Ouch -- I hate to do this, but two and a half years later, I have to change my review. The vinyl…read morethat Vindictive Vinyl installed disintegrated and/or degraded to such an extent that I had to have it removed and discovered that the clear coat underneath was stained by whatever they had used to float/affix the vinyl on the hood and roof. Additionally, where the vinyl had peeled, there is paint damage and rust (this is on a 2015 4Runner that has been garaged most of its life!). Details follow.
Background: I kept my 4Runner in a heated garage almost 24/7 up until May of 2016 where it was probably garaged 50% of the time. This is important to note: it isn't like I left it in the blazing sun and freezing winters for a few years straight.
In the spring of 2017, I noticed the clear vinyl was starting to look "matte" -- as in no longer transparent. It also had some odd spots forming along the edges that literally looked like rust. I could polish the spots out with elbow grease, but they formed in so many areas, I gave up. I washed the truck often to ensure that I wasn't getting dirt buildup, but the matte transformation continued.
In the summer of 2017, I noticed that the black vinyl was starting to peel near edges on the hood and, worst of all, in large sections of the roof. I had spots forming where the vinyl was literally flaking off. The clear sections were not anymore and I was tired of driving a truck that looked 15 years old and weatherbeaten.
In December of 2017, I took my truck to a local vinyl shop to see if they could just remove the whole mess. 40 hours of labor later, they had all of the vinyl off. And, they showed me the hood clear coat: it looked pink! Something had stained it during/after the vinyl install and it doesn't "buff right out." They said it was likely whatever was used to float the vinyl onto the surface. I've had them cover the hood with new vinyl, but someday I'll need to get the hood repainted.
The roof is a mess. Where the vinyl was flaking off, there is paint damage and rust spots from where the paint ALSO flaked off. Some areas are pink (stained clear coat). I've sent the truck to a body shop to get the roof stripped, rust removed/treated, primed and painted.
As you can imagine, all of this costs a lot of money. I'm kicking myself now for not going with a different shop. As an example, my SO had her car entirely clear-wrapped by a shop in Chicago and hers still looks great (clear, no fade, no peeling) and her car has been parked in exactly the same conditions my truck has been in.
Daniel and team: I'm not sure what happened, but it seems that your process needs improvement and the vinyl I bought from you was sub-par. I felt good at the time that we were in a mutually beneficial situation: you were learning to do clear-wrap and the price for your efforts and enthusiasm was fair. Unfortunately, I'm now paying thousands of dollars to repair the paint on my truck and to fix what appears to be the result of some poor materials/supplies choices you guys made. Lessons learned, but in good faith, I have to revise my review to two stars because while the initial interaction and result was great, my truck has been permanently affected by what should have been a simple vinyl job.
