Jeff,

If you re-read the thread, you will see that SCS2K said that he never uses anything on his lenses except Meguiar's car shampoo when washing the car. He did say that the installer used a cleaner on his lenses, however.

I have seen my neighbors, detailing shops and our local handwash car washes use Windex on lenses many times. Are you sure that Windex will cause damage? Why don't we see more lenses damaged this way?

Tanq

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tanqueray
[B]Jeff,

If you re-read the thread, you will see that SCS2K said that he never uses anything on his lenses except Meguiar's car shampoo when washing the car.

 

OK, I can no longer resist not putting my two senlesses in.

Anyone I have ever known to run a successfull business have handled customer complaints by simply giving them what they want. It promotes good will, and shows that you truly want a happy customer. The logic here is that the cost of lost business and potential legal manuvering far exceeds any loss resulting from making good on the implicit warranty that your product won't somehow cause damage to the customer.

I can understand that a vendor may feel that there is nothing wrong with his wares, and won't let anyone tell him there is. It is good that he feels so strongly about his product. I also understand that if one sets a precident of "fixing" a problem that is not his to fix, then he may be opening the door to being abused, and indeed, there are people out there who will abuse such leniancy. What this mentality fails to see is that no matter how much abuse he might be subjected to, with the size of the margin involved, it is very unlikely he will lose profit, and will likely gain because of his reputation for being a vendor who stands up for his customers.

Like many others here, I feel that the manufacturer of this product has lost credability, and is more concerned with his bottom line than his customers satisfaction. I may be completely wrong, but there is very little that this company or one of it's reps could do, no matter how upstanding they are, that would make me comfortable purchasing this product.

 

Sunchild,

It's as simple as this; Materials do not crack when in compression. They only crack when in tension. Methods are used in industry to actually preload pieces in compression to eliminate cracks. Shot peening accomplishes this to a small extent. [/B][/QUOTE]

I think you mean to say expansion. The theroy is indicitive of metal but not plastic. Plastic is quite a diffrent material. There is no load placed on the entire lenses. The entire lense would have to be completely encased for this to happen. It is merely a two dimensional expanding coating. Materials do crack on compression. Take a diamond or a geiode which has enormous compression generate over a long period of time. Compression cracks form in the presence of flaws. The same happens to other materials. These lenses are not formed with those type of forces acting on them. Metal does crack on compression and tears on expansion. Take a piece of lead, gold etc., and pull on it long enough and hard enough and it will tear not crack. Simple Physics!

[Edited by Jeff on 05-22-2001 at 10:47 AM]

 

You know I had been promising myself not to write anything. It is obvious that all the arguments have been run around and around.

I feel sorry for the Doc and I can sympathise with the President.

However, at the end of the day I have decided that the probability of assistance, patience, and good humour should I ever get to buy the product and experience a problem is pretty low.

I have been looking for a suitable product and have now decided to strike StonGard off my list.

Perhaps, this is a wise move - I like a quiet life without too much unnecessary squabbling.

Regards,
S.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tanqueray
[B]Jeff,

If you re-read the thread, you will see that SCS2K said that he never uses anything on his lenses except Meguiar's car shampoo when washing the car.

 

Yellow S2000,

No, I haven't had it installed. There is only one dealer in Arizona so it would be the same guy that SCS2K used (although it would be a different installer). I am considering Stongard for the body, but definitely not for the lights.

My feeling is that either a) the installer used the wrong cleaner on the lenses, or b) the film hasn't been adequately tested in very hot weather (i.e., spring in Arizona). It would be fun to see Stongard-ed headlights explode when it hits 120 degrees in a month or two.

I am currently balancing the rabid desire to have a perfect paint job with the distaste I feel towards Stongard for their handling of this whole fiasco. There is also some fear that high temperatures might cause the film to harm my paint in some way.

Keep us up to date regarding Clear Bra,
Tanq

 

Jeff and All,

The ONLY chemicals to contact my lenses were applied by the Ston Gard installer. He used a spray glass cleaner. I do NOT and have NOT applied anything to the lenses stronger than soap. This is the same soap that has also been on the tail light lenses, no cracks but no Ston Gard either. I assume both lenses are made from the same material.


If the only glass cleaner applied to the lenses was applied by the Ston Gard representative then wouldn't that individual/Ston Gard be responsible for the cracks and thus replace my lenses? As I said, I cannot PROVE that the Ston Gard product itself caused the cracking of the lenses but it was either that or the installation in my opinion. Either way they (Ston Gard) are responsible.

I have never, nor has anyone else, used a pressure washer on this car. It has never been professionally detailed. I do all of my cleaning myself. The bulbs in the headlights are currently and have always been stock.

Finally, this problem has NOT been remedied by Honda. The Ston Gard rep TOLD me to have it repaired by Honda. Nothing has been fixed yet.

[Edited by SCS2k on 05-22-2001 at 01:02 PM]

 

Tanqueray,

I did get the car ClearBra done on my car last Friday..
I will post pictures when my camera is working..
On the color yellow you can't even tell it has been done. Also Clear Bra was $450 for full install (not getting the lights done yet) With a 4 year warranty..


http://www.s2000online.com/forums/showthre...?threadid=15332

 

I've resisted posting until now

We live near StonGard's headquarters. They used my first S2K as the "template" for the pattern (for the paint) and had used my 1998 Integra Type R a few years ago for the same purpose. They have done three cars for me, and sometimes multiple applications. Being that they're a few miles from my house, tons of people have the product around here, and haven't had many (if any) issues.

That being said, Tim really is a good guy. I do believe what he says. He's re-done my kit (on the paint) before just because I'm a picky person and it had wrinkles or bubbles, and did it without issues, or complaints. He does go about doing what it takes to make his customer happy, I've experienced it first hand.

As many of you know, a 1998 Type R only comes in Championship White. The material he used to do the kit for that started to yellow, and on a white car it stuck out like a sore thumb. He immediately started working with us and 3M to figure out a solution. It was the 3M material at fault, a faulty batch, and he was going to have his 3M rep look at it, with the intention of replacing the kit and making sure it WOULDN'T happen to anyone else. I happened to trade that car in on my 2000 S2K before that got resolved, but I can tell you he was working with us, not against us, and working on behalf of all his customers to prevent others from having it happen again. Since then his guys have patterned and installed StonGard on both my 2000 and now my 2001 S2K. NO issues, wonderful product.

So being that these are just words on a screen, just like Tim's, they are easy to misinterpret. None of this is a slam or anything against anyone who has had problems and believes StonGard is at fault, as I don't know all the info there and have no position. I just wanted people to know that Tim isn't a cold-hearted non-customer person as some people have interpreted.

I have no problems with people commenting on this post, go for it, as everyone is entitled to their opinion. This is mine.

Annie