Got my Clear Bra installed today, and I must say I'm less than impressed..

M

MorBid

New member
and don't see what the fuss/rage is about.



Car is a Brilliant Black 05 Audi A4 Ultrasport. Kit installed was StoneShiled cut from Avery PPF



1) These things have more Orange Peel in them then the worst panel I've seen including one's I've painted myself.



2) It changes the color of the part, at least on Black. Makes the hood look two toned.



3) Why can't they make the film so it's edges go to the edges of the part/panel?



4) "Virtually invisible" my azz.



5) At a distance > 6' it looks ok but up close it looks like a nightmare. Well if you as picky about your car's apperance as I am.



I was at the point of having the installer take it off there and then. He said to give it some time and let the Slip Solution dry out and see of the color part goes away.



He flat out asked me if I would prefer this or rock chips and without hesitation I choose the later.



I'm sorry for ranting but this was such a anti-climatic experience.
 
Interesting results. I saw a clear bra on a car, but it was a lighter color. Looked fine, but I agree with you. I'd rather have chips. I don't even use a car-bra. If it gets damaged, I'll just repaint it. I always want to drive around with my truck looking 100% at all times.
 
sorry dude, sound like u got a jipped job. From what a lot of others told me, the bra goes on virtually clear and shoulda covered the entire edge to edge if done right. I can attest to these results because i have something called invisible shield on my sony psp which is essentially the same product ast the ones they use on our cars. If done incorrectly, had i learned the first time, u see air bubbles and the cover looks like orange peel. If done properly, its indistinguishable unless ur about 1-2 feet up to it.
 
Don't get me started on clearbras... Give me stone chips any day... Mind you I had a very bad experience with the installers knife through my paint...
 
I spoke with an installer the other day and he did mention those same issues, but said after about a week they are fully cured and look much better. The only problem I have with them is the line they leave.
 
I'm still on the fence over this. My wife's car sees so many miles every day and even though it's a month old, it has a few chips already. I'm sorry to hear yours came out so badly. Does your installer have a satisfaction guarantee?



I've seen the clear bra on black vehicles, and it looks outstanding. From everything I've heard, the film is what it is. The true quality comes from the templates and installation job.
 
Yeah, I've seen a lot of cars around here with the clear bra's, and they're so damn visible! I don't understand why 3M, or any manufacturer for that matter, can't just make it cover the entire fender? I always see it ending in the middle of the fender, sort of in a < shape. Talk about obvious... How does it hold up as far as preventing chips though? As a side note, the only colors I've seen these on were white, beige/goldish, and a bunch of silvers.
 
Thanks guys for chiming in and cheering me up a little with the constructive suggestions and feedback.



jvriii1942: I hope your right, he did say to let the car see some sun for a week or so and everything should clear up?



VroomVroom: Your right, I have a piece of the film right here in front of me (I was so pissed I told him not to do the mirrors and fenders) and it's not peely at all. He did say he didn't plot the film (he had to get it from another detailer cuz he ran out of 24" film). Said he would've plotted it differently so I wouldn't have had so many edges on the bumper and spolier.



It seems I can't win though, having a one year old car painted on the front end from chipping was bad enough. I have friends with Hondas and Toyota's who drive way more miles than me and I look at their cars all the time, no chipping. Audi's paint sucks.



I love the principle but it's the application that is killing me. When I went to pay him he knocked $100.00 of the bill, and I let him know I'm calling the manufacturer Monday. Probaly won't get my money back but getting another film laid on isn't out of the question.



Derf: I'll give that site a whirl and maybe find out some info on how to handle this.



Steve02SLT: His car was a Light Blue Metallic and all I could see was the hood line, and he said he did it the day before. I don't know how to explain that. Maybe it looks better or lighter cars.



VelvetRose: 6 posts, a new member, Sorry I didn't get to say welcome and thanks for the input.



Oh well as my dad says "live and learn"
 
Update:



Went out to the garage last night and applied some Plexus to the PPF and left the Halogens on all night pointing at the Hood and Bumper.



This morning I went out and backed the car into the sun and had another look. The "two toned" effect seems to have subsided (2 from my list).



I stepped back 5.5' and looked at the hood from dead on, catty corner to the drivers fender, and passenger fender and I guess it looks less noticable. But then I do bodywork/auto painting and some detailing combine that with being an enthusiast and I know my eye is probaly more critical than the average joe shmo.



Film still had the texture of OP when looked at standing next to/on top of it
 
It's been awhile since I've had clearbra installed BUT I don't recall Avery being one of the better ones.

FWIW, different manuf. have different looks to it. Some have clearcoat to them, some don't. Llumar makes a very optically clear one but it does not have CC.



On your issue with the fitment.....some shops do it custom and also some *computer cuts* and better than others. The custom PPF shops or better computer cuts .Example - the shop I use only does custom but they Value Added Festure is that they cut extra and wrap underneath the panels. Pop up Grillers, Lights, etc and *wrap to the edge* .
 
Chefwong;



The new Avery Stoneshield (topcoated) is supposed to be every bit as good as 3m's stuff. 7 year warranty as opposed to 5.



My town isn't big on the exotic car stuff. There are only two places to get PPF done. When I originally inquired at the "only" Audi Dealership around here the Sales people didn't even know what I was talking about. The service manager said I was only the second or third person to ask about it and that was in January of this year.



Pictures on the Internet don't do justice when looking for what to expect. You need to see your car, with matching color in person, out in the sun to really get an idea of how it's going to look. I think PPF will always be less noticeable on lighter colored cars just like marring.



I'll let it go a week and see how much further things progress. Like I said I know I can get this kit redone with another. My installer is doing a brand new Porsche this week, I'd love to be around to see how that turns out.
 
VelvetRose said:
Interesting results. I saw a clear bra on a car, but it was a lighter color. Looked fine, but I agree with you. I'd rather have chips. I don't even use a car-bra. If it gets damaged, I'll just repaint it. I always want to drive around with my truck looking 100% at all times.
Click to expand...



How can your truck look 100% all the time when it is peppered with rock chips?



Had a black Audi and there is no way, if you drive lots of miles, you can keep up with the chips. And you can't repaint it often enough to keep it looking 100%.
 
The grass is always greener I guess. I work on cars with bras every day and while they aren't always perfect they're a sight better than my sand-blasted front bumper, at least imo. I guess the key is to find a really good installer.
 
you do have to let the solution evaporate from under it. i don't have a clearbra on my car but i've used a similar material on my ipods. it is MUCH MORE noticeable before it has a chance to fully dry out. but it will never truly be invisible. the material itself does have an orangepeel texture to it. considering how crappy the paint is on the front of my infiniti now, i would have preferred to have the clear bra on there rather than the sandblasted and pitted look it has now. i'm not likely to get it repainted since i only have one more year on its lease.
 
Lucky for me the orange peel about matches the Subaru paint......



It's a pick your poison type of thing - put up with the looks of a clear bra or put up with the looks of rock chips. Neither one looks good, and that's the crappy part. I chose the clear bra based on my local conditions favoring heavy rock chip damage. It does clear up somewhat over a day or two. My first one never did and ended up with slight cloudy bubbles in it. They replaced it free and the next one was much clearer.



You can learn to care for the clear bra and make it near invisible from most angles at 5', but it'll never completely "disappear".......but neither will rock chips.
 
Super_Herb:



Very good points both you and picus are making and I like the analogy with the sandblasting/chips.



The deal is I spent $600.00 to get a repaint on the hood and the bumper with the idea of getting the PPF on there as soon as it cured. If I didn't get the PPF then the re-paint would've been worthless. As others have pointed out, you can't re-paint a car often enough to keep that type of damage at bay.



So what I'm saying is I was committed to the PPF.



I visted that link Derf posted, sorta wish I still lived in So Cal as it seems to be the mecca for PPF





I got all the pollen/polish dust of the car and threw another layer of wax on as I just finished my Full Spring Detail. My warm weather choice is a locally manufactuered glaze, topped with OCW, then finally topped with TOL's Black Velvet.



It was a nice sunny day so I took the car out for a nice long drive since it's been laid up for awhile.



I stopped at a few malls and got out to check the front end. I guess I'm warming up to the Bra. It's not totally invisible but not as bad as when he first installed it either. There are some bubbles on the front lowers that don't seem to be drying out though.



At first I thought it looked "hokey" and took away the "asthetics" where it was installed and the car in general.
 
MorBid said:
and don't see what the fuss/rage is about.



Car is a Brilliant Black 05 Audi A4 Ultrasport. Kit installed was StoneShiled cut from Avery PPF



1) These things have more Orange Peel in them then the worst panel I've seen including one's I've painted myself.



2) It changes the color of the part, at least on Black. Makes the hood look two toned.



3) Why can't they make the film so it's edges go to the edges of the part/panel?



4) "Virtually invisible" my azz.



5) At a distance > 6' it looks ok but up close it looks like a nightmare. Well if you as picky about your car's apperance as I am.



I was at the point of having the installer take it off there and then. He said to give it some time and let the Slip Solution dry out and see of the color part goes away.



He flat out asked me if I would prefer this or rock chips and without hesitation I choose the later.



I'm sorry for ranting but this was such a anti-climatic experience.
Click to expand...



I share your sentiments on this 100%. I had 3 cars with the film applied---slow learner I guess. The latest was an SL55 also black. You could see the lines everywhere even though this was a custom wrap(all the edges were wrapped under). Mine was wavy and rippled especially on the hood. There was a piece at the center of the rear bumper that was to protect the car if you accidentally hit it when using the trunk. That piece developed freckles within weeks.



I had the car at the dealership having some engine modifications performed and the car sat out in the rain. When I picked up the car the film was water spotted. I thought no big deal but was I ever wrong. The installer gave me some hints as to how to remove the spots but nothing worked. I finally removed the film and will have to say it looks 1000% better with it off.



My sentiments on this junk is as follows:



It is very visible on dark colors.

It does show ripples on flat horizontal surfaces.

The edges will collect all types of crap never to be removed

It will scratch and there is no good way to remove the scratches.

It will water spot as I said above

In the heat as we have in Sacramento, CA the film becomes sticky

Beware of what you see on installer's web sites. The one mentioned in another thread on this subject is the installer who did mine. After the water spotting episode he would not return messages sent to him

And finally it will discolor. This I discovered when I took it off. I was amazed as to how yellow it was off of the car.



I'll write this off to a very bad experience and money well wasted. :grrr :grrr
 
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