jlenze

Does anyone have experience with a clear bra? I am interested in durability, quality, appearance, and cost.

Thanks in advance,
Jack

nine9six

I have a partial on my car and I've very happy with the results. Considering what it costs for a well done front end respray, I found the $700 cost as a $2300 savings.
I have partial hood, fenders, complete bumper, headlights, fog lights, and side view mirrors. I think the product was VentureShield if memory serves.
Installer said it was a very good product, easier to work with and does not yellow like the 3M product, FWIW.

Ed Hughes

The search function is your friend. This topic is asked semi-regularly and there are numerous threads on application, removal, old paint, new paint, durability, cost, etc.

Halcyon

I just had my bumper resprayed from doing a bumperette delete. I considered doing either 3m clear bra or ventureshield but the body shop actually told me it magnifies any POST-resprayed rock chip mini-dents you have, so unless you have a perfectly smooth bumper with absolutely no rock chips or have all the little dents refilled, it wouldn't look good ... not sure if there's any truth in that but just wanted to share what I heard.

71-3.0-911

I have a clear bra over the bumper, partial hood, front of fenders, headlights and side view mirrors. My only complaint is that it's the self healing kind and I've got bug guts stuck in it that I can't wash off. Other than that, it keeps the Colorado rocks at bay.

EMBPilot

Full hood, full fenders, and bumper. the bra needs to be over perfect paint. you are trading your clear coat for a plastic cover. there are going to be positives and negatives to that. like my grandmother who covered her couches in plastic...

if you're going to get it done, do full everything. its worth it. or you will see lines...

you will find widely varying pricing, and it has everything to do with installation. its labor intensive and if its not done right, you will see all the imperfections. you will get what you pay for.

I like having the bra on my car. i can drive the car without worry of chips ect. wash it without worrying of swirls ect... when you look at it with polarized sunglasses the hood will sometimes appear spotty. maybe the newer ones dont have that effect. its awesome to not have a sand blasted or chipped leading edges.

BradB

The entire hood, front fenders, nose and trailing edges of my wheel well openings are covered in clear bra. No seams. Everything is wrapped. If you want to keep things nice it takes away a lot of stress.

nine9six

YOU'VE CHANGED YOUR AVATAR!?

Sapphire is looking good!

nine9six

Maybe they didn't want any imperfections of their respray to be magnified?

...And as a side note, I dont think the magnification statement is true...But maybe on a dark car...Paint needs to be perfect, or close to it.

jlenze

Thanks for taking the time. This is very helpful. Great looking cars everyone!

Jack

KOAN

I had VentureShield on my track car for 5 years. I was amazing at protecting the paint, but was yellowing. This looked bad on the white car. The new product, XPEL is guaranteed not to yellow for 10 years. So far, it has held up well (1 season of track driving). I've used the XPEL cleaner and sealer once. I'm having it put on my 993. No seams, people don't believe it is on the white car when they see it.

speedsoul

Clear bra has advanced A LOT over the last few years thankfully. Durability, quality and appearance has gone way up but with that also cost. I've been installing for about 5 years now and from experience if you have the old OEM stuff on the side quarters I would remove it. I don't think it was meant to be on the car for 15 years+ with years of sun abuse and having all kinds of chemicals and waxes rubbed on it.

The new stuff like Xpel Ultimate film and Suntek coated film (most popular films these days) both have a clear coat on top of the film that protects from staining, yellowing and contamination sticking to it and makes it a piece of cake to clean. They also have a "self healing" property to them that will make disappear small light scratches made by wiping or washing the car, just with a little bit of heat from a heat gun or by leaving the car out in the sun. That being said it's not bullet proof, it will tear if a rock or pebble hits it hard enough it'll scratch if scraped too hard and it goes through that top clear coat that's about .5 mil thick.

The most important thing overall from what I've seen over the years is how the owner takes care of it. That is the most important thing period. All you have to do is take care of it like you would take care of the paint on the car. If you wax or seal it periodically a few times a year and don't take it through machine car washes and just wash it by hand or take to a your personal detailer it will last and shine for years. If neglected never sealed or waxed and washed through machine car washes it'll scratch and dull out just like the normal paint will. It'll still protect the paint the same underneath.

crw

The most critical factors are the installer and the product used.

Ask for references and look at cars they have done.

I have used the same guy for years on multiple cars and the result has always been high quality, long lasting, and you would not notice it unless you knew ahead of time that something was on the car and had to try to find it.

Porsche70T

Don't forget Clearplex for the windshield. ~ $300 is cheap compared to the headache of replacing a windsheild and is the first order of business in my book. Go with the full hood, the half hood line can be annoying on darker colors and one more place to have to deal with dried wax. We looked at 2 brands, one came just wide enought to reach corner to corner across the top of the hood and the other was more pliable so we used it on the fenders, etc. The appearance of the 2 brands after installation and now 5 years later is the same.

ljugete

An SOB keyed my hood last night, but over my clear bra. Will have this replaced and hope no respray is needed. Looks like it may have protected the paint somewhat.