One summer in 1997, my family welcomed the first carburetor, Beverly. During the 2008 Olympics (to avoid the trouble caused by single and even number restrictions), I bought a second 16V Beverly. The author always adheres to the “three sillies” of new cars: “film”, “floor glue” and “seat cover”. Because everyone else is like this, the author habitually continues the “three fools”.
In 2010, after the purchase of the third MPV, the floor rubber was replaced by a fully enclosed foot pad, and the seat cover was replaced by a summer cool pad and a winter cotton pad, but because it was equipped with the original heat insulation glass, there was no film.
In 2016, an off-road vehicle was replaced with an old Beverly, still without film and seat covers, except that the mats were upgraded twice.
In 2017, the author was ordered to die by his lover to buy the most expensive sunscreen and cosmetics if he did not apply a film!
The author, who has 7 years of experience in automobile 4S shops, has done all the positions except the store manager, sales manager, after-sales manager, customer service manager, and financial manager. In particular, mechanics and accessories are the most handy. The “old driver” who insists on replacing the full synthetic oil and air filter for his car is not willing to film the vehicle and make some messy decorations.
The reason why there is no film is that I always feel that it is too expensive, unnecessary and SB to apply film in 4S stores. Take the author’s experience in 2010 in the warehouse of an imported modern 4S store (closed).
The front windshield explosion-proof film of the dragon brand car film purchased through regular channels is 6500 yuan / roll, 30 meters / roll, equivalent to 217 yuan / meter. Dragon brand car film side windshield film 9X yuan / meter.
USL brand front windshield explosion-proof film, 2880 yuan / roll, 24 meters / roll, equivalent to 120 yuan / meter.
The cost price of cross-wind film of the same level of brands such as DuPont brand is 30-50 yuan / meter.
The prices mentioned above do not include tax.
At present, there are dozens of brands of automotive glass film on the market, and the general agent is divided into several levels of channel vendors and retailers. In order to control the channel and price, the channel vendor weakens the brand on the packaging of the goods supplied by the 4S store. For the goods supplied by auto parts cities, repair shops and decorators, try to highlight the brand on the packaging to intuitively attract customers to buy.
Taking the imported Hyundai “big 7-seater” SUV Verax as an example, the front windshield uses dragon film explosion-proof film, the rear windshield, the four-door glass and the two rear side glass use dragon film ordinary film (the total area does not exceed 9 meters), and the price of selling with a new car in 4S stores can be as high as 6000-8000 yuan. Taking the smaller “middle 7-seater” SUV all-new Shengda as an example, the front windshield uses dragon film explosion-proof film, rear windshield, four-door glass and two rear side glass using dragon film ordinary film (the total area does not exceed 9 meters), and the price for selling with a new car in 4S stores is about 5,000 yuan.
Remarks: The explosion-proof film sold with the new car is because it involves a series of complex factors such as salesman’s new car sales and boutique tasks. Different brands of floor mats, aromatherapy, foils and other products recommended to customers are not the best but the most profitable.
After excluding the warehouse output of the 4S store and the loss reserved by the decoration technician for repair, the outbound cost of one imported Hyundai Verax SUV full vehicle film (dragon film) does not exceed 1300 yuan, while the cost of choosing US(L) brand front windshield explosion-proof film and cross-wind film is only 800 yuan. Although there is no standard man-hour cost for the decoration technician to film each 7-seater car, the man-hour cost of replacing the “whole car oil” does not exceed 1,000 yuan. It can be imagined that the price of the whole car film of 5,000 and 8,000 yuan in the import of Hyundai 4S electric reel is much moisture.
Note: Replacement of “full vehicle oil” includes engine oil, transmission oil, front and rear differential oil, steering power oil, and brake fluid.
The mixed auto parts city, whether it is maintenance or new car decoration, the price is much lower than that of 4S shops. It is because of the low price, or the construction environment is dirty and poor, or the materials are adulterated. The author knows all too well these in the auto parts city.
The construction environment of 4S shop is good, but it is too expensive; Auto parts city dirty and cheap, but there are many fakes. This is also the ultimate reason why the author has never applied a film.
Just when my lover gave the author an ultimatum warrant, I mentioned when chatting with Hao Jiyou that e-commerce new car decoration, tire replacement and other online and offline combination models. Simply put, buy products online, and replace service providers offline. Enjoy the low-cost advantage of online shopping and obtain high-quality installation services from authorized physical stores.
After 3 days of screening multiple brand e-commerce, it was finally decided to purchase V90 front windshield explosion-proof (heat insulation) film and V91 side windshield film at Meiji Tmall store. After determining the model, the final price of 1468 yuan including offline installation (decoration) was obtained.
Frankly speaking, the author, who has worked in the warehouse of 4S stores and decorative boutique materials, does not have much idea about the choice of car film. Different brands are claiming how awesome their products are, how good technology, how good the thermal insulation efficiency, in fact, they are not as affordable as the low price, moderate quality, and durable use.
The brand of Meiji belongs to the Internet brand in the automotive film industry, and the same quality only costs half the price, and there are no fakes. V90 type front windshield with heat insulation and explosion-proof film, 70% light transmittance and comprehensive heat insulation rate of 46% can block 99% of ultraviolet rays, appropriately increase the strength of adhesive, in the frontal collision, to ensure that the tempered glass beads do not splash, reduce the probability of secondary injury of the occupants. The V91 side windshield has a light transmittance of 25% (improving the privacy of the interior space for the occupants to crack), and an infrared blocking rate of 78%, which can still block 99% of ultraviolet rays.
Simply put: the V90 front shutter is designed to maximize UV and light transmittance, taking into account the thermal insulation effect. V91 side windshield film is based on the premise of improving the privacy of the interior space, maintaining high UV isolation efficiency and improving infrared protection effect.
The author believes that too many car owners have various “harsh” requirements for their cars. The appearance of the author’s cars may be a little dirty, but the engine compartment and cockpit must be very clean and tidy. In Beijing, where the smog is severe, driving is almost without windows, and the internal circulation is also insisted on using hot air and air conditioning. The first thing to do when you get on the car is to wipe the dashboard and door trim. After getting out of the car, you should also shake the mat by the way. Perhaps it is this habit of driving your own car that is very resistant to dirty and smelly timeshare rental cars.
For offline installation of physical stores, the author must have a dust-free fully enclosed operation room, and the technicians are dedicated and neat. To this end, I double-confirmed with Meiji’s online customer service, and finally distributed a professional decoration store located in Qinghe Xiaoying Auto Parts City (which happened to be a website certification service provider) for the author.
In the dust-free operation room, decorative work such as cleaning, polishing, waxing and film of the vehicle outer tube can be carried out.
A secondary recycling water system is installed in the workshop, and the cleaned water seeps into the circulation system through the grille (red arrow) and is filtered for reuse. The gridded plastic floor can keep the ground dry to the greatest extent, and only a small amount of water stains remain on the sole, allowing the technician to keep the interior mat clean (or retain some water stains) when performing the interior film operation.
The front and passenger seats are covered with seat covers.
After cleaning the exterior of the vehicle, the technician uses plastic sheeting to “pattern” the shape of the entire vehicle’s glass. As shown in the picture above, the plastic sheet that completes the cutting process is pasted on the glass surface on the back side pointed to by the red arrow.
For liftable glass patterns, the technician needs to fully consider the part of the glass size hidden within the frame.
Measure the rear windshield size.
To protect the body paint from accidental damage during construction, the front hood and fenders are covered by absorbent cloths with impact cushioning.
While the technicians measure the glass on the first floor, another technician in charge cuts the substrate of the vehicle film in the dust-free operation room on the second floor. The Meiji front windshield and cross-windshield film from Guangzhou Express to Beijing are encapsulated in a completely sealed and materialized drum.
According to the previously typed shape and measured size, the technician cuts the side windshield film and rear windshield film. In this authorized physical store, the installation technician on the first floor and the cutting technician on the second floor perform different processes in different dust-free operation rooms. When cutting the substrate of the car film, the operator station has no static electricity and is clean and dust-free.
Among the whole car film, the front windshield film requires the most technical content and is also the most laborious. The first thing to do is to apply a layer of “desiccant” to the front windshield (Johnson & Johnson Baby Prickly Powder?). ）”
The “desiccant” is introduced to quickly disperse moisture in the gaps of the front windshield and the rubber sleeve.
The “desiccant” is dried with a blower (heated) as well as the residual moisture.
Cover the uncut front windshield over the glass.
Because the front windshield has a certain curvature, the front windshield film must be closely “fitted” with the glass, and it is necessary to “set aside” some “wealth”.
After determining the approximate size of the front windshield film, the excess part is cut out in order to “give way” to the “obstruction” on the inside of the windscreen.
“Obstacle”: A rearview mirror fixed inside the windshield
Because the front windshield film is pasted on the inside of the glass, the size of the film must be strictly set.
Red arrow: Windshield
Yellow arrow: Plastic protective slider cushioned under the utility knife
When the technician cuts the windshield film, in order to protect the glass surface from leaving scratches, a plastic slider is used to pad the front of the knife and use the blade to cut.
Red arrow: Plastic slider
Yellow arrow: windscreen
White arrow: The membrane substrate to be cut
This is a close-up of the author trying to crop using this technique. Without rigorous training, the edges of the cut membrane substrate will not be smooth.
OK, the front windshield film is cut.
Technician No. 1 is preparing to apply the front windshield film: cover the instrument panel with a cloth (mainly to prevent water stains from remaining).
Technician No. 2 is taking the annual inspection mark and environmental protection label, because the surface of the logo has been seriously damaged because of the long time pasting. I don’t know why, since January 2017, compulsory insurance and commercial insurance policies will be subject to electronic files, and if necessary, you can print the policy and the compulsory insurance logo by yourself. This is especially take off your pants and fart! In order to prevent inspections by the regional traffic police who do not implement this policy, it is better to print out the policy and keep it in the car.
Note: It is better to apply the film as soon as possible after buying the car.
After technician No. 1 cleans the inside of the front windshield, he is ready to apply the film.
The film is scraped repeatedly with a special tool so that the substrate with one protective film can be smoother against the windshield.
Water is sprayed onto the inside of the front windshield so that the film substrate that is properly sized and forms the correct fit is firmly “glued” to the windscreen.
Technicians 1 and 2 (sitting in the driver’s seat) work together to peel the protective film off the substrate.
Yellow arrow: is the front windshield film substrate
Red arrow; Protective film
After removing the protective film, the film substrate is applied immediately, and the adhesive layer of the film substrate can be “firmly” attached to the inside of the front windshield by the fusion of moisture joints.
By repeated crushing, the blisters and bubbles between the film and the glass are squeezed out.
Red arrow: Extrudes (near-completely) the area of moisture and bubbles
Yellow arrow: Areas that have not been squeezed
The condition of the front windshield film that completed the construction. Nevertheless, in the next 2-3 days, bubbles or blisters will still appear between the film and the windshield, which will naturally disappear through direct sunlight.
Different brands of membrane materials have different settings in the materials and adhesives used. The Meiji V90 front windshield explosion-proof film purchased by the author is an environmentally friendly adhesive that will not emit irritating gases during the construction process and future use.
Reservations were made one day in advance, and construction began promptly at 8:30 a.m. on the second day, with seven technicians starting at the same time. Each technician has an orderly division of labor and tacit understanding.
It is relatively easy to apply the side window film. The same is followed for cutting, lamination, etc. As shown in the picture above, technician No. 3 uses a baking gun and special tools to crush the moisture and air bubbles between the film and the glass.
Because the 4-door glass needs to be lifted, additional pressure should be applied to the edge of the combination of the glass and the film when applying the film, so that the film and the glass are completely “meshed”.
The No. 4 technician’s focused eyes make the author feel like he has returned to the period of working in the 4S store.
On the day of construction, there was no wind and no haze, so the final quality inspection process of the whole vehicle film construction was carried out outdoors.
Technician No. 4 confirmed the “meshing” status of the edge of the glass film of the 4 doors again.
Then tear the protective film open.
For three days after applying the film, do not touch the regulator switch to avoid the adhesive not completely drying out and causing the film to fall off.
The author has something to say:
Different from the traditional 4S store and auto parts city film process, the online purchase and offline construction mode is organically combined in cost and quality. With 30% of the price of 4S stores, avoid the risk of being deceived in the auto parts city and get more intimate service and quality.
However, online purchases need to recognize the brand and word of mouth, and offline services must confirm the construction environment and quality and quality assurance information with the merchant.
This time, when the author purchased the Meiji full-vehicle film, a 3-meter spare film was included, either for construction accidents or for replacement of future film damage. In this Autohome certified service provider, when accepting full vehicle film services, regardless of the professionalism of technicians or the construction environment, at least more than 70% of 4S stores in Beijing.
Text/Song Nan, editor-in-chief of Electric GO