My experience with clear bra

[subdriver96]

This is intended as a personal experience to be shared with those interested. Please take it for what it is worth and do not be offended.

I purchased a black Jetta TDI wagon in December 2008, and immediately had a 3M paint protection film installed (mirrors, hood, front bumper and grill). The installation was done very professionally, and when working with my Meg's products, I was able to keep it looking nice (NXT wax worked great on it) as long as I was careful about cleaning any excess product from around the edges.

Shortly after moving to the northeast, I took a rock on the hood portion of the car (first direct hit that I could visually see) that chipped the paint down to the primer through the clear film.

Although I felt I had researched the product thoroughly (many hours here asking questions, reading reviews and thoughts, and looking at other sources), and even saw a review where the system was shot with a pellet gun - I was very disappointed (duh) since the system apparently had failed to do its job. Also, since I live in the land of salt and snow, I had to remove the system to repair the paint, a significant loss of $$$ and time, as removal left quite a bit of adhesive behind that had to be painstakingly removed via clay bar.

I did not bother to take pictures (I honestly haven't unpacked the camera yet, and wanted to get this repaired before it gets cold or I get too busy) but I hope this info is useful to others.

I am not saying the system doesn't work. It just didn't work for me.

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: My experience with clear bra

I'm not aware of any paint protection system or any clear bra film that can protect against a rock chip, let alone a pellet gun. Maybe the demo you viewed had been tweaked or doctored a little.

[dedlewamp]

Re: My experience with clear bra

I'm not aware of any paint protection system or any clear bra film that can protect against a rock chip, let alone a pellet gun. Maybe the demo you viewed had been tweaked or doctored a little.

Are you saying that a clear bra will not help prevent rock chips?

[Sevy316]

Re: My experience with clear bra

the clear bra will drastically reduce damage done by rocks, but will not 100% eliminate them, especially if its a big rock. They do work though!

[cnfowler]

Re: My experience with clear bra

the clear bra will drastically reduce damage done by rocks, but will not 100% eliminate them, especially if its a big rock. They do work though!

I'd have to agree. I've never had one, but just did a detail on an '01 VW Beetle that had one. Before the detail I assisted in removing the old bra so the owner could have a new one installed (he's friends with the installer). He only had the bra on the front portion of the hood. The entire front bumper had hundreds, if not thousands, of rock chips clear down to the black plastic. It looked horrible. The hood, however, looked new. Not a chip in sight. I became convinced at that point the clear bras do work.

Remember, nothing is 100% effective 100% of the time.

Colin

[HealthyCivic]

Re: My experience with clear bra

Well it is a clear bra, it's not body armor. If you said a rock hit it, that's probably normal. A smaller pebble or piece of road probably wouldn't have done so much damage. How is the hood besides this 1 issue?

[cnfowler]

Re: My experience with clear bra

...How is the hood besides this 1 issue?

I'm interested to know, also. My guess is the rest of the protected areas look great.

Colin

[subdriver96]

Re: My experience with clear bra

I don't know the size of the rock. It was big enough to leave a smal dent as well, but I didn't hear it (although my hearing is poor, so that's not a good data point).

The rest of the hood and front end are ok. Before system removal, there were next to no marks anywhere on any of the plastic.

Unfortunately, the chip went all the way to base metal, so I really had no choice but to remove it in order to fix the chip and prevent corrosion

You're right in that nothing works 100% all the time. I guess I just thought I could expect to not have to remove the system to make paint system repairs is all....

[reasoned]

Re: My experience with clear bra

I think if the rock is big enough and fast enough to leave a dent, the film probably won't cut it. I have ventureshield - it is supposed to be stronger I think....

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: My experience with clear bra

Sorry to hear about this. I have to agree with the others. Nothing is 100%. The failure had to do with the size of the rock. I mean to leave a dent, that had to be a pretty good size rock.

[Steward]

Re: My experience with clear bra

how much does clear bra run?

[reasoned]

Re: My experience with clear bra

how much does clear bra run?

Depends on install and amount of coverage. I live in a very high cost area and it can be anywhere from 500 (computer cut kit with 12 inches of hood coverage) -1500+ (custom install full wrap by a real pro who cuts the material directly on the car and basically takes apart the front bumper/headlights/grill/etc to wrap the material around to avoid any 'edges')

[JG_Detailing]

Re: My experience with clear bra

I use the LeBra on my car for years. And they say if you put it on it will fade your paint. Well has long as you keep it waxed it won't fade. The paint still looks like new under it.

[reasoned]

Re: My experience with clear bra

I use the LeBra on my car for years. And they say if you put it on it will fade your paint. Well has long as you keep it waxed it won't fade. The paint still looks like new under it.

I haven't heard that it will fade the paint, except maybe if you leave it on all the time with water and other contaminants trapped inside...


Oone problem I had with lebra is that the paint underneath the lebra looks different than the rest of the car because it has not been exposed to as much UV rays as the rest of the car. Also, IMO it is more of a maintenance hassle to take on and off to get rid of water trapped underneath.

Do you disagree?

[Newport Viper]

Re: My experience with clear bra

Pellet gun vs. clear bra

http://www.automotivearticles.com/Clear_Bra_3M.shtml