Clear bra vs. touchup paint sticks

dtbernstein87

dtbernstein87

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So in my progressive spiral toward becoming an obsessive protector of car paint, I have yet another question - any car that gets driven is going to get nicks and scrapes from rocks and road debris unfortunately, so if you have a clear bra, you can protect against that. I have also seen pictures of "paint damage" from the clear bra itself... Can anyone explain more about this or point me toward a previous article they have written?

Also, since the clear bra will never be able to cover everything, if I get real obsessive, I guess I would want to touch up the paint. I know you can get color matched touch up paint sticks.

I have a 2010 BMW 3 series and i know the factory paint is a dry dust that is sprayed on and then heated to make the actual coat. Since that's not what the touch up stick is and I assume therefore that it is different, can I expect perfect results if it is done properly?

Thanks again!
 
i have been debating the same, I have a 335i coupe, its a catch 22 either way.
 
When is auto geek going to be selling pocket Mike Phillipses?
 
I have the Xpel self-healing clear film on my black Camaro. I can tell you a few things/experiences and maybe this will help you decide:

1. expensive; $800 for the front bumper and side gills/fender
2. installers aren't perfect and it isn't that easy to research them or their reputation; my installer was fantastic but his install was only okay. There are some corners with air in them, plus a few stretch marks visible, but really only noticeable to the owner. I give the quality of the install a B but he was so nice that I didn't like one fender and he redid it. I imagine in a year he will redo it for me for free or cheap if I find a reason not to be happy then.
3. I got behind a pocket of traffic whereby one vehicle was slinging gravel everywhere. I got home to see the gravel only hit the fender thankfully, and there were hundreds of dissolved rocks on my fender. I literally wiped them off with MF and a QD with no damage to the fender.
4. An aluminum can flew out of nowhere on the freeway one day and into the bra. This is one instance where my preference would be not to have a bra, because it put a gash in the film which is now visible and cannot be touched up (which is what I would have done if the gash had been in the paint).

Although a few downsides, the film is a great investment. The gravel incident easily could have required a repaint on my bumper. But the film's only weakness is damage or poor install. Poor install is probably the most aggravating thing to deal with, but can be solved.

Damage is unlikely at best, so I wouldn't let it worry you too much. Overall I think it was a sound $800 investment. I live in one of the biggest cities in the country so I drive in a lot of traffic with a lot of crap flinging from behind cars and I just don't want to take the risk of having to repaint my bumper every other year.

Lastly, touch-up paint is WAY MORE visible than a clear bra, provided the installer knows even a little bit about what he is doing.
 
If you're in SoCal, I can recommend an installer that will custom cut the film so that there are very few visible cut lines. PM me if interested.
 
Kiteman - thanks for the post! I don't know what city you live in, but it sounds like you have had some really unfortunate freeway incidents! I guess at this point, the cost of the clear bra is probably more than the cost for me to repair my paint and in the instance of a repaint, well... I hope that will never happen...

SpoiledMan - that does sound great, unfortunately, I am halfway across the country
 
For work I cover a territory that consists of North Dakota, South Dakota and Northern 3rd of Minnesota so road rash and rock chips are a way of life. I do any number of things to make sure I don't have a car in front of me of throwing rocks at me but it happens. Thus far, my clear bra has done its job. I have 3-4 isolate marks that damaged the clear bra and from what I can tell the paint is undamaged under the clear bra.

My hope is that in 4-5 years when the clear bra has served its purpose I can have it removed and sell the car in better condition then it would have otherwise been in or keep the car and have a new clear bra installed.

Price wise, it definitely isn't the cheapest method but if the rock chips/road rash is bad enough, you will be looking at a repaint (not touch up) which won't be cheap and you lose your factory paint. My clear bra came in around 1200 dollars, that included the full hood, full front bumper, both front fenders completely covered and both rockers. The hood and bumper were pre-cut pieces, the bumper looks good but the hood looks awesome compared to custom cut pieces I have seen. The fenders were custom cut and turned out great and the rockers were also custom cut. The rockers, didn't turn out the greatest, but it was a tough area and it is also the one area the car will self inflict damage so as long as the clear bra works, I am happy.

Edit: A nice coat of opti-coat does a lot to reduce the dullish plastic look that the clear bra.
 
crxman2010 said:
For work I cover a territory that consists of North Dakota, South Dakota and Northern 3rd of Minnesota so road rash and rock chips are a way of life. I do any number of things to make sure I don't have a car in front of me of throwing rocks at me but it happens. Thus far, my clear bra has done its job. I have 3-4 isolate marks that damaged the clear bra and from what I can tell the paint is undamaged under the clear bra.

My hope is that in 4-5 years when the clear bra has served its purpose I can have it removed and sell the car in better condition then it would have otherwise been in or keep the car and have a new clear bra installed.

Price wise, it definitely isn't the cheapest method but if the rock chips/road rash is bad enough, you will be looking at a repaint (not touch up) which won't be cheap and you lose your factory paint. My clear bra came in around 1200 dollars, that included the full hood, full front bumper, both front fenders completely covered and both rockers. The hood and bumper were pre-cut pieces, the bumper looks good but the hood looks awesome compared to custom cut pieces I have seen. The fenders were custom cut and turned out great and the rockers were also custom cut. The rockers, didn't turn out the greatest, but it was a tough area and it is also the one area the car will self inflict damage so as long as the clear bra works, I am happy.

Edit: A nice coat of opti-coat does a lot to reduce the dullish plastic look that the clear bra.
Click to expand...
I want a full bra on the front of the Audi. I wanted it installed when I bought it. The Tsunami in Japan wiped out the adhesive factory. They got it in stock 6 months later. I need to get the car to Greenville. for the install. I wonder if they can install over coating. I am glad to hear that O C or OG will protect the bra.
 
My understanding is you could install a clear bra over the opti-coat once it has fully cured. So you could be looking at 3-90 days I think, I didn't like this idea picticularly and choose to do the bra right away :D.
 
I've found one of the best ways to keep rocks and other 'road-debris' from pounding the he!! out of a vehicle, by far:
Is to put a layer of XPel's PPF between those blemish-causing-scoundrels, and, at the very least, the front clip of your car!!

:)

Bob
 
FUNX725 said:
I've found one of the best ways to keep rocks and other 'road-debris' from pounding the he!! out of a vehicle, by far:
Is to put a layer of XPel's PPF between those blemish-causing-scoundrels, and, at the very least, the front clip of your car!!

:)

Bob
Click to expand...


Or leave it in the garage Im the MAN
 
crxman2010 said:
Or leave it in the garage Im the MAN
Click to expand...

Some folks do...forever, it seems. How sad, at times, as far as I'm concerned...It's not mine, though.
But..hey no worry about road-debris mucking it up!!



:)

Bob
 
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