Is the 3m protective film worth it?
 

I'm ordering an FR-S and one of the possible options is the 3m protective film; is this worth it?

And what about "premium floor mats" (I know it should come with floor mats, but are the "premium" ones any different?)

With how easy the paint chips, yeah it's worth it.

I got mine from an aftermarket installer for less.

I wrote this years ago but have clear-coated every vehicle I have owned since.

http://www.motortrend.com/womt/112_0...a/viewall.html

Its working for me!

I was extremely close to selecting the $299 3M clear bra option, but then I found out that it does not cover the entire front bumper (the $600+ option does, I think)... So then I notified my dealer to cancel the option right away. Other than that, it can be a good but costly investment if you plan on keeping the car for a long time. I have a bad habit of changing cars frequently, therefore I wanted to save the funds there.

Regarding the premium mats: The FR-S should come with only one kind of mats (from my knowledge), and most likely the premium mats are the standard one's that are suppose to come with the car, as you mentioned. Make sure the dealer does indeed provide the mats in your new car, since I've heard some dealers may make you miss out on this standard item by 'mistake'.

Also, the standard mats are pretty nice... Can't imagine them being much better than they already are. :)

It's definitely a good idea to have the film installed. It pays for itself when that gravel truck on the freeway decides to spill some of it's cargo in front of you.

I went with a local installer who does the wrap for Toyota on site anyways. Don't let Scion do it, you'll pay a premium.

I've spent almost $10,000 on adding clear bra to my cars. Here's the cons that I've observed:

- If you are going to leave your car outside, any film will end up looking like crap in a short period of time. It will haze, yellow and you'll have trouble removing bird stains, water spots, etc.

- The film should be treated as a wear item and replaced after several years.

- In removing the film, it can bond with your paint so that you literally tear off your clearcoat and/or paint with the film. Thus, you could damage your paint way more than if you never used a film.

- Once you remove the film, you may find that the installer cut into your paint while trimming the film.

For these reasons, if you're not going to keep your car long, then you may be better off not getting any protective film.

I'm considering it myself, or to get the XPEL film but wow, it seems expensive for nothing more than some custom-cut pieces of plastic. The XPEL can be purchased in a variety of kits depending on what you want to cover, but just the front bumper area alone is about $400, The front of the hood, fenders, and mirrors are another $400. I would not perform a DIY install, so labor surely would be at least $100-200 more.

I know I will be getting some paint blemishes over time without the film (particularly obvious on a white car), but its hard to stomach those prices. It makes me wonder what it would cost to just get some fresh paint applied to the front after a few years.

Believe it or not, it could be worse. I got quoted $2,500 for the full front hood, bumper and fenders on one of my Nissans for the XPEL Ultimate. Full coverage was over $5,500, but I later found a place to do it for $4,000, so shop around as prices can vary greatly.

Of the films, XPEL Ultimate is one of the best. It's very clear and self-healing. The Nano film is the other one installers like the best. The 3M film is considered mediocre to kinda bad.

One other thing I would be careful with is removal prices. You might be shocked to later learn that your installer might want several hundred dollars to remove the film after it wears out. Some installers might flat out refuse to remove film given the liabilities involved, even on their own installs. Others will give you what's termed the "go away" price estimate. Whoever you get to do the install, make sure they are willing to put in writing how much it will cost later to remove.

sounds like you're better off not having clear bra, even if u're going to keep the car for a long time.

I got the Xpel ultimate, front bumper, fenders and full hood and along the rear trunk lip. You can possibly get a single respray for about the same price, maybe, with no prep work - and until that point your car will look pretty beat. And good luck getting the new paint to match the worn paint everywhere else.

One perk so far is how easy bugs and bird crap and sap come off. A breeze compared to paint.

I have XPEL Ultimate. Great investment. On the rest of the car I have Wolf's Hard Body

The lifetime of the plastic film is said to be about 7 years, maybe less if you have to leave your car parked out in the sun a lot. From what I'm hearing it wrecks the paint when you remove it. If that's the case its going to be fresh paint either way.

Considering many 911 owners cover the entire car, and have been doing it for awhile I don't think it's that risky. This isn't the old hard brittle plastic stuff from the 90s. Even the stuff I had put on in 2002 came off fine after 5 years. The paint underneath was brand new (which was a problem since I had only done 1/4 hood - doh!). I didn't even have to clean any glue.

Absolutely

My personal opinion is that unless you can get a full custom wrap on the panels you want covered (like the blue BRZ on here that looks FANTASTIC with a full Xpel Ultimate wrap on the bumper/hood/fenders) it looks worse than a few rock chips that have been touched up. I hate the line across the hood and fenders that most cheaper kits give.

The full wraps like that are too rich for my blood so my car's going to get a few nicks here and there. It comes with the territory.

Nathan

There's plenty of good reasons to get a protective film. What's seldom discussed are the negatives, which is why I pointed them out. When you remove the film, you run a SLIGHT risk in pulling off the clear coat and/or paint. Here's the clear coat ripped off of a Ferrari's roof when the film was removed:

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...ulledclear.jpg

Worth it.

At least do the bumper and possibly the headlights. That's what I did and I don't have any chips besides what was on the bumper before I had the clear bra installed. Most rocks that make it over te bumper are going to hurt your front window more than the hood IMO

Most new good quality clear bras will peal right off with no chance of damage. Some older ones used nasty adhesives.

it is worth it, but i dont think getting it from factory is the best, its pricey, i got mine done at half the price and it includes the mirrors and the fenders as well.

perhaps an excellent grade of wax?..and keeping at least the "front end"
waxed?