An argument for installing PPF at the Lotus dealership

[Dan C]

Hi everyone,

I want to share a word of caution for people considering installing PPF outside of the Lotus dealerships to save a couple of grand. I don't work for any dealership. Just a guy who received his Emira a couple of weeks ago, and had problems with PPF installation by an outside shop.

Lotus Dallas charges about $8K for full body PPF. I found a shop listed in one of the threads here with good reviews online charging ~$5.5K for the full body PPF and thought "hey, why not?". With the window tinting, it came to $6K.

However... it appears the shop had a hard time with the curves of the vehicle and, when adjusting the PPF in the rear bumper, they ended up pulling a bit of paint.

In addition to that, three more issues:
1) they appeared to have chipped the edge of the taillight while tucking in the PPF.
2) they removed a lot of the black trim to tuck in the PPF, which Lotus Dallas is telling me wasn't necessary. One of the plastic trims is slightly wobbly now, like it doesn't want to go back in perfectly, although hardly noticeable.
3) Some of the PPF in a curved area is coming up (I imagine the shop can fix this easily, but may need to replace the whole section).

Lotus Dallas can't fix it because they believe it wasn't caused by a defect on the paint.

I won't name the shop because I don't want to hurt their business, and I am still in the middle of discussing next steps.

But my word of caution for all of you is to consider the risks of installing PPF outside of the dealership. If the dealership messes anything up, it will be under warranty, and they would for sure replace anything broken. With an outside shop, this is much more complicated.

My personal view (now) is that it is not worth the risk. In retrospect, I would have negotiated with Lotus Dallas to try to get a discount, and still be okay with paying the extra grand or so. This episode has given me more headache than it is worth for sure!

Pulled paint:

Taillight chipped:

PPF issue:

 

[cyanmauve]

That stinks!

 

[Speedy Emira]

I think it depends on the standard of the install company.
I’m in the UK and the dealer doesn’t offer a pod service so the only way is to go external.
Mine did a perfect job of paint correction, wrapping and repainting the front panel that had chips on.
I’ve since had the dreaded blisters on both doors which has to be repaired by Lotus. It’s a shame because my wrap and paint company did an invisible repair.

 

[Blackthought_]

Damn! WTH either that place has no business PPFing cars or that’s terrible bad luck. The way I look at getting PPF at a car dealer is they up charge the crap out the cost for a sub par, pre cut PPF that doesn’t look great since it’s 1/4 an inch away from the edges.

Come to think of it, even if they were to install it at the dealer and let’s say paint peels off, I have a feeling Lotus would still dent warranty on it and the dealer would be on the hook to pay to fix it.

 

[Clam]

Wow, sorry to hear that. That was one of my prerequisites to buy the car (PPF through dealer). I hope it works out for you.

FYI - Lotus of North Jersey's vendor did $5.5k+tax, Stek, full sheet/surface, install at dealership. Not perfect (coming from someone with OCD) but decent job.

 

[Liquid Hot Magma]

That’s painful to see and read about. Hope the installer is making good faith efforts to make it right. What brand PPF was installed?

 

[kitkat]

You can try to blame the PPF shop all you want, but if you are just adjusting PPF -- as in it hasn't even cured to full adhesion strength, the problem lies with the piss shit poor paint adhesion, not the PPF installer.

 

[Dan C]

That’s painful to see and read about. Hope the installer is making good faith efforts to make it right. What brand PPF was installed?

STEK

 

[Dan C]

You can try to blame the PPF shop all you want, but if you are just adjusting PPF -- as in it hasn't even cured to full adhesion strength, the problem lies with the piss shit poor paint adhesion, not the PPF installer.

I am not too concerned about blame. I just don't want my car messed up. My point is that next time I would do it at the dealership because 1) they are more likely to fix it properly, 2) they (i.e., their vendor) would be up the learning curve of installing PPF in the particular model and therefore less likely to have an issue in the first place. This is more relevant to a car like the Emira because it has some crazy curves and therefore more challenging installation.

 

[Speedy Emira]

You can try to blame the PPF shop all you want, but if you are just adjusting PPF -- as in it hasn't even cured to full adhesion strength, the problem lies with the piss shit poor paint adhesion, not the PPF installer.

Using too much heat on the wrap edges can also dames the paint.
Either way it’s a pitiful job.

 

[drjazzsk]

So who covers a repair like this were the paint to flake off when putting on ppf? Also since the paint bubbling thing still seems to be happening will lotus cover that repair if you put a ppf on it and pay for the ppf as well as the ppf would need to be removed?

 

[dobber82]

I think it depends on the standard of the install company.
I’m in the UK and the dealer doesn’t offer a pod service so the only way is to go external.
Mine did a perfect job of paint correction, wrapping and repainting the front panel that had chips on.
I’ve since had the dreaded blisters on both doors which has to be repaired by Lotus. It’s a shame because my wrap and paint company did an invisible repair.

What happened with your PPF here - did they have to remove to blend in etc?

 

[Dan C]

What happened with your PPF here - did they have to remove to blend in etc?

I will send a full update next week. The PPF installer scheduled me to bring the car this Saturday for the fixes. But they are not accepting blame for the small crack on the taillight.

 

[harleyujoe]

So I have to ask is this really worth doing whole car ?? I can see the whole front ...Living in NJ and we have dividing walls and years ago riding the Harley I found out that when you ride next to these walls you get a swirl of energy coming off other cars and the debris that flies and stings your skin and face was a eye opener to what it would do to any car finish...So having owned a few Evora's I would do everything to stay away from the dividing wall.. And of course if I see a truck/jeep I stay way back to prevent debris coming off their tires...But only putting few thousand miles per say on Lotus a year really wonder if the whole PPF is worth it??
Would like to hear what others think on matter and if damage is being done putting on PPF that just does not seem worth it ..

 

[Dan C]

I had it on a previous vehicle and the scratches that the ppf avoided were on the side behind the doors and the back of the car. I have also had garage doors hit the roof of the car in the past. So, for me, it is all or nothing with ppf.

I also think that the ppf changes the shine on the paint (makes it pretty nice too) and therefore I prefer the whole vehicle to have a consistent look.

Now I have cars in which I don’t mind a scratch here and there, so those don’t get any ppf (e.g., my truck)