Clear Bra or no?

[Yoshoobaroo]

Subaru‘s paint is probably almost as soft as Mazda’s. Definitely not German car quality paint.

That said here’s my reasoning for skipping on the PPF. I did have the headlights wrapped, to protect them from UV which will micro crack the lenses on the inside.The 2K quote was based on front bumper, full hood, full fenders. I threw the partial hood/fender option out after taking a good look at my dad‘s macan which has had expel on it for three years. The line on the hood is visible in virtually all conditions. What really got to me was that not only did the film look swirly compared to the paint itself, every edge that wasn’t wrapped around the end of the panel was lifting in some capacity. Even the clean straight line across the hood was lifting a few millimeters in a spot. Now he only takes it to a touchless car wash or the dealership, so reasonably speaking I would be taking better care of the film, but it still didn’t inspire too much confidence that the film would be invisible on my car after a couple of years.

Then I considered that my car does not have a metallic paint, and paint codes are a thing, so repainting the front bumper/blending the hood and fenders would very likely be adequate as far as a paint match codes. So worst case scenario I’ll pay 1 to 1.2 K to get that done eventually. That said when I sold my 2013 I didn’t feel like it needed a re-spray on the front end anyway. The only rock chip that really bothered me on the car was one just outside of the headlight, which put a dent in the steel fender. If that dent wasn’t there the filled rock chip would not have bothered me.

[Tcoat]

I am totally on the fence with clear bras/hood protection. On the FRS it would have saved the front bumper from light sand blast effects from salted roads but anything large enough to chip the paint or cause small dents just tore the film anyway. The film looked worse than the lightly chipped paint in many spots!
I didn't go with it on the Hakone so I guess I lean more to the waste of money side of the fence.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

Subaru‘s paint is probably almost as soft as Mazda’s. Definitely not German car quality paint.

That said here’s my reasoning for skipping on the PPF. I did have the headlights wrapped, to protect them from UV which will micro crack the lenses on the inside.The 2K quote was based on front bumper, full hood, full fenders. I threw the partial hood/fender option out after taking a good look at my dad‘s macan which has had expel on it for three years. The line on the hood is visible in virtually all conditions. What really got to me was that not only did the film look swirly compared to the paint itself, every edge that wasn’t wrapped around the end of the panel was lifting in some capacity. Even the clean straight line across the hood was lifting a few millimeters in a spot. Now he only takes it to a touchless car wash or the dealership, so reasonably speaking I would be taking better care of the film, but it still didn’t inspire too much confidence that the film would be invisible on my car after a couple of years.

Then I considered that my car does not have a metallic paint, and paint codes are a thing, so repainting the front bumper/blending the hood and fenders would very likely be adequate as far as a paint match codes. So worst case scenario I’ll pay 1 to 1.2 K to get that done eventually. That said when I sold my 2013 I didn’t feel like it needed a re-spray on the front end anyway. The only rock chip that really bothered me on the car was one just outside of the headlight, which put a dent in the steel fender. If that dent wasn’t there the filled rock chip would not have bothered me.

I have said this many times and will repeat it every time this comes up!
The paint on these cars is not "soft". It is actually too hard. Softer paint is more elastic and absorbs more of the impact. Hard paint just chips.

The whole issue really came about in 2011 when the world agreed to ban many of the products containing VOCs that helped the paint have that bit of flex.

Those companies that upgraded their paint systems to work better with the new low VOC coatings have a better quality finish (believe it or not Ford was the leader in this not the Germans) those that did not improve their application systems ended up with the hard and brittle paint that some Subarus are famous for. It is noted that the Subarus built in the US where they have the newer systems are generally fine but those built in the older Japanese plants have issues.

Someplace I have a trade journal that explains this in detail but since it is 10 years since I read it then it may be hard to find!

[mazeroni]

On my FRS the front bumper is the only area that sees road debris damage. The hood, fenders, and sides are all spotless, ignoring the massive rock dent on the hood and where someone bumped my front fender - PPF would not have helped there.

I've seen Youtube videos covering Ceramic Films, and they seemed based AF. They are a lot more expensive though, but they appear to take rock chips really well. Where the rock hits will still destroy the PPF in that area, leaving a hole, but at least it wasn't the paint that got hit.

If nothing else, I'd do a ceramic film on the front bumper, headlights, and maybe the hood if you really felt like it was important to you. Otherwise, I'd probably only do regular PPF on the rest of the car. But go to a specialty shop that has a lot of good reviews. Quality shops will actually wrap the PPF around the body panels to hide the seams and will make sure nothing gets stuck under the wrap.

For dealers, it is an easy upsell and they likely won't do a very good job.

[fredzy]

Originally Posted by alan7467

I had it on my ND RF. Full bumper, hood, and front fenders. At $2,000 I’m not sure I’d do it again. While it definitely saved me from a lot of chips, it also greatly complicated the repair process when a big rock hit my bumper piercing the PPF and putting a golf ball sized dent and scratch as well.

However, big factors are road conditions you’ll be driving in, and perhaps more importantly the quality of the paint. Mazda paint is incredibly thin and hard. So it chips extremely easily. By contrast my MK7 GTI and MK7.5 R had much more durable paint. Those faired pretty well year round in Colorado with no PPF.

To that end can anyone comment on the quality/thickness of Subaru paint jobs? I can’t imagine anything being worse than Mazda, and thus tend to expect slightly better.

Ha, you're right about the VW paint. I had a TDI Sportwagen for 4 years/70,000 miles and had barely a single chip anywhere. Film would have been a complete waste.

Getting into my WRX in 2014 I was considering PPF as all I heard was Subaru's paint is trash. Well, the paint isn't great, but I did not do PPF and the front of the car has hardly any chips at almost 8 years, 70,000 miles. A lot less highway mileage than most of my previous vehicles since we tend to put those onto our Sienna, but still, I'm really surprised at how well the paint held up. Most of the rock chips I have are on the rear door/fender area ahead of the rear wheels Again PPF would have been a waste on it - never would have thought to put it on the sides of the car haha.

For OP, if your driving tended to produce a lot of chips on previous cars and you care about that stuff, then sure, do the film. Figures someone like me who doesn't really care about chips or pretty paint seems to dodge all the stones

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I have said this many times and will repeat it every time this comes up!
The paint on these cars is not "soft". It is actually too hard. Softer paint is more elastic and absorbs more of the impact. Hard paint just chips.

The whole issue really came about in 2011 when the world agreed to ban many of the products containing VOCs that helped the paint have that bit of flex.

Those companies that upgraded their paint systems to work better with the new low VOC coatings have a better quality finish (believe it or not Ford was the leader in this not the Germans) those that did not improve their application systems ended up with the hard and brittle paint that some Subarus are famous for. It is noted that the Subarus built in the US where they have the newer systems are generally fine but those built in the older Japanese plants have issues.

Someplace I have a trade journal that explains this in detail but since it is 10 years since I read it then it may be hard to find!

You’re right, i should have said weak

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

You’re right, i should have said weak

Not weak either really. Just hard.

[chipmunk]

It depends on where you live, and what types of roads you mostly drive on.
I spent 2k for full hood, front fascia, fenders, A pillars, mirrors, doors & front edge of the roof. Another 500 or so for full underbody rust-proofing, another 300 for doors & panels rust proofing. This was all before I got married. If I were to buy another brand new car again now, I'd probably still do underbody rust-proofing, and maybe PPF just for fascia, hood, edge of roof & A-pillars. My wife won't mind.
On a side note, I haven't heard much of advantages for ceramic coating. When the PPF turns yellow, you can always take it off. But if the ceramic coating turns yellow, not sure what to do.
Also, I don't wash my car regularly. That extra layers of dirt provides some UV protection. If I notice yellowing of the PPF, I'll take it to a detailer, have it removed and color-corrected. Depending on the price & longevity, I might go for ceramic.

[chipmunk]

PS:
If you drive on dirt roads often, underbody-coating will help too
If you drive mostly highways, the little rocks kicked up from cars ahead, or semi trucks or garbage trucks with debris flying all over... yes, I'd recommend clear bra.
If it's mostly a summer weekend joy ride car, then none of them is needed. Regular wash-claybar-wax routine is enough

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by chipmunk

It depends on where you live, and what types of roads you mostly drive on.
I spent 2k for full hood, front fascia, fenders, A pillars, mirrors, doors & front edge of the roof. Another 500 or so for full underbody rust-proofing, another 300 for doors & panels rust proofing. This was all before I got married. If I were to buy another brand new car again now, I'd probably still do underbody rust-proofing, and maybe PPF just for fascia, hood, edge of roof & A-pillars. My wife won't mind.
On a side note, I haven't heard much of advantages for ceramic coating. When the PPF turns yellow, you can always take it off. But if the ceramic coating turns yellow, not sure what to do.
Also, I don't wash my car regularly. That extra layers of dirt provides some UV protection. If I notice yellowing of the PPF, I'll take it to a detailer, have it removed and color-corrected. Depending on the price & longevity, I might go for ceramic.

Ceramic coating does nothing at all to prevent chips. It doesn't claim to. All it does is fill the almost microscopic spaces between the paint molecules to give a super slick surface. It does not add any form of protective coating at all. In fact "coating" is sort of a bad name for it.
Oh and it does not turn yellow ever.

[The Red One]

I had considered PPF as well when I was waiting for my 2019.

My conclusion was not to do and in a short time confirmed it would have been a waste for my reality.

The first week I had my car and I was on a 2 lane highway still in the break-in phase passing a dump truck and heard a loud impact noise on passenger side. Found a nice dent just above the passenger window, some generous application of touch up paint covered that first mod. Later in the summer I also found a 3 inch grey paint indentation in my passenger rear fender, used some old wax and got the paint off, I can hardly locate that dent. Would PPF have saved the paint? Not in those locations. As for the inevitable paint chips on the front, I go over the hood & A pillars after most washes to touch on the bigger ones, the bumper not so much as the summer bugs will fill them in.

The first impact you get may be where there is no PPF.

I also have some really nice mature evergreens around my driveway… pine & a spruce.
Short of using brake cleaner or razor blade the droppings are quite hard to remove after 24hrs. Would PPF save the paint? Yes the first time only. But the garage does a better job.

Also try not to follow traffic too closely to keep the impacts to a minimum.

If PPF is for you then get the A pillars, Mirrors and rear bumper below the trunk opening done as well and Headlights as previously mentioned .…Why not Wrap the whole car while your at it.

[RToyo86]

Check the dealer for pricing.
I had PPF installed by the dealer at $1200 CAD for full hood, bumper, mirror caps and half fender.

I did enjoy the extra protection against road debris and crap. Just about to roll over 100,000km in four years, summer/winter. Front bumper film is pretty much toast. It gets hammered by everything on the road, especially if you drive on the highway.

Fenders, hood and mirror caps still look in great shape.


Edit
I hit a piece of road debris on the highway which hit my front bumper, then deflected off the fender. You can see the line where the PPF ends and the scratch starts. There was no visible damage on the PPF half of the fender.

[NoHaveMSG]

PPF is super easy to DIY. It is cheap, you need the film, some knifeless tape, a squeegee w/felt wraps, razor knife, and a heat gun. Prep surface, and install. Grab a buddy, it's a 12pk job. Couple pizza's doesn't hurt either.

[Narwhal]

Wasn’t worth it to me. I’m looking at nearly $2k as well and for a car not that expensive, just didn’t seem to balance out. May buy. Sheet myself and cover just the hood and maybe have a stab at the bumper. Did that for my gti and it worked out. Spent maybe $300, and afternoon, and stole a hairdryer.