The PPF warranty in Calgary, plain terms
Every PPF installation at Obsidian Auto carries a 10-year film warranty + lifetime workmanship guarantee. The film warranty is the manufacturer's, registered to your VIN, and covers yellowing, cracking, peeling, bubbling and delamination. The lifetime workmanship guarantee is ours, and covers lift, edges and install defects for as long as you own the car.
#3, 239 61 Ave SE, Calgary · Sat–Thu 9am–5pm · Closed Fri · 3M Canada Certified · 3M · STEK · SunTek · GSWF films · Protecting Calgary vehicles since 2020 · 705+ reviews at 4.9 stars
Two warranties, two different promises
Shops use "warranty" as one word for two very different things. Knowing which is which is how you tell a real quote from a marketing line.
10-year film warranty
Issued by the film maker — 3M, STEK, SunTek, GSWF — and registered against your VIN at install. It is a promise about the material: that the urethane and its top coat will not fail on their own for ten years, in Alberta weather, on a car that is washed normally.
- Registered to the vehicle, so it travels with the car
- Covers the film failing, not the film being hit
- Certificate handed to you at pickup
Lifetime workmanship guarantee
Ours, and it has no expiry. It covers how the film was fitted: edges tucked rather than trimmed short, corners wrapped, seams placed where they belong, nothing trapped underneath. If our install is the reason something failed, we redo it.
- No time limit and no mileage limit
- Covers lifting, edge failure and install defects
- Void only if another shop works on the film
What does the PPF warranty cover?
The short rule: the film failing is covered, the film being damaged is not. Here is both columns, without the small print. Where pressure washing sits on that line depends on your film, and the makers publish three different standoff distances and only one pressure limit.
Covered
- Yellowing or discolouration of the film
- Cracking and crazing across the surface
- Blistering and bubbling that appears after cure
- Peeling, lifting and delamination at edges and seams
- Loss of adhesion under normal Alberta temperature swings
- Manufacturing defects in the film itself
Not covered
- Impact damage — a rock big enough to tear the film did its job
- Collision, vandalism, fire and other insurable events
- Hail dents in the panel underneath (that is a body or PDR repair)
- Damage from pressure washing directly at an edge or seam
- Scratches from automatic brush washes or a gritty wash mitt
- Paint defects that were already under the film at install
- Film installed, altered or removed by another shop
- Solvents, bug-and-tar removers and other chemicals the film maker prohibits
A torn panel from a large impact is not a warranty failure — it is the film doing precisely what you bought it for. Individual panels can be replaced at cost, which is a fraction of what the respray you avoided would have run. Pricing for full and partial coverage is on the PPF cost in Calgary page.
Is the warranty transferable?
The film warranty is registered to the vehicle, not to you, so it travels with the car when you sell it. That is a genuine resale argument — a documented, still-in-term film warranty is worth more to a buyer than "it has PPF on it."
- Keep the certificate we give you at pickup — hand it over with the keys.
- Manufacturers differ on whether a second owner files directly or through us. Your certificate names the terms for your film.
- Our workmanship guarantee covers the install we did, so it holds for the next owner too — as long as nobody else has cut or replaced any of it.
How to make a claim
Call or email us first
Send photos of the affected area to info@obsidianauto.ca or call 587 323 3222. Include a wide shot of the panel and a close-up of the defect. Nine times out of ten we can tell from the photos whether it is a warranty item or something we can fix on the spot.
Bring the vehicle in for inspection
We look at the film in the studio under proper lighting. Edge lift and adhesion issues are almost always workmanship, which we handle directly. Yellowing, cracking and delamination point to the film itself, which goes to the manufacturer.
We file the manufacturer claim for you
Your film is registered at install, so the claim references your VIN and install date. You do not chase the manufacturer — we submit the documentation and photos, and we follow it up.
Panel is re-wrapped
An approved film claim replaces the affected panel with new film. A workmanship claim we simply redo. Either way you get the panel back to the standard it left at, and the remaining warranty term carries on.
PPF warranty questions
What warranty comes with PPF in Calgary?
Every paint protection film installation at Obsidian Auto carries a 10-year film warranty + lifetime workmanship guarantee. Two separate promises sit inside that. The 10-year film warranty is the manufacturer's — 3M, STEK, SunTek, GSWF — registered to your VIN at install, and it covers the film failing: yellowing, cracking, bubbling, peeling, delamination. The lifetime workmanship guarantee is ours, and it covers how the film was fitted: edges, seams, wrapped corners, lift. If the install is at fault, we redo it, and there is no clock on that.
Is a PPF warranty transferable when I sell the car?
The film warranty is registered to the vehicle, not to you, so it travels with the car when it changes hands. What differs between film manufacturers is whether a second owner can file directly or has to go through the original installer — the certificate we hand you at pickup names the terms for your specific film, which is why it is worth keeping in the glovebox. Our workmanship guarantee applies to the installation we performed, so as long as no other shop has cut, lifted or replaced any of it, we stand behind our work for the next owner too.
What voids a PPF warranty?
Four things, mostly. Letting another shop cut, patch or partially remove the film — once someone else has been in there, nobody can tell whose work failed. Pressure washing straight into an edge or seam, which lifts film that would otherwise have lasted a decade. Using solvents, bug-and-tar removers or polishes the film manufacturer prohibits, which attack the top coat. And skipping maintenance entirely — road salt and calcium chloride brine left sitting on the film for a Calgary winter is not a defect, it is neglect. Ordinary washing, snow, cold and chinooks void nothing.
Does the PPF warranty cover rock chips and tears?
No, and that is by design rather than a loophole. Film that stops a chip has done exactly what you paid it to do — the damage is meant to end up in the urethane instead of your paint. A tear from a large impact is the same story: the film absorbed something that would otherwise have gone through the clear coat and into the panel. Individual panels can be replaced at cost when that happens, and it is far cheaper than a respray. The warranty covers the film failing on its own, not the film doing its job.
How long does PPF actually last in Calgary?
Seven to ten years on a daily driver here, which is why the film warranties run to ten and twelve years depending on the product. Calgary is genuinely hard on film — a −40°C to +35°C annual swing, chinooks cycling the temperature 30 degrees in a day, calcium chloride brine on the roads for half the year, and high-UV prairie sun. Premium film handles all of it. What shortens film life is not weather but neglect: salt left on all winter, brush washes, and pressure-washing edges.
Do I need to register my PPF warranty?
We do it for you at install — your VIN, the film product and the install date go on file with the manufacturer before the car leaves, and you get the certificate at pickup. Nothing to mail in, nothing to activate. If you ever lose the paperwork, call us and we will pull the record.
What is the difference between a film warranty and a workmanship guarantee?
The film warranty is the manufacturer promising the material will not fail for ten years — that is chemistry, and it is their liability. The workmanship guarantee is us promising the install will not fail — edges tucked properly, corners wrapped, no dirt under the film, no lifting. Most shops advertise the first one because it is free to advertise. The second is the one that actually predicts how the car looks in year three, and it is the one that costs a shop money to honour.
Does the warranty still apply if I add ceramic coating over the PPF?
It depends on which film is on the car, and that is a real answer rather than a hedge. We read the published warranty documents for the films we install: SunTek excepts ceramic coatings from its exclusions by name, 3M and GSWF do not address coatings in their warranty documents at all, and STEK restricts coverage to its own branded products and makes its own care solution a requirement of the warranty. So the coating choice follows the film, and we confirm it against the film maker current terms before we quote rather than after. What causes problems on any film is a coating applied under it, because it kills adhesion. Order matters: paint correction, then film, then ceramic on top.
Every package carries the same warranty
Partial front from $399, full front from $1,499, full body from $4,999 — all with the 10-year film warranty + lifetime workmanship guarantee. Sat–Thu 9am–5pm · Closed Fri.
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