Aloharacing

iTrader: (1)

I posted about the experience yesterday under "general".

My question: If a rock that small can do the damage that it did, what happens when you encounter a rock the size of...a pea??

I figure that i'm under 3M warranty, but it's gonna be a pain in the *** to get this all sorted out.

Aloharacing

iTrader: (1)

another close up

westpak

iTrader: (19)

That is really disappoionting I thought we would get better protection specially for the money, a regular bra would have prevented that!!! Interesting to see how the warranty goes, let us know.

Dean

Have you read the warranty guidelines on www.xpel.com ? The steps required for the headlight damage guarantee border on the insane.

Good luck trying to file a warranty through Xpel. My previous experience with the direct manufacturer, Reflex Enterprises, has been less than cordial. (PM me for details)

Your best bet is to court the goodwill of your installer. 3M itself will not honor any warranty.

The logistics of fixing your problem are difficult. I understand that you are a few hours drive from the original installer. If you take it there, they'll remove the old film...but do they have the time to properly fill the paint chip with multiple layers of touch up? I would wait a few days before applying the replacement film over the repaired paint chip.

Good luck.

Dean

BillyV

One word says it all: ****!
Now I'm back to being the skeptic I was before. Maybe just the front bumper for me and save the rest of my money for hood repaints deductible. This is VERY, VERY unfortunate!
I thought this stuff was much hardier than this...
Jeremy(Krinkov): thoughts and opinions when you have time

DrDrilZ

i just dont see how a thin piece of plastic is supposed to hold up to rocks over time. i can see the logic in using the film, but when this sort of thing happens, it looks worse than a regular paint chip and looks like a pain in the **** to fix. wouldnt the money be better spent on new paint? i.e. a chip in the clear bra is worse than a chip in the paint.

Driven

I had the film installed, and was quite dissatisfied...not with the product, but the install. Anyway, in the interum of trying to find another installer that was qualified, I got a chip or two within a couple hundred miles and was just sick about it. This paint sucks and I know some of you considering the invisaguard (3M or whatever you want to call it) are now more skeptical...but what do you think that chip in the paint posted above would look like if the car had NOT been protected with the product? I'm convinced that the chips it does protect from are well worth the investment, and could not stand living with the car with the number of blemishes it would have to have before I could justify the cost of repainting it! Not to mention that I've seen some very professional repaints just not match things well enough to my liking, and don't want to have to deal with it. If the 3M gets me 3 years with a few chips under the film that I can live with...I'll get it removed, have the chips touched up and have the film reinstalled. Thats my game plan.

94 TA GT

One posotive note, that is a really easy chip to touch up. Get a VERY fine brush at a hobby place, some rubbing alcohol, some matching paint, some clear coat (if the car hasone, I beleive it does). Try 3-4 coats on it, on the INSIDE of the chip, donot go around to the outsde. If you need any other help with this, contact m and I'll refer you to a good rock chip websight.

mikeinatlanta

Here is a test panel showing two types of paint protection film. On the right is 3M film and on the left is Venture. There is a reason Venture is the only US manufactured film approved for use on Ferrari.

nosuchsol

Did they shoot rocks at it or some? It looks like the Venture(Right?) is worse off... maybe I'm missing something. =)

Driven

He said Venture is on the LEFT. So it held up much better.

OP Z

iTrader: (1)

Is Venture readily available like the other films or are you the sole US distributor?

mikeinatlanta

Venture is US manufactured. I wish I was the sole distributor!! They have a great product that will gain market share as time goes by. I am the sole southeast distributor (so far).

To answer another question. They use a machine called a gravelometer. I have never seen one and do not know how it works other than that it shoots gravel of a known size and sharpness at test panels.

Venture also never yellows and has a six year warranty. It is MUCH clearer than 3M.

nosuchsol

Oh... my left... yah... that's it. =)

Aloharacing

iTrader: (1)

Well, thanks for the input, guys...I just wanted to bring it to your attention.

I believe that the product is/was over-hyped by anxious consumers & Z owners, such as myself.

I'll keep you updated on my progress re: getting this solved thru 3M and Edre @ envisage design labs.

Aloharacing

iTrader: (1)

The hood portion is covered up to the highest point that the headlight lens goes. Other than that chip, the rest is free and clear of other blemishes. (Knock on wood). Oh yeah - i just drove another 8 hours on the freeway w/o any sort of rock/debris encounters. It probably helps that I did all my driving in the middle of the night w/ minimal traffic.

BTW - I learned something new about the car! Cruise control can only be set at 91mph or below... (91 according to the digi speedo, and 90 according to the analog)

Sanderman

Not overhyped. I suspect you had a bit of an exceptional event of a very fast travelling stone at just the right angle. I bought a new black PT Cruiser in June and picked up a dozen stone chips in the first 2 weeks of driving (my commute is 60 highway miles each way per day). The real problem was the primer under it is a pale grey that actually looks white. These chips stood out like a sore thumb and at the rate I was going the front end would have collected a few hundred in the first year.

I was freaking out so I tried the Expel 3M kit installed by a local shop after they touched up the existing chips. I've been doing the same commute since then and have only 1 new chip on the front end that made it throught the paint - and it is half way up the hood beyond where the film covers. There are probably 8 or 10 small blemishes on the surface of the film itself where stones have hit and left a small scuff mark in the clear coat on the film - but they did not penetrate and had no effect on the underlying paint. This film has been a lifesaver on the PT which seems to have quite soft (and orange peeled) paint, on a color that shows every problem like a neon sign.

Its not perfect, but don't condemn it for one stone chip....

joe

Aloharacing

iTrader: (1)

Joe,
Point taken, and maybe I experienced a hint of terrible luck. My main concern is this: If a rock or flying debris that small did the damage it did to my hood, then what happens when i get a pebble or debris the size of a pea or larger impacting me? The piece that got me couldn't have been any bigger than a BB. Plus, I didn't even hear anything. Does that mean that every time i get penetrated, I have to make the 1.5 hour drive up to LA so the only qualified installer can remove the old stuff, then I go to the body shop, wait for the new coat to cure, and then drive back up to the installer for the new piece?? It just seems ridiculous for the amount $$ spent on the bra in the first place.

BillyV

Justin, The moral of the story is that it means little to have the stuff on the car. A point was made earlier that what would the size have been if the 3M was not on the car. It simply would have meant a larger gouge, no more no less. For those of us **** about our cars it still means it has to be repaired, so who cares if it's the size of a pea or a dime or a quarter. The only way to get a perfect finish is to have the damaged area filled, primed and color tinted and re-clearcoated. Any shop worth a crap will blend as far as necessary and certainly reclear the entire hood.
I for one have made the call to go with just the headlight protection and bumper protection. I'll save the rest of my money for my increase in my comprehensive coverage when I drop my deductible to zero in anticipation of some paint damage repairs, which are inevitable( as I know).
Check with your carrier but as long as they are "flying debris" claims they are not subject to surcharges. So no premium increases and no loss of any Good driver Discounts. And I have a guarenteed Certificate of Renewal from my carrier so they can't get rid of me even if they wanted....