griffj10

I found a chip in the paint on the hood and because of the rich dark beautifyl color of the paint, the chip stood out like a lone star on a dark night. (Especiallly after waxing) So, I check out the threads on finish here and learn about clear bra. I check into it on the web and see that the kit that covers the hood and the fenders costs $189. Not being familiar with the product I figure it is best to get a pro to install it. So I called my local dtailer: Detail Authority: and make an appointment. The girl on the phone quoted me less than $400 for the install + the kit. She said that they would do a little touch up for $50.00. So. I grab my touch up paint and drop off the car.
When I come to pick up the car it is covered with what appears to be dust from car wax. Plus it is smeared with the application solution used to apply the Clear Shield. Not what I expected from a "Detailer". Once I got past the appearance of my car I notice bubbles in the product and I see that the areas where he applied the touch up paint, the paint is smeared against the plastic. He disagrees. Anyway, I was pissed. Then he hands me the bill and it is $100 more than I expect!!! WTF. It is late in the afternoon, my wife is waiting with the kids and I have already had a crappy day so I figure better to gather my thoughts before blasting this guy. I get home and wash all the dust and smear off the car and I notice that the plastic is haning off the car in a couple of places and does not appear to be adhering properly in others. Now I am beginning to really get pissed.
Whe I confronted him with my complaints originally, he seemed to think that I was unreasonable or mistaken. He thought the dust was pollen, that the paint was dry before he put the product on, and that if I am that concerned about it I should paint the hood,that all was as it should be.
I am torn between just trying to fix it my self or calling the credit card company and telling them to decline the charge.
Has anyone else had experience with Detail Authority in Herndon VA?? Any comments on the best course of action?

aggietiff28

I was all excited about your post since I have looked into this and it sounded too good to be true for what you paid (I was hoping that it was a good install and I could take this post to my local installer to get a lower cost). I checked into this for my car and it was ~$360 for the self-install kit and ~$1000 to have it installed here in Texas.

As far as your charge, I think I would cancel or see if you can "hold" the charge until they fix it correctly or just get rid of everything that they have done and make it look like it did before they touched it.

griffj10

Well, I don't feel too bad about the price now. But they just did the fenders and the hood. To have the bumper done it would be another $300 as a package making total price $800+.
I have heard that the product does lose bubbles in time, but that is not re-assuring right now.

aggietiff28

You can go to the 3M website and read all about it...that is what I did. :D

I was looking at the whole install for $1000. Fenders, bumper, hood, and side mirrors. I also read that the bubbles will disappear with time as the product that they spray on the adhesive evaporates.

griffj10

Thanks for your feed back. I guess I will wait and keep an eye on the stuff and see how it does over the next week or so. I will probably take a blade to the rough edges. I just hate it when you spend a bunch of money to get something done and it isn't done well. Very frustrating. But not worth making a huge deal out of it either. Hopefully, the benefit of having applied the clearshild will far out weigh the frustration I have with a sloppy installer.

glassetcher

griffj10, I hate to say it, but you got ahold of a BAD installer. If you haven't read this thread that I started a while back, take a look.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...5&page=1&pp=15

Go the end of the thread to see my experience. I am very happy with the job my installer did. I did call him yesterday about the one blemish that still remains, and he said if it doesn't go away over the next few weeks, come back and he will totally reinstall the hood piece, no charge! That's the way a business should operate if they want to get new customers. In fact, if I have to do this, when I go to get the hood replaced, I'm going to have him do my window tinting too!

It wasn't exactly clear to me from your description which product you had installed, but you might want to contact the mfgr and let them know about the shoddy job this inataller did. They don't want installers giving their procuct a bad name, and they may offer you some releif also.

BTW, for coverage of the hood, bumper, fenders, mirrors, AND head and fog lights, my bill came to $500!

Good Luck!

Zoom, Zoom

charleybull33

Having the same vehicle, I've been exploring clear-bra's like crazy. Bubbles are supposed to go away, eventually and or with the help of a syringe. Loose or flappy areas would seem to indicate a lousy job on the install. There are several brands of the clear-bra available and each detailer has a reason as to why they like their product the best. Seemingly, the Venture brand and Llumar brand are the best but who knows. I caught one chip on my driverside A pillar and used the touch up techniques posted elsewhere - good as new. I'd have your credit card company stop the charge.

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

I would hope that nobody has to resort to the syringe method to get rid of bubbles. After all, that will puncture the material and I'd want to avoid that as much as possible.

Regarding brands - does anybody have experience with Clear Armor?

I talked to their installer and he said the difference between their product and other clear bra kits (like XPEL and such) is that their pieces are bent over the edges of the hood etc. whereas the others stop a hair before those edges. So for instance, a stone directly hitting the edge of the hood will chip the paint with those but not with their kit. Sounds good, but I was wondering if all the others are indeed not folded over the edges like this installer claimed?

glassetcher

I can confirm that my installation does not bend around the edges of the hood, etc. The area not covered is less than 1% of the covered area. Yes, if you were really "lucky" and had a stone hit the unprotected edge, you would have a chip. However, having seen the process, I would be EXTREMELY skeptical that an installer can get the film to curve around all of the hood, fender, etc edges and stay down. I would recommend requesting 2 or 3 references to prove his claim. He might me right, but would make him prove it!

Zoom, Zoom!

scottmhr1

I think all females should have the clear bra installed! lol, ok, yea lame but had a few

wndotinter

You get what you pay for. Hood and fender corners through me would be $350-$400. I don't wrap around the edges on any body panels. 3M brand is decent unless for some reason it has to be removed. Leaves alot of glue. LLumar sucks because when you stretch it, it eventually tries/wants to return to it's original form, causing peeling. (I've redone enough to know not to use it) I've never used Clear Armor. I'm willing to bet like most it's a 3M product with a slight switch in the make-up. Or like X-Pel, a 3M product with a certain type of pattern used. Stay away from Clear-bra/Ricochet, it is a urethane-less vinyl product. It becomes brittle quickly depending on sun exposure and isn't good for paint plus it shrinks quickly leaving glue outlines around the product.

wndotinter

Although i've never used one, a syringe is a tool used by installers to remove moisture. Customers don't seem to want to believe that dimples or "bubbles" will evaporate and cure. Syringe needles will leave only a small puncture and remove the moisture and not affect the product.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

you need to bounce the charges, that was a rotten install, I had a car covered extensively quite a few years ago by the main franchise owner and they did an excellent job; no bubbles, no bad edges, etc.

BlckTX8

Wndotinter, have you heard anything about Madico's product: proline styling/PPM? I read that you are a fan of their tinting (as compared to the 3M product) and was wondering about this. It sounds like you're a fan of the x-pel/3M because there is nothing better. I'm curious as I too am wondering about these products.

http://www.prolinestyling.com/shield.cfm