Here in my mirror wrapping story. Hoping it will educate you so you won't have to endure the time and frustration that I did.

I live in the Bay Area and I first went to Auto Detail in Fremont to do a mirror wrap. I chose AD because their prices were so much better than every other quote I had gotten. They were actually doing a carbon project on an i8 when I went in for the quote so I thought these guys must be pros. How wrong I was.

I was charged $100 for both mirrors and was told they would wrap them in Avery film, which was all I limitedly knew I wanted due to my little research into the best film brand.

The job was completed in a couple of hours and to my dismay, the very next day I noticed the wrap beginning to peel after only one day in the summer sun because of shotty install and come to find out later, inferior material. Unknowing that I was dealing with crooks yet, I brought my car back twice for the very same repair. I then finally demanded a refund realizing that they were total buffoons and had not a clue as to what they were doing. They literally wasted 3 hours of their own shop time experimenting with this entire charade. (Wait until they read my upcoming long winded Yelp review.)

Fast forward two weeks to today:

I took my car today to a shop called Kuttek Works in San Leandro.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/kuttek-work...EsdqAC2m7P8Y9g

This place had very good Yelp reviews and when I called, I was pleased to find that they are the installation instructors for Avery film for the entire district! In other words every Avery film reseller in the area goes to this place to be trained in wrapping with the products by these guys! This place was about twice the money of the first place i went to but, trust me when I tell you, people either know how to do this right or they don't. I was quoted $200 to wrap both my mirror shells. After agreeing, they went out to the parking lot and removed the shells in 5 minutes. Don't let anyone try to do the job without removing the shells and don't let anyone try to charge you for the labor of removing the mirrors, again its a 5 minute procedure to get the shells off. This will be a clear indication if the shop is honest or just trying to ream you because they think you don't have a clue. Test them to see if they charge extra for "mirror removal". If they do, beat it and find an honest shop, although, they may not actually know the ease of the shell removal. If you feel it's an honest mistake, let them know it's five minutes according the the guys on the forums! (Power mirrors all the way down, grab glass and pull toward you to release, loosen shell clips). The smart thing to do is leave the shells with the place if they can't get to it while you wait. Many times, the shop doesn't want you to know how much time it actually takes them to do the job so they refrain from letting you wait. That's understandable as were basically paying for their expertise for this type of job rather than real shop time labor.

I left the shells with Kuttek and asked them to call me when they were finished. I got a call about four hours later stating that they were done and that the mirrors turned out better than even they imagined. The mirrors looked just incredible after I saw them in person as you can see by the pics. What a major difference in the quality of the work and material. They even took the time to explain to me everything to look out for when dealing with wrap shops as they are just notorious for lying, cheating and ripping people off because the wrap industry is so profitable and hyped right now. They pointed out that the wrap the other shop used wasn't Avery at all and instead was a cheap Chinese eBay product. I saw the two films side-by-side and theres a huge difference in quality and look after install. The cheap films aren't pliable enough to wrap around curves in one piece and will fail every time. Most budget shops use the ebay Chinese film because it is 1/3 cheaper than Avery or even 3m which is second best according to the pros.

Bottom Line when wrapping F-type mirrors:

Use Avery film only (the best). It's very common for shops to lie about the film they will use. It happened to me.

Remove shells and wrap all around and inside.

Use only a highly skilled installer who knows his **** and can explain what he will do in detail.

Make sure they will fix any problems down the road. I paid $100 per mirror but I know I can have any failure fixed moving forward.

Although it's only been a day, from looking at the job they did, I can tell the job was done perfectly. Tight edges, smooth unbuckled wrap and tucked in the edges. A good way to look at it is as if half of what you pay is basically insurance. There's a very good chance the company you choose will have to stand behind the work so select them wisely. Don't make the mistake I made and cut corners guys.

This job and that job is night and day.

The first two pics is with Avery done right (one piece of film, no split) and the third was the cheap peeling film/job (notice the seam in the middle where the pattern takes a 90 at the split).

I chose to do black carbon by the way which IMO looks absolutely stunning on a polaris car. Far better than silver shades.

 

the mirror look good. Congrats and thank you for sharing your experience and information you obtained during your venture.

 

Since the mirror covers can be removed easily, it would seem that some wrap shop could offer a mail/UPS-in service to wrap the mirrors carbon or black for $225 inc shipping or a similar deal.

No long drama or face time with a shop. Just send in, turnaround within a week. Would be a great deal for a wrap shop and the F-type owner.

Next could be console piece, etc.

It looks like the material cost to do a mirror set would be about $20, so it is paying someone for their skill and time. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Avery-SW900-...DzpgSQ&vxp=mtr

 

You guys could certainly contact the shop. They would be happy to do it and I can stand behind their work.

Here's their contact info and Yelp reviews.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/kuttek-work...EsdqAC2m7P8Y9g

I agree with you and someone on our forum with a steady hand and the skill set should learn the technique, (I know they only use a heat gun, good film, and an exacto knife). A mail order wrapping service would be an excellent means of income.

 

Agreed. Definitely would be a good business plan and I'm sure you wouldn't be just limited to Jaguar mirrors could do all mirrors. Wrapping is not easy and have tremendous respect for the good companies out there doing it. I've been looking at a bunch of shops lately for some work and will only put my car in the hands of 2 of them. Now just trying to make the determination on if I should do it or not.

 

Let's give it or month or so and see if Polarisnavyxj's mirror wrap starts falling apart

 

sounds good, but for his sake let's pray they don't. I don't want anyone to ever lose money.

 

I looked again today. Perfect. In fact everyday I set myself up for disappointment when getting in my car because I am afraid the mirrors won't hold up. The previous wrap job there were several edges vulnerable to peeling and you could see the areas that were trouble spots. With this job there are no edges at all. These mirrors could be oem in fact. Thats how clean they are...Look at the pictures closely again. It looks like the wrap is basically bonded on the shell. It doesn't even look like an over wrap. I don't know what they did but its completely different from the other company. I think they may have used some sort of adhesion or perhaps the Avery film itself, when exposed to the heat, takes the shape of the object perfectly.

Send your shells to them. You won't be disappointed. It looks permanent. If you want to wait a few months, I'll keep you posted but just looking at them, it's perfect and I would suggest you trust me on this. Remember, I was the guy who warned you to forget the idea!

I wouldn't bother trusting other companies. I found the guys who train with this film in the area. Further, I'd trust these guys to wrap anything you needed through the mail. I've been to their shop and it's a huge, professional environment with big vinyl printers and walls full of film. There were motorhomes, busses and boats in the warehouse waiting their wrap jobs.

If you guys want, I'll go back and tell them to start a mail program and even see about a discount for you guys.