Expectations for PPF - what is an acceptable finish?

[Grafx36510]

Sorry that you had to read about it! My story goes on, things are still not quite right after getting the truck back from the local Ford dealer's body shop, but the PPF shop insurance ponied up and covered the repairs to the tune of $9K + a rental while in the shop.

After a ~4 month wait to get into the body shop the truck was dropped off, kept for about 1mo, and returned to me post-repairs. The orange peel does not match factory, there are a couple of fish-eyes in the paint on a couple panels, a run on the hood seam where it hits the fender, and overspray on several parts including the antenna. Further, they didn't blend into the driver's door and there is a mismatch from fender to door. The paint thickness gauge and orange peel don't lie here, I hate to use the work fraud, but they are claiming work that has pretty clear not been done.

They also didn't replace 2 cut parking sensor retainers, missed reinstalling several fender liner clips/screws, and need to replace the already replacement headlight (OEM replacement headlight has RTV on the inner housing + finger prints on the projector lens). The truck was not cut and buffed either. Having worked in a body shop and cut + buffed cars in high school, I probably am not the best customer to pull one over.

The truck is scheduled to be dropped back off next week.

The PPF + repaint have really soured my enjoyment of the truck. May I serve as a lesson to others that sometimes it's better to just avoid PPF altogether.

Yikes. Sounds like the dealer body shop is just as bad as the PPF installer. That sucks man. I hope this gets straightened out for you because these trucks are so nice and an experience like yours that kills that joy is disheartening.

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[SCTYDOG]

Everything forward of the cab on my Platinum is fully wrapped. I have none of those problems. There is no such thing as a perfect PPF job, but that is bad. Some of those sharp pointed corners should have been rounded. It's the only way to keep them from coming up. One picture with the ripples should have had small slits made like is done in fabric. That looks like a novice job.

 

[Sonnie]

I paid by check... and he

Sorry that you had to read about it! My story goes on, things are still not quite right after getting the truck back from the local Ford dealer's body shop, but the PPF shop insurance ponied up and covered the repairs to the tune of $9K + a rental while in the shop.

After a ~4 month wait to get into the body shop the truck was dropped off, kept for about 1mo, and returned to me post-repairs. The orange peel does not match factory, there are a couple of fish-eyes in the paint on a couple panels, a run on the hood seam where it hits the fender, and overspray on several parts including the antenna. Further, they didn't blend into the driver's door and there is a mismatch from fender to door. The paint thickness gauge and orange peel don't lie here, I hate to use the word fraud, but they are claiming work that has pretty clearly not been done. The truck was not cut and buffed either. Having worked in a body shop and cut + buffed cars in high school and college, I probably am not the best customer to pull one over.

They also didn't replace 2 cut parking sensor retainers, missed reinstalling several fender liner clips/screws, and need to replace the already replacement headlight (OEM replacement headlight has RTV on the inner housing + finger prints on the projector lens). They are replacing this under warranty. The truck is scheduled to be dropped back off next week so my story goes on still.

The PPF + repaint have really soured my enjoyment of the truck. May I serve as a lesson to others that sometimes it's better to just avoid PPF altogether.

And I thought my situation was bad... not even close to this. Wow!

 

[Sonnie]

Here's the scoop after spending over an hour on the phone today with the owner. There is no way they let other vehicles out the door looking like mine, and be able to maintain their business. Too many people would talk about this poor workmanship. He has a 120K Corvette on the floor that is perfect. They just flat-out slipped on my truck, and he did not oversee it properly, nor were the right people working on it. He allowed them to slip when he should not have. He also claims he got a bad roll of PPF where the edge technology did not work right. Some excuses, some acceptance of responsibility on himself. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. They will strip the entire truck and do it right like it should be done, as he says they are very capable of doing so. Maybe they are... I hope they are. If they don't get it right, then I will demand they strip it and issue me a full refund. He will need to make this right for the sake of his business and reputation. I'll give him the opportunity. I will let you know how it goes. It will be a few weeks.

 

[WestlakeHorn]

That’s a hack job. He let a new guy learn on your truck. I’ve had multiple vehicles wrapped by Xpel and only had one minor fix on a Jeep a few years ago.

Frankly, I think they need to start over.

 

[Sonnie]

Agree... and that is the plan... start fresh with his best guy helping him, as if it were his own vehicle. No goof ups... it needs to be perfect.

 

[sippy2]

I always ppf my frt bumpers...previous 3 vehicles you could hardly tell they were done. My current truck I took you a new place but very reputable.....bumper looked a lil better than yours...then after a month started to loosen. Went back...and they immediatley said we will redo do it under warranty. After talkng more...we determined if could have been because I had ceramic coated the truck. They removed the ppf and I took it home and polished the ceramic off...and am scheduled next week for reaplication.

So any chance you coated your truck before? There is mixed feelings in the detail/ceramic community on whether the coating should have affected the install. Now I am in the camp..it does.

 

[Sonnie]

I always ppf my frt bumpers...previous 3 vehicles you could hardly tell they were done. My current truck I took you a new place but very reputable.....bumper looked a lil better than yours...then after a month started to loosen. Went back...and they immediatley said we will redo do it under warranty. After talkng more...we determined if could have been because I had ceramic coated the truck. They removed the ppf and I took it home and polished the ceramic off...and am scheduled next week for reaplication.

So any chance you coated your truck before? There is mixed feelings in the detail/ceramic community on whether the coating should have affected the install. Now I am in the camp..it does.

Nope... new truck and they supposedly polished it first too. They coated it with Ceramic Pro after the PPF install.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Figuring a complete PPF wrap seems to run $6,000-$8500 for an F150, what should someone expect on the finish. Would the following be tolerable or would you want the pieces repaired or replaced? There is some vinyl, but mostly matte PPF.

Hi there, I'd be happy to look into your F-150 concerns on my end. Will you send us a message with your VIN and dealership info? I can look into things on my end.

 

[UGADawg96]

Hi there, I'd be happy to look into your F-150 concerns on my end. Will you send us a message with your VIN and dealership info? I can look into things on my end.

 

[Sonnie]

Hi there, I'd be happy to look into your F-150 concerns on my end. Will you send us a message with your VIN and dealership info? I can look into things on my end.

I would like an immediate refund if you can arrange that please.

 

[m_bt54]

Hi there, I'd be happy to look into your F-150 concerns on my end. Will you send us a message with your VIN and dealership info? I can look into things on my end.

how funny would it be if this ended up being the one issue the Ford bot was actually able to fix… the one isssue not has nothing to do with Ford…

 

[Sonnie]

how funny would it be if this ended up being the one issue the Ford bot was actually able to fix… the one isssue not has nothing to do with Ford…

I'd fall in love with a bot I suppose.

 

[HammaMan]

I'd fall in love with a bot I suppose.

Oh boy, there's Ai "girlfriends" out there that people have become alarmingly attached to. On a software update the "personality" was changed and far too many people flipped their shit about it.

Hope you get your PPF sorted out. Can't believe the total time they've had your truck already!?

 

[kb2755]

Agree... and that is the plan... start fresh with his best guy helping him, as if it were his own vehicle. No goof ups... it needs to be perfect.

Hard to find, but this is what you need. A shop that treats every customer vehicle like their own the first time. My guy does C8 Corvettes, McLarens, Porsches one day and Volkswagens, Fords, Hondas the next. Each one treated with the same attention and detail.

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