glassetcher

I just got done talking to a professional installer for the Xpel 3M Clear Bra protection product, and he recommends not doing the front bumper because , with the flexibility of the plastic bumper, it is not as likely to be chipped. Since such a large part of the front of the 8 is bumper, it seems to me it needs to be protected.

Those of you that have had significant front end chips, have they been on the bumper area as well as the hood, mirrors, etc? Does his story seem plausible?
What are your thoughts?

Thanks

expo1

I think he knows the bumper is the hardest part to install and is lazy. I wish I didn't wait 3,000 miles to get my Xpel kit on. My 8 got chips on the bumper, hood, side mirrors just about every place the FULL Xpel kits cover. Get the FULL Xpel kit.

GotBass

I have 18,000 miles on my car and I would say that I have 2 dozen minor chips from rocks/bugs on my plastic bumper. Two of them are noticable from 10 feet away.

Most of my miles are on the chicago suburb interstate system. I have had this poblem with my last two cars here in Chicago. It might just be the roads or trucks here, my dad said that he does not get any chips now that he is in rural Michigan.

ccrooks

where do you go to get the clearbra put on? i'm going to look into this soon

also, does anyone have a pic of the clearbra on? and how do you deal with waxing this area?

thanks in advance

Chino075

Either that guy is being a lazy *** on installing it or he just don't want your business. The clearbra is not just for protecting chips, also from bugs, tar, oil stains, unwanted paint, etc. (just imagine removing it, it will leave a mark or something) If it was not for the clearbra, my bumper would look like I've driven it thru hell and back. Why not try for an independent installer? I got mine thru Secondary Exposure, the guy who installed it took his time and did an awesome job. Took care of the lil' things that happened to it, after I had it installed (removed a huge scratch for me for free and helped me tidy up the edges).

Al

expo1

Shops that deal with automotive graphics / decals tend to also handle Clear Bra type products. http://www.xpel.com/ has a dealer locater on their site. You can’t see it in a photo and you handle it as it’s not even there wax wise. You only notice it when you’re VERY close to the car and you only notice the edges where it ends.

dos

I've got quite a few scratches, and marks from rocks and such. I'd say he's not sure what he is talking about, or does not want to do the work. I wish I would have got then clear bra, or any sort of bra for the front of my RX-8.

glassetcher

I didn't get the impression he is just being lazy and doesn't want the business. On the contrary, he was definitely trying to sell me his service. BTW, it appears he is the only 3M factory trained installer, other than maybe a new car dealer with another product, in the Milwaukee area. I called a number of Mazda dealers and none of them havae anything to offer. Perhaps other cars don't have the severe chipping problem that the 8s seem to have. Some of the resondants in the chipping threads seem to indicate that they think the paint on the 8s is especially prone to chipping. Does that seem reasonable?

Any way, he has tentatively quoted around $300 for hood, fenders, and mirrors. I'm guessing, to add the bumper could be as high as another $200. I'll find out tomorrow. How does this compare with your experience?

Rx8honey

He's an ****. Get it. I have several chips on my bumper.

BTW: if you get it. Don't get it from him.

beachdog

glass, this guy doesn't know what he is talking about. After 11000 miles without protection (and I never tailgate and there are no rocks to speak of in FL), the ONLY chips are on the bumper. IF I were to put on the clear bra, I would only do the bumper and headlights.

As far as price, I think that he has things backwards. When I priced this it was like 400 for the bumper including material and about 200 for the headlights, hood, fenders and mirrors.

Quite frankly, the headlights, hood, fender and mirrors are DIY projects since there aren't any intricate surfaces like the bumper. Lots of places on the internet sell the material precut and the tools are available. I wouldn't try the bumper as a first project.

Chino075

If you think our 8s are the only one prone to chipping, then you must have not seen a G35. Just like our 8s, they are water painted. They chip so easily, that even a grain of salt can scratch it :p

I can't recall the quote that I got, but beachdog seems to be right on the part for bumper. When I had mine done, it was both the front (and front aero pckg) and back bumper, for around $550ish. I have a tendancy of chipping/scratching only the front and back (wonder why...mebbe cuz I live in NYC and ppl love to use my bumpers to tell them they cannot backup anymore), rarely the hood/mirros/etc.

Al

rx8squared

The clearbra is made for the front bumper area specifically. I have the 3M clearbra and spoke to a bunch of dealers and even competitors like Stonguard and never heard that ridiculous story. Trust me your front bumper will chip without it. I don't know of a car today that the front end doesnt have a plastic bumper and resists chips because it can flex. Call Clearbra and tell them about what this dealer is telling you I'm positive they will tell you his information is wrong. Do the entire bumper you will be glad you did. And I would definately not use this dealer, if he's telling you this wrong information now, who knows what else he doesn't know.

Smoke Honda

iTrader: (1)

I was kinda thinking of getting it for the bumper too. When I bought my 8, it came with clear guards for the fenders only. dammit

glassetcher

Well, I went to see the guy in Milwaukee today and he said he talked with 3M last night and they indeed strongly recommened to do the bumper. He said most of the other cars he has done, like the Lexus he has, don't seem to need the bumper. (and many customers agree because of the added expense) But 3M recommends cars like the 8, Corvettes, Porsche Boxers, etc. definitely need to do the bumper. The kicker is the price went from $350 to $700. Ouch!

So, I decided to call some of the other contacts Expel listed as certified installers, but they are in Il, around Chicago - at least 90 miles away from me.

One guy gave me a price of $575 for bumper, fenders, hood and mirrors, + $80 for head and fog lights. And he will come to my house to do it!

He also mentioned a new product manufactured by Avery that he has started installing and some customers have been very impressed with, is slightly thicker for more protection, and it has the same 5 yr warranty as the 3M Xpel product.

What do you think?

beachdog

The Avery product (also called Dennison by some of the installers) seems to get rave reviews from the installers that I have spoken to. I can't say for myself since I don't have it. Mostly they like that it has better stretch characteristics that let them form it to the severe curves of the 8's front bumper.

I said it before. Want to reduce your cost? The headlights, hood, fenders and mirrors are an easy DIY. Let the pro do the bumper.

glassetcher

Well, I pulled the trigger and had VentureShield installed last weekend. Had to go to Green Bay (a 2 hour drive - boy I REALLY HATED to drive my new 8 for that long!) but the installer had a price that made it worth while. Plus, there are no installers of VentureShield in the Milwaukee area! - sounds like an business opportunity to me. He did a great job and I was able to observe every step of the process. Believe me, you DON'T want to try this on an 8 by yourself if you've never done this before! All of those beautiful curves make it a real bear to do.

I understand that there may be some small blemishes immediately after installation (bubbles, wrinkles, etc) that will disappear over the next few days or weeks as the film thoroughly dries. There were a few blemishes when I got home that have already disappeared, but I have one remaining blemish - looks like a bunch of very small bubbles bunched together- that was about 1 cm across. It is now only about 1/2 cm across, but unfortunately is right in the middle of the hood - very visible (well it is to me because I know it is there) My question is, should I expect this blemish to also disappear over time, and how long should I wait before I start to think that it is probably not going to go away?

What is your experience?

Thanks

Chino075

If you want to get rid of the small bubbles, do what my installer did. He used an injection needle and sucked out the remaining air, without waiting for it to "dry".

Al

griffj10

How often does the clear bra have to be updated/re-installed? Does anyone have any info on what the material does to the finish? What about wash and wax. Do you just wax it really well before installation and then never wax the hood again? My shinka shows the smallest spec like it was illuminated from behind so this stuff sounds great to me, but when something sounds this good I get a little worried that maybe something there is a "minor" but important issue. Has anyone had a bad experience?
Thanks,

glassetcher

It seems most of these products have a lifetime guarantee against them yellowing , pealing, etc. Some even claim they will cover replacing your paint if they are the cause of damage. Supposedly you wash and wax it as if it weren't even there. Actually you do NOT want to wax the area covered before installation because that may interfere with the film adhering to the car. You can wax the covered area about a month after installation.

The VentureShield is virtually invisible on my Velocity Red 8, unless you know it's there and look for the edge on the hood. It's some peace of mind that I don't have to constantly stay away from other cars, and especially gravel trucks, on the highway because I might get a ding from debris they kick up in front of me. Not that it can't happen, but it is much less likely to cause damage to my 8.

Happy so far!

glassetcher

I've wondered about puncturing the area as well to let the "bubbles" out. Actually I do have access to syringes at work and I may try it if I don't see any improvement soon.

glassetcher

Well, that blemish never went away, so I called the installer and he said "bring her back and I'll redo it - no charge." How can you beat that! While I was there I also had him do a tint. I'm very happy with the VentureShield and now the tint also.

Zoom, Zoom

tiggerlee

I've been debating this for months now. I found an installer here in Orlando and he quoted me prices. He stated exactly what you did in regards to the warranty against peeling,cracking etc.
I still haven't decided yet weather to take the plung and have it installed or not. Do you know if the warranty is transferable or not? I would think if it is this could be an additional selling point if I ever decide to sell or trade.

G-ReX

According to the manufacturer's site, it's not transferable. http://www.venturetape.com/venturesh...0Warranty1.pdf

meiro

I had the hood, fenders, mirrors and front bumper done at Sun Control Minnesota in St. Paul. The clear bra product is Llumar. The installation is fantastic, almost artistic considering its hand cut. VERY CLEAR product. Almost impossible to see on my Ti-Gray.
Cost was around $400 for the entire job, done in two parts, hood and fenders, then bumper. With only 4K miles when I had it installed, the front bumper already had two good size chips in the plastic. The product formed into and on the existing chips so the are not noticeable. I've never been into the "wrap the car in plastic", but OMG the front of my 8 just shouts come and chip me.

glassetcher

That sounds like just about the pricing I got. The extra $100 I paid covered the headlights and fog lights. It is actually a film about twice as thick for protecting the lights. I was very happy with the results. I feel very confident in the protection from every day dings that apparently the '8 is very susceptible to. Of course, if that truck in front of you drops a full sized brick that you can't avoid, no amount of "Clear Bra" is going to protect you. ( It was interesting to see some of the clear bra sites demonstrating their product. One of them showed a demonstration of a pellet gun being fired at mirror with clear bra and sustaining no damage. That may be a little too much to believe, but it's a hell of a lot better than no protection, as many on this forum have attested to.)