Dano

I've done it. Hail shops and especially bodyshops are always looking for someone to replace films on panels that get painted or removed for pdr. Since its sublet the shops are allowed to mark up the local retail (your) rate, so no need to discount.

Independent pdr shops will often waive the customers deductible to sell the job....or if they can offer tint/ppf/paint correction to include into the job at no cost instead of waiving. 

Neither will be too price sensitive as long as you're not above general market rates in your area. If you can deal with the scheduling chaos and local travel to the shops that goes with that industry you can make good money and develop a good name for yourself as the guy that they can trust to keep them out of the fire. You can easily convert the shop staff and their families/friends to customers

With the ammount of full bumper ppf out there, collision repair can be quite profitable over the course of a year.

Beware of working on fresh paint. They don't have time to wait to stop the clock on rental cars and the shops need those cars gone so that they can get their billing submitted. Sometimes your invoice being submitted is more important than the film itself before a weekend for that reason.

Mobile Tech RX is a great app for billing on the fly. Scan vin, select service and email invoice in just a few minutes. About $900yr....absolutely worth it.

^^^

Just be the guy that can do it reliably and possibly discount their personal cars unless you're getting some serious volume on contracting the whole lot for preloading. Dealerships will sell their mothers to scrimp a dollar tomorrow. I've seen the tinting at dealers start and stop on a dime....literally. 

I'll never understand why people are still using 2nd and 3rd tier films. Dealing with the install issues, longevity and customer disappointment absorbs more time and aggravation than the few cents someone would have to spend to have a solid product.

It's infinitely easier to service a repeat happy customer than to have a line at your door to redo the same job, or worse, they never return.

If you do someone right they will tell their friends, if you do someone wrong they will go out of their way to tell the whole planet.

Even the dealerships are moving away from the turn and burn model.

For wrap film the dividing line is commercial wraps for fleet advertisement, or color change wraps for nicer cars and finishes.

In the custom/color change side the edges get wrapped, trim pieces get removed and alot of the front end sometimes. 

On the fleet side it's mostly slapped on and minimal, if any trim is pulled. Basically paste and go. It's kind of mindless mostly.

Custom is more fun, but more opportunity for damage. It has to be sold correctly to set the expectation on techniques to be used, and what is a realistic lifespan.

CK Wraps has some of the best vids on youtube on doing inlays sports car bumpers. Sometimes I'll watch just to observe another installers approach to film install theory. He's a real deal intaller. He may be teaching in Toronto, Canada.

That's the best way to learn. I would try to find a local shop and apprentice in whichever film you most like to work with. If you can learn to tint first the other films are easier to use. Tinting cars is like playing the piano, if you can play that you can play every instrument in the room.

@flat rock stan has some good course work for tinting on dvd that has put alot of tinters in action.

Or you could take a two or three week crash course in the states most likely. There's a few that are pretty good. It's possible that Stan may have one on schedule.

What does it take to be in the industry there? I would imagine some brands will have protected areas so as not to over saturate, but not all of them. I would call Express Window Films in the US and try to get some shipped. 

Slowest time out here is the couple of weeks before school starts, the bridge period between Thanksgiving and Halloween and the last two weeks of Jan til mid Feb. Those breaks are usually welcome by the time it happens.

In any off time I usually try to add something to my skill set, make shop improvements, tinker with cars and complain about the snow.

Cheap film is hard to work with. 

It's with paper thin, curls too much, has lots of static, crappy scratch coat or all of the above if you're lucky. The inexpensive film that works is the Global HP. Shrinks like a dream. Bare minimum of marketing stuffed into the price of a good roll.

^^^ 100%correct.

I start my top edge by chopping out the bulk of the excess film to reduce the weight and get the film flatter to the glass. I also ride the bevel at the top and if I don't like the edge I'll go lower on the bevel to clean it up. Sometimes I'll lift the bottom of the pattern to take the stress away from the corners as I cut towards the edge.

Use a china marker for your side cuts. Finish the edge with a ruler on your peel board. The whacky edge you are getting is from the film getting pressed into the rubber on the initial approach and release.

Use the china marker on all the other glass and you'll never have to explain to a customer why you have to replace an expensive piece of glass or trim piece. 

Working with a commission based resale agreement (1099) is the best case scenario if done as a subcontractor. An LLP would be the worst IMO.

I would let the other company give a rough estimate with a few limited films on new glass installs in frames that you are familiar with and send your own team to inspect the jobsite for variables, upsell and close the deal with a contract agreement written to you from the requester. At best I would pay out 15% for the referral after I received payment.

If this is for new residential glass the install company could bring you the frames for you to install film on at your warehouse or shop and get a larger discounted price for full payment at the time of service.

It's usually plus or minus 5points of the stated law. Some places enforce stricter than others. In IL I would keep it close to the letter and use a ceramic.

Pretty cool to watch just the same.

Put it on a swing arm like a dental lamp and wait for the plastics and paint to boil as the film shrinks to perfection 

^^^and be 2-3 times more expensive if something goes south.

Orange peel is what we would call grainy. I'll bet it's the film, especially if the installer won't return your call. Likely he knows what the issue is.

Possibly a bad roll of film if you're not seeing the same through the sides. 

Does the film look grainy or have a light texture to the surface or glue?

Is the windshield aftermarket?

Did you lock your doors before crossing Colfax?

60* from Clean Cut for PPF and wrap film.

45* will work but not as nicely. I usually only use these for sign vinyl.

25* for window film.

These blades are carbide steel and seem to hold up much better than what I was getting from the sign shop or tint suppliers at 1/3 of the cost.

I haven't seen that one yet. Personally I'm not a fan of the 3m products aside from the Crystalline. They have been around for ages and the products do what they claim. The real benefit is the deep dealer network for warranty claims and brand recognition.

My favorite PPF films in the past 10yrs has been Global, Xpel and Stek. Good adhesive, awesome clarity and good top coat.  Those three seem to hold the heavy curves really well. I'll keep an eye out for the new 3m product. 

Most of the time yes I'll still charge for the service. I still did the job. If they have to return I might discount it to comp them for lost time. Usually I'll offer to install a set of headlight PPF, or tint a set of doors on something else at no charge instead of discounting the original ticket. I still have to purchase and install the parts or pay for whatever damage after all.

Every situation is different. I had an employee smoke a door sweep with a heat gun one day, called the dealership for the part and installed it myself about a half-hour before pickup. No harm, no foul. 

At the end of the day the goal is to make both parties whole according to the original agreement. Sh*t happens, just be straight about it and fix it and show a little remorse is all anybody wants. You'll be known as the guy who takes care of things when it goes sideways. That's who I would do business with.

I've never made a claim for simple damage. It would just drive up the premium and put a strike on your biz.  Apologize, order parts, install, apologize again. If you work on enough cars eventually something happens.

I've seen guys have good luck sanding back the lenses and spraying an automotive clear coat over the surface. Same with the taillight "tint". Add some color to the clear coat and spray out to the desired darkness in whatever color you want. No film to fail afterwards.

With the expense of some of the fixtures I try to get people to go that way if they are in bad shape or they want color added. Newer lights I try to film and advise ppf replacement immediately when it starts to dry out. 

5 hours ago, HDT155 said:

HOW WE SELL IT IS BASICALLY THE TRUTH OF IT ALL. WE TELL THEM HOW LONG TO EXPECT IT TO LAST, DELICATE CARE TO MAINTAIN IT, IF YOU PARK OUTSIDE DAY AND NIGHT (THIS MIGHT NOT BE FOR YOU) TRUTH!, WHAT THE TRUE EXPECTATIONS ARE TO BE. THE FAMILIAR BRANDS SUCH AS CLEARPLEX AND EXOSHIELD ARE JUST LIKE AG OR SEC FILMS. STIFF, HARD TO MOLD, AND THE TOPCOAT USUALLY FAILS IN A YEAR OR LESS. 

BRAY IS SELLING SOMEONE ELSE'S PRODUCT FOR DOUBLE OR TRIPLE THE PRICE AND STEK HAD A GREAT PRODUCT BUT FAILED IN 6-10 MONTHS IN THE CALIFORNIA SUN. 

NO PRODUCT IS PERFECT. WILL IT "REDUCE" DAMAGE? YES. BUT IS STILL AT RISK TO CRACK IF THE OBJECT IS TRAVELING AT A HIGH SPEED. IT'S GLASS! WE JUST SELL HONESTY. 

Have you ever cracked a windshield removing it?

I knew a guy who installed a whole fleet of cars for a city gov and lost his ass from the wipers scratching the heck out of it in 2014/15.

I haven't heard anything else about that type of product ever since. It's so dusty out west I would be surprised if it would work out here. If it did, I could make a fortune installing it. Maybe the products have gotten better, somehow I doubt it.

14 hours ago, highplains said:

Global Ceramic film has the most robust scratch resistant coating of them all followed closely by the Xpel. As an installer I've gotten downright abusive with that Global and not had it scratch. 

Absolutely true^^^

I run a super hard squeegee to pull water with that film that I could never use on most of the others.