you guys use?

 

I am very fortunate right now and have a VERY good installer doing my car as we speak. He is constantly preaching about the dangers of cutting on the car and refuses to do it. He also has done quite a bit of custom work and is actually doing custom work on my hood since it has a Callaway CF scoop on it. Although he still does not cut on the car, he will make a template and then make a pre cut piece to install.

The bad news is he is moving probably 6 hours away from me soon so I will need to find a new installer for future work. He is also semi retired and usually takes about a week to do a sizable job/car so driving down and waiting for it is not an option.

I would love to hear any tips you have on finding a quality installer. I just got done interviewing everybody in my area (Phila suburb) and was not real comfortable with any of the other installers. There were a few maybe's that I had loned up just incase my guy was not able to do it but even they were a few hours away. I REALLY REALLY wish there was a list of guys that did quality installs and that you could be confident that you would not get your paint cut in the process. Unfortunately flatbedding to Calif is not really an option.

 

The potential with razor cuts with inexperienced installers is all too real regardless whether the installer is a precut or custom based. What is more important is the length of time in which he has been performing this service. A bad precut installer can also end up cutting paint. How this occurs:

1. precut pattern does not fit well (then trimming is required to get everything to line up)
2. installer did not put the precut template on correctly; thus, having to trim to line things up

Approximately half of the vehicles that are damaged are done by precut installers not applying the kit correctly.

Things to watch out for:

1. installers that do not specialize in this type of application (some do this as an add on to an existing business)
2. "certified" installers. Many on the market are certified. This is important, but not as crucial as the length of time he has been performing this installation - experience is the key.
3. most importantly look at the work in person if possible.
4. ask for references

Good luck!

 

Dayum may need to flatbed my car from Texas to you guys when I get there in May just to get this done right. How much would that cost in addition to a full front wrap on my car(s). I have a 2009 997s and a 2008 BMW M3 which I've been told I should do the full hood and bumper and mirrors on both. PM me I'd be curious and maybe intersted although I bet you're gonna make me cry when I hear the cost!

 

I just had my car done in CT. All in all, I am 75% pleased. It would probably show as a "botched" install for one of your pictorials, but it was quality film and not costly. The areas of concern for mine are the orange peel of the 3M film (yech) and some minor scratches obviously post-install, and a few ugly seams (very low on the car). At least there was no cutting on the car, which accounts for one bad seam, the installer said he would have cut it on the car but preferred to leave a slight overlap to honor my request to not cut.

I encourage anyone doing this to see the visible difference of the different films. 3M comes with designed-in orange peel so it doesn't stand out on the car. To a finish like a Porsche, which IMO had so little orange peel, it made my whole hood look flat and orange peel-y. I am told that wax and a slight buff with an orbital will help level this, is this what you find?

Again, I do wish I spent 2X the amount and got a truly invisible product, but IMO, it's good enough. In fluorescent lights I gasped at the peel, but in low light as the sun was setting from 5' I could not make it out.

Again, this is not Premier's work, and I stress that if I was within 500 miles I would have had them do it!

 

Here's another example of a bad installation. Was installed by the local Ferrari dealer's vendor:


And Yes, there were razor cuts on the paint, but we were able to polish out most of it.

 

Re-application by Premier: