Guides
One question each, answered at the top and explained underneath, with the limit stated plainly. No prices, and no number we have not measured.
For car owners
Often, yes, but it depends on three things: how long you keep the car, how much highway and gravel you drive, and how much you care about the paint. Canadian winters add sand, salt and freeze-thaw to that list, which makes the case stronger here than in mild climates.
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Film can yellow. It comes from the film’s chemistry and its adhesive, not from how it was installed, and it shows first on white and silver cars. Yellowing is one of the problems ARK was engineered against, and the ARK warranty lists it as covered. We publish no number for how long a film stays clear.
Read the guideFor car owners
Sort it into buckets. Yellowing, haze, cracking and a top coat that stops healing point to the film. Edges that lift in the first weeks, bubbles, dirt under the film and knife marks in the paint point to the installation. Stretch marks can be either. Washing too soon is aftercare. Knowing which tells you who fixes it.
Read the guideFor car owners
The top coat is elastic. A light scratch pushes it aside instead of cutting it away, and warmth lets it relax back flat. That closes swirls, wash marks and light scuffs. It does nothing for rock chips, gouges or anything that removes material. If you can catch it with a fingernail, assume it stays.
Read the guideFor car owners
Factory matte paint needs a satin film, because clear gloss film turns it shiny. Satin film can also turn gloss paint satin without a repaint. Either way, the surface cannot be polished, hard-water spots show sooner, and wax or gloss enhancers make it patchy. Wash it often, with matte-safe products.
Read the guideFor car owners
Ask where they cut the film, how they finish the edges, whether the bay is heated and clean, how long the car must stay dry afterwards, and how a warranty claim works. Then ask to see a finished car up close. The answers tell you more than the brand on the roll.
Read the guideFor car owners
Five things move a quote: how much of the car is covered, how complicated its panels are, how much the paint needs before film goes on, whether old film has to come off first, and which film is used. ARK publishes no price. The shop that installs the film quotes the job, after seeing the car.
Read the guideFor car owners
Most film carries two warranties: the film brand’s, for the film, and the shop’s, for the work. The ARK warranty runs 10 years on every film, covers faults in the film such as yellowing and cracking, excludes chips and impacts, pays the labour on a covered claim and transfers with the car.
Read the guideFor car owners
Chips land low and forward: the bumper first, then the leading edge of the hood, the headlights and the mirrors. Partial front covers the bumper and the front part of the hood and fenders. Full front covers them whole. For mostly city driving, partial is often enough. For highways and gravel, full front.
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Both change the colour of the car. A vinyl wrap is a thin colour skin that does little against stones. Colour PPF is a urethane protection film with the colour in it, so the restyle and the protection are one layer. If you change colours often, vinyl can be the better choice.
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Thickness helps, up to a point. A mil is a thousandth of an inch, and a thicker film gives a stone more material to deform before it reaches the paint. But thicker film is stiffer, harder to fit around curves and shows its edges more. The top coat, the adhesive and the installer matter too.
Read the guideFor installers
ARK has no in-house cutting software. Most shops buy ARK by the roll and cut it on the plotter and pattern software they already run. Pre-cut kits are available too. The cut spec, meaning backing thickness, blade depth and offset, is published as each value is measured, and shows as pending until then.
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info@arkppf.coma person reads it, and answers within one business day