I'm trying to talk myself out of Clear Bra. I don't think I need it.

[DroptopZ]

Well worth it--saves the front of the car and the gills. The whole front of our 'vette (fascia, fenders, mirrors, hood, windshield) are wrapped, and the front bumper, fascia, and gills of the Camaro. With as thin as paint is nowadays, you'll wish you'd done it.

Working in insurance, $1,200 doesn't buy you a lot of anything if you paint the car. A good re-spray of the front bumper is going to be several hundred dollars, if not a thousand on its own. Gills will be $700 apiece on the low side.

EDIT: Some insurance companies actually offer a discount on premiums for doing this, as well.

[n201mw]

I wish I did mine sooner. I did it a year later and all the little chips are easier to see now. I say just do it, you will be glad you did later.

[Ajax Inferno]

We have gfx unpainted with IOM. Once the film was applied over the GFX it took on the look of cyber grey metallic stripes. Awesome benefit. I'd get the film, it saved the gfx chin a couple times!

Originally Posted by black79ta

i thought about it but did not get it...dont miss it. i do have gfx though

[Nessal]

Originally Posted by TotallyDavis

Well,

New car is almost here. It just got bayed, so I'll have to decide rather quickly, but I think I'm going to skip the Clear Bra.

In part, it feels a lot like the people who buy nice new phones and then plate them in tons of armor so they never get scratched... so they never get to use the actual phone, because all they use is the armor.

Now I know Clear Bra isn't nearly as noticeable, but I have other issues:

1. I hate the line it creates on the front where it ends. It does look like someone keyed your car (very precisely).
2. I hate having to worry about 'taking care of it' and using different things to wash/wax it than I would with my regular car.
3. It's really expensive, as there's no place near here, so I'd have to have someone come do it to the tune of around $1200.
4. $1200 buys a lot of touch-up paint and body work.
5. I think that just accepting that it will have some minor scratches over time is preferable to worrying about every little blemish for the entire 10+ year life of the car.

Thoughts?
Opinions?

1. I see no lines in mine. Actually even at 1 foot away, you can't see the lines unless you know EXACTLY where to look

2. You don't "take care" of it any different than you normally would your paint.

3. Find some independent installers in your area. I got 3M installed for my entire front end for $XXX. YES $XXX. It took him 2 hours to finish but he came HIGHLY recommended on various forums. He did mention that he probably would not do another Camaro for less than $500 since it was much bigger than he anticipated. But still much cheaper than $1200 that you were quoted. He would even do the gills and side of the rear bumper for another $250.

4. See above.

5. That's fine if you can live with seeing a million chips. I know I can't.

[CamaroDreams07]

I wish I had done mine. Gill areas especially.

[PeeBee]

I guess a lot depends on the quality of the film being used.

I know that mine's going in for a full protection "clear bra", and the guy doing it told me the film actually consists of 3 layers... Last layer is a clear coat, just like on the normal paint, so no different things than the normal car care products should be used.

Expensive? For a full car protection about 5.000 EUR (6.5k-ish USD?), but definitely worth it with the custom paint job...

[shockandawe]

Try plasticoat instead , it's cheaper to.

[Hired Gun]

I am having my gill area repainted now. Wish I had put it on when new. So now the next stop is getting it done before I drive it more than 50 miles.

[rberns]

Is this going to be a daily driver or will you drive it every once it a while? I was going to have my front, hood and sides done to mine, but they can't guarntee me that there won't be any lines in the tape. If you are following someone, just make sure you give lots of space and if you see road debris just avoid it or slow done. No chips on my car yet with about 950 miles.

[hypurone]

Originally Posted by IBM/2SS/RS/LS3

Get it but stay away from VentureShield

Do tell why. I went with 3M ClearBra but am curious. There were several telling me to stay away from 3M and go with VentureShield when I was first looking.

IamJacksCamaro I'm glad I got the clear bra. I hardly worry about road debris. The only thing I don't like is it gives the factory matte black stripe a glossy look.

The installer should have installed it around the stripes, mine did...
My car has it running 18" up the hood and fenders, well into the stripe area and he went around the stripes and up in between them, no gloss here:

[NewDivide]

I kinda wished I passed on it now. $600 and I hate the dirty edges of the bra, + on a white car it sometimes looks a little "off white" where it's applied. On the upside, 4,500 h/w mi. and no chips.....

[htp autoworks]

Originally Posted by rberns

Is this going to be a daily driver or will you drive it every once it a while? I was going to have my front, hood and sides done to mine, but they can't guarntee me that there won't be any lines in the tape. If you are following someone, just make sure you give lots of space and if you see road debris just avoid it or slow done. No chips on my car yet with about 950 miles.

Rock chips are going to happen no matter how you drive. Chips on your gill area will happen mainly from rocks being thrown from your front tires. You will also get chips when cars pass you or you pass someone on a 4 line highway... when rocks are thrown up they never bounce straight down the lane. The will come over into your lane and damage your paint. Sure slowing down will help but it wont eliminate them. And what do you do when someone cuts over in front of you at the last second and goes across the lane into the off ramp???? That happens to me all the time around here and every single time it throws all kinds of debrit up.

[htp autoworks]

Originally Posted by NewDivide

I kinda wished I passed on it now. $600 and I hate the dirty edges of the bra, + on a white car it sometimes looks a little "off white" where it's applied. On the upside, 4,500 h/w mi. and no chips.....

If you are getting dirt underneath the edges of your clear bra it means they didnt seal them down with a heat gun. Either that or you are using a power wash every now and then to wash your car. if thats the case then try not to use the pressure washer around the edges as it will cause lifting. If you dont use a pressure washer thn take it back to the installer to get it replaced. That is covered under warranty and this time make sure he heat seals the edges down with a heat gun... or he will be doing it again.

[DroptopZ]

Originally Posted by IBM/2SS/RS/LS3

Get it but stay away from VentureShield

3M OWNS Ventureshield now. Personal preference--it used to be a lot better than 3M but now is just about the same, or so says my installer friend.