clear bra for the civic?

Getting mine done next week, hood & fenders, mirror backs, door handle pockets, door sills, and headlights. If I have to look at one more rock chip I'll puke. Now, if they spread marshmallows on the highways instead of sand in the winter then I might change my mind. Until then, the 3M goes on. Might even get the front bumper done next year but it's very costly.

As an FYI, I change my windshield every two or three years due to the sandblasting effect from following other vehicles while waiting to pass.

Ultrafrozen said:

Getting mine done next week, hood & fenders, mirror backs, door handle pockets, door sills, and headlights. If I have to look at one more rock chip I'll puke. Now, if they spread marshmallows on the highways instead of sand in the winter then I might change my mind. Until then, the 3M goes on. Might even get the front bumper done next year but it's very costly.

As an FYI, I change my windshield every two or three years due to the sandblasting effect from following other vehicles while waiting to pass.

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Nice. Is this the first time you've had it done? Have you been satisfied with the outcome in the past?

hondo said:

Nice. Is this the first time you've had it done? Have you been satisfied with the outcome in the past?

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I've never had it done and regret not doing it on my last Civic (2006 EX). The front bumper has been re-painted but a re-paint is never as good quality as original paint. It's now full of rock chips again along with the hood and mirror backs. The door sills always get scratched up when getting in and out of the car mainly due to dragging in sand from the gravel driveway. I plan on keeping the new Civic for at least ten years so if a few hundred bucks protects the paint during the 7 year warranty then I'm happy. I can always peel it off later if it starts to look too rough.

I personally wouldn't clear bra a sub-50k car. I don't do a lot of hwy driving though.

But if I were to- front bumper, full hood + fenders, mirrors, maybe door pockets. In 3M Scotchgard Pro.

Ultrafrozen said:

The front bumper has been re-painted but a re-paint is never as good quality as original paint.

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This is true. Our 09 Civic hood had to be repainted after an accident and it got chipped up really bad. All the chips happened soon after the repaint, after a few months there were no new chips. I guess it's because the paint takes a long time to cure, and while it's curing it's vulnerable. It's not like we can just keep the car in the garage for months waiting for the paint to cure.

hondo said:

Probably not. I ended up cancelling the order as it is getting too cold to apply the clear bra myself. The past few days I have been walking around looking at the fronts of every car I could see. Didn't notice a lot of marks. I guess our last car was bad because the hood was repainted after an accident and the paint was soft for a while. I will hold off and even then may not do it since my car is also white. I'm worried about yellowing, hazing, and cracking of the clear bra.

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I'm considering trying this to protect my bumper, once I finda good deal on the touring, ever tried it any thoughts.
http://clearbumper.com/

Newb said:

I'm considering trying this to protect my bumper, once I finda good deal on the touring, ever tried it any thoughts.
http://clearbumper.com/

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The ones I heard good reviews about are 3M Scotchguard Pro and XPEL Ultra.

I'm getting the 3M Scotchguard Pro stuff: http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...-Protection-Film-Pro-Series?N=3293812589&rt=d

I had the paint protection film done today and it looks alright in the dark all covered in road salt. I'll check it out at work tomorrow in the daylight.

The installer noted two rock chips directly under where the film was to be installed so if I had it installed from new, they wouldn't be there. Had the car three weeks only.

Ultrafrozen said:

I had the paint protection film done today and it looks alright in the dark all covered in road salt. I'll check it out at work tomorrow in the daylight.The installer noted two rock chips directly under where the film was to be installed so if I had it installed from new, they wouldn't be there. Had the car three weeks only.

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Could you provide a pic of it? I am also thinking of getting this done, but am afraid one can see it. Also, how much did it cost? thanks!

woohoo said:

Could you provide a pic of it? I am also thinking of getting this done, but am afraid one can see it. Also, how much did it cost? thanks!

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I had a look at it in the dark last night and it looks like glass. The installer said black is the hardest colour to end up with an invisible product (I knew this going in) but it looks really good. I had a good LED flashlight and had to look really hard to find the edge, actually had to feel for it in a few spots. I'll have to wait until the weekend as I currently work dark to dark and see no daylight during off hours, Dec 22 is the shotest day of the year.

Ultrafrozen said:

I had a look at it in the dark last night and it looks like glass. The installer said black is the hardest colour to end up with an invisible product (I knew this going in) but it looks really good. I had a good LED flashlight and had to look really hard to find the edge, actually had to feel for it in a few spots. I'll have to wait until the weekend as I currently work dark to dark and see no daylight during off hours, Dec 22 is the shotest day of the year.

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Oh thats great! I also have a black civic and was really worried about the film being seen. Now I am currently debating whether to get 3M or Xpel. That sucks about being in the dark for such a long time, but I look forward to the pics when you can get it. Thanks!

Ultrafrozen said:

I had a look at it in the dark last night and it looks like glass. The installer said black is the hardest colour to end up with an invisible product (I knew this going in) but it looks really good. I had a good LED flashlight and had to look really hard to find the edge, actually had to feel for it in a few spots. I'll have to wait until the weekend as I currently work dark to dark and see no daylight during off hours, Dec 22 is the shotest day of the year.

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It's true, and black is also the easiest color to see the film edge when dirt, dust, etc. accumulate at the edge of the film.

I got a quote for 600 to wrap the whole nose, too rich for my blood right now, so I'm going to just have half the hood wrapped and he's charging me 160 for that.
Its a 3M wrap

What does half the hood look like when done? I have seen Toyotas at the Car Auto show with the hood halve done and it doesn't look too good.