SToronto

Get full front...hood, lights, fenders, mirror housing. I went with ventureshield ultra. Worth the cost vs paying to repair stone gouge and potential paint not matching.

I had a 2011 TL and a rock hit the hood in the top corner near the windshield..gouged to metal. $800 fix and repaint.

santacruzmtngrl

SO GLAD I found this thread...our 997 is due to arrive this weekend and top of the list is a clear bra. Thank you all for the input on coverage, very helpful.

Anyone in the SF Bay area with experience with Xpel installers?

Iceter

Since you resurrected the thread, I'll chime in. Go with a full hood. On almost any color, the line on a half-hood is visible when the car is dirty or even just dusty. Not much more money to do the whole thing as opposed to a partial.

I did my own clear bra and if I had to do it over, this is the one thing I would change.

Type 2

In January 2014, we had the original Scotch Guard film (Bikini cut -- partial coverage -- on front hood, bumper, mirrors, headlights and running lights, and behind rear wheel opening) removed from our 2012 Black Edition, as it was failing or delaminating on the front bumper. To our eyes, the installed Scotch Guard clear film looked like it had orange peel, while the rest of the hood and fenders did not exhibit that condition. We could not make a warranty claim (adhesive failure or delaminating) as the car was a CPO and we did not pay directly for the original installation (the film warranty only was good while the original purchaser/owner had the car).

We polished out all of the exterior paint, and then had Xpel Ultimate installed on the front to the windshield (hood, fenders bumper), along with the mirrors, headlights, running lights, and on the rear fenders behind the wheel openings.

The cost was approximately $1,900. The Xpel Ultimate film was rolled over the hood and fender edges (read behind, with no lines showing), the headlights edges (no lines) and the Porsche front hood badge was removed and then replaced over the film. One can see some film lines on the mirrors because of the curvatures involved. With our installation, the film shine is the same or very close to the paint shine on the rest of the car.

The warranty coverage for the Xpel Ultimate is ten years from the date of installation, and covers defects, as yellowing, staining, cracking, blistering and delaminating. The warranty does not cover road debris impact damage, accident damage, and/or normal wear and tear.

From prior personal experience with clear film on two other cars and covered warranty matters, you are most likely to have a delaminating warranty claim (failure of the film adhesive, and the film material starts to lift). Be aware that the clear film is there as a scarificial material for the underlying paint, and over time, if driven on Interstates and primary roads, the film will show some debris damage from sharp rocks and the like, but bug splats are not a problem.

Hopefully these comments will be of help to others considering a paint protection film. Type 2

CayenneWahoo

Just had my Cayenne protected with clear bra:

+Rear view mirrors
+Front bumper
+Full hood
+Front side panels (complete)

I went with D&D Suncontrol (local shop in Little Rock, AR). They did a good job, but there are some areas of the car I am concerned about where the film does not completely conform to the metal surface. If anyone has expertise in this area, please let me know your thoughts. I just picked the car up today, so it may need to "cure" (or melt) a bit more to the surface of the car.

Their website
http://www.danddsuncontrol.com

The Product used is "Nano-Fusion" by CCL Design
http://nano-fusionppf.com
http://www.nanofusionfilm.com

Tcc1999

It's been said before (and not by me) but it bears repeating = You pay for the installer and not the product. Full front and mirrors would cost me over $3K but PremierMobile is so good that it would be worth it. No offense to the previous poster, honestly, but I wonder if they (Premier) wouldn't be mortified with the edges on that application.

Robocop305

LMAO! I just rather re spray the front whenever it needs it. I hate the clear bra after a while.

gasongasoff

My Premier clear bra lasted about 2 years before it turned opaque. It looked terrible. And the film in some places shrunk to the point where you could see the edges (i.e. around the headlights).

Also, I doubt Premier would be mortified by a little peeling. My bumper film starting lifting a bit within the first week of the installation. When I took the car back to them, they simply cut out a little wedge and called it a day. (Granted, it was near the bottom of the bumper.)

I hear the new Xpel stuff they're using is a lot better, but nowadays, there are quite a few experienced Xpel installers in the Bay Area. I would shop around.

aviography

Cayenne wahoo,

The lifting of the film in the corner isn't going to self-level, and the edge of the film although wrapped around the edge of the body panels, isn't straight like a real pro shop should be able to achieve easily.

CayenneWahoo

Thanks all for the feedback. Sadly schedules and location are inhibitors to the "best" installation shops in the Central region. While the job is not perfect--freely admitted in the original post--I have to say in-person the job looks good. Perhaps not perfect, but very good. The material extends beyond the surface area of all panels to curve around to the undesride and there are no edges along panel edges, helping to keep at bay the dreaded pollen line. Only under the magnifying glass of a telephoto lens does one see the stray extensions of product. The feedback is much appreciated and I am going to return this week to have the job touched up. Thank you!

I assure all is was not a product of economy -- this job was close to the price quoted below, although not in its excess. And, in their defense, the installers are open to guidance and repair. They handle most of the Rovers in town -- this is how I was introduced. Our property is so far out in the country that a summer trip home is akin to the French Revolution, with significant bug carnage ravishing the clear coat and at times nicking down to metal--some protective guard is absolutely necessary.

I am also reaearching an aerosol solution that will help with bug removal. Any anecdotes in this area are--good and bad (first hand)--welcomed.

Blue Chip

I'm going to be having to re-do mine it looks like. I hit a turkey this weekend and put a couple of small dents in my hood. The good news is that the clear bra kept the paint in tact...

SpeedyD

I am not sure if I would prefer a clear bra.

Clear bras never, ever look quite as good as the real paint does.

I bought my car so I can enjoy how great the paint looks.

How can you know for 100% certain that the clear bra won't look as good? Because if you do partial coverings (half way up hood, rear wheel arch) you can always, always tell that part apart from the uncovered section. Without the point of comparison it becomes much, much harder. I can tell the difference between a great paint job, and a not so great paint job. The clear bra will detract from that. Of course, it does depend on the color below (some are more impacted than others in how our eyes perceive the difference).

Reason #2 is that the removal itself can sometimes harm the paint. If you remove after 3 or 4 years, then likely not as big a deal... but then if you are removing after 3 or 4 years and applying another layer, the costs start to look a bit silly. If you leave on past 3 or 4 years, then you really are losing out on your car's great paint job.

Reason #3. If you take good care of your car and don't tail gate, you will avoid the vast majority of damage. Rock chips do not magically fly around in the air... they get kicked up from cars or fall off trucks. If you keep your distance, you can usually avoid this... keeping distance and not tailgating is good driving sense. I admit this reason is the hardest to defend because stuff happens outside of our control.

I just don't quite get it (similar to tow hooks for license plates... I'm solidly in the "drill it, or leave it off and pay the fines" group... vs. having something on the car so clearly asymmetrical that virtually noone would ever buy or accept if it came from the factory in that way...)

I must admit I am / was toying with the idea of putting a clear bra on my car but I just don't know if I can get my head around it. And yes, I know some very high end cars have the stuff applied to them. I also know that many, many ultra expensive classic cars don't have them on and would never have them on...

jhbrennan

Nobody is as critical of dings, chips, etc. as the owner of the car sf nobody looks at a car as closely as we do. I am as **** as most P-car owners when it comes to imperfections like this but as I've gotten older (my eyes too), I'm a great believer of the "3 foot rule" - if I can't see it from 3 feet away it doesn't exist.

Blue Chip

I had the turkey scratched bra taken off yesterday in prep for the hood being repaired. I have an appointment to get the new one installed mid April. I went with the full hood this time, kept the 1/2 fenders, and headlight / foglight. The cover on the bumper is still in good shape. The total is going to be something like $800.

Worth it to me and I like the full hood much better than the 1/2.

myw

totally worth it. i wish my car had hood had the full 3m.