Premium shield and scratching?

[Capital PPF_Norm]

Brett,

First off, I do not want any film company to go out of business. I'm not trying to make a fuss, and say this or that company sucks, in the effort to damage their profitability. I'm just trying to say that certain features are NEEDED to make a quality product, to meet the needs of the installer, and more importantly, the end use customer. If a film looks great on the day of the install, but then is easily damaged by day to day hazards, to the point of looking bad shortly, then it's even worse than a bad installation, because that customer can't just say "bad installer, I'll go somewhere else to get it done" Now the customer considers the paint protection product itself to be a bad idea and now that is possibly a lost customer for life. Plus that customer may turn 10 more people away from PPF down the line. I still have conversations with people at car shows who consider PPF to be a BAD idea all the way around, and tell EVERYONE they talk to about their particular nightmare. I consider good quality paint protection to be one of the most awesome products out there for cars. It protects without changing the look of the car. If the film scratches, scuffs, etc easily, then it WILL change the look of the car towards the negative, and that's not acceptable for me and my customers.

I think the following has to be handled by a world-class product:

1. Has to keep looking good. The day it is installed, until the warranty period runs out. Every film out there 'should' be replaced at 5-7 years. So far, nothing will resist UV and normal day to day hazards longer than that. Resisting stains from tar, birds, bugs and other chemicals including sharpies, lol) Resists scuffs & scratches (Not talking about garage queen show-only cars here.. Daily drivers)

2. Has to do it's primary job in protecting the paint. I think every film out there does this, with some being better than others on the larger rocks, or faster impacts.

3. Reasonably easy to install (a) in stretching into place. (Suntek is industry leader here) (b) little or no 'working lines' or 'chicken skin' © quality adhesive that holds the film on, but allows removal later with no paint damage. (d) Cuts well on a plotter. (I do all hand-install, so this doesn't matter to me, but I'm the very small minority here, I know)

My customers HAVE regularly been hit by flying squeegees... In the form of tire-chunks at the track. Take a look at racing slicks after a few laps. They have little squashed thumb-sized nobs of rubber, just waiting to be slung up into the air as they are racing. I've had numerous customers with black scuffs on the front of their cars that easily cleaned off of Nano, and Suntek, etc. with no ill effects on the film after. But some would end up with a funky spot after cleaning these marks off of Venture, and a couple other products out there. It lost it's glossy appearance, and the customer was mad at ME about this. I don't make the stuff, I just apply it, but as the installer, I'm the one who's reputation suffers whenever something like this happens, so I have to eat the cost of re-doing their car with a different product that will not suffer these messed up spots. I understand you were trying to be funny, and possibly make my argument seem ridiculous, but in the real world, there are more than small stones, and bugs hitting cars. Semi trucks leave chunks of rubber all over the highway, and even a small chunk kicked up in the air, then skidding across a hood can leave a mark, so yes, it's a valid argument to want the film to be resistant to scuffs from things like what rubber squeegees are made of.

My customers also HAVE been hit by odd chemicals, which may not be in the form of a sharpie marker, but grease, oil, asphalt, and general gunk is all over the roads out there. I want a film that is resistant to these chemicals, and again, Nano, Xpel Ultimate, and Suntek have addressed these issues very strongly. Have you ever driven down a chip-seal road a week or two after they re-coat it? That's a petroleum chemical that is truly nasty to clean off of a vehicle.

Along the other argument, I also have had returns from degraded film. In my case, I've had to re-do the full front end on several vehicles that I had installed Llumar and Venture film on. These companies offered to replace the film as payment for my wasted $$, and time, but who wants to put a film back on a car, when it's almost guaranteed it will just fail to look good in a short time again, causing even MORE end-customer dissatisfaction. That film also turned yellow too quickly (6 months). I no longer use Llumar/VS simply because of this. There has been a few OTHER vehicles that I've had to replace the Venture on because of scuffs, scratches, and general loss of gloss, simply because they used a car dealership's drive-through car wash a few times. (Even the Nano shows quite a bit of small scratching after a year or two of automatic car washes with the brushes) I suggest that my customers use touch-free washes, or better yet to wash by hand, but the whole point of clear paint protection film is to protect the car with the least hassle and change in a customer's normal habits. I don't expect the Mrs. CEO of that bank down the street to hand-wash her black Mercedes every weekend. Not going to happen, so the film needs to hold up as best it can against real-world hazards.

I've also seen some of films mentioned above get an almost 'moldy' hazy look to them rather quickly. Not saying yours does this, or will do this, but time will tell.

If YOU make a film that is easy to install, resistant to scratches, scuffs, and chemicals, plus resists UFO impacts, and I'll be the first to crow from the roof about it. I crowed loudly about the Nano film, but then the rug was pulled out from under my feet, when I could not order the product for over a year. It's back in production, but I hear of problems from the other installers on this website...

The Xpel film was a royal pain in the butt to install for years, (for me), with the adhesive being too sensitive, and generally 'weird' to work with, but their urethane and top coat was very good. I understand they have fixed the adhesive now, but I'm quite happy with Suntek, and until something comes along to beat Suntek in all the above mentioned categories, I'll stay put.

Ultimately, I'm loyal to MY customers, and will always try to get the best film to apply so that I don't have to make 'excuses' as to why this or that didn't meet their expectations. And so that my reputation remains as high as possible, and finally so that I don't have to throw away $$ replacing film that doesn't meet up to the above standards also.

I hope the Premium brand comes out with the 'next level' product, as that will help the entire market to continue to improve. I'll also like to visit at Sema if you are planning on having a showing there as well.

Norm

[alberts316]

Well said Norm. There are enough "cost efficient" films out now, I don't want cost efficient, I want the best and so do my clients. Put out a premium film and you will have repeat success. Suntek is trying really hard to be a player in the PPF game and they are succeeding! This is something clearshield dropped the ball on years ago. I want to see more films that are self healing, scuff resistant(no matter what squeegee) and installer friendly just like Xpel Ultimate, Nano and Suntek's.

[lorenzotint]

I truly enjoyed reading Bretts and Norms threads, and both make real world points of were the PPF game is headed. I have used every brand of PPF and scratched with black rubber Turbos,It can happen if the conditions are right. [friction/hand speed, slip or worn rubber]. Most recently I cut the piss out of a Clearshield bulk rear bumper on a Turbo Bug with a gold Teflon and Bounty. Just as I was ready to trash the film, I took my heat gun and lightly heated the film and it disappeared [so much for C/S dropping the ball]. Even better I have been working with the Elite on the more HNW clients for the past few months and have not seen anything out the ordinary. I don't see what the concerns are. The film has no pits,blems,extrusion lines and a consistant finish. All PPF is going to hell with Apline White BM'S, Does not make a difference what brand. Even after a 10 month old Ultimate removal done today I clearly noticed the White paint that had no film on it was yellow as PISS. It turned out the owner was using some sort of red colored paste wax. You can bet that red wax had a lot to do with the PPF going down hill. My question to everyone who's in the real world. Can anyone really warranty a white car? the answer is NO...Keep up the good work Brett and Norm keep the Suntek guys in the right direction.

[pro-tect mobile]

Well said Norm. I thought you were on vacation still.

[Capital PPF_Norm]

I"m back and jet-lagged to the extreme, lol. Need to change my voice mail on my phone again...

Japan is pretty cool.

[pepper]

I dont think its turn yellow i feel people dont wash the car weekly.I always tell them to wax it.

[tychancho]

I know it's been a while since I've posted here but I just did an install using the Premium Shield I got from Carolyn with Pro-tect Dist... I loved it.

I thought it was as forgiving as xpel ultimate and stretched even better. I didn't have any issues with scuffing. The one small area I overstressed the adhesive (about the size of a baseball) I simply pulled back, re-slipped, let rest, and then reapplied and the chicken skin went away.

The only wish I had was for a slightly tackier adhesive but realize I'd sacrifice somewhere else if that were so.

All in all - I will use again... unless I notice unusually quick yellowing.

[Guest wecomeclean]

There are so many clearthat, I just want to suggest you to VentureShield, nor have I done window tint or used squeegees for vinyl graphics etc. It is using a resin or squeegee from a company called clearmax, it will not left impression of scratch.

[Guest linearossa]

You can easily fix minor car scratches with a touch up paint pen.clean off the area using soapy water and then a wax & grease remover.apply several coats of your paint color with the pen, letting it dry between coats.