Delbox
New member
I had to start a thread to inform you all about Paintshield products and services "" due to my immense satisfaction with them, and to recommend them as the best means of protecting your car's paintwork from damage. However, before I start, please let me advise you that I do not have any financial interest in Paintshield - other than as an extremely satisfied customer; and, I have not been asked or paid to provide this recommendation about Tom Wakeford, the Managing Director, and his staffs.
Having seen the unsightly stone-chipped damage caused to many of my cars, I decided to protect the front of my Basalt Black Porsche 997 Carrera 4S, from new. Therefore, I carried out much on-line research of the paint protection products available in the UK - including reading comments on many motoring forums. Consequently, I chose Paintshield - and have not regretted doing so. Tom and his staffs are passionate about 3M film and the service that they offer; moreover, Tom is the master about knowledge of his field "" having carried out his own in-depth research and testing of all available films.
After delivery of the car in mid-March, I took it to the headquarters of Paintshield - a couple of minutes from the A1 on the outskirts of Grantham. I had corresponded by e-mail with Tom beforehand, having examined the Paintshield website and determined which products I wanted fitted to the car; I chose to have the front valance, wing mirror housings, leading half of the wings and the leading edge of the bonnet protected with 3M paint protection film (PPF).
The patterns are produced in-house by computer-aided design techniques - and then transferred to the film, from which they are pre-cut and ready for application to the car; each piece of film is accurately sized and shaped. There is no use of a knife during installation - and Tom despairs at other PPF installers who try to justify the need to do so! I was impressed by the care taken during the installation - and by Tom's quality control. The work took around 4 hours to complete - and I sat in the comfortable waiting room while it was completed, although Tom offered to take me into Grantham. Afterwards, I found the film to be as easy to care for as the original paint finish - and even before waxing was as glossy.
I had mentioned to Tom that it was disappointing that he could not offer film to cover the whole of the area forward of the A-pillars. Therefore, I was extremely pleased when he informed me recently that 3M had produced wider film - and produced templates that would meet my needs. Yesterday, I returned to Grantham to have the half-covered areas removed and replaced by the wider film.
Before and after the "˜old' film was removed - I examined it in detail and am satisfied that, had it not been in place, the frontal area of my car would have been badly damaged by chips. This would have been particularly noticeable given the light undercoat used by Porsche and the Basalt Black metallic finis to my car.
The result of fitting the larger areas of film is excellent and I defy anyone to notice that it has been applied; consequently, there are no photographs. To his credit Tom noticed a small flaw in the film that had been applied to the bonnet - although I could barely see it, even after it was pointed out! Due to his demanding standards, the film was removed and replaced; similarly, just as I was about to leave for home, Tom noticed a similar flaw in the film covering the fuel filler door - so that area was replaced too. Second best is not acceptable to Tom!
The quality and finish of the film is outstanding, the fit perfect, and Tom and his staffs offer attention to detail, customer care and an after-sales service that is second to none. Also, they are all enthusiastic about performance cars, treat them as if they owned them - and in addition to Porsche are experienced in fitting film to cars such as Rolls Royce, Lamborghini and Aston Martin to name a few.
Mine is now currently one of only 2 cars with film covering the whole area forward of the A-pillars; the other is a Porsche 996 GT3 RS. If you too want to benefit from the protection offered, contact Tom on 01476592777. It will cost around £1500 and require your car to be available at Grantham for about 5 hrs; much of the time is taken up by fitting the single - yes, single - piece of film that encompasses the front valance, including its many orifices. This might seem expensive - but it is much cheaper than a respray, and 4 years warranty is included. Although other Paintshield installers are available throughout the UK, only the headquarters offers the facilities necessary to fit the larger pieces of film.
I'm so pleased with the outcome that I've volunteered to display my car on the Paintshield stand at this year's Porsche Club Festival at Eynsham over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Del
