fontaines911

I have a GT Silver 997S that is a month old and have had a ton of bad luck. I got 2 bad stone chips on the top part of the bumper the first week, Ouch! Decided to get the clear bra. Had it put on after I touched it up myself.( bad idea). Was not happy with the install of the bra or the chipped area, so off comes the bra and I get a pro paint guy from that the Porshe dealer in So. Cal recommended. He does a good job of fixing the blemish but it still noticeable.
I get the clear bra guy back to my house( I know.... that should have been my first clue) and he proceeds to try and color sand the small imperfection that the paint guy left behind and get this......applies so much force and rev's he burns the paint!!! I'm out of my mind at this point. He of course says he'll pay for the damage. I'm ready to kill the guy. Don't ask why I even let him near the car with a power wheel. I'm an idiot. Seemed like he knew what he was doing.

So I take it to Precision auto body ( Porsche recommended shop) and the total estimate to remove and sand , re-paint and clear coat is $600.00. My question is.... why bother with the clear bra at all? As the appraiser at the shop and others here have noted.... the bra is $700 -1000 if it's done right. Repaint the bumper $600.00. If you sustain any damage that is more than a small rock the bra is not going to help and they're going to charge you 300.00 to take it off!

I think it makes sense if it's a car that you think your going to keep forever but for a 3 year lease like mine.... I think I'll just roll the dice and if I have to get it painted again when the lease is up it ain't gonna break the bank. I have also heard that in 2 years they start to yellow and fade. That could just be body shop speak. I'm sure they hate them for many reasons.

Thoughts??

JFScheck

My thoughts? Same conclusion as yours! Drive it like ya stole it and paint that front end as it needs it!

LVDell

If you are leasing for 3 years and giving it back why would you even consider it? I have it on my 996CAB (5.5 years old) and no yellowing, etc. and a fantastic job. I own that car and love the clear bra and am a firm believer in the clear bra as long as it is the BEST material and the BEST installer.

But on my Pepper I chose not get the clear bra since it is on a 36 month lease. Rock chips fall under that NORMAL wear and tear category. I had no desire to pony up $1K to protect the front for the next guy and I wouldn't expect to have to repaint before I turn it back in at month 36.

earlyapex

The 3M paint films do not yellow. I put a clear bra on my 996 one week after I took delivery and it has saved my car's nose. You've been through h... and now your car's front end has been repainted. I'm not sure I would put on a clear bra if you were going to return the car at the end of the lease.

OCBen

It was kinda funny reading your first line: "The 3M paint films do not yellow." and seeing your yellow 911 in your avatar. I'm sure I wasn't the only one thinking, "How could he tell?"

Your 996 isn't yellow too, is it?

AeroSmith

LOL, I was thinking that too! Though I believe the 40th Anniversary cars are all GT Silver Metallic.

JTW

At the risk of offense, I always think of my grandma's plastic covered living room furniture whenever I see the telltale clear bra line.

Dougez06997S

Here in Phoenix with so much direct sunlight, clear bras are easy to see and at some angles distort the look of the car. That and the fact that they are very expensive has led me away from doing it. I still haven't decided whether to lease or purchase but either way good paint shops can reshoot the front end for the same amount of money and make it look as new. I think I'd rather have the paint color au naturale v. loooking at the CB and the line across the hood.

LVDell

That is by far, the worst analogy I have ever heard. Think of the clearbra like scotch guard for your couch. What you are thinking about is one of those bulky blakc vinyl bra's.

OCBen

You won't have a line across the hood if you do a full install.

Did you see these pics? https://rennlist.com/forums/997-forum/228113-finally-got-my-bra.html

jumper5836

it does yellow on a grey

gradyex

I have the 3M product (was hesitant at first) and had the dealer install as soon as the car arrived. I'm glad I did it but wish I had the whole front hood done because its sandblast city even on the upper 1/3 of the hood + a few nice chips that are obvious. I can imagine what the protected area would of looked like (8000 miles so far and almost 1 year old) had I not done it. If I were leasing and planned on turning the keys in after 3-4 years why bother? Just enjoy and drive the living daylights out of her! $600.00 repaint on the entire hood seems reasonable! Here in the SF Bay Area I paid the Dent Wizard $500.00 to fix a small dent in my 2002 BMW M3's front hood and it took him less than 2 hours. I'm sure the dealership got a nice chunk of that. I was happy though because a re-paint anything is not good at resale time and never matches factory jobs, especially metallics like yours! Take care, BTW, I would have told that installer

NoSubEDU

See if you can spot the cleabra in these pics...

And black is arguably one of the worst cars to have a clearbra on...

alin330

Use a good installer is the key, there are couple of good installer on the west cost (recommended by many other forum members). I know some of you have seen cars with bad installation but its all every simple go with guys that has been recommended on this forum.

Blue S2

I have had the clear bra on my black daily car for about 2.5 years. Still the same as day 1 and its still clear as ever. Gone through two heavy, salty winters too. Its the best. My 944 is next inline for it.

$300 to REMOVE the material????????? Thats rape. Get a blowdryer and peel it off yourself! They should NOT charge for removal of the film!! Its not window tint. This stuff is relatively easy to get off. I had my hood redone once because there was a blemish on the actual film that we missed on the first installation. The guy had a bad roll. I went back 2 or 3 weeks later, he peeled it off in all of about 15 seconds and then reapplied a new one in about 2 minutes. Perfection since then. Find a better installer.