Paint protection/stonechip films. Worth doing???

[Nicholas Gormley]

I’m interested in this too so any info would be great.

[Chris Wool]

last i looked at this it was sort of tied up by a franchise which had it all sorted.
nothing to stop you doing it though but materials and worst of all templates will be a problem.

[Stuart Miller]

I think it very much depends on where you are situated, your market and how you promote it.
I am a supplier/installer of Bekaert Films who manufacture Clearshield paint protection films which is a quality product. Despite me listing it on my website I have ever only had two enquiries in 4 years.
So for me not worth it for me, but in a high profile city location with expensive cars then it could be good money.

[Martin Pearson]

John, is this something you have been asked a lot for or just something else you would like to offer as a service? As Chris has said one franchise does seen to have it covered but like anything if there is a demand then a bit of competition never hurts :lol1:

Stuart, you don’t really promote it at all do you, a mention on your website isn’t really going to get you a lot of work on it’s own unless your site is easy to find by people looking for that service.
I know you do window tinting so maybe a flyer in each car you tint would bring a lot more of that sort of work maybe even offer a bit of a discount for tint customers.

Don’t know how much work you get directly from Bekaert for tinting, I had a look at there website few years ago and didn’t like the fact that the website didn’t put you in contact with installers directly.

[Unknown Member]

We recently wrapped a complete car in an american brand film which was supplied to us by the customer.

Why he had the whole car done I will never know, the funny thing about this material was that it was applied wet and thats the only way of applying it, the other funny thing was that they supplied a custom made squeeze to fit the vinyl.

Took us three days to wrap the car as it was a learning curve.

The customer decided in the end that he didn’t like it and took it off…..

Its something I would do again but not in a hurry

[Stuart Miller]

I quite agree Martin, I don’t push it at all and keep meaning to take it off my site completely as I have never installed any.
I did however in my first 2 years promote it in all my adverts and flyers but have adjusted these now to reflect the work I do regularly.
However if you do a google search for Paint Protection Film / Cumbria I do come out as top of google and as many looking for this would probably start there, I think it does reflect the lack of interest in my area. I also study the stats from my site which shows hardly any hits on the Clearshield page. With the couple of enquires I have had I have put them in touch with an installer. That is why I said it depends on area.

As for Bekaert, I dont see not being listed on their site a problem as in all my time as tinting no-one has asked what film I use. Only other tinters would know the difference in handling and quality between films. The most important things in my mind is Quality of film, stock availability and speed of delivery, consultant at the end of a phone call.
I get really good and reliable service from Bekaert and don’t expect any work directly anymore than Metamark or Robert Horne giving me work. They are a supplier and in my mind great to deal with.

[John Cooper]

I used it on the suspension struts of my Ariel Atom. When the car was new, they looked wonderful but so so vulnerable to stone chip. 5 years later same stone chip vinyl in place and the the struts still look wonderful.

I’m about to roll out pre-cut sets to the Atom Owners.