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)

 

[Bulls-Vivid-Red]

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 ..

I had originally planned on just doing frontal PPF, but after discovering a scratch near the passenger side air intake I went for the full PPF (I left the rear bumper unwrapped due to a MFG defect). A single freaking drive on the highway back from the dealer and already a mark..... The only good news is that the scratch is in a location not easily seen.

Between this scratch, a paint defect on my rear bumper where a bubble crumbled and peeled away, and 2 little paint defects on my driver side quarter panel, I'm convinced that Lotus did a shit job painting these things.

 

[Dan C]

Update: Issues have been mostly resolved.

PPF shop has painted the bumper area where the paint pulled. Photos below. My conclusion is that the area under the black plastic trim doesn’t receive a lot or any clear coat, which makes it more fragile. It would be best for PPF installers to not try to tuck the PPF under there. Just end at the plastic trim without removing it.

There is also a lot of curves in the Emira, so installer experience with the vehicle matters. I added a photo below of an area where the PPF was lifting and the installer ended up cutting to put a small patch.

As I mentioned in another message, the shop didn’t accept responsibility for the small taillight chip. I am going to leave as is.

Ultimately, I continue to believe that it is more prudent to install PPF at the dealership (Lotus Dallas in my case). I believe one might be able to negotiate a discount on the $8K they charge, but would have to see.

I am going to forget about this, move on, and enjoy the car!

 

[Sandalwood]

My dealer confirmed their PPF is done by a third-party (albeit very reputable) company. The price is about $2k above what it would be at home from another reputable company. The upside: The dealer's recommended vendor has done about a dozen Emiras. My local vendors have not seen one.

The warranty on the film and install is the same, so I am torn. $2k seems like a big premium for "we've done one before".

 

[kitkat]

My dealer confirmed their PPF is done by a third-party (albeit very reputable) company. The price is about $2k above what it would be at home from another reputable company. The upside: The dealer's recommended vendor has done about a dozen Emiras. My local vendors have not seen one.

The warranty on the film and install is the same, so I am torn. $2k seems like a big premium for "we've done one before".

I've seen jobs from 5k to 9k and they're all mostly the same. They all use the same templates basically and make small adaptations where the template falls short.

 

[tnbuilder]

My dealer confirmed their PPF is done by a third-party (albeit very reputable) company. The price is about $2k above what it would be at home from another reputable company. The upside: The dealer's recommended vendor has done about a dozen Emiras. My local vendors have not seen one.

The warranty on the film and install is the same, so I am torn. $2k seems like a big premium for "we've done one before".

Integrity detail in Cookeville did mine. I would highly recommend them. I did all but the back bumper and at some point will have them do that also. I needed to get new letters so PPF doesn't have to be cut around them. They also did complete paint correction...mine looked like a 5yo got to it with a buffer and swirled the heck out of it from the dealer. Was perfect as can be when I picked it up from Integrity. Chris Thomas is the owner.