Madoshi

Hi Guys. First post here on CL, but have lurking for awhile. Sorry for the long post. I couldn't include all of the pictures I wanted. Zip file upload failed.

I purchased a new 2010 ISF from a local Houston dealer about a month ago. They used it as their demo car and had 400 miles on it, had small paint chip on the passenger side fender, but other than that, it was in brand new shape.

I had the Joe-Z Exhaust installed by the dealer yesterday and it is absolutely amazing sounding.

I wanted to protect the paint and asked the dealer to do an install, but later decided to not have them do it, but have a local clear bra and tint installer do it. I was recommended to him and on other car forums, people said his jobs were good. I lined up a local Zaino detailer to work on my car as well and for the clear bra to be installed over 2 days. The Clear Bra installer loaned me his car which was nice. After having the Clear Bra installed it makes me feel like "blah" about the car.

I had them do a Full Hood (Custom ordered, Xpel Ultimate sheet), Full Fenders, Headlights and Fog Lights, Front Bumper, A-Frame and Partial Roof, Front Mirrors, Front Rocker Section but not the trim under the doors.

Edit - Avery Dennison Nano Fusion was used for the other sections.

The owner of the company did the install. There was a delay with the shipment of the Full Hood so it took them three days. The install took place between Tuesday and Thursday. I picked the car up very early in the morning on Friday. A buddy of his let me inside the shop to pick up the car and we agreed to pay for it later. The owner lives close to me so I am going to meet him sometime this weekend to pay. I also will be showing him the imperfections and problems with the install.

I have never seen a professionally installed Clear Bra in person, let alone a full hood, fenders and bumper. The only ones I've seen are 18" hoods and partial fenders. If some of the items below are acceptable, like the bubbles, let me know. Bubbles aren't so bad, but if someone is checking out the car and doesn't know about the Clear Bra, they almost look like white paint chips.

I have yet to pay for the job and it was a little over $1700. I can tell him, I won't pay until it is perfect, but I don't want to **** the guy off. How should he have installed some of the pieces and how should he fix the pieces going forward? With the 4-5 small bubbles in the hood, will he have to do the whole thing over? What about the particles under some of the pieces? Have to redo those parts? Does it look like he used a heat gun? It seems like every single piece has some sort of issues, be it small or large.

If he offers to use a small needle and syringe to remove the air bubbles, is this acceptable or no?

Any advice and recommendations is very much appreciated. Thanks for your time.

Pictures will be split up by Fingers, Edges, Bubbles, Particles under Bra, Surface Imperfections and Regular Car Pics. I attempted to attach a zip file, but the forum said that a security token was missing. File is about 10 megs.


Fingers in Clear Bra

Passenger Side Mirror


Driver Side Mirror


Passenger Side Headlight


Driver Headlights


Bumper Grill Driver Side


Passenger Fog Light Area


Lower Bumper Passenger Side



Edges not Sealed

Passenger Side Roof


Driver Side Roof


Roof Edge 2


Passenger Headlight Bubble


Passenger Fender Bubbles


Driver Side Fender/Hood Bubbles - White spots are Bubbles


Driver Side Fender/Hood Bubbles 2 - White spots are Bubbles


Bubbles on Edge of Hood Near Wiper




Particles under Clear Bra

Driver Side Fog Light Area


Thread under Bra


Thread under Bra - Close Up


Driver Side Fender Vent - Lent or threads?


Particle under Bra - Passenger Fender Vent - Large white Spot


Roof Particle under Bra



Sretch Marks or Imperfections

Lines on Hood


Lines on Hood from above with White Marks at the End


Waves - Used the Tree Reflection to Show it


White Marks on Mirror

Madoshi

Continued....


Regular Car Pics














End of Long Post. Wow.

Drone619

I would complain. Thats a half a$$ job they did, especially for 1700 bucks.

primecut

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to say man... You got ripped off AND they did a **** poor job. Looks like they are really inexperienced. I'd tell them to either re-do or fix all the problematic areas, or just take it off and get your money back.

lx470man

iTrader: (1)

look at the pics, ENOUGH SAID.

avgj0F

iTrader: (2)

Whoever recommended the guy should pay for your bill.

khoab88

iTrader: (5)

so did you pay it?

KJH

That's a complete do-over. Best of luck.

jkeifer3

You may never obtain perfection with an install that large unless they have a clean-room to do the install. The smaller issues where the material hasn't been fit properly around the various curved surfaces can be redone however. Good luck!

J2K

I would expect an imperfection or two, but I lost count of all the problem areas in your pictures. And as others have said, for $1700 you ought to be getting a damn near perfect installation. I had some similar issues with my installation and I made the guy drive back to my house (150 miles) and reinstall my hood wrap. Good luck!

ISFSteve

I have the same issue around my mirrors and the guy I had do it told me that if I get them, he will trim a little more off. He said it is a tough call trying to get as much coverage as possible or start out small covering less so those areas that look like that can be fixed with some trimming. I was also told small bubbles would work themselves out after a bit and they did. The large ones will not but personally don't feel using a syringe is a bad thing as I bet they all do that but before you take delivery so you just don't know it. The pieces of debris are obviously not acceptable.

7No

iTrader: (1)

They obviously didn't get that they were working on a $60K Lexus. Show the owner the window sticker with the MSRP on it and ask him if he would accept the work you got if the car was his.

Madoshi

Thanks for the posts so far.

I have yet to meet him, so I haven't paid. That will be a strange conversation about the money. I'm not sure of the best way to handle the payment. I want the job redone, but if I pay, he could just delay it or not return my calls. He also said that if I pay by cash, then he will leave the tax off. Is that a red flag? Could he later say he didn't do the install and not guarantee it because tax wasn't included?

This installer has been in the business for many years and is a Certified Installer. What is also strange is, this guy has been recommended on this very forum. There are several posts with his installs and his picture and they said the job was good. I haven't seen any posts about the company in the past 1-2 years though.

When I picked up the car, I noticed small white particles on top of my car and the guy with me said that stuff sometimes falls from the ceiling. It looks like the stuff that is under the Bra, except for the hair or thread which is retarded. How can you miss that? They have one large garage with three lanes for cars and the three large rolling doors are open while they do installs. I wonder if I should ask him to do the whole install at my house in my garage one weekend? Only thing is, we wouldn't be able to close the garage since it is your typical small one story house attached garage. And there is pollen all over the place, hmm maybe not a good idea, but his place isn't super clean either.

I was more concerned about the hood before the install took place. I was going to do a 24", but he said he could do the full hood. So I went with that. The only issues are the bubbles are the edges and those weird lines. Not as bad as the other stuff. Should the hood be redone?

I wonder if he was even using a heat gun. When I first picked up the car, the bottom of the fender, that goes under the grill had a single long piece of Bra on it. At the edge on the right, about 1 inch of it was sticking straight up in the air. I pressed it down, but couldn't believe that something that obvious was missed. After pressing it down it looks like the below:
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...rea-Finger.jpg


Thanks,
Madoshi

Rider

The local supermarket can do a better job than that.

tenspeed

iTrader: (1)

Talk to the installer. You shouldn't have dirt under the bra. That part should get fixed or you two agree on a reduced price for the job. Air bubbles can get worked out but hair is forever. The work area should have been sprayed down with water before the job started to keep the dust down and a ground strap attached to the car to reduce static charges.

Paying cash and getting a tax break isn't anything new. Some call it "internet sales". You don't pay the tax and the seller sticks the money in his pocket, under the table, off the books, etc.. You still have the receipt to prove that he did the work. I would get the work done to your satisfaction and price before paying for the job. Once you pay, he will not be as willing to work on your car.