Well, the dealer's stripe guy came over today and has started putting on the stripes. The first thing he said was that the water thingies (I don't know what they are called) on the hood are hard to do as they don't come pre-cut, and that's why some people go with thinner stripes... (I'm going 10" 1.5" gap). I told him I thought that he had a "kit" where stuff was precut, and he said, no they just make them from vinyl stock... He said he's done LOTS of Stangs and that's the way they do things. I got worried because he made mention of words like "wrinkles" because of the water squirters...
Wish me luck!
Here's crossing my fingers!!

Joe

 

If he has done a lot of installs, you should be fine. Just give it a good inpsection before you drive away.

 

Lift your hood up and take the nozzles off before he puts stripes on that part, then after he's done take a knife and cut out the holes to put the nozzles back on.

 

Man, I'd be worried too. If he doesn't know that he needs to remove the squirters, laydown the vinyl, cut a * pattern where the hole is and fold it under, well.....not to make you nervous, but good luck with that.

 

I think I'm going go someplace to cry...

I'm at work an he's at my house...



I figured that since this guy does the Stangs for our dealer out here (and it's a REALLY BIG one) that he'd know all the tricks n' stuff... I had NO IDEA what questions to ask other than the ones I saw here about "auto quality vinyl" and "warranty" type stuff.
I wish he'd have said something and I'd have removed the squirters last night!
Now I have to REALLY cross my fingers! AND I'm paying like $450 + just for the install!!
UGH.

Joe

 

that's rough..

 

If you're paying that much and it comes out with wrinkles, make them redo it. There's no reason why it should be your fault that they didn't tell you to take the nozzles off which would cause them to do a bad job.

 

Well, it's done. I'm not sure how picky it's reasonable to be??!!
Overall it looks really nice and the lines are nice and straight. He solved the nozzle thing by leaving a small gap around them - it looks ok and the wrinkes are really small (perhaps a few small hairline 1/8" long).
The bumper, while nice and straight isn't the same width!! The rest of the car is 1 1/2" as agreed, but the bumper came out 1 3/4" and doesn't look right. I can have him do it over, but not sure what effect it will have on my paint??? Also under the bumper lip in the front, there are a LOT of wrinkles - you can't see them but I can feel them with my fingers.
Also, one thing that REALLY bugged me - he used a knife to cut the stripes out while on the car?? Does that mean that there are CUT MARKS on my car under the vinyl?? Are they supposed to cut them out while on the car??
Suggestions?
Joe

 

Yes, get him to do it over if it's not straight and NO your paint will not be damaged by having the vinyl removed.

 

Please see my edit, you post really fast!!
I mentioned how he cut the stripes out and found some wrinkes I didn't see. The dealer said he'd been doing this for a very long time - like 25+ years!
Joe

 

I feel your pain, that's why I'm saving up for the paint job. I'm just **** enough to worry over the little stuff. So, I've decided painted stripes, or no stripes at all. Post some pixs when you get a chance.....and I bet it's not as bad as you think

 

Hmmm...cutting the stripes out while on the car...that definately would raise a red flag for me. I highly doubt they'd be stupid enough to make the cut with the kife on your car, they most likely had the side of it raised up and then cut a line in it that way. If there is a wrinkle on the hood by the nozzles, I'd remove the nozzles and have him straighten the stripes out.

You're paying a lot of money here...have them do it right and don't take "no" for an answer! Just because somebody has been doing something for 25 years doesn't make them an expert.

 

Thanks for the encouragment, Luke! Right now I need it.
You're right; when you stand back even ta coupld of feet she's GORGOUS. The lines are nice and straight overall, and with the Vista Blue she just looks soooo pretty. You have to get close and feel or (in my case) put your glasses on to look for wrinkes. My neighbor (and fellow teacher!) stood and gawked at her, tossing multiple complements my way.
I'm just do darn nit picky!! That's one thing I need guidance here with. Just how close and picky should I be with wrinkles??

I talked to the installer and he's going to redo the front on Friday. He says that if he gets them off within a couple of days it's easy.

He's putting on the GT350 along the sides tomorrow - I'm going to sit and bite my fingernails off!!!

In the end, now that I'm sitting here, I'd have rather had her painted. Especially if you think about how much it's going to cost to have someone remove these stripes in 5 to 7 years and put new ones on. With paint you pay more but it can stay good for a long time!!

Joe

 

Here are a few pictures.
1. 1 3/4" gap on bumper, 1 1/2" gap on the hood. Can't live with it.
2. Nozzle cut outs. Not so bad, I can live with it; if I didn't know better I'd not know it wasn't supposed to be that way.
3. Brake light. Not an exact cut out, no perfect oval matching the brake light, but you need to be resonably close to see it well. The line width problem here is a perspective/illusion. The lines are correct. I can live with this one.
4. The "gas cap" on the rear isn't exactly cut out perfectly. On the left side there's like 1/16th of an inch blue showing. I can live with this one.

In all I can live with most of these and feel good about it, except for #1. Again, my BIG problem is how picky is REASONABLE?? Can I expect the guy to do these perfect ovals by hand?? Just unsure what's too picky and not too picky...


Thanks everyone!!
Joe

 

I'm sorry man, but I would be the most pissed off about the lack of preparation before he laid the stripes. The cut spots around the nozzles would irritate me to death.....It takes about 1 minute to remove the nozzles and then lay the stripes and cut the hole. The third brake light should have been removed, the wing, the rear emblem, grille, etc.
I would definately take the car to the dealership that you paid to do this, and request a full refund due to lack of respect for your car and hard earned money. I have done vinyl stripes myself in the past, and I would be embarrassed to try to deliver a car to the customer like that.

 

That dude is a monkey.

 

I hadn't heard that they should have these things removed... I didn't know they were supposed to do this! I wish I'd have known. I make remote controlled (R/C) jet aircraft and I put on "decals" all the time but they are waaaay smaller - like two - three feet long - and I try to be really careful when putting on the stripes/paint scheme, and you can't tell that I've not painted it when I take my time. In my case I'm forced to put the stripes on my aircraft after it's built so I'm used to getting the tape right up where it needs to be without showing... I thought he'd do the same!

As far as the nozzles, there was a heat shield that he didn't know how to get off...
One thing he did say was that usually the dealer has all the parts off and he just does it that way, he doesn't do any mechanical work - he told me this after it was all done...

Joe

 

sounds like he wanted to do what was convenient for him, and didn't take into consideration for the quality of the job/results.
-If you paid a dealership to sublet the repairs to this stripe guy, I would definately take the car to the dealership and talk to the salesman who sold you the car, if it is the same dealership, and move up the food-chain, until I was talking to the owner about getting reimbursed. $450 is alot of money for him to lay the stripes out and them not be perfect or even near perfect. The shops around here charge about $200, and the remove the necessary items from the car. $450 @ $50/hour is 9 hours of labor....I don't know about you, but I don't make $50/hr, and if I did, I'm sure someone would expect a better performance / finished product than what he gave you.
It already shows that you're never going to be $450 worth of happy w/ the results.
-I'm not trying to sound like an a-hole, just want to give you a little feedback.

 

I'd make him do it over. Pull off the hood liner (you can get the tool to remove the plastic pins from your favorite auto store). Pull the nozzles yourself.

The money you gave him is perfect anywhere he takes it ... a dollar is worth a dollar.

His work if he is a professional should be the same.

If he knew he could not do it right he should have not proceeded.

my 02 ...

 

Well, it looks like I have a terribly botched stripe job. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smilies23.gif[/img]

Please see my earlier post for part 1 (I wasn't sure to start a new post or continue the old one, I hope this is ok). http://forums.bradbarnett.net/index.php?showtopic=44043

It's so bad it's unbelieveable. I was so stunned by the job I think it threw me... I didn't realize just how bad it was until I cleaned off the car. The night before I made sure it was PRISTINE - ***SUPER CLEAN*** so his job would be easier the next day. When I returned from work he had gotten it pretty dirty with his hand prints mixed with rain splatter (he backed it out of the driveway to do some of the work and it rained a little). When I cleaned it with Quik detail and a soft cloth and I saw it in the light I WAS HORRIFIED!!! Not only are there lots and lots and LOTS of small wrinkles (1/4 to 1/2" long) all over the car (especially where there are curves), but there are large DUST PARTICLES UNDER THE VINYL!!

<blockquote> Yes, it actually gets worse. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/banghead.gif[/img]
</blockquote>There is PAINT DAMAGE!! Yes, PAINT DAMAGE!! There are large scuff like scratches (3 -5 INCHES LONG) in the clear coat in at least six different places. In addition, there are knife marks that go down to the paint! I happened to watch him for just a moment when I got home and saw he had stuff on top of my car while he worked - little knife, masking tape rolls, lots of pieces of scrap vinyl etc...
Please see the pictures for a trip through a REAL HAUNTED HOUSE! When he started on my car this morning the paint job was nearly PERFECT. I mean perfect. I take extremetly good care of my car - I wash it with Meguiars car soap, use Zanio to wax it and only use supersoft microfiber towels. I know I'm picky - but I love this car! I know every last tiny detail on my car.
<blockquote>Before the guy got started my wife (I was at work - he came to my house to do it), made SUPER, EXTRA sure he understood that I really wanted it done right. When he got started and made noises about the nozzles on the hood being a pain she asked him again, "ARE YOU SURE YOU CAN DO THIS??" They guy assured her (and later me) that yes, he could. It would be a bit harder with all the stuff on the car (instead of removing the things that are in the way) but he could do it no problem. I said it was fine as long as it looked GREAT - everything had to be RIGHT. He agreed, no problem. I had no idea what was all involved, he's supposed to be the expert, not me! I expected that a guy that does the NEW cars for the dealer would be great. THERE IS NO WAY HE LEAVES NEW CARS ON THE LOT LIKE THIS!!

</blockquote> I had people over who've never seen stripes before. They were stunned. $700 for WHAT??[indent] I had my Mustang friends over and they nearly cried.

I can't believe it.
Here are the pictures on my web site.
http://www.pbase.com/albireo/stripe_disaster

Here's my plan. Please steer me in the right direction!!!!
Remember, this person was referred to me by the dealer in Sacramento. He's an independent contractor that they use. I can't go after the dealer.

1. I want a REFUND. Period.
2. I am going to get the stripes removed and have the stripes PAINTED ON.
3. I am going to have SOMEONE ELSE remove the stripes. I don't want him near my car.
4. If when the stripes are removed we find lots of long, nasty knife marks we think he should have to pay for the damage.
5. I think he should pay to have the scuff marks buffed out.

Questions:
I've been told that I have just a few days to get the stripes removed easily, so I should have it done asap?
Should I have the paint place remove the stripes, since they are going to paint it?
If there are knife marks through the clear coat, how easily is it for them to fix?
If there are knife marks down my car how hard should I press for him to pay for it being fixed?

Any other LEGAL suggestions?? (that is alternatives that aren't against the law)
Please help me!

Joe