At first I was a little apprehensive about having a film stuck on the car. I thought it would be really noticeable and look tacky. On the other hand I was keen on the idea of protecting my lovely new car against stone chips and scratches. Something modern water based paint work is renowned from being weak on.
I knew a couple of people that had had it fitted to their cars and one of them showed me his gleaming BMW complete with Venture Shield fitted,not a stone chip in sight.
I then spoke at length with the people at Venture Shield who were a very helpful bunch and they answered all my questions. So I decided to buy it.
I had two choices. I could either drive the car to their depot in Kent or they would come out to me.
Ideally wanted the car Venture Shielded at my dealers before I picked the car up. I wanted it protected right at the outset. This meant that the last thing I wanted to do was to drive it down the M4 to get shotgun blasted before the film was fitted. They would need to make up the template from my car. To do this they would have had to have driven all the way over, taken the measurements, fed them into their computer back at base, made up the materials, and driven all the way back to fit the stuff. Obviously this was not an ideal way to do things and would have added extra cost for me.
At the time my car was due to arrive at the dealers at any time. Being one of the first batch into the country, to say they were scarce would be an understatement. We were looking at the option of Venture Shield finding a Jaguar dealer local to them that had an XJR in stock they could take a template from. A few days passed, then good news. A dealer in their area got their first car delivered. Venture Shield went down, took their measurements and we were ready to go.
For a call out installation there is obviously an extra charge to cover their traveling costs. If you are getting it installed outside of their depot, they ask to make sure that you can have the car in a sheltered area in case it rains. Luckily my dealer very kindly offered the use of their car preparation area for the work to be done.
I left the car at the dealers and went to work. I received a call a few hours later to tell me the guy from Venture Shield had arrived and begun preparing the car for the film to be applied.
Later in the afternoon I received a call to tell me the car was ready.
The finished product
At first it was a bit more noticeable than I thought it would be. It takes a while to fix properly so there was to be no washing the car for a three days. It also takes a while to adhere fully to the bodywork, and after a couple of days it was not as noticeable as upon my first impression
The fitting was excellent though. I was impressed at how they managed it without it being crooked and having lots of air bubbles. They really are experts at what they do.
Was it worth it?
Personally I think so. All the front impact areas of the car are protected. Stones just bounce off and leave the film unmarked. The front of the car took a hit from a massive stone in the drivers headlight. It penetrated the surface of the Venture Shield but it has not touched the headlight glass. This has saved having to fork out for a whole new headlight unit. All I need to do is order a new piece of Venture Shield film to replace the current bit covering the headlight which I can fit myself.
Personally I don't want to have any of the car re-sprayed - who does? By having Venture Shield fitted it means that I wont ever need the front of the car re-sprayed as a result of stone chip damage. When I want to sell the car all I need to do is peel it off. Result paint work that is as good as new underneath!
I definitely recommend it.
It doesn't have to be fitted to new cars. was told me that any small existing chips or scratches will be masked by the film to a degree and will be less noticeable
You can wash the car as normal with the Venture film.
Cost: Around £299.00 depending on coverage required, which vehicle, and where the installation is done - contact Venture Shield for a quote on your vehicle
01227 772696 Mob: 07900 332303