View Full Version : Clear bra quotes
I am getting the clear bra work quoted.
So far two quotes back. This is one of them:
XPEL Ultimate PPF (Performance Package): $2,795
Coverage: Front Bumper, Full Hood, Full Fenders, Headlights, Mirrors, Rocker Panels, A-Pillars, Behind Rear Wheels
XPEL Ultimate PPF (Full Front): $1,995
Coverage: Front Bumper, Full Hood, Full Fenders, Headlights, Mirrors
XPEL Ultimate PPF (Partial Plus): $1,495
Coverage: Front Bumper, Full Hood, Partial Fenders, Headlights, Mirrors
If you prefer some individual/popular add-on options:
XPEL Ultimate PPF (Rocker Panels Only): $495
XPEL Ultimate PPF (B-Pillars): $200 (All 4)
XPEL Ultimate PPF (Behind Rear Wheels Only): $200 (Both Sides)
I am amazed by how expensive it is. The other quote for the work in bold was $1900, so not far off. For the rocker panels and rear arches they wanted $500.
I'm thinking of the work in Bold plus rear arches at $200. Thoughts?
Partial fenders saves $500 so I am considering that as well.
Nick M3
10-19-2020, 02:12 PM
Are you mentally prepared to have it redone every few years?
Are you mentally prepared to have it redone every few years?
Absolutely not. I was under the impression that the new stuff was good for closer to 10 years.
John V
10-19-2020, 02:30 PM
Did you look at my Boxster when you were in Maryland a couple years ago? The clearbra on that is about six years old and still looks fantastic. The only places were it's not great are at the openings in the front bumper. Some of the edges have pulled up a little bit and have gotten dirty. The solution is to just trim it back to remove the dirty edge. I did that install myself and I'm not an experienced installer by any means... the only reason those edges lifted is I suck at installing and didn't get the right stretch to the film around the openings. Tight radii are still a bitch when it comes to film adhesion. I did a light machine polish on the whole car a couple months ago when I did the Gyeon ceramic application and I was amazed at how well the film took a shine. It's not discolored or cloudy in the slightest.
The stuff I used was the first iteration of the "self-healing" film and it's done a great job. I also have it on the Mazdaspeed (though that was a professional installation). It's five years old and looks great.
The Boxster is garaged when at home. The Mazdaspeed lives outside. For a car that stays garaged, you should certainly be able to get, well, more than six years out of an install. The pre-~2011, 2012 stuff? Not nearly as long-lived. edit: Obviously if the car takes any big stone hits that completely break through the film, you're going to see it.
The only "add-ons" I wish I had done were the rear wheel arches, the edge that is exposed to road debris being thrown up by the tire. I regret not doing that on the Boxster.
My boxster clear bra is over 7 years old and continues to look fantastic. Car was almost never parked outside.
Nick M3
10-19-2020, 03:27 PM
I guess they are a lot better than they used to be. The last time I did one, it looked horrible ~ 2 years in.
I'd be more worried on a white car. but I suspect that an orange car will take a slight discoloring well.
I'm tempted to give it a go on my own since I am pretty good at that sort of thing, but I just don't have the time to agonize over it.
My new commute is 45+ miles a day of highway. I'm afraid the M3 would get its ass kicked pretty quickly in that environment, so I feel I need to do this.
The only "add-ons" I wish I had done were the rear wheel arches, the edge that is exposed to road debris being thrown up by the tire. I regret not doing that on the Boxster.
They seem to bundle the rockers with the arches, but maybe it's worth it.
https://www.qcarcare.com/clear-bra (scroll down a bit)
John V
10-19-2020, 03:49 PM
I guess they are a lot better than they used to be. The last time I did one, it looked horrible ~ 2 years in.
Unquestionably. I'm remembering Bren's white M3, in which the film turned almost completely yellow. That was really, really early in the days of PPF. There was a step change improvement not long after that that made the yellowing go away, and then another one in the 2010-2012 timeframe when the self-healing films came on the market. I'm sure there have been more improvements since then.
I'm tempted to give it a go on my own since I am pretty good at that sort of thing,
Resist that urge and pay someone to do it. more than likely you'll need to order two or three pre-cut kits if you try to do it yourself and you'll burn an entire day. A good installer will bang it out in no time and it'll look better (fewer stretch marks, better edge adhesion, etc).
lip277
10-19-2020, 03:53 PM
We had the front on our Yukon done a couple of weeks after we bought it.
Lasted 12 to 14 years as I recall.
It was Xpel as well - I don't recall the specific film the guy used.
I would do it again - absolutely. Pricey as it is/was.
I have the front foot of the F250's hood as well covered.
If the front of the E9 was a candidate for this treatment, I would do that as well.
Also - the previous owner of my 997 had the entire front trunk hood and the fenders (all the way to the door/windscreen) covered a couple of years before I bought the car.
Still looks great (with 140k on that car now).
I have a few concerns when it comes to film, one is the installation, I have read many nightmare stories how the installer left razor blade marks in the paint when doing the cutting plus to do the install right they need to take some parts of the car apart, I know on the Porsches they remove the front bumper and front headlights, the rear taillights, etc.
My other big worry is when you remove the film down the road I am very concerned the paint might come off with it.
While I really like that it protects your car and after having the R8 go from perfect paint to getting a ridiculous amount of paint chips on the nose and hood due to one truck having dirt just flying off of it on the highway at 6o mph basically damaging any car driving behind it or even close to it.
It's a tough call ...
John V
10-19-2020, 04:08 PM
When I had the front bumper replaced on the Mazdaspeed five years ago (or six? Can't remember), I had the hood re-done. It had been clear-bra'd since new... like literally two days after picking the car up from the dealer, we had the film installed. So the film was on the car for four or five years and 140,000 miles, and it came up without issue. On a Mazda... notorious for poor paint adhesion.
It's a non-issue. Razor marks might be an issue, though it's something you should discuss with your installer. If you or they install a pre-cut kit, a razor is not used. If the car is "wrapped" (not something I recommend) then maybe it is? You would want to discuss this with your installer. None of you guys keep your cars long enough for this to matter anyway :)
Sanity check, please.
I'm scheduled to have the clear bra installed tomorrow. In preparation I wanted to touch up some of the stone chips and paint/cover up that small scuff in front of the driver's wheel at the very bottom. Ugh, up very close, it's depressing so see how many stone chips there are.
The last-minute cold feet I am getting is: Should I repaint the front bumper before installing Xpel, or is the fact that it looks pretty good from a couple of feet away good enough to cover it up as is and worry about repainting way down the road?
John V
11-10-2020, 08:42 AM
My feeling is that cars are never perfect (unless you're swapping cars every few months like some folks here) so just put the film over it and go enjoy the car. Especially given your install is today, even yesterday wouldn't have given you enough time to fix anything.
John
My feeling is that cars are never perfect (unless you're swapping cars every few months like some folks here) so just put the film over it and go enjoy the car. Especially given your install is today, even yesterday wouldn't have given you enough time to fix anything.
John
Agreed, and if you're worried about resale, original paint is waaaay better than a respray, even with imperfections.
Agreed, and if you're worried about resale, original paint is waaaay better than a respray, even with imperfections.
Thanks guys.
Install is tomorrow morning.
Nick M3
11-10-2020, 11:10 AM
You have at least Dr. Colorchipped the defects, right? I'd do that first.
I missed this thread earlier...
I had the Model S done when it was brand new (went in <1 week after delivery). Overall, I was very happy, but it was getting close to needing a re-do when I sold the Model S -- but I got a good 5+ years and ~94k miles out of it.
The only issues I had were:
1) some of the edges under the hood were starting to peal off. This is where they had wrapped it around the metal to the underside. I never did anything with it, but was concerning that these might eventually spread close enough to the edge that you could see it externally.
2) rock chips in the clear bra material. I had several. I forget which product I had, but it was not one of the newer self-healing materials (those were just starting to become avail when I had this done in 2013...)
As for yellowing, I didn't really notice that -- and I did have a white car. There was a little bit of yellowing visible on the same portions that were starting to peal off under the hood.
I had the "full front" treatment done -- hood, front bumper, headlights, front quarter panels, and front of the mirrors. I'm glad I did the full panels since partial panels show lines on many colors...
You have at least Dr. Colorchipped the defects, right? I'd do that first.
I don't know what colorchipping is. I just touched them up myself.
I missed this thread earlier...
I had the Model S done when it was brand new (went in <1 week after delivery). Overall, I was very happy, but it was getting close to needing a re-do when I sold the Model S -- but I got a good 5+ years and ~94k miles out of it.
The only issues I had were:
1) some of the edges under the hood were starting to peal off. This is where they had wrapped it around the metal to the underside. I never did anything with it, but was concerning that these might eventually spread close enough to the edge that you could see it externally.
2) rock chips in the clear bra material. I had several. I forget which product I had, but it was not one of the newer self-healing materials (those were just starting to become avail when I had this done in 2013...)
As for yellowing, I didn't really notice that -- and I did have a white car. There was a little bit of yellowing visible on the same portions that were starting to peal off under the hood.
I had the "full front" treatment done -- hood, front bumper, headlights, front quarter panels, and front of the mirrors. I'm glad I did the full panels since partial panels show lines on many colors...
I'm only doing partial panels on the front quarters.
Josh (PA)
11-10-2020, 02:17 PM
I don't know what colorchipping is. I just touched them up myself.
DR Color Chip is a website/product that offers a VERY easy two step solution to covering up rock chips.
If you did them yourself, you probably did a better job than Dr Color Chip does, but it allows for a lot of rash to be taken care of quickly.
Nick says you can porter cable it smooth with compound too, eliminating the need to polish it by hand
John V
11-10-2020, 02:39 PM
+1 on the DR ColorChip product working well. But I still would want more than a day for them to cure before putting film over it. Maybe given that it's enamel, 24 hours is fine. I honestly don't know.
Nick M3
11-10-2020, 02:43 PM
A *lot* of the front end of K's car is Dr. Colorchip at this point. It's a black car with white primer, so it had to be done.
And yeah, I found that compounding smooth with a mild pad works really well. MUCH better for me than following instructions and using the clean up solvent.
A *lot* of the front end of K's car is Dr. Colorchip at this point. It's a black car with white primer, so it had to be done.
And yeah, I found that compounding smooth with a mild pad works really well. MUCH better for me than following instructions and using the clean up solvent.
I touched it all up last night. I'll give it a quick buff tonight and call it good. They will detail the car, but what the heck.
They gave me a Smart car as a loaner. It's an interesting experience. It may be a bigger experience if I need to take it home for the night, which requires 20+ miles of hwy driving on the Rte 128/I-95 loop.
I hate the auto transmission. Even in manumatic mode it blows. Shifts are 1990's slow. It's not bad once in gear up to 3rd gear. Once fourth is engaged car is dog slow and laggy. This some kind of Brabus version. Will post a pic shortly.
They gave me a Smart car as a loaner. It's an interesting experience. It may be a bigger experience if I need to take it home for the night, which requires 20+ miles of hwy driving on the Rte 128/I-95 loop.
I hate the auto transmission. Even in manumatic mode it blows. Shifts are 1990's slow. It's not bad once in gear up to 3rd gear. Once fourth is engaged car is dog slow and laggy. This some kind of Brabus version. Will post a pic shortly.
HA HA HA HA that's amazing.
That's an automatic 1 star review right there.
HA HA HA HA that's amazing.
That's an automatic 1 star review right there.
It is REALLY bad. I mean, WTF is the point of shift paddles if I have time to make myself a sandwich while it shifts?
Also, I was kind of curious as to how it would handle, but the car's DSC and ABS lights are on in the dash, so I wasn't about to push that thing on a damp morning.
But frankly, this thing is so strange, getting it for free as a (potentially overnight) loaner, has some value just for the experience/story.:lol:
Oh yeah, and I ultimately decided to go with full front fenders wrapped once I was explained just how small the partial wrap was. No seams and it protects the pain behind the front wheels. F-it. It's just a few more hundred.
First, the loaner...
Note the 15" front and 17" rear rims.
how does that car require 2 front windshield wipers!? :lol:
Now my car. Last night as I finished "fixing it" and this morning as I dropped it off after a 25+ mile drive.
I'm happy that the nasty scuff in the lower corner in front of the driver's wheel is pretty well hidden. Though at less than a foot you'd see it's pretty amateur on my part.
Still, I think the car looks good enough to invest the $ and prevent it from getting worse.
how does that car require 2 front windshield wipers!? :lol:
:lol: I just noticed now that you mentioned it. It will rain tonight. I'll let you know how they work.
Also, what's with the spike in the rear bumper?
Nick M3
11-11-2020, 02:32 PM
Yeah, the original smart was, uh, remarkable. I enjoyed them for their shittiness.
A couple friends set lap times at Summit Main in theirs. I think that the fastest was 1:59. Note that they are competitive Spec Miata and SRF drivers. A SpecE30 will lap over 30 seconds faster. :lol:
Jeff_DML
11-11-2020, 04:13 PM
First, the loaner...
Note the 15" front and 17" rear rims.
Been teasing my older son the last couple of years that would be his first car:D Whenever we drive by one I point it out.
Oh, I forgot another annoying thing: The brake pedal feels floor mounted and you can feel the brake pedal move up and away from your foot as you push it. Very weird.
Sounds about right.
https://www.autotrader.com/car-reviews/2013-smart-fortwo-new-car-review-196083
The real issue, though, is the transmission. The five-speed automated-manual transmission is indecisive, switching gears early and often. Furthermore, gear changes are remarkably slow. The result is an extremely jerky ride in a majority of driving conditions. We’ve praised some automated manual transmissions for quick, precise upshifts and downshifts. The Smart’s is not one of the better ones.
In fact, the fortwo’s lack of performance can be downright scary. When turning left onto a main road, the transmission always tries to make its shift to second gear exactly when it is crossing the near lane. Directly in the path of incoming traffic, the transmission seemingly takes eons to shift, stranding the driver in harm’s way.
clyde
11-11-2020, 06:39 PM
It's not bad once in gear up to 3rd gear.
You lie like Trump.
WTF is the point of shift paddles if I have time to make myself a sandwich while it shifts?
This is one the most fantastic lines I can recall reading in quite some time.
Now my car. Last night as I finished "fixing it" and this morning as I dropped it off after a 25+ mile drive.
Car looks sharp!
You lie like Trump.
:lol:
True. That was a lie. It is still bad. It's just not horribly bad.
----------------------------------
Upon further driving I can bestow upon this car the title of most apocalyptically bad AT I've ever driven.
It's not just the timing, or the delay, it's that (in full auto mode) it literally will SLOW the car down as it tries to shift. It's ridiculous. It doesn't make any sense. I'd be willing to excuse it by saying it's a 6-8 yo car, but it has only 26k miles. If it went bad in so few miles it gets no pass from me.
In the hwy, the car was unnerving at 70mph. Never mind that it had no power, a mild cross wind would send it noticeably off course. Also, bonus demerits for a terrible blind spot since the B/C pillar is massive.
It's the worst car I've driven in a LONG time. And considering it's pretty new and doesn't offer some massive other benefit (massive cargo or towing, caterpillar tracks, sleeping quarters for 6, etc.), you can blame me for some recency bias, but it's likely the worst car I've ever driven.
FC ... how did everything come out ? Are you happy with it ?
Yeah, I never followed up, huh?
Well, they did a good job with the application. But there are two things that bothered me:
1) I paid $200 specifically for them to remove the little rear arch factory-applied protection and put in a piece that went much higher - I even showed him where the couple of chips above the existing strip where and how I wanted that covered. Turns out he "found an existing kit profile" that they cut and installed. Much better coverage (wrapped around edges) and higher than the factory strip but also clearly below where I pointed out out I wanted it to be. The kit also included a corner slice for the lower rear doors which is added protection, but you can see those edges. So I am not thrilled but not exactly pissed off about it.
2) They said they would detail the car in advance. Well they kind of did. They used some product to "decontaminate the car" (read: strip wax) which makes sense, and they polished all areas where film was applied. The car looked stunning when I picked it up, but it now has no wax and they didn't really clean whatever they applied from the door sills, so I had to open the doors and wipe off that stuff. Since it's winter, it's going to be hard to find a weekend warm enough to re-detail and wax before the spring.
But overall, I am very happy.
It bothers me too when they take matters into their own hands ... why didn’t they do what you asked with the protection ... this is what just happened to my son when we picked up his M340 from the detailer who charged him $1650 for a full paint correction and ceramic coating ... they removed the factory rear lip spoiler which we asked them to do and put the carbon fiber rear spoiler on which my son purchased and they did a horrible job putting the spoiler on ... we didn’t want the carbon fiber spoiler mounted we just wanted it ceramic coated but this shit happens ... they decided to do it and they messed it up.
It just amazes me these guys who are detailers don’t pay attention to details !!
Big picture the car looks awesome but it just bothers me they never get it right ....
:lol:
True. That was a lie. It is still bad. It's just not horribly bad.
----------------------------------
Upon further driving I can bestow upon this car the title of most apocalyptically bad AT I've ever driven.
It's not just the timing, or the delay, it's that (in full auto mode) it literally will SLOW the car down as it tries to shift. It's ridiculous. It doesn't make any sense. I'd be willing to excuse it by saying it's a 6-8 yo car, but it has only 26k miles. If it went bad in so few miles it gets no pass from me.
In the hwy, the car was unnerving at 70mph. Never mind that it had no power, a mild cross wind would send it noticeably off course. Also, bonus demerits for a terrible blind spot since the B/C pillar is massive.
It's the worst car I've driven in a LONG time. And considering it's pretty new and doesn't offer some massive other benefit (massive cargo or towing, caterpillar tracks, sleeping quarters for 6, etc.), you can blame me for some recency bias, but it's likely the worst car I've ever driven.
How did I miss this thread? Bad cars like this are SOOOO entertaining. I do think the much maligned clownish Clarkson actually nailed this one early on about the Smart transmission:
Go to 6:10 if the timestamped link doesn't work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N13lPKRryE&t=6m10s
2N13lPKRryE?t=6m10s
It bothers me too when they take matters into their own hands ... why didn’t they do what you asked with the protection ... this is what just happened to my son when we picked up his M340 from the detailer who charged him $1650 for a full paint correction and ceramic coating ... they removed the factory rear lip spoiler which we asked them to do and put the carbon fiber rear spoiler on which my son purchased and they did a horrible job putting the spoiler on ... we didn’t want the carbon fiber spoiler mounted we just wanted it ceramic coated but this shit happens ... they decided to do it and they messed it up.
It just amazes me these guys who are detailers don’t pay attention to details !!
Big picture the car looks awesome but it just bothers me they never get it right ....
My plan is to buy material and cover the rocker panels as a way to teach myself how to apply film. Then hopefully I never have to pay for stuff again.
My plan is to buy material and cover the rocker panels as a way to teach myself how to apply film. Then hopefully I never have to pay for stuff again.
I’d practice on the Miata first.
vBulletin® v3.7.1, Copyright ©2000-2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.