Mike M.

Just wanted to guage any thoughts or opinions on your experiences. Standard vs. Extended Kit vs. Custom? What areas covered and any changes you would do after the fact/purchase?

Just shopping around right now, and I've gotten quotes anywhere from $595 installed- basically standard kit with hood, fenders, mirrors, headlights, and fogs on up to $1500+ for custom including full hood, full fenders, edges, replacing oem (ie yellowed) rear fender vinyl, along with anything and all in between.

I know some of this stuff ranges from recommended to a bit of overkill, so any real world experiences from fellow RL'ers would be greatly helpful. Thanks!

allill

Mike,

PM me with what the $595 entails and who is doing it for that. I may join you on this.

2ndof2

I'd have Premier do the work for you. They do an awsome job. You should see how good they did custom pieces for my RS splitters and the turbo-s ducts. I'm very impressed with them. As for coverage I'd do the entire front bumper, headlight area on fenders and the hood. I'd also have the mirrors, behind the wheels, and the largest piece they have for the rear fender flares. Anything less exposes your baby to a paint chip!

Mike M.

Just talked to Wilson at Premier...they want $790 for the standard kit (front bumper was stated as custom), and additional $350 for the full hood on top of that. I also inquired about replacing the OEM rear fender vinyl, but Wilson stated that they typically don't do that, as the vinyl may have been applied to uncured paint at the factory, hence the risk of removing paint with the vinyl. (?)

I've heard good things about Premier, and I think they charge a premium for it. I'm going to see what other quotes come back at....

Jeff - You got PM.

Air Kuul TT

Another vote for Sam and his crew at Premier. Especially for you being in the Bay area...

I had Premier do a custom package that included the entire hood, bumper, turbo S lip, mirrors, rockers and wheels well.... Its been over a year and still perfect. Also I believe that Premier uses Venture film that offers a lifetime warranty.

Good Luck.

mooty

i have seen a lot of bra jobs. i would not put a $600 job on my yugo let alone a p car.
i have never even seen a $600 job that didn't make me gag and vomit.

premier does cost more, but they do a good job.

Bill (NC)

Most all the installers use the same 3M materials. This is not rocket science, it is the skill and experience of the installer. I had my car done when I got it 4 years ago by the local Invinceashield Co (out of business now I heard) and have had nothing but compliments on how it looks. Total cost $245. The same guy did all the exotic cars at the local dealer. As long as it is understood the job needs to be done to your satisfaction why pay a dealer an additional markup?

allill

How hard is it to remove this stuff if you are not satisfied? If it isn't hard to re-do, I would like to try a DIY on one of my other cars or even on my stock bumper cover that's sitting in my garage.

2Many Cars

You might give Jeremy at Invisiguard a call (707-328-5865)*. He does the installs for Sonnen and will come to your house to do it. He's also done a lot of high end cars up in Napa and Sonoma. He puts on kits so he won't need to cut much if at all which is where a lot of installers get into trouble. I had him do my wife's Prius and it came out perfect so I've asked him to come back to do the 993 in a couple of weeks. His prices are quite reasonable. I'll let you know how it comes out.

*No affiliation, etc.

air eater

You might want to consider having the headlights covered if they are relatively chip free.
I paid $150 for my wifes SL55's headlights and driving lights.

2Many Cars

Allil,
I took off my old, probably original, rear fender protectors and it was a bitch. I figure it took about an hour a side. I learned though that if you heat it a bit with a hairdryer and try to peal it back at an extreme angle it comes off a bit easier. Then you'll need to spend some quality time with Go-Gone and a credit card to get the glue off. Still a pain in the a$$.

I put on new fender protectors myself and they look perfect, those are pretty easy. I also tried to do the front and that didn't come out so well. Some might say it was a 9 out of 10 but it was not good enough for me and I definitely screwed up the mirrors. I decided to have it done properly so with the newer stuff I let it sit in the sun and then just pealed it off. It all came off clean except for a 3 inch square on the bumper where I managed to peal off the clear coat. Ughh! That's been repainted and now I'm waitng for the paint to harden so I can have a pro redo it (see my post above). I think it pealed off due to a quickie repaint of the bumper by a previous owner. All the rest that was on factory paint came off 100% cleanly.

Hope that helps.

mooty

if you want to do a small piece on non compound curves, sure, DIY may work.
try to cover the ENTIRE front bumper in ONE piece.
you would be surrpised how many ways you can utter the f word in one day.

David Ray

Not to hijack a thread but I've been contemplating the clear bra treatment myself since I just had the splitters and front bumper painted and track the car - what happens when you want to remove it? Isn't there any UV damaged after a couple of years? Do they yellow like the stone guards? FWIW: repainting my front bumper was significantly less than the install costs of the clear bra that have been quoted here.

cobalt

It is well worth having done but done right by an experienced installer. I have a good friend who does this and he does an A+ job. It is a lot of work. There are several film manufacturers and 3M is no longer on top. The 3M yellows more than the others and some stretch better than others. I don't profess to know the specific brands but I will say if you have had the car painted within the past 3 months wait 3 more. If applied properly it is easily removable. My 94 turbo had it on since 1995 and I replaced it about 2 years ago. It had yellowed but my paint was like new with zero damage.

Mike M.

Thanks for all the great insight, everyone....

Well, after a number of contacts, I think I may be leaning towards Mariano at C S Specialties (Xpel dealer?) on a number of factors, including his up front service (he drove out to my house to inspect the car and condition within an hour of calling), his past references (he's done some of my friends' rides, and he states having done past work on Canepa's collection, including Seinfeld's 959 and other exotics). In fact, upon searching, he's even noted in a couple Rennlister galleries here on this site. Hopefully everything works out, and I'll post my results after completion....

For Premier, it was very tempting, but they came in amongst the highest quotes, and were also back logged for at least 1.5-2 weeks. I've been keeping this 993 in the garage most of the work week, just waiting to get the clear on so I can go play. I know, I know, it should be driven, and if I get the bra done, why not guarantee the job right the first time with Premier? Well, this guy came well referenced as well, and I figure if it's a so so job, it's still almost half the price of Premier's quote. Also, if you witnessed my daily commute, and my poor road rashed Audi from the freeway driving, you'd understand why...

More to follow....