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Speed Shield in Addison, TX - Do NOT go to them for Tint.

18K views 36 replies 20 participants last post by  bnicholas  
#1 ·
TL/DR:
- Speed Shield in Addison, TX (North Dallas, Texas area) was TERRIBLE.
- They burned the window panel trim, cut the glass with a razor, left trash inside the car, and did a horrible tinting job on my car.
- They refunded the tinting charges, paid for the repair for the window panel trim, and paid another tinter to remove the tint. BUT they did not pay for the scratched glass.
- Bottom line: they left the car in worse shape than I brought it to them.



Speed Shield in Addison, TX (North Dallas area) - I DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM

I had them put Spectra-Photosync tint on the side windows and rear windshield. When I showed up to pick up my car, I noticed my car was parked outside by the trees and was covered in pollen. Not a big deal to me, but I found it a little annoying that they moved my car from inside their shop to the outside, knowing it would get covered in pollen. As I walked around my car to check out the tinting, Trey, the owner, comes outside and says “we ordered you a new part.” I didn’t understand what he was saying at first until he showed me that they had burned the glossy window panel trim on the driver’s side of the car. They damaged my two day old car. The melted the glossy panel over the B pillar. (Photo 1)

He said he’d get the part by next Tuesday, and they’d install it for me. He didn’t apologize. He just said he’d get the part and make it right. I was upset, but since they were going to get the part and fix it, I didn’t say anything. I had the car opti-coated the day before, and that panel was also opti-coated. Now I will have to set up a time to get it re-opti-coated.

When I asked why he didn’t call me as soon as the damage happened, he said it happened just before I arrived. So I dropped the car off at 7AM, and they just finished at 4PM. Not sure if I completely buy that excuse since I’ve heard from others that the Macan does not take that long to tint. Either way the damage was done.

Since they screwed up something like that, I started to think that maybe they had screwed other stuff up. And I was right.

I noticed something on the window, and he said it was just tree sap. It was a little alarming to see that he doesn’t mind parking customer’s cars by trees that are dripping sap. He said it was bad last week, but this week wasn’t bad. More on that later.

I started checking out the tinting job and noticed an unusually large amount of air bubbles (Photo 2). Trey told me that this was common and would go away in about two weeks. Every other tint job I’ve had done to a car never had nearly the amount of air bubbles as SpeedShield’s. But I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and wait two weeks before I brought it up to him again.

I left the shop and pulled into a parking lot about two blocks away since I had a nagging feeling that they screwed up even more. I opened the back passenger doors and noticed a bunch of tinting film pieces all over the seat and the floor. I threw most of it out, but on my drive back to the shop a few minutes later I found more. So now, things are snowballing. I then noticed pieces of lint trapped between the tinting and the window. Lint and dirt were trapped in every window of the car.

I showed those pieces of lint stuck between the tinting and windows to Trey and said I’ve never had this problem with other cars that I’ve gotten tinted at other places. He replied that with high end cars, it was common for lint to fall down during the tinting process because of the felt lining the windows. I thought that was a poor excuse for sloppy work since there was more than just a few. I asked, “so I’m just going to have to live with lint trapped between the window and the tint?” He said it would be less noticeable as the bubbled up area around the lint shrinks, but he said that he would re-do it if I wanted. He said his customers were very meticulous about that, so he would understand if I wanted it re-done. If he knows that his customers are meticulous, why would he be so sloppy with his work?

He was basically trying to placate me at the shop so he could go back to work since he had a number of other orders behind me.

So I left, thinking that I’d give him two weeks before I cast judgment on the tinting.

But when I got home, I started looking around my car further, and things just started getting worse.

I opened all the doors and noticed that Speed Shield had left a ton of water spots and marks all over the aluminum panels by the door and door handle. Easily fixed, but that was just sloppy. Hopefully, he didn’t spray water into the electronics, but I’m not so sure. (Photo 3)

I noticed a drops of tree sap on the roof. This took some time to clean off. I was irritated that he parked my car in the open like that, knowing that the trees were dripping sap. I had the car detailed and opti-coated the day before, so I didn’t enjoy getting tree sap on my car before the opti-coat had finished curing. If I didn’t have the opti-coat, I’m sure the tree sap would have marred the paint finish of the car.

I cleaned up the windows inside out and out, and I noticed more and more lint trapped between the tint film and window. And there was also curly human hair in one of the windows! Now, call me crazy, but I don’t think anyone would want that in their window tint.

In the passenger window behind the driver, they trapped a nice thick chunk of glue between the window and tint film.

When I was driving my car, I also noticed a nice fat bubble in the rear windshield. When I touched the bubble, it made an audible click.

I also noticed a big nasty fingerprint stuck between the tint and window on the front passenger quarter panel (Photo 4). I thought it was just superficial and I could easily wipe it away, but nope, it was between the film. He had also cut the corner on the quarter panel, so the window was completely tinted.

Then right next to that on the front passenger window, I noticed the whole tinting film was crooked and cut short. They had left a nice gap un-tinted that ran from the top of the door to the door handle. I noticed that they did that to the driver’s side window, although not as bad. Either way, there is no excuse for this. It’s debatable about the number of water bubbles on tinting, and I’d even slightly entertain his excuse for lint between the tinting film. But there is no excuse for a legitimate tint shop to have a fingerprint stuck between the tinting, and for tinting to be crooked and not covering the entire window. (Photo 5)

I went back to Speed Shield, and showed Trey and his tinter the horrible tint job and its issues. He agreed to refund me the full amount he charged for tinting, and pay for the repair of the window panel trim and removal of the tint. At that point, I didn’t trust his shop to touch my car, so I wanted to take it to a Porsche certified mechanic to fix the things he screwed up. At one point he said that he and his shop damage a lot of cars during the clear bra / tinting installation. That’s scary and unsatisfactory.

Since he’s the exclusive Spectra-Photosync tinter in the area, I guess he can treat people however he wants since there are no other options if you want that tint brand.

He was very nonchalant about all this. It made it seem that his shop damages cars and screws up jobs, and it’s no big deal to give up refunds and repairs for damages. I would have thought that he’d be embarrassed by the tinting work he did. When I asked if he’d be okay if I drove around my car with his tint job and tell others that that’s Speed Shield’s work, he said he wouldn’t be okay with that. But his behavior seemed like he didn’t care.

When the Porsche dealership took my car in to get it repaired, they saw my tint job and remarked that it was pretty bad. Two service technicians couldn’t get over the fact that the tinter left a large area on the passenger window un-tinted.

When I went to finally get the tint removed, the tinters there remarked that the tinting on my car was terrible, and that it should have never left the shop like that. Prior to taking off the tint, we walked around the car together to inspect for any scratches, damages, etc. That’s when the tinters saw that Speed Shield had cut into the glass on the rear quarter panel of my car. Speed Shield cuts tint by hand rather than using a computer plotter. What’s worse is that they cut the tint while the tint is still on the car. Normally, a professional and competent shop will do that without scratching or cutting into the glass, but Speed Shield didn’t or couldn’t do that. (Photo 6). That line in the photo is actually cut into the glass.

The cut on the window was deep, and it followed the outline of Speed Shield’s tint. The tinting shop that was removing the tint also showed me more of the same outline scratches on the back window, but they were not as deep. Speed Shield had used a razor to etch into my car.

As soon as the tinting was removed from my car, I went back to Speed Shield and showed Trey and his tinter the scratches in the window. Trey said it wasn’t his shop because Speed Shield uses stainless steel razor blades to cut the glass, and stainless steel razors would not cut into the glass. I thought his explanation was a load a crap, but I could see that Trey wasn’t going to admit that Speed Shield had screwed up even more. There would be no point arguing because he’d never admit it.

Speed Shield obviously caused the scratches in the window. Nobody else worked on the windows of my car prior to me finding the scratches. He and his tinter admitted to using razors to hand cut tint. And the scratches were in the outline of his tint job. It was pretty obvious, but I knew Trey wasn’t going to admit it.

After a long week of repairs, I finally got a refund and payment for the repairs to my car from Speed Shield. The thing that really bugged me about Speed Shield and Trey was that he was so nonchalant about it. He wasn’t apologetic for damaging my car or ruining my tint job. While he was typing out the check to me, he was joking around. He didn’t seem embarrassed or ashamed about his piss poor tinting job. He cut me the check and that was that. No apologizes. Nothing.

All in all, he left my car damaged. There are still deep scratches in the rear quarter panel and lighter scratches in the rear window. And he could care less.

DO NOT GO TO SPEED SHIELD.


I don't have a lot of experience with clear bra, but when I saw some of their clear bra work, I noticed lint and dirt trapped between the film and the car too. I can’t imagine that’s normal.
 

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#5 ·
I really wanted the Spectra Photosync too, which is why I went with someone that wasn't a "word of mouth" recommendation. I paid for that mistake.

I didn't have the tint long enough to say whether it was better than the regular tints I've used. Maybe a drive to Austin or Houston for it?
 
#8 ·
Did you end up getting the Macan re-tinted? Just curious what brand you decided on. Sorry to read of your experience. That tint job was hideous and it's a shame your car ended up worse off than the way you dropped it off. Frustrating I am sure!! Thanks for informing the other forum members so hopefully they don't have to suffer the same.
 
#9 ·
Yeah, I went with a different brand of tint (Wincos). It's alright, and it still blocks a decent amount of heat. I like the way it looks since I got it a bit darker. The new tinter said that the Macan is difficult to tint because of how hard it is to lay lint on some of the windows from the interior. I can believe that. The new tinter I went with also used a plotter instead of a razor, which definitely eased my peace of mind.

I got in touch with Prestige Film Technologies (makers of Spectra Photosync). It wasn't their fault in any way, but they were apologetic about the crappy tint install job anyway. They offered to make it right with one of their other installers in another city, but I had already gotten my tint installed, and I didn't want to drive 4-5 hours for a tint install. Hopefully, they'll start adding more distributors instead of the exclusive one they have right now.
 
#10 ·
Its really great when forum members report sub-standard services from vendors to save others from the same fate... thank you!
 
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#12 ·
I'll definitely post up if I find another Photosync tinter in the area, but it looks like there isn't one yet. I'm hoping that the company either ditches Speed Shield as an exclusive installer or find another one.

The place I went with was pretty good. I guess the combination of the difficulty of tint installation in a Macan, and the expert installers I've experiences in Los Angeles, have spoiled my expectations for tint.
 
#14 ·
#15 ·
Sorry to hear about your situation. I would be so mad!!!

Why not 3M Crystalline for tinting? I did a lot of research before getting my car tinted and clear bra installed. The shop I went does all the cars for the BMW and Porsche dealers in MN. I got there in the morning of my appointment and was presented the different tinting options from 3M (the only brand they offer). I was sold on the Crystalline (more expensive) when they showed me a sample using a direct light bulb. There was no heat on the other side of the film while you could burn your hand on other films. The clear bra and tinting was done in less than 6 hours and the car was perfect.
 
#19 ·
Real sorry to read about your experience. I was wondering where you got your car? I'm ordering mine from Porsche Plano, and have spoken to the dealer about tints and a clear bra. Luckily, I know the guys they use for the clear bra, as they were the same ones that did it on my '06 Cayman S. Their work was impeccable. I never got the name of the place they take the cars for window tinting. I'm thinking of sticking with ceramic as that has worked great on my Cayman. Sounds like the nano stuff is still too new.
 
#20 ·
I won't get my tint at a dealership. Apparently, most dealerships use digitint, which is not very good as a tint, and it's where a lot of professional tinters get their start. Unfortunately and fortunately, digitint is cut with a computer plotter, so it's easier to install, but the tinter never really learns the skills to properly apply cut-to-match tint.
 
#21 ·
Speed Shield - Tint and Clear Bra

Very sorry you had a bad experience at Speed Shield. I couldn't imagine it happened over there as my experience with their service and installation was completely opposite. I am glad, it's all fixed now. A friend of mine highly recommended Speed Shield to me as they worked on all of his high end cars (Bentley Continental, Benz etc.). That was how I found out about them.

I had Speed Shield install a full front clear bra and Spectra Photosync tint (all windows including windshield) on my brand new Macan Turbo. I scheduled the appointment on the day I picked up my Macan from Porsche Plano. From the dealership straight to Speed Shield. Wanted to be protected from those nasty rocks, stone chips bouncing all over DFW highways.

I am extremely happy with the results of their tint and clear bra installation. The clear bra was impeccably installed and virtually invisible despite the fact the car is black. The tint job was excellent. I couldn't tell it has been tinted unless I thoroughly inspect it by touching the corners. Just how Trey described it, Photosync does a fantastic job of blocking heat. Definitely worth the investment especially on the windshield.

I picked up my Macan a day after I dropped it off, It was ready as promised. I am personally a very inquisitive person, so I bombarded Trey with questions about warranty, maintenance, and what to expect from the products. He answered each and every one of my questions patiently. He educated me on how to maintain the clear bra and the tint. Especially on what cleaning products to avoid. Overall, I am very happy with Speed Shield. I highly recommend them and actually planning to take my Maserati GT MC, truck and business SUV over there to have the windshields tinted. Here are some pics attached, just to show a glimpse of what I am talking about.
 

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#22 ·
@ emersonchi

Trey was definitely a good talker and a salesman. He gave me the impression that he would take extra care of the car. But in the end, it was a whole lot of talk. I was very surprised, given that he deals with a lot of high end cars. I took a look at some of their other work. Looks great from afar, but upon closer inspection, there were a lot of errors. I pay a lot of attention to the details, so maybe that's why it irritated me to find so many problems. That and my work gets a lot of cars tinted by students at a tint school in Fort Worth. Even those those kids are students and don't have much experience tinting, they did a lot better job than Speed Shield. It was embarrassing for Speed Shield.

His crew damaging my car was too much. And he refused to acknowledge some of the damage. I still have gouged lines in my windows from the razor blades they used on the window. Nobody else had any reason to take a razor blade to my windows other than Speed Shield.

In the end, I'm sure he'll do fine as a business. But I'll never take my car there or recommend anyone to him.

And not for nothing, you coming on here to only post one time to defend Speed Shield is a little fishy.
 
#24 ·
Man in the mirror....



I am new to this forum and joined to learn more about the Porsche Macan as I am considering trading my Range Rover for a Macan or another Cayenne. I was surprised to see such a wordy and overly emotional condemning of Speed Shield here.
What puzzles me is how one guy feels like he has a poor experience and we are all supposed to immediately condemn a local small business. If we look at this scenario from a business standpoint the goal is to protect our asset(s) from damage. Making any type of modification to anything assumes a certain level of risk. The level of risk is typically reduced by collaboration among peers as to the quality of the product being invested in and the company you intend to do business with to acquire it. Out of all of the businesses in the DFW area or in Texas for that matter Speed Shield is among if not the best at what they do. Can they execute every job with 100% perfection; can any of us in our own responsibilities? These guys on a regular basis knock out a high volume of exotic vehicles with great success.

Personally I have run my Mercedes, Porsche’s, Range Rover and recently my GT-R through their shop and the result is that all have gone in and come out better. Can dust/dirt or heat accidently create an imperfection or damage??? sure but we don’t live in clean room nor do any of us have the ability to say we have never errored.
Based on the lengthy emotional public bashing of this post I would not be surprised if anyone in Speed Shields shoes would not be ready to complete business with the creator of this post. Who ever you may be it sounds like your vehicle was repaired, you got your money back and you should be grateful that you have the ability to own such a nice vehicle. You made a decision to alter what Porsche already felt was perfect so accept your risk and perhaps think about how your bashing may take food off good peoples tables rather than throwing a fit over something materialistic that can be corrected. I would say you need to take a hard look in the mirror at imperfection. The world is hot and dusty get used to it.

This is a fantastic company owned by a solid individual so if any of the rest of you are reading this do your own evaluations. I challenge any of you to walk into this shop on any given day and walk out feeling like the same picture this poster is trying to paint against a valuable resource for all of us.

Thank you Trey – Speed Shield for being honorable enough to not get into a war online with someone who clearly has more bones to pick then just some water spots in his life. In response to this posters comment as to the positive response above being “fishy” the only thing fishy is the smell of the original post creators bad coffee… Its impossible to prove if Speed Shield is posting in its defense above however it does not matter as any car guy/girl knows you can go to Cars & Coffee in Dallas and meet all of the people who love Speed Shield and stand up for them in person. Come on out and see for yourself, we are happy to spill the beans…

Keep it positive Porsche owners!
 
#26 ·
Hmmmmm looks a little like a maybe a certain vendor may be sending people here to spam us. Interesting—I live here in DFW and have no idea who this company is but with what was done to the OP’s vehicle I will never grace their doorway.

POINT is it should have Never Happened in the first place and with that level of installer inexperience -- not on my vehicles.
 
#30 ·
As someone whose car has also suffered damage by a tinter, I can definitely sympathize with you @coffeegrinds. As those who've read my separate thread know, in my case, the damage did not include the windows and the owner ultimately did agree to pay for the repairs (at lease the ones that were obviously caused by his shop) after some wrangling.

But that was not the case here. While I give this shop's owner some props to at least owning up to some of the damage up front and paying for them, the repairs were incomplete. He knew replacing the windows would be very expensive so he chose not to do it. He figured the cost of the window replacements was not worth the good will it would bring for the client and future potential clients. That was his choice. He had a right to refuse the repairs, and so his client had a right to complain about that decision publicly.

This is actually getting quite ridiculous now, with two posts that are obviously by people who are affiliated with this business. @iWinorilearn: "I am new to this forum and joined to learn more about the Porsche Macan..." Please, let's be real here... you're trying to learn about the Macan and the first and only post you make is to defend a business you supposedly have no affiliation with? Right.....

I think the most offensive part of that post was "you should be grateful that you have the ability to own such a nice vehicle." So you are implying that just because somebody can afford to pay for their own repairs, that absolves the person doing the damage from any responsibility? Ridiculous.

Also I love this statement: "You made a decision to alter what Porsche already felt was perfect so accept your risk and perhaps think about how your bashing may take food off good peoples tables rather than throwing a fit over something materialistic that can be corrected." So many things wrong with that...
1. In that case, the owner of that tint shop (or any tint shop for that matter) might as well close shop as nobody should ever get their cars tinted or modified because by definition, all cars roll off the factory floor already "perfect."
2. The owner of the shop assumes the risk for any damage caused to the vehicle when it is under his business's possession. The owner of the vehicle has a right to receive the vehicle back in the same condition as when he dropped it off.
3. The owner of the shop is "taking food off the table" of the client's by forcing the client to pay for the damage that he caused to the client's vehicle.
4. If it's just "materialistic" then it shouldn't have been a problem for the shop owner to have repaired it. But evidently it was a problem...

Look, mistakes happen. We all know that. It's how you handle them that separates the good businesses (and people) from the bad ones.

Finally, the irony in this statement is almost painful: "Thank you Trey – Speed Shield for being honorable enough to not get into a war online with someone who clearly has more bones to pick then just some water spots in his life." :rolleyes:
 
#32 ·
Ah the beauty of forums. Selective listening and the ease of pulling out of context to feed negativity. I am not in any way denying affiliation with Speed Shield. I don't work for them however I do have had a long standing relationship with them as they have done some quality work for me. The points are simple folks. Speed Shield is not out to damage vehicles. It can happen to anyone and none of us aside from the original poster and Speed Shield know the "true" story of the entire engagement. All I am attempting to convey is part of being being successful is the ability to help bring up the world around us rather than pushing it down. Speed Shield is not in the business of destroying beautiful vehicles nor do they lead with a lack of compassion for their clients.

As to this being my only post I agree it does "appear" as if it is a representative of Speed Shield attempting to sway public opinion and as a client I would agree yes I am trying to sway you all with my personal experience with them. Joining a forum to learn about a vehicle and or the culture of the owners and not making a ton of contributions is not uncommon. I don't yet own a Macan thus not a whole lot to produce as far as comments at this time. The early stages of membership is a ton of reading and learning about the vehicle and should I have questions not already answered in a thread I will ask. If that makes me a duck so be it. I'm quacking and I believe that we can improve as a community if we spend more time building people up than pushing them down.
 
#35 ·
Sorry but your first AND second posts don't do one thing to help your "cause " . As you can readily see it has quite the opposite affect. Maybe try a different forum and all will be better for you .

Wish you luck and thanks for stopping by the MF .


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
 
#36 ·
Thank you for providing your review on that company. There are too many bad companies in the automotive industry and honest posts like yours help weed out those organizations that are giving the rest of us a bad rap. This was also some A+ entertainment while I ate my afternoon snack. ;)