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I have had my last 6 vehicles clear bra'd, so perhaps I am biased toward having it done. Initially, back in 2007, and the 4 cars following that, I had 18 inches on the hood and fenders, side mirrors and front bumper clear bra'd. Most recently, I had my 2011 M3 redone with full hood, fenders, bumper and side mirrors. On my 2014 C4S, I had the paint corrected (9 hours), followed by full coverage on the hood, fenders, bumper and side mirrors. The clear bra was coated with OptiCoat, while the remainder of the paint was coated with Modesta: http://www.modesta.co In my experience over the years, this is the way to go, in addition to coating the wheels and calipers with Modesta. Washing the car is quick and easy, and I don't have to be concerned about stone chips etc. My advice is to seek out the detailer with the best reputation in your community, they can usually direct you to an experienced clear bra installer, I would not have the dealer involved, as, IMHO, they are not vested in the best results or motivated to use the best materials.
Top places will charge up to $10K for a full install. One of which has posted on here and clearly puts lots of effort into the job.
Naturally, one can shop around and pay much less.
I have full expell and it is great for keeping maintenance low.
No swirls (with careful washing) and just spray wax, quick detailer or bug remover needed now and then while washing.
However, there are small bubbles in some areas and edges were not all wrapped to my satisfaction.
I was dissapointed in my installer (not one of the $10K variety), so I would research and choose someone better next time.
Still glad I have it though.
Thanks for the feedback.
Stupid question but what exactly doesn't "look right" with a clear bra?
I'm in the camp that no matter who did it, or how good of materials used, a Clearbra'd car will never have the luster of naked paint. I can always tell it's on a car no matter how well it was installed...just don't like it.
My personal hero is the local owner of a McLaren F1 who has put almost 20K miles on it. The one time I was fortunate enough to see it I noticed, no Clearbra, and chips on the nose of it. A car that's now worth $12M+ in its natural state.
There are those who don't like the idea of the clear bra, clearly. I suspect they are really into detailing their cars and want the best possible surface to work on.
In my case I had the front done and I can't even tell it's there and have to touch it to confirm its presence. If you are not a car polishing buff (pun intended) the bra is worth it.
Yes. I had the whole front end wrapped in Xpel, you can't tell it's there, and if I can ever tell it's there I can have it redone. At 2000 miles I was driving on the I-10 outside Phoenix and an a-hole with a pickup truck in front of me dropped a huge clod of dirt and stone onto the highway which, by the time it reached the cars behind him, was just like a giant shotgun blast. At least four cars hit their brakes and tried to avoid the inevitable. I received 8 chips in my windshield, and the front end was covered in rock strikes - but the rock strike marks wiped right off and the film healed itself.
Thanks for everybody's help on the clear bra issue.
I am leaning towards just doing the very fromt bumper area (vs. the whole hood and fenders) at this time.
The problem I am facing is that the dealership that I bought the car from is about 300 miles away (their guy is doing it) and if for some small reason the bra isn't installed 100% correly then I have an long distance issue to deal with.
Just made 1 year, Xpel clear bra entire front (hood/fender/bumper/gas cover/side mirrors) and rear bumper. My 2 cents:
Assuming you have a good installer, *I* cannot tell whether a car has a clear bra or not from over 6' away. Pics included were done after installation. Of course if you only get a half bra everyone can see that line that goes across your hood. Don't get the half bra.
Ever put a clear film over your iphone or ipad to protect the screen? This is exactly whats happening to your car. No matter how good you do it, there will always be tiny imperfections. Most cannot be seen unless you are looking for it and are up close. Those that can be seen WILL bother you, but you are trading protection for perfection. Only you can decide which is more important.
Any installer worth their reputation will clay/wax/seal/polish/paint correct the surface before applying the clear bra. I have never had an issue washing or waxing directly on the clear bra.
After 1 year there is no noticeable yellowing/fading/or mismatching color between the covered areas and the uncovered areas. I use the car as a daily driver but take care of it like a garage queen.
I DO NOT have a clear bra on our cayenne. It bothers me everytime I wash the hood to see the unavoidable nicks from road debris. Of course dark colors would show this worse than light ones.
The biggest con I've found is that if you wear polarized glasses when looking at my car it looks like the paint is burned. Scared the crap out of me when I was walking to my car with my sunglasses on and saw it. I haven't really read anything about it here, and cant duplicate the effect to show you, but was assured that it is normal, that the way the glue adheres to both clear bra and car surface makes those patterns. It does bother me that anyone who wears polarized glasses and looks at my car might think 'who the hell detailed THAT car?!'. I have thought about removing it just for that reason, but because of the cost in putting it on might wait another year to get some value out of it first. Again, protection vs perfection.
If I had to do it again knowing what I know now I would probably just do the doors. Door dings are a pet peeve of mine and no matter how careful or far away I park, someone in a beat up truck will always park next to me. The door is a nice flat surface so I wouldn't think it would take too much skill putting it on compared to something with a lot or curves and bends.
03-09-2015, 11:02 AM
