Clear Bra or no?
 

Well, just sold my Civic Sport to CARMAX for nearly 20% more than I paid for it. Leaves me my 2010 Accord as my one car right now, but now I'm beginning the search for a GR86.

With that being said, what are the general thoughts on clear bra being worth it or not?

I saw that Toyota has a dealer installed option for clear bra. I'm definitely not interested in the partial hood and partial fender, so I'm weighing the options of: no clear bra at all, bumper only clear bra, or full bumper/hood/fender.

Is it actually worth it and how long do they last? I absolutely plan to keep this car, so I will more than likely be the one who is either respraying the front end or replacing the clear bra down the road. I know that a respray is the fix for rock chips, but my fear is that a respray will also be needed when the clear bra comes off. I've seen some photos and videos where paint came with the clear bra when it came off, sometimes causing worse damage than just rock chips did.

Just looking for various thoughts on the best route to go. Thanks!

Edit: Just to add, Track bRed is my likely color choice

I had a clear bra installed on my 2013 FRS - bumper, hood, and fenders (partial) as soon as I drove it off the lot. Honestly, I wouldn't do it again.

I did have the full front-end bra wrap on my 2002 IS300 and it started to yellow along the edges after 7 years. But that was 2002. I'm sure the new stuff they have now are so much better!

Appreciate the response. What makes you feel you wouldn't do it again on the FRS specifically?

7 years is about the age at which one is supposed to replace the clear bra's...

http://www.performancewindowtint.com...Questions.html
Q: How long does Clear Bra last?
A: The average lifespan of Clear Bra is 7-10 years. It is a semi-permanent installation and can be removed and replaced at any time.

If it's a low-slung sports car that you expect to drive often, and don't plan to sell in the near-term, I'd say do it.
My S2000 didn't have clear bra when I bought it - it was fairly low kms (under 100,000km, so 60k-ish miles) and the nose was peppered, the fenders and hood had little dents and chips (touched-up) and the windshield was sand-blasted (driving into a sunset is fun).

I finally bit the bullet and had to pay a big chunk of change to get the dents repaired, the paint restored, and then PPF'd all-around, since I don't plan to sell the car for a long time. And if I do sell it, it should help resale value.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure" - or "it'll cost you a lot less now to PPF than it will to restore the paint, fix the chips and PPF it later"

Definitely worth it. Especially if you do a lot of highway or track time. If you're 80% city, maybe it isn't worth it.

Clear Bra or no?
 

I was quoted ~2k to PPF the bumper, full hood, and full fenders. 3 separate quotes. For that price I can get the front end repainted - twice.

not worth it. unless you are super ocd about every mark on the car. then again unless you to a top tier installer with a clean room... you will find specs of dust under the bra. especially on a dark color. then you gotta worry about corners peeling.

cheaper to just repaint the bumper and touch up the hood/fenders down the line

Not a bad idea on the front bumper IMO. Mine looks like shit after daily driving for 5 years.

AT MINIMUM i highly recommend you do your headlights. They'll fog up in 3-5 years if you dont from UV exposure.

I bought my '17 new and immediately made an appointment to have Xpel Ultimate PPF applied. Had to wait two weeks. It about killed me to not drive the car very much while waiting and I still picked up a small rock chip before the film went on. The film comes in 24" or 60" wide rolls. If you choose a coverage package that uses only the 24" material it is a better deal because there is less waste. I had the entire front end, headlight lenses, a 24" swath across the hood and fenders and the front side of the rear view mirrors done for about $800. Xpel warrants the film and the install for 10 years.

I would definitely do Xpel again on any new vehicle that isn't already chipped up that you intend to keep for a while. Modern paint is just way too brittle.
And no, I don't sell the stuff. I'm just a satisfied customer.

https://www.xpel.com/products/paint-protection-film

Questions I would be asking myself:

What happens when you get a rock chip on the cover?

Will it look any different than the other panels?
-With your wax/sealant of choice?
-In 3 years?

What happens when the plastic cover gets a rock chip?

I think it depends on where you live too.

where i live it will be a miracle if you DONT get any rock chips lol.

My old Corolla didnt have clear bra. I planned on doing it but i got a rock chip on the hood pretty soon after i got it and I never ended up filling it. The hood and bumper were peppered with chips by the time I had to change the car.

After that car i had to have the bra to keep its condition. My Honda fit had it, our BMW has it, The Scion iM never had it so the hood/bumper was already peppered so i didnt care. And my 86 has it.

Not sure where you're going to be quoted 2k... I'm in southern california and at a warrantied/reputable shop with the best from XPEL you'd see about $1000-1200 to do bumper/fenders/halfhood/A pillars. This is after getting ppf done on both an ND miata and mercedes amg gtr.

Not to mention paint matching troubles with repaints and the resale benefit of ppf.

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.