Clear bra install woes - Is it that hard?

[kilrb]

Originally Posted by SHIFTER

They're saying they will fix it Friday - they haven't seen it yet. Im sick to my stomach though as I am quite picky with my cars.

I feel for you, brother!! I took my new black BRZ that I picked up yesterday to get a clear bra put on, and the installer found an imperfection in the clearcoat that he said would result in a bubble in the film, so he couldn't do it today. Long story short, I'm going to pay a professional detailer to polish it out along with the rest of the hood/fenders next week the same day the clear bra is put on. I also found out I had a couple of rock chips in only 200 miles. Leaving the shop today with no protection, and knowing that my brand new car has to be "fixed" left me with a sick stomach too! I've been dreaming about this car, and now that I have it, I can't drive it (the roads have a lot of salt down right now, as we were just snowed on hard a couple of days ago). Good luck with getting your clear bra fixed!

[JsDetail]

that kit can be a pain in the ass. But yea its possible that the bubble will disappear as the adhesive sets. as far as the hair goes. it happens more than you think.. Especially w arm hair, eyelashes threads from clothing. During the installation you dont notice it cause evverything is wet. Its when it dries that it becomes noticeable. But you cant prevent anythng from being airborne even in an enclosed shop.

[SHIFTER]

These guys went SO FAR above and beyond to fix this, the owner of the shop did the correction him self. They pulled the first kit off and re-did the entire kit with better film (i paid for venture shield, they put 3m self healing top of the line stuff).... and did a full hood instead of only partial.

The lines are perfect now, no imperfections, it is absolutely amazing. Literally, the guy that was there having his windows tinted on his ferrari decided to have his 400k+ car clear bra'd just because of how good my car looked.

Amazing.

[BlaineWasHere]

I don't have any bubbles, tares, or any dirt/hair under the clearbra, but I do have the same fitment issues. I just live with it.

Sounds like the shop took care of the issues.

[Freude am Fahren]

Shifter, what shop did you use? I'm looking into getting a clear bra, and after the way they went about rectifying, sounds like they are good people, just had a bad day.

[spitfire481]

The guy I use up here loads the pre fab template into the computer then extends all edges 3/8". Then sends it over to the cutter. That way he cuts all the edges and wraps around where possible. Mine looks flawless. Full hood and full fenders as well. No partial crap. Xpel as well.

[Skippman]

I'm glad to hear this worked out and even more glad to hear that you let us all know. It's easy to complain when something goes wrong. When the company makes good and corrects thier mistakes I almost feel it's MORE important to post that. It shows they stand behind their product and reputation. In the car industry reputation is EVERYTHING.

[g0ast]

I recently had my whole front bumper, headlights, led's, fog lights, whole front fender, and whole hood clear bra'd.

I had the front bumper and lights done within an hour of picking up the car in San Diego as I was driving to AZ the same day, I couldn't drive 400 miles having it exposed. He used XPEL self-healing products that were computer cut. FLAWLESS INSTALL. He even folded the material around the bumper edges so you couldn't even see it.

Full hood and full front fenders were done back in Arizona, used 3M material, was hand cut due to the size of it, folded around the edges, flawless install as well.

Words of wisdom:
1: Clear bra material that was shipped to the installer pre-cut is most of the time the lesser quality material that is known to yellow over time, spider web, peel back, and damage the clear coat. Plus it was pre-cut to be easier to install by less experienced people which means gaps are huge. RUN AWAY FROM FACTORY-CUT INSTALLERS.

On the flip side, installers that are good can use pre-cut templates that they download themselves from 3rd parties that have measurements that cover any gaps and can go around edges to hide the lines.

2: General consensus says XPEL Ultimate > 3M > SunTek > Others. XPEL has a 10 year warranty for defects, 3M a 5 or 7 year, SunTek unknown (didn't use it). However, XPEL is the "only" material that self heals, so the person who said 3M self heals lied to you, 3M's website itself does not say their material self-heals.

XPEL Self Healing: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_35MvglrLgI"]XPEL Ultimate Paint Protection Film - Clear Bra Self Healing Demo - YouTube[/ame]


3: Pricing varies, but based on the quotes I've had and the final prices I've paid, you can expect and haggle on pricing depending on how much you do (I saved about $250 by packaging full hood, fenders and full window tint package)
Front Bumper: my cost $400, general quote $500-700
Full Hood: my cost $600, general quote $700-800
Front Fenders: my cost $400, general quote $500-700

All in all: full hood, fenders, front bumper plus 2 layers of tint (3M FX over 3M Cyrstalline) was $2000. Well worth it, and I intend on doing the doors and rear side fenders as well!

Tell me you wouldn't want to protect the full hood on a BRZ/FRS! Have you seen how big the hood is on the car?

[picus]

I don't want to start yet another debate about ppf brands, but I want to make it clear that Xpel is not the only ppf that self heals. Ventureshield Ultra (owned by 3m) and Suntek will both self heal. They all have other issues, and research is the key to making an informed decision - but it is widely accepted amongst all ppf installers I know that all three films will self heal to some degree.

[spitfire481]

Originally Posted by picus

I don't want to start yet another debate about ppf brands, but I want to make it clear that Xpel is not the only ppf that self heals. Ventureshield Ultra (owned by 3m) and Suntek will both self heal. They all have other issues, and research is the key to making an informed decision - but it is widely accepted amongst all ppf installers I know that all three films will self heal to some degree.

i have ventureshield on my other car. holding up great, its been 3 years. we did xpel on the frs. down the road it will be nice to be able to compare the two.

[CamryDS]

I have a ventureshield setup on my FRS as well, but the installer did a horrible job -- there's folds and uneven holes everywhere. he also ran some of it over my side marker which i'm quite unhappy about. But the tint was nice looking -- there's a small piece of lint in the back of the film that I feel like I want to pierce and pull out, but I don't know if I should at this point. I'll see this weekend what I can do with a needle.

I'll have pics posted of my horrible install -- my guy had finger prints all over as well =/

[SHIFTER]

Originally Posted by Freude am Fahren

Shifter, what shop did you use? I'm looking into getting a clear bra, and after the way they went about rectifying, sounds like they are good people, just had a bad day.

Auto supershield in Boca.

Id use them again any day. Awesome guys and everything still looks great

[Pacific Auto]

The work in the first post is disgraceful. I am glad they fixed it properly!

[CamryDS]

Originally Posted by Pacific Auto Films

The work in the first post is disgraceful. I am glad they fixed it properly!

Oh boy, you think that's bad -- I'll have pics up here later =)