Questions
Asked, and answered plainly.
For car owners first. Installers, and what we cannot answer yet, are further down.
Fair question. ARK is new. It was started in Canada by engineers who had worked with leading paint protection film companies and set out to fix what they kept seeing go wrong: adhesive that fails, stretch marks, poor clarity and yellowing. We publish what we know and bracket what we don’t.
No. Film takes chips, scuffs and light scratches. Hail dents the metal underneath, and no film changes that.
No. Heat closes light swirls and scuffs in the top coat. If you can catch it with a fingernail, assume it stays.
Yellowing over time is one of the four problems ARK was engineered against. It is a film-chemistry issue, not an installer issue, and it shows first on white cars. We will publish the measured data as it exists, not before.
Yes. Ask the authorized dealer to show you a finished panel, or a sample, before you book.
ARK started in Canada and is built for extreme weather conditions. It is made for painted surfaces: cars first, and aircraft and boats as well. It is installed by authorized dealers around the world.
Yes. We sell ARK to car owners as pre-cut kits, by the yard or by the full roll. Send us a message with the car and what you need, and a person replies.
The shop that installs it quotes the price before you book. It depends on the car and how much of it you cover.
Engineered to ARK's specification and manufactured by a partner facility. Which specification decisions are ours, and whether the facility can be named, are stated here once they are settled, and not before.
Yes. The warranty moves with the car to its next owner.
The warranty covers it. A covered claim includes the labour to take off the failed film and fit new film, as well as the film itself.
It is the thick film in the range, which is why it suits cars that see gravel, sand and winter road treatment. A thicker film gives a stone more material to deform before the energy reaches the paint.
Defender is a clear gloss film. It is meant to disappear over paint: no haze, no texture, the reflections as they were.
That is the question Fusion exists to answer: the water-repellent layer is part of the film’s top coat rather than a coating applied over it. Ask the installing shop what it recommends for your car and how it washes.
Beading is a surface property. It fades with washing and use, and it comes back with maintenance. It does not need a separate product reapplied to exist in the first place.
Yes, and that is one of the two reasons to choose it. Factory matte paint cannot be polished when it is scratched, so a satin film takes the damage instead.
Use a matte-safe soap with no wax or gloss enhancer in it. Those additives fill the surface texture and make the finish patchy. Otherwise the routine is the same.
No. A vinyl wrap is a thin, comparatively rigid skin that offers little protection from stones. Spectrum is a urethane protection film with the colour in the film, so the restyle and the protective layer are the same layer.
Colours are published when the book is final. Ask the installing shop to show you a finished panel in the finish you are considering before you choose.
On complex panels, yes. Coloured film shows every edge and relief cut that clear film hides, so it takes a shop experienced with coloured film, and it is worth looking at that shop’s finished work first.
For installers
What shops ask.
- Do you supply cut patterns or cutting software?
- We have no in-house cutting software. Most shops buy ARK by the roll and cut it on their own plotter and software, and pre-cut kits are available too. The cut spec is published here as it is measured.
- Do you sell direct to car owners?
- Yes: pre-cut kits, film by the yard and full rolls. Most of what we sell is rolls to professional install shops, and we’d rather tell you that than have you find it out.
- Will ARK list my shop on its site?
- No. The site names no dealer, so none is featured over another. A car owner who asks ARK is matched to an authorized dealer by a person, not by a directory.
- Is anything in writing about where I can sell?
- Nothing in writing on where you can sell, and we’d rather say so than draw a line we haven’t written.
- What does an ARK certificate say?
- It certifies that a shop is authorised to install ARK, with warranty backing. Training is being scheduled, and there are no dates yet.
- How fast do you answer an application?
- The same way as everything else sent here: a person reads it, and answers within one business day.
Not yet
What we cannot answer yet.
How long does the film last?
We do not publish a number. Nothing has been measured yet, and a figure without a measurement behind it is the kind of claim this site refuses to make.