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      03-27-2019, 02:10 PM   #1
Wolfus Aurelius
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New Orleans: Good shop for clear bra?

After seeing how many chips and nicks accumulated in five years on my dark gray Buick Regal, I'm more than ready to get a clear bra on my F30 328i. Any suggestions for a local shop? The body shop I've used to paint other cars doesn't really do them, but he's recommended one in Kenner just off Williams Blvd. -- but he didn't recall the name. Any ideas, or other recommendations?
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      03-29-2019, 02:32 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by Wolfus Aurelius View Post
After seeing how many chips and nicks accumulated in five years on my dark gray Buick Regal, I'm more than ready to get a clear bra on my F30 328i. Any suggestions for a local shop? The body shop I've used to paint other cars doesn't really do them, but he's recommended one in Kenner just off Williams Blvd. -- but he didn't recall the name. Any ideas, or other recommendations?
Hey Wolfus,

There are a couple good options in your area. Check out our XPEL Certified Installer Locator for a list of shops near you.

Be sure to go to a couple of the shops in person. This way you can gauge their workmanship and their customer support quality.

If you haven't seen it yet, check out our demonstration video of our ULTIMATE PLUS Paint Protection Film. It shows you the rigorous tests we put the film through including it's self-healing capability.

Hope this info helps! Good luck!

XPEL ULTIMATE PLUS Video
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      04-03-2019, 07:35 AM   #3
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I know the area where the Florida Ave. one is; it's near my dealer, and the Marrero one is on my side of the river. I'll stop by soon.
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      04-23-2019, 02:35 PM   #4
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Xpel,

So far nothing. The Kenner Xpel installer is not open on Saturdays and has never written me back, and the Marrero guy, while he showed me his work and everything seemed fine, is not responding to my calls and emails. As for the others, their websites don't work properly, which does not fill me with confidence. Any other ideas?
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      04-23-2019, 03:42 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfus Aurelius View Post
Xpel,

So far nothing. The Kenner Xpel installer is not open on Saturdays and has never written me back, and the Marrero guy, while he showed me his work and everything seemed fine, is not responding to my calls and emails. As for the others, their websites don't work properly, which does not fill me with confidence. Any other ideas?
Anything in Baton Rouge that might help? I am at the other end of the state and have wondered about shops in BR and NO. Good luck. Will be curious to here about your experiences if you can get your car protected.
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      04-24-2019, 08:06 AM   #6
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I've written to my salesman at Peake BMW. He'd mentioned there was a shop they used, and he seemed to think it was in a business area north of the Interstate in Kenner, but he couldn't recall the name. Maybe he can dig it up (though as of this morning, there's no email from him). I suppose this Saturday morning I can drive through there and see if I can spot any shops.

(God, I hate this Third-World city. Everything is manana, senor and "Naw, we don' do that kinda work.")
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      04-24-2019, 10:21 AM   #7
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Update,

The BMW dealer says the shop is "behind" a landmark seafood restaurant on the main avenue in Kenner. I checked on maps, and there is a Tony's Auto Salon on 32nd Street about a block west of the avenue. I was searching for "auto body paint," instead of "window tint." When I searched with those keywords, Tony's comes up on page one.

Reviews on Yelp are uniformly good. I'll send him a note or call him today.

ETA: I called. "Lisa" (Tony's wife? don't know) answered, sounding bright and chipper. They are the Peake BMW go-to place for tint and paint protection, and they'll be glad to see my car on Saturday morning so they can give me a quote. The number is (504) 305-3777, http://www.tonysautosalon.com/ I'll keep you up to date.

Last edited by Wolfus Aurelius; 04-24-2019 at 03:04 PM..
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      04-29-2019, 07:49 AM   #8
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Update,

Went to see Tony Ngyuen at his shop on Saturday morning. He seems to know his business -- though he started off trying to convince me that my car needed to be clayed, and recommending the supplies from Chemical Guys. When I pointed out that I'd clayed the car less than a month ago and WITH a clay bar from Chemical Guys, he changed the subject. He showed me a black Camaro he was restoring the paint on, but I never did see an example of his X-Pel work.

He quoted me $1200 for the clear bra job (bumper, part of the hood, front of the fenders, mirror backs). When I said I'd had a solid $500 quote from another X-Pel dealer, he started coming down on the price, and before I left he was down to $900. His recommendation was that I should have the front bumper repainted (not by him) to start, let it cure, then have the clear bra put on -- something that would probably run me in total about $1500. Uh, no. My car is not a show car, it's a daily driver, and I'm *very* happy with the way it looks now. And I don't think I'd see that money back in resale 5 years from now, do you?

I'll ask the previous shop what level of X-Pel they are using, and if the 10-year-warranty covers things like yellowing; I recall he said it did.

I tire rapidly of these duds. Maybe I'd do better to put some rubber bumper strips on, drive the car, and then have the bumper repainted if it needs it in 3 years!

Last edited by Wolfus Aurelius; 04-29-2019 at 08:04 AM..
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      05-04-2019, 09:17 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by Wolfus Aurelius View Post
Update,

Went to see Tony Ngyuen at his shop on Saturday morning. He seems to know his business -- though he started off trying to convince me that my car needed to be clayed, and recommending the supplies from Chemical Guys. When I pointed out that I'd clayed the car less than a month ago and WITH a clay bar from Chemical Guys, he changed the subject. He showed me a black Camaro he was restoring the paint on, but I never did see an example of his X-Pel work.

He quoted me $1200 for the clear bra job (bumper, part of the hood, front of the fenders, mirror backs). When I said I'd had a solid $500 quote from another X-Pel dealer, he started coming down on the price, and before I left he was down to $900. His recommendation was that I should have the front bumper repainted (not by him) to start, let it cure, then have the clear bra put on -- something that would probably run me in total about $1500. Uh, no. My car is not a show car, it's a daily driver, and I'm *very* happy with the way it looks now. And I don't think I'd see that money back in resale 5 years from now, do you?

I'll ask the previous shop what level of X-Pel they are using, and if the 10-year-warranty covers things like yellowing; I recall he said it did.

I tire rapidly of these duds. Maybe I'd do better to put some rubber bumper strips on, drive the car, and then have the bumper repainted if it needs it in 3 years!
Wolfus,

Give us a call at 210-678-3700 and ask Customer Support to connect you with the sales rep for your area. They will have better insight on who to go to. Thank you for your patience with this process and we do hope you stick with XPEL as your protection of choice.
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      05-06-2019, 07:51 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by XPEL View Post
Wolfus,

Give us a call at 210-678-3700 and ask Customer Support to connect you with the sales rep for your area. They will have better insight on who to go to. Thank you for your patience with this process and we do hope you stick with XPEL as your protection of choice.
XPel,

I'm slated to have the work done at A2D in Marrero this Saturday, 5/11. I'll let everyone know how it goes.
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      05-16-2019, 10:23 AM   #11
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The saga continues

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfus Aurelius View Post
XPel,

I'm slated to have the work done at A2D in Marrero this Saturday, 5/11. I'll let everyone know how it goes.
XPel and everybody who's interested:

I had to reschedule my Saturday 5/11 appointment because my cat had to go to the vet. So Mr. A2D and I settled on today, Thursday, 5/16. I got there, and it turned out he had a contract job he was going to have to run to -- in the middle of my job, mind you -- saying it would take about 1.5 hours. I was understandably upset, since I took a day off work, and he had led me to believe that (a) *I* was the customer for that day, and (b) the work would take at most half a day. He admitted he wouldn't be able to do the work this Saturday, but 5/25 would be fine; so we made yet another appointment.

I've had it with all this bouncing around. One guy wants $1000, another doesn't honor my appointment. At this point I'm ready to buy some nice carbon fiber bumper strips from Amazon, put them on, and resign myself to having the bumper repainted in a year or two. At least with that I know in advance it will take a few days and I can plan around it.

The trouble is that I made a deposit with the shop, and no doubt he used it to order and cut the film for my car. Do I have to go through with this, or can I get at least part of my money back?

I'll try calling the customer sales rep you mention when I get back to work on Monday.
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      05-25-2019, 10:00 AM   #12
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Dropped the car off at A2D films in Marrero this am, 9:00, and he got me an Uber ride home. He thinks the car may be ready by noon, and will call me, but I will probably Uber back about 3:00. Here's hoping everything will be fine.
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      05-28-2019, 07:23 AM   #13
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Update to Saturday's appointment: The shop owner called me at 3 pm to say all was done. I Ubered back and found the car looked fantastic. Not much point in my posting a picture, as the car looks almost the same as my most recent pics: close up you can just see the edge of the film near the headlights. The price was as he had quoted me. And he gave me my warranty card with the 10-year warranty from that date.

Worth the wait, I suppose.
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      05-28-2019, 09:49 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfus Aurelius View Post
Update to Saturday's appointment: The shop owner called me at 3 pm to say all was done. I Ubered back and found the car looked fantastic. Not much point in my posting a picture, as the car looks almost the same as my most recent pics: close up you can just see the edge of the film near the headlights. The price was as he had quoted me. And he gave me my warranty card with the 10-year warranty from that date.

Worth the wait, I suppose.
Great. Glad you got it done. Something to consider in the future for me.
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