Auto detailing customers dislike Xpell PPF marring easily
13 posts across 2 communities in the last 60 days; 77% from r/AutoDetailing.
“If thats the only debris on the entire vehicle install you’re being overly picky imo. You said it yourself - PPF installs are impossible to get perfect. This is the 1% keeping it from being perfect and that’s very normal”
“Xpel is low to mid grade at best for film quality. This shit is not easy to install and finding someone that treats it like an art is hard to find. [re: expel paint protection film quality?]”
“Admittedly the one I found isn’t very expensive and is made and shipped from china. Not a company I had heard of before like xpel. But reviews online seemed positive for the most part. They report to have a 10 year warranty. I also have a contact my family have used so I’m in…”
Several users report issues with Xpell Paint Protection Film (PPF) scratching and marring, questioning its quality despite expectations of durability. Some posts involve dismissive responses from other users.
SOURCES (17)
“Xpel is low to mid grade at best for film quality. This shit is not easy to install and finding someone that treats it like an art is hard to find. [re: expel paint protection film quality?]”
“Admittedly the one I found isn’t very expensive and is made and shipped from china. Not a company I had heard of before like xpel. But reviews online seemed positive for the most part. They report to have a 10 year warranty. I also have a contact my family have used so I’m in the process of seeing if he will potentially supply me with a pre cut kit”
“I have been very happy with the performance and protection PPF has offerd on my vehicles since I started using it 10 years ago. This situation was not a proper PPF use case, and I'm dealing with the consequences now.”
“Never from the dealer, EVER. We must always minimize our contact with the dealer because they are all liars and thieves. Front-end ppf is not a bad idea, and even though 40k is a lot of money, I'd say it's at the very lower end in terms of value of a car for the cost of ppf being worth it. Think about $3k for a front + side skirts + maybe rear rocker panel kit. With that said, five years worth of rock chips are going to cost less than that to have professionally filed. Do the correcting”
Yah my truck was decon, correction, full ppf, then coated.
“I paid for a full XPEL PPF installation and paint correction on my Audi RS3 including carbon parts. Following collection, I identified multiple significant defects, including lifting film, bubbling, contamination and poor finishing. The car was subsequently returned to them on three separate occasions for remedial work, but the issues were not resolved. Initially, I was advised to wait around a month before returning the car, despite defects such as lifting potentially worsening during that peri”
“Thanks for the pics! But it also seems quite visible. I had maybe inflated expectations because a lot of videos on youtube shows really good results that looks almost invisible. https://youtube.com/shorts/AFO4gbTATLs?is=HIa-RX1X0t5-SQst or https://youtu.be/xRNZjFZhHvM?is=qk7YOMVOIRm8N227 you can still see the chips on the video if you look really hard, but on first look its not really noticable. Anyway, my chips under the foil improved quite a bit but i think on one place the foil is actually fc”
“Everyone keeps saying not bad, but I wouldn't accept that as a final product. Ask them to address the fingers, and inspect closely for razor marks.”
“If thats the only debris on the entire vehicle install you’re being overly picky imo. You said it yourself - PPF installs are impossible to get perfect. This is the 1% keeping it from being perfect and that’s very normal”
“I’ve been talking to them. Waiting to hear back tomorrow. This is from their own site: Scratch Resistant Our Windshield Protection Film has a slick top layer which makes it easier to maintain and avoid scratches from everyday abrasions, like windshield wipers, sand, gravel and car washing. My ass. Failed after two drives.”
“They didn’t,inform me of anything. They didn’t tell me I couldn’t use the wipers. They didn’t tell me to change the wipers. They literally just installed it and moved on. They are an authorized shop as well. Very highly reviewed too. If I had known I would’ve taken the necessary precautions. I thought it shared similar properties to PPF, and that light marring or scratches induced by the blades would dissipate over time. I actually checked their website today, and it still says scratch resistanc”
“Right but they said it was self-healing. I bought it. Thought it’s the same thing as ppf except for the windshield. Had I known, my decision might be different. I also would’ve avoided using the wipers at all.”
“It's gonna scratch. Had mine in a year and had to replace it. It's just how it is.”
“It looks like a pre-cut product like Xpel.. why did they took of the badges in the first place? lol”
“If the PPF is protecting the paint, it's doing the job you want it to do. It may not be pretty, you may not think it's worth it, but the environment it's put into with off-road will show wear. IF you pulled the PPF off and did the same use with bare paint, it would be way more expensive to fix. Thicker 'offroad' films meant for track day cars etc will exhibit the same issues you're showing. It is what it is with your situation unfortunately”
“That may be your experience but thats not the case all the time. Ive physically marred these and watched them heal under heat”