I have been looking into having the clear bra product installed on my car, but since I have a custom front bumper (Cervini C300 kit) the installer will need to custom cut for the front bumper. He quoted me a price of $314 using the factory cutouts for hood, fender and mirrors (shouldn't be any difference for the hood, right?) and $800 for the front bumper cover. He said this was a worse case price and said he would drop the price some depending on how it goes. So I'm staring at a total of $1114 to have this done, which is a lot of cake. I'm also staring at the first small chip in my newly painted front fascia Anyone have an idea how much roughly I should xpect to pay for a custom bumper install of this stuff? Problem is there is only 1 dealer an hour away from me, so it's tough to price shop. Did I mention my wife doesn't want to hear about spending another $ on this car of mine

I want to keep her looking like this as long as possible:

 

This is one of those products where the markup is horendus. Sell $50 worth of materials and 4 hours labor for $1100. What a rip.

Should be in the $300 range unless the installers are degreed rocket scientists......

 

Covering that beautiful car with anything is a bad idea in my book. I've never been fond of car bras of any color. I know the theory is that you protect the paint but then you have to suffer with having it on all the time. Most folks find it impractical to keep removing it so they just leave it on. Then the moisture gets behind it, the paint can fade at a different rate, etc.

 

Clear "bra" is a clear 3M film that is permanently installed on the car to protect the paint. Not one of the bras from the 80's/90's that you're thinking of.

 

I just ordered a bunch of film from Xpel. I paid close to $900 for the material alone. I'll be installing it myself. So, your price isn't too crazy I suppose. The price is ridiculous, but there aren't very many options as you mentioned.

 

Doods,
Autozone sells a off brand film....
Not sure the name, but if you go to the ricer section. You know, where they have the glow in the dark shift ***** and neon ash trays.
Well anyways dig around near the "GT" stickers and chrome door protectors and you will find it.
It comes in an 8" wide sheet, is crystal clear and you get about 20' for $10.
Stuff works and you can practice ALOT before you are in the 3m price range.

 

So, it is kind of like Saran Wrap for your front end?

 

In a nutshell. It's pretty thick and is UV stabilized so it won't dry out, peel or discolor.

 

Wow, you must have ordered a lot of material, how much of the car are you going to cover? As I understand it, you can buy the precut Mustang GT kits for somewhere less than $600 (I think it's actually a lot less than this). It's also my understanding that this stuff is not really meant for the do-it-yourselfer since you need to work it around compound curves, stretch, shrink etc. I do a lot of stuff myself, but this one will be left up to the specialist.

I called a local Porsche delaership on Friday and asked if/who does their cars and they put me in touch with a local dealer/installer of Ventureshield. I did some research on them and the product seems to be an exact match of the 3M Clear Bra, you can read the indipendant tests posted on their site:

http://www.ventureshield.com/dealers.asp#Results

Anyway, found a couple of local dealers for this product and am in the process of getting 3 quotes to see where I can get the best price.

 

The stuff at Autozone is not in the same league as the 3M or Ventureshield products. It's good for it's low cost purpose, but I want to install something that will be there for 5+ years without yellowing or lifting. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

It IS a precut kit. GT500 bumper and headlights, GT hood, fenders, rockers, leading edge of rear quarters and a few other pieces. It's a few more pieces than the normal GT kit. Even though the bodywork beyond the fascia is pretty much the same, they offer more components for the GT500. Also, the GT500 bumper was considerably more expensive than the standard GT bumper for some - I'm guessing lower volume maybe. Don't be scared by the complexity of the install. I'm the guy that does everything myself, and I mean everything. I even tint my own windows (and yes they look good and are bubble/finger-free for the peanut gallery). If you do a little legwork you can quickly pick up tricks of the trade...although a lot of them are simple common sense.

 

It pays to shop around
I got a quote from another dealer for a total of $880 complete, less headlights (I think I might have this done as well). Still waiting for 1 more quote, but I don't expect it to be much if any lower than this.

 

I hate the clear bra stuff. If it takes hits the clear stuff gets damaged looking just like damaged clear coat. It costs less to get the front end repainted after a few years, or touched up if anything really bad happens-that would ruin the clear package tape anyway. And I don't care what people say, you can see it on the car easilly . I get trade ins with this stuff on it all the time, total waste of money.

Its very hard to keep wax and fuzz from microfiber towels out of the edges. $880 is well over half way to a GT500 nose conversion. If you're that worried about it with a stock nose get a take-off bumper cheap and you can swap it out after a few years on the road for a fraction of the cost of the sticker tape. I had my 06 for over a year and only got 3 tiny chips on the front in the constant heavy construction northern va area. I could of had my bumper guy touch up and wet sand em perfectly for $25-30. Nothing shines like the actual paint. the upper surface of the hood is more prone to chipping then the front bumper. Just don't tailgate trucks, especially in the rain. No way would I put that stuff on the C300 nose with those stripes. Every dealer has a bumper repair guy contracted that can fix quite a bit for very little $$

90% chance the worst most-likely scenario is you scrape a driveway or curb and have to get it fixed by a guy who needs to pull the clear bra off first(because it shreds right up). Something really bad needs to happen before it costs more then $150 to fix. I would just get the headlight protectors, but not the bra. And when the clear bra gets checked and chipped up, you can't fix it. So what are you going to keep skanky looking vinyl on for year after year so your paint stays nice?

 

Geez, tell us how you really feel!
I'm not interested in a GT500 nose, or a cheap take off bumper cover (in fact trying to sell mine). My C300 is only a couple of weeks old and already have a very small chip on the nose, so I need to do something. Many I have spoken to on forums and off are fans of the clear bra. Many high end car dealers have this stuff installed on new Porches, Mercedes etc with great results. I do appreciate your opinion, otherwise I would have never posted on a forum, but so far your is the only negative one I have encountered regarding this product. That said, I think you are right, if the clear bra gets damaged, then I have to look at it until i replace it. The stuff I am getting installed has a lifetime warranty, although I'm not sure exactly what is covered other than adhesion and clarity. Seems like I'm ****ed if I do and if I don't so I am going to give this product a shot. hopefully I won't regret it.

 

I don't care how good your guy is, you can still find chip repairs. I'm perfectly happy putting 100k miles on the car and being chip-free thanks very much. If the film gets too tacky I'll replace it. I'll still have nice smooth, unadulterated paint. Should I decide to retire the car from daily driver duty then I can pull the film and leave it off.

 

The guy who fixes mine wet sands, shoots color and clear and blends everything perfectly. He fixes all the factory defects in the paint(I had a few). The bras damage easier then the factory clear so you in effect run around looking like you have twice the chips. We definitely make cake on it at the dealer though. To each his own, but I can spot it from quite a distance, it would make me nuts to look at it.

 

I was told by a dealer/installer who sells & installs both 3M and Ventureshield brand that te 3M product has a texture to it that is more than even the factory clear coat. The Venturshield product has zero texture, is supposed to be 50% stronger/more durable and carries a liftime warranty versus 3M 3 or 5 year warrant (forget what it has). So I am going to try the Ventureshield, price was the same and he just provided me the facts and didn't try to sway my opinion. I know if you are looking for it, you will probably be able to spot it on the car, but to me it's worth it to protect the finish. Gets installed next week, I'll share my experience once complete.