[zyo]

Hi people,i need some help.Firstly can i say i've had some viper stripes fitted today and i'm not very happy with the results.They are official MINI ones and therefore they ain't cheap.I saw a (supposed) genuine set of MINI viper stripes for sale on ebay and there was a photo of them.The stripes were in sections to fit the various parts of the car,i.e the roof,the bonnet,the little bit ontop of the bumper etc.but when i was asking about where exactly they would fit i was told that they come as one long stripe and they are cut to fit and they are not in sections.Is this true?cos it looks in places like the stripe has been cut with a bread knife.Also there are lots of scratches where i presume they've dragged the squeegy tool,lots of air bubbles and not only that but they are out of line.The front of the car looks for the most okay but the back is the problem.I've posted a pic of it not being in line.What do you think ?am i expecting too much for my £240 and am i being picky about it not being equally spaced and true.If you look at the bottom of the stripes in relation to the rear fog light you'll see what i mean ,there must be an inch difference.May i also add that these are done by a proffesional graphic fitter who the dealer get to do them.

[R1]

I don't think your being fussy at all !!

Make them do it again. That's bad workmanship!! I know, I used to fit large vinyls at work a few years ago and fitted my own roof flag because of the mess I've seen some "professional" companies do with fitting.

Viper stripes are hard to line up across the length of the car, but that's unacceptable!

That price was a bit steep as well. It's probably nearly all fitting costs!!

[jon vital]

It sounds as though they got the graphic guy to cut them from his own vinyl as this would probably be cheaper than the BMW one's. They could be removed and redone on that back section. The bubbles might disappear anyway if they are small, but larger one's will need to be pierced and rubbed out.

[zyo]

Also i thought it looked odd the way the stripe stops at the top edge of the bonnet and doesn't go round the wipers and by the vents under the window.I've just had a look on mini.co.uk and the picture that they use for the vipers is a yellow mini with black vipers and this does go round the aforementioned parts.To be honest i can't make out if it is official vinyl cos theres supposed to be this authenticity mark on them and i asked what they do if customers didn't like it and they said they put a little vinyl circle over it.Fair enough at least you can prove they are genuine if you have to,but i can't see the little circle,perhaps i need to look harder,anyway just noticed off a photo that the front top of bumper stripe on the passenger side doesnt line up with the bonnet stripe.The more i look the more i find.The problem with the boot is that as the stripe comes down to meet the number plate surround the stripe on the right of the photo below ,jumps left about an inch when it exits the bottom of the number plate surround.I think they must have employed Stevie Wonder to line them up.

[scottybhoy]

It sounds to me like you went to Mini to ensure professional results and paid accordingly, unfortunately, Mini haven't kept their side of the bargain. I'd be going back, pulling out the service guy, and asking him if he would part with 240 sheets for that particular finish!

I think the people on here have backed up what you already know, its time to go back and make them produce the standard of woek they have charged you for. Let battle commence!

Scottybhoy

[zyo]

Thanks for your agreement and support peeps .I'll find it easier to argue the point knowing that other people think its not very good service aswell.I had phoned to speak to the sales guy i'd been dealing with but he was unavailable at the time and i was going out so i new i wouldn't get to speak to him tonight, but i asked the receptionist to pass on to him that i'd had the stripes fitted today and i wasn't at all happy with them and i would ring him in the morning.I mean...if i'd wanted bubbles,scratches and misalignment i'd have fitted them myself wouldn't i.

[MaTTy_P]

looks shoddy, i believe vipers are sposed to go round the pollen vents and wipers, ie like mine





these where done by my mini dealer, as part of a compensation package for missing off tracksion controll.

very good quality.

[zyo]

Thanks MaTTy_p ,on the mini.co.uk site their photo shows them going round the pollen vents but for some reason they haven't.It looks unfinished,i wish it was unfinished ,i wish it was unstarted actually,the guys that do these for a living you'd expect would do it quicker than MINI.The mini.co.uk site quotes 2 hours.They started it at 12 o'clock and i was told to come back in three hours,which i did,i was then told it'll be another half an hour and then it was probably a further 10 mins before it pulled infront of the showroom,so in total it took 3hrs 40 mins.The stripes cost £99 so the fitting costs £141 making £240.If you dont mind i might print a picture of yours off to show them what they should look like.

[MaTTy_P]

no problems m8, if it sorts ur problem out, by all means. Mine took about 3 hours, i got a lift back to my house by my dealer in a cooper cabrolait(sp) and then got picked up after it was finished. I was so happy with the job they did. cant fault it.

[Tonyt3]

Its well shoddy. The BMW vynal does not let the air out either, so little bubbles will not disapear.

The BMW official package does come in pre cut sheets, although you still need to trim out areas. It is really hard to do proffesionally. I have done two cars, and it took best part of a day each.

A trick I used was to run a line of masking tape straight down the centre line of the entire car, and use that to get the sticker lined up. I reckon it took 20 minutes just to get the masking tape right....

Lots of parts have to cme off too, including pollen vents, one of the windscreen wipers, scoop if you have one, the stipe that holds the boot handle.

Take it back, get them to re-do it to your satisfaction.

Have a look at my stripes in my galllery. i think the car looks better wwithout the stripes over the bumpers - what do you think?

[marrsbar]

I had mine done by my dealer. BMW genuine stripes.

I didn't pay anywhere near as much as you and my stripes look far better. They are precut to fit around the mini logo on the bonnet, the windscreen wipers and the pollen vents. they shouldn't 'roll' over the endge of any panel either, they should stop just a couple of mm's short of the edge - this is to stop peeling.

Take your car back. Tell them you want genuine BMW stripes, you want them fitted straight and you want your entire car properly polished to remove all the scratches they've put on. And while you are at it, ask for a part refund since you were charged such a rediculous amount of money for the shoddy job that they did!

[captain]

I bougte my vipper stripes for 20 quid from motor world and fitted them myself using a lasser spirt level to project a line over car the bubbles will go after a copple of weeks
if you look closley theyar not perfect but ok

[zyo]

I phoned the sales guy this morning and said i wasn't happy about them .Why? he said .Cos they look like they were fitted by Stevie Wonder.I know this wasn't the best thing to say , i was trying to be light hearted about it,but i think at that point he was a little defensive.The guy that fits them does them all day everyday apparently,If he can't fit them no one can,and i said that i had noticed on the official mini site the viper stripe picture has the stripe going round the pollen vent,apparently that depends on whos fitting them.They will never be perfect.I did say that if they were never going to be perfect why did nobody tell me that before i had them done."so you want the viper stripes fitted sir,certainly,may i point out now that they may have air bubbles ,may be scratched and most possibly won't line up,will it be cash or visa".Whats even more annoying is that i phoned another dealer to ask about the stripes,i asked if they were precut or one long stripe,he said precut but there are some parts that need to be trimmed.I asked about the bit that goes around the pollen vent and windscreen wiper he said that they take off the pollen vents and wiper then fit the stripes and put them back on.I asked him for a price and he said £180 including vat and fitting.........arrggh a full £60 cheaper.Obviously i will shop around in future,i thought all these franchised dealers would use the same costings for everything.WRONG

[scottybhoy]

So what is your dealer doing about it then?

If you take the car back and say your not happy with the work carried out, then they are obliged to rectify the situation to your liking. A good friend of mine is a Trading Standards Officer, and she reckons you are entitled to have them sorted at no cost to you. I think that even mentioning Trading Standards to your dealer should get them moving!

Also, take pictures of cars that are striped the way you want yours to look, the way it should have been done!

Good luck, Scottybhoy

[jon vital]

I'd tell them you want the off-line pieces replaced. It would only be a small amount of vinyl. The bubbles might go after a few days. Especially if you park it in the sun.

[zyo]

Thanks for the comments guys it keeps me focused on not accepting below par service.I've arranged to go to the dealers tommorrow morning to let them see and offer a solution.I still can't find the authenticity mark or the circle of vinyl that covers it(are they genuine ones?).I'm armed with a picture of MaTTy_p's vipers to show how it should be done and i've printed off a copy of the page from mini.co.uk with the yellow vipers on the black MINI to show that it has the bit around the pollen filters.I've posted a few more pics.Some show the 'bread knife' trimming ,one shows how far out the passenger side bumper stripe is ,and the rear ones show the stripe underneath the number plate and then moving over before exiting the top of the boot handle

[scottybhoy]

you know, after looking at the latest pics, I reckon Stevie Wonder would have done a better job! Had the fitter been out on the sauce the night before, and would he be happy with the finish on his own car!

Scottybhoy

[zyo]

More expert 'i do this all day everyday' bread knife trimming.

[gezmedinger]

Mate that job the fitter did is rubbish! Definitely go back and kick some !

[zyo]

Hi everybody,update to my problem.....i've been to the dealers today and expressed my dissapointment at the job that was done fitting my viper stripes.The salesguy i had been dealing with during the purchase agreed with me that it wasn't finished well and without prompting said he wouldn't be happy with it if it was on his car.He went to see the service manager and she agreed that it should be rectified.They are picking it up and dropping off a courtesy car which is obviously better than having to spend another afternoon waiting about.Ths service manager wasn't sure they could do the bits around the pollen vents,but fortunately i had taken a printout of the mini.co.uk website piccy with the yellow MINI with black vipers that has them on,so all being well that will be done aswell.I'm hoping the fitter does a proper job this time and uses a sharp knife to cut the stripe and not a blunt spoon.I said i wasn't sure that it was a genuine stripe but he assures me that he ordered it in.I asked were the authenticity mark was and he couldn't see it,but i did say i didn't want it showing and because there would have been some stripe left over cos of the sunroof he may have used the bits without it in?Anyway i'll have to wait and see what sort of a job comes back.Cheers.Paul