[fpena944]

Was washing the Cayenne the other day and noticed the headlights are starting to look oxidized. Then to my horror it appeared they were bubbling!

But took a closer look at the headlights themselves are fine but the clear bra is starting to give out. Also noticing some issues with the film on the front end of the car.

Did a search and found a local shop that is actually recommended by the PCA but what should I look out for when shopping for a clear bra? First timer here as my older P-cars never had this. What is considered an average cost just to cover the front half of the vehicle?

Thanks!

[David993S]

Just saw this. Probably too late to reply. Did you decide on a clear film? I'm certainly no expert but here's my experience and opinion (YMMV).

I have clear film on the front bumper cover of the Ferrari, and we put it on my wife's new Cadillac this past summer. the Ferrari has a 3M brand film. I has it installed many years ago, but since the car stays inside, the film has not yellowed. The Cadillac was done last summer with SunTek film. I'm not as happy with it as it seems to be very thin and gets blemished easily. They key for good results seems to be selecting an installer that knows what they're doing. Ask to see examples of their work. Any of the high end brands seem to be acceptable.

Here's my complaint with clear film, and comes down to which is the lesser of two evils. Clear film will protect against normal road rash from small stuff - that's a good thing. If, however, a decent size rock is thrown up and you hit it at speed, it will damage or cut the film - that's a bad thing. The issues is you can't really touch up damage to clear film, whereas if it was just a paint chip it can easily be touched up and be nearly invisible. The SunTek is supposed to be "self healing". I've yet to see any of the minor marks self heal.

Lastly I've never felt the need to get the entire front half of a car covered, i.e. hood, fenders, mirrors, etc. Just covering the front bumper cover and other front leading surfaces has been fine for me. Again, all this is just my opinion. I know some will have a different experience.

[fpena944]

Just saw this. Probably too late to reply. Did you decide on a clear film? I'm certainly no expert but here's my experience and opinion (YMMV).

I have clear film on the front bumper cover of the Ferrari, and we put it on my wife's new Cadillac this past summer. the Ferrari has a 3M brand film. I has it installed many years ago, but since the car stays inside, the film has not yellowed. The Cadillac was done last summer with SunTek film. I'm not as happy with it as it seems to be very thin and gets blemished easily. They key for good results seems to be selecting an installer that knows what they're doing. Ask to see examples of their work. Any of the high end brands seem to be acceptable.

Here's my complaint with clear film, and comes down to which is the lesser of two evils. Clear film will protect against normal road rash from small stuff - that's a good thing. If, however, a decent size rock is thrown up and you hit it at speed, it will damage or cut the film - that's a bad thing. The issues is you can't really touch up damage to clear film, whereas if it was just a paint chip it can easily be touched up and be nearly invisible. The SunTek is supposed to be "self healing". I've yet to see any of the minor marks self heal.

Lastly I've never felt the need to get the entire front half of a car covered, i.e. hood, fenders, mirrors, etc. Just covering the front bumper cover and other front leading surfaces has been fine for me. Again, all this is just my opinion. I know some will have a different experience.

What I ended up doing is just covering the headlights and removing the film from the rest of the front end. It's just since the paint is already 10 years old and it didn't make sense for me to cover the front end while leaving the rest of the vehicle exposed.

Yeah I know that means the front won't be protected anymore but it just seemed like a hassle when the car is a daily and we keep it garaged/waxed. So hopefully that will provide the protection we need to keep it looking decent.

Thanks for the follow up!

[linderpat]

shoot wrong thread, I saw clear bra and was looking for something else

[sh944]

I’m ten years in on the clear bra on both my Boxster Spyder (white) and my wife’s BMW (blue). The Spyder is definitely yellowing, whereas you can’t see it on my wife’s BMW. I’m going to get the Spyder recovered again, well worth it IMO.

[Marine Blue]

I had the clear bra on my Spyder for the past 10 years and recently replaced it. The original bra did its job and with exception to one small chip on the hood which is barely visible the car has no chips after 20k miles. I had it redone and the new xpel is even better, car looks news again.

[Dog]

My tint / PPF guy charges about $800 for the front end (bumper, lights, leading half of hood, leading edge of fenders, mirror caps). He does great work and the product holds up well.

[fpena944]

I honestly don't know if I'm going to replace the one on the Cayenne. It was peeled off in some spots and still on in others. I'm afraid if I try to cover it now I'll end up with uneven paint wear.

I guess I'll take it to another shop and see what they say but I definitely need to peel off what is on there now as it is looking awful when viewed up close.

[sh944]

I had the clear bra on my Spyder for the past 10 years and recently replaced it. The original bra did its job and with exception to one small chip on the hood which is barely visible the car has no chips after 20k miles. I had it redone and the new xpel is even better, car looks news again.

Sheesh Afshin, you still have that old thing sitting around in your garage? lol

(Same here... )

[David993S]

Just some miscellaneous thoughts about clear film and my experience with them:

When the wife got her new Cadillac last year I had SunTek film installed on the front bumper cover. I have been very disappointed with it. It seems very thin and delicate, easily "marked" by the slightest rock chip and it doesn't heal as advertised. I would not recommend SunTek.

Today I had the Expel brand installed on my new (to me) Mercedes SL550 front bumper cover and leading edge of the hood. Hopefully it will protect and perform better than suntek. The installer said he used to carry Suntek but stopped after lots of complaints. I'd include a pic of the Expel install, but you can't see it. I have a friend that put Expel on his Jag a few years ago and it seems to be holding up well.

About 15 years ago, my Ferrari had the first gen 3M film put on the front bumper cover. To this day it has never yellowed, cracked, shrunk or anything. Granted, it's always in the garage so it doesn't really get exposed to sun and UV rays, so that must be the secret to its long life.

YMMV.