Is this normal/acceptable

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bailer

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My dealer offers Suntek coatings. I have never had ppf before, but seems popular on the forum, so I decided to go with it.

I had the front bumper & fenders, hood, rockers, and tailgate done. I'm pretty happy with everything except large ragged relief cuts on my hood. Are these necessary and standard practice or shall I have them redo it.

Hope the pictures show it. Below is both sides of the hood. Fairly noticeable in person and I don't imagine it will get better...
 

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waddellw

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I don't know a lot about this stuff and I've never had it on a truck, but I've never seen a cut in one ever. They stretch it over and seal it down. Doesn't look right there and will end up holding dirt on the edges and eventually peel up.

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Deleted member 12951

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No offense but it looks like shit. I would demand they take it off and give you back your money or redo it so it isn't noticeable at all. Did they tell you that it would look like that? When I was getting Clear Bra installed on my Mustang, they told me up front where all the pieces were to meet and made suggestions how to hide it or skip an area. This place doesn't know what they are doing.
 

TRIMMELL

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My dealer offers Suntek coatings. I have never had ppf before, but seems popular on the forum, so I decided to go with it.

I had the front bumper & fenders, hood, rockers, and tailgate done. I'm pretty happy with everything except large ragged relief cuts on my hood. Are these necessary and standard practice or shall I have them redo it.

Hope the pictures show it. Below is both sides of the hood. Fairly noticeable in person and I don't imagine it will get better...

HOLY SHIT! Take it back. I thought at first it was just tore but that definitely looks cut. They shouldn't have needed to do that. Especially on the hood. I have seen relief cuts but they are usually somewhere hidden where you'll never see them. You really don't do a lot of stretching either if you know what you're doing. Minimal stretching will give you the best results long term. I would take it back and have them redo it properly or get a refund and go elsewhere.
 
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bailer

bailer

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Thanks for the advice. I will have it redone with new material.
I am naturally way too fussy and so always just try to ignore this stuff or I'd drive myself crazier!
 

roybot

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I have PPF (Expel) on my whole front clip. Not done by my dealership but by a private shop that does this stuff. They likely have a prepatterned template that gets laser cut out of a huge sheet. It already has the seams because as stretchy as this stuff is, it can't conform to every bump or groove. So, yes my truck has similar seams but in different places because I have a Gen 1. I think that people saying that they haven't seen this before are probably talking about vinyl wrap which I believe is much thinner and more stretchable. Good PPF is actually pretty thick and does a great job at protecting your paint. Offers me SO much peace of mind. Bottomline is that yes, I think it is supposed to look like that. You may be able to find someone who can custom cut it (meaning they will get a huge sheet and cut it with a razor blade while it is on your truck, they could probably make the seams look tighter...but would prob cost more.
 

TRIMMELL

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I have PPF (Expel) on my whole front clip. Not done by my dealership but by a private shop that does this stuff. They likely have a prepatterned template that gets laser cut out of a huge sheet. It already has the seams because as stretchy as this stuff is, it can't conform to every bump or groove. So, yes my truck has similar seams but in different places because I have a Gen 1. I think that people saying that they haven't seen this before are probably talking about vinyl wrap which I believe is much thinner and more stretchable. Good PPF is actually pretty thick and does a great job at protecting your paint. Offers me SO much peace of mind. Bottomline is that yes, I think it is supposed to look like that. You may be able to find someone who can custom cut it (meaning they will get a huge sheet and cut it with a razor blade while it is on your truck, they could probably make the seams look tighter...but would prob cost more.

Film would have no problem contouring to that part of the hood. I'm not experienced enough with film to know what they did that led them to needing to cut the film there but I am sure they will take care of it and do it properly.

XPEL being installed on a 17' Raptor. That exact part of the hood is at the 0:19 mark in the video. No cuts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xgLHx1ZkDM
 

roybot

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Film would have no problem contouring to that part of the hood. I'm not experienced enough with film to know what they did that led them to needing to cut the film there but I am sure they will take care of it and do it properly.

XPEL being installed on a 17' Raptor. That exact part of the hood is at the 0:19 mark in the video. No cuts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xgLHx1ZkDM

Perfect video link. That video def proves that Expel can take those contours in experienced hands...that dude is an artist...he is using blank rolls and took him 25 hours to do the front clip and A pillars! I'm pretty sure that you aren't gonna get that level of craftmanship for the $1500 or so that you would pay the dealership. Expel licensed dealers have access to these precut templates that make it a lot easier (hence cheaper)...I'm guessing that is what the Suntek appliers did...if they cut that along those lines themselves then that is poor form ineed. My dude used a precut template and although most edges are folded or tucked, you can see the edge of the film in some corners. Definitely weren't any along the length of the hood like that. My edges are way more subtle in terms of location...and invisible if you aren't looking for them.
 

JetDriver480

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Yeah... Take it back...

---------- Post added at 12:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:31 PM ----------

Film would have no problem contouring to that part of the hood. I'm not experienced enough with film to know what they did that led them to needing to cut the film there but I am sure they will take care of it and do it properly.

XPEL being installed on a 17' Raptor. That exact part of the hood is at the 0:19 mark in the video. No cuts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xgLHx1ZkDM

I can tell by the video that I can't afford this but it's pretty awesome!
 
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