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My new Z06 arrived from Ohio last Thursday night. I brought it home, taped up the front, side vents, and part of the rear portion for the drive down to the local Xpel installer Friday morning. He was going to install the Xpel, ceramic coat it, as well as ceramic the wheels. I am happy as can be, and was planning taking a nice cruise Friday night. I get a call around 3pm the Xpel printer is broken, he has been trying to get someone to fix it, however with the holiday its not going to happen. He said he would have the wheels finished, and I could pick it up Saturday morning. He said we could go to the bank, and he would refund me the deposit minus the fee for the wheels. I said don't worry about, just let me know when the printer is fixed. I happened to be near his shop on other business later that afternoon and stopped in. He was in the corner on the floor and had the rear wheel off which struck me odd, but I figured he was coating the entire wheel so great. I did ask if he knew the torque specs to put the wheel back on to which he says he does and he is having someone bring him a torque wrench, which again I found odd...you don't have a torque wrench? They had a giant Craftsman box in the shop.
The next morning I went down, taped up the car again and brought it home. While I am doing this, he is telling me about the $11K printer for the Xpel, and how he went to their class to learn all about it, etc. Nice guy. His main business detailing. he also mentions the business is a tad cut throat with some other local installers. He did not name names, and we were talking about business in general hence the reason it was brought up.
Today I called him as I was surprised I have not received any follow up. First call no answer, several hours later second call it seemed as if he sent me to VM so I just left a message, but started getting concerned. I decided I would call another place listed on Xpel's website because I want my car done as I have staring at it in the garage for week. So I mentioned I was working with someone else and what was going on, but did not mention the name. They quote 7K to do the entire car. This is twice what the first guy quoted me, and I told them that is too much of a difference and I would wait, but at the same time I am thinking you get what you pay for. The 2nd installer quickly drops his price to 4K, and says he'll need the car 4 days. I found it odd, they would dump the price that much and why do they need the car for 4 days? - seems long. We continue to talk and he ask me who the other guy, and actually guesses so I said yes that is who it is. 2nd installer tells me they received a text last Friday from the first installer asking what they would charge him (2nd installer) to do a car. Now I am thinking 1st installer saw a black car, all taped up and realized this person might be a stickler, got cold feet, and made up the printer was broken while he figured out what to do. 2nd installer also tells me that is the best printer you can get, he only has had it for 6 months and no way its broken already. I make an appointment to drop the car Monday morning with 2nd installer. 1st installer calls me back about an hour later, and said he meant to call me today, the printer is fixed, and he can do the car next Thursday. At this time I ask him point blank, did you call another Xpel installer to get the car done, they could not do it, and the printer was never broken. He answers 100% NO. At this point I don't know what the heck to think, 1 of these 2 shops is lying, and I have to figure out which one it is and trust them with my new car.
Also before I went with installer 1, I called Xpel to make sure their website is up to date and my installer is authorized in good standing. A receptionist answered and gave me some get off the phone answer, so that yielded nothing.
The first rule getting XPEL is to get recommendations for installers (not from the XPEL website). Local car clubs are a start, perhaps car shows if you are talking to vette owners with XPEL on thier cars.
I would dump both the installers you are considering. The first is experimenting with your vette, the second tried to rip you off on price. $7k is ludicrous....
Last edited by runner61627; 06-02-2016 at 10:36 PM.
To me both is full of bull shi^ 1st for what he did on the lying about the machine being out. Then the second one for thinking you would be crazy enough to pay 7,k then going to 4,k.
I was going to get a shop at a car show to do my car until I saw one that he was just done with. Let me tell you this if that car is not totally 1000% clean of every little piece of dirt are anything else it will show in under that film that is put on the car...
I wouldn't get it done at all. I had an "expert" installer do mine. Showed me his work on 300k+ exotics. I'm satisfied but not blown away with the product. My car is white, the edges build up dirt and there are a few micro bubbles and so dust In a few spots. If your **** don't expect a flawless job. Also the shade is off a bit and in my garage lighting you see all sorts of weird crap in it.
I am not sure the 1st guy has done anything wrong other then maybe having a printer issue is the problem.
There is 3rd place about an hour away each way, and a 4th about 1.5. I am kind of thinking that might be the way to go.
I did try to get a recommendation and actually got one from a forum member about a shop who has done 4-5 of his cars, but as I making the appointment, the guy eluded to he uses 3M, which I did not want so I was on my own if I wanted it done in a timely manner
The entire situation is just dumb. A simple job has to turn into such a hassle because everyone wants to scam.
I am not sure the 1st guy has done anything wrong other then maybe having a printer issue is the problem.
There is 3rd place about an hour away each way, and a 4th about 1.5. I am kind of thinking that might be the way to go.
I did try to get a recommendation and actually got one from a forum member about a shop who has done 4-5 of his cars, but as I making the appointment, the guy eluded to he uses 3M, which I did not want so I was on my own if I wanted it done in a timely manner
The entire situation is just dumb. A simple job has to turn into such a hassle because everyone wants to scam.
Hello, first off, I apologize for not receiving a more specific answer from our customer support phone call. I'm sorry for the strange things going on with your two installers, could you please PM us their information as well as yours. I want to have my local sales rep reach out to them and make sure they understand that this shouldn't happen.
Full car wraps take on average about 2-4 days depending on the installer. The printer, aka film plotter, to cut the film may be temporarily broken as they often encounter issues that are usually fixable pretty quickly.
What's your location and lets see if we can get something resolved for you and find you an installer that can take care of you.
The prices some of these installers want is totally ludicrous.. I got quoted $2K for the front bumper and hood only on my Z. Most cost effective way to protect your paint:
Stay off the expressway!
I've never once heard a rock chip while driving on the parkway in nicer weather. When it's winter time and the salt is out, different story.. but I won't be driving the C7 then anyway.
Keep in mind these are what we typically see across the country and it can vary with these factors:
- Where you live
- Demand for paint protection film
- Size of your vehicle
For a partial front end: This includes 18-24” up the hood and fenders, front bumper, mirrors and sometimes headlights. This ranges from $895 - $1,195.
For full front coverage: This includes the entire hood and front fenders, front bumper, mirrors and sometimes headlights. This ranges from $1,895 - $2,195.
For full car coverage: This includes every painted surface on the car possible. This ranges from $4,500 - $8,000.
My car cost $5500 to do, I would balk at anything over $6000 and I'd seriously walk away from anything less than $4500 as they must be cutting corners (look up the material cost for a whole car its $3500-4000)
But you gotta do your research, and ask people who've used the shop before.
The guys I went to here in Metro Detroit to do some touch up work for me (arranged by my Nashville installer), said they actually heat gun the edges to "soften" them so they don't pick up as much dirt. I had them try to fix most of my edges and they do look better because of that (as they already were trimming some pieces).
My new Z06 arrived from Ohio last Thursday night. I brought it home, taped up the front, side vents, and part of the rear portion for the drive down to the local Xpel installer Friday morning. He was going to install the Xpel, ceramic coat it, as well as ceramic the wheels. I am happy as can be, and was planning taking a nice cruise Friday night. I get a call around 3pm the Xpel printer is broken, he has been trying to get someone to fix it, however with the holiday its not going to happen. He said he would have the wheels finished, and I could pick it up Saturday morning. He said we could go to the bank, and he would refund me the deposit minus the fee for the wheels. I said don't worry about, just let me know when the printer is fixed. I happened to be near his shop on other business later that afternoon and stopped in. He was in the corner on the floor and had the rear wheel off which struck me odd, but I figured he was coating the entire wheel so great. I did ask if he knew the torque specs to put the wheel back on to which he says he does and he is having someone bring him a torque wrench, which again I found odd...you don't have a torque wrench? They had a giant Craftsman box in the shop.
The next morning I went down, taped up the car again and brought it home. While I am doing this, he is telling me about the $11K printer for the Xpel, and how he went to their class to learn all about it, etc. Nice guy. His main business detailing. he also mentions the business is a tad cut throat with some other local installers. He did not name names, and we were talking about business in general hence the reason it was brought up.
Today I called him as I was surprised I have not received any follow up. First call no answer, several hours later second call it seemed as if he sent me to VM so I just left a message, but started getting concerned. I decided I would call another place listed on Xpel's website because I want my car done as I have staring at it in the garage for week. So I mentioned I was working with someone else and what was going on, but did not mention the name. They quote 7K to do the entire car. This is twice what the first guy quoted me, and I told them that is too much of a difference and I would wait, but at the same time I am thinking you get what you pay for. The 2nd installer quickly drops his price to 4K, and says he'll need the car 4 days. I found it odd, they would dump the price that much and why do they need the car for 4 days? - seems long. We continue to talk and he ask me who the other guy, and actually guesses so I said yes that is who it is. 2nd installer tells me they received a text last Friday from the first installer asking what they would charge him (2nd installer) to do a car. Now I am thinking 1st installer saw a black car, all taped up and realized this person might be a stickler, got cold feet, and made up the printer was broken while he figured out what to do. 2nd installer also tells me that is the best printer you can get, he only has had it for 6 months and no way its broken already. I make an appointment to drop the car Monday morning with 2nd installer. 1st installer calls me back about an hour later, and said he meant to call me today, the printer is fixed, and he can do the car next Thursday. At this time I ask him point blank, did you call another Xpel installer to get the car done, they could not do it, and the printer was never broken. He answers 100% NO. At this point I don't know what the heck to think, 1 of these 2 shops is lying, and I have to figure out which one it is and trust them with my new car.
Also before I went with installer 1, I called Xpel to make sure their website is up to date and my installer is authorized in good standing. A receptionist answered and gave me some get off the phone answer, so that yielded nothing.
This entire thing is stupid
Your #1 installer must be Donald Trump and the #2 installer must be Hillary. I agree with others, RUN! Pick a third party and go with Gary Johnson. He might be stoned, but he will get the job done! He's a good guy and our former Governor down here in New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment.
06-02-2016, 10:27 PM
XPEL Installers *@#%^*@ !!!
To me both is full of bull shi^ 1st for what he did on the lying about the machine being out. Then the second one for thinking you would be crazy enough to pay 7,k then going to 4,k.
