Question for XPEL owners, to fix or remove?
03-02-16, 08:19 AM
#17
I am the owner of GX470 yr2003 with 91Kmiles on it. In 2003, Xpel film was installed on the head lamp, bumper, side mirrors and about 1/3 of the hood for obvious reason for chip protection. It was installed by a third party. The film looks great until 2015 when it shows multiple line cracks on the section of the hood, the headlamps and bumpers xpel are still OK. The xpel on the hood looks very ugly and would like to know any recommendation for removal. I tried to remove it manually by pealing it but it will not come out entirely and it breaks from the hairline cracks. Any tricks how to remove it.
03-02-16, 10:34 AM
#18
You're in for a battle... Xpel film is very high quality, but this is very old film that sounds like it was not properly cared for as it shouldn't ever crack spontaneously.
Heat & solvents (or steam if you have it!) are your friend when removing film. Heat up the film, lift an edge and pull the film up and towards you as shown in the image below (don't peel it off like a band aid where you pull it across itself). Since yours is cracked all over, you will likely just have to deal with the little pieces that come off. It will be a tedious job.
image borrowed from google search
Heat & solvents (or steam if you have it!) are your friend when removing film. Heat up the film, lift an edge and pull the film up and towards you as shown in the image below (don't peel it off like a band aid where you pull it across itself). Since yours is cracked all over, you will likely just have to deal with the little pieces that come off. It will be a tedious job.
image borrowed from google search
03-02-16, 10:44 AM
#19
Yeah i agree with Zach, unless you got alot of time and patience I would not even attempt to do it yourself.
First off, I HATE Xpel with a passion not only because it's a very crappy looking film compared to other brands, but because the adhesive they use is not removal friendly. No matter who did the install or how long it's been, compared to films like SunTek, Xpel will always be a more PITA to remove. Often leaving the entire adhesive layer on the paint with only the top urethane layer removed.
It's an old school product. You often times have to take drastic measures to remove the remnants of the film and end up having to "roughen up the paint" beneath to get it completely off which I am not a fan of.
I would call around and see if someone in your area is willing to do it for reasonable price although you don't know what you're getting into (if it will end up being a half hour job or 5 hours).
First off, I HATE Xpel with a passion not only because it's a very crappy looking film compared to other brands, but because the adhesive they use is not removal friendly. No matter who did the install or how long it's been, compared to films like SunTek, Xpel will always be a more PITA to remove. Often leaving the entire adhesive layer on the paint with only the top urethane layer removed.
It's an old school product. You often times have to take drastic measures to remove the remnants of the film and end up having to "roughen up the paint" beneath to get it completely off which I am not a fan of.
I would call around and see if someone in your area is willing to do it for reasonable price although you don't know what you're getting into (if it will end up being a half hour job or 5 hours).
03-03-16, 06:59 PM
#20
Lexus Test Driver
Yeah i agree with Zach, unless you got alot of time and patience I would not even attempt to do it yourself.
First off, I HATE Xpel with a passion not only because it's a very crappy looking film compared to other brands, but because the adhesive they use is not removal friendly. No matter who did the install or how long it's been, compared to films like SunTek, Xpel will always be a more PITA to remove. Often leaving the entire adhesive layer on the paint with only the top urethane layer removed.
It's an old school product. You often times have to take drastic measures to remove the remnants of the film and end up having to "roughen up the paint" beneath to get it completely off which I am not a fan of.
I would call around and see if someone in your area is willing to do it for reasonable price although you don't know what you're getting into (if it will end up being a half hour job or 5 hours).
First off, I HATE Xpel with a passion not only because it's a very crappy looking film compared to other brands, but because the adhesive they use is not removal friendly. No matter who did the install or how long it's been, compared to films like SunTek, Xpel will always be a more PITA to remove. Often leaving the entire adhesive layer on the paint with only the top urethane layer removed.
It's an old school product. You often times have to take drastic measures to remove the remnants of the film and end up having to "roughen up the paint" beneath to get it completely off which I am not a fan of.
I would call around and see if someone in your area is willing to do it for reasonable price although you don't know what you're getting into (if it will end up being a half hour job or 5 hours).
And talking about crappy looking film, I suspect you referred to the XPEL Value film which is not my favourite. I find that one is unacceptably crappy looking.
03-03-16, 07:10 PM
#21
I wonder which Xpel film do you refer to? Because I have no problem in removing Xpel Ultimate film off the paint. To me, it is similar to Ventureshield Ultra in terms of the ease of removal.
And talking about crappy looking film, I suspect you referred to the XPEL Value film which is not my favourite. I find that one is unacceptably crappy looking.
And talking about crappy looking film, I suspect you referred to the XPEL Value film which is not my favourite. I find that one is unacceptably crappy looking.
I am referring to XPEL Ultimate...
Compared to Ventureshield, I guess it's not a bad looking film, but both are atrocious looking/workability compared to SunTek.
Try using it and you will never want to touch Xpel again.
03-03-16, 07:16 PM
#22
Lexus Test Driver
Suntek --- I heard some good thing about it but haven't had a chance to try it. Is it much clearer than Ventureshield Ultimate in terms of texture?
03-03-16, 07:26 PM
#23
We still use both Xpel Ultimate for some customers that really want it (I don't know why aside from longer warranty). Any time we have some vehicles at the shop where one has a suntek ppf and other xpel, the vehicle with Xpel looks like it's got a product from the Dinosour era.
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