Clear bra protection - Does it work, does it last?

I have just had some paint chips repaired on my 996 Aero Do the the clear bras like Xpel really work, how long do they last? I have seen some pretty bad yellowing on some other cars. What is the average cost? Any recommendations?

Yes. Mine has protected many a rock chip on the front of my car. Don't know exactly how old it is since it was on there when I bought it used. At least 5 years old, and no yellowing yet. Car is garaged overnight but parked outside at work many days. My only complaint is that it's much harder to clean rubber strikes off of that after a track day than it is to clean them off paint. But it's worth it to not have road rash all over the front of my car. I'm sure I could peel it off tomorrow and the paint would look great. You can see prices on xpel's website: http://www.xpel.com/paint-protection...he/911/Carrera Looks like my car has about $700 worth of film on it; front bumper, fenders, hood, and mirrors. Not sure how much people charge for installation.

Mine has a clear bra that was installed by the PO when he had a new "GT3" Aerokit bumper installed. His plan was to do the whole kit eventually. Mine covers the front bumper, half of the hood, half of the fenders, and the mirror. I hit something on the freeway and it put a big gash in the clear bra, but the fender is just fine. Video: You Tube Rear View Dashcam snapshot: I've heard horror stories about clear bras removing paint when removed. If that happens, I'll have to have a respray. But for now, it looks great. A lot better than stone chips!

I have all receipts for my car, the Xpel was put on it when new 2004 and it still looks great. Been thinking of removing but concerned about causing paint damage.

Yes, and yes. Paint removal issues are usually on resprays. If the you repaint and are planning to mask, make sure to tell your shop. They may bake it longer or at least advise on proper cure time before applying the film.

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The body shop mgr, sent a picture of the car being baked extra time. I did not ask how, long. Does anybody know what would be correct?

Clear films are pretty good these days, Xpel, 3M, Suntek are all solid. I detail cars and most cars I have seen with film on it unless its been on some daily driver for 10+ years looks just fine. As mentioned above its going to take the impact from debris on the road, it doesn't mean its full proof but it is going to cut down on chance of damage big time and prevent rock chips. Cost is mainly going to depend on location and how much of your car you want to clear bra. I had a client who recently had the front end up a new Mercedes done and it was around $1000. You could easily spend several thousand doing a whole car or even more if you want it to be invisible. By invisible I mean pulling off parts and tucking it so there are no seems.

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Most quality paint shops suggest you let paint cure for 30 days before installing PPF. I'm not sure if extra "baking" time constitutes curing but you paint ship should know.

I am a believer in the stuff....thebonly yellowing i have seen is from the original 3m stuff....i had it on my 09 c4s only half nose and replaced last year. Now has xpel and did the full nose. never do a half hood because what i found is you can get a a visible line where the film ended. It's particularly bad if you dont garage your car. in my case i had garaged the car and the film guy was able to eliminate the minor shadow. my 996 also has full nose rockers and behind the wheels. My Lambo is covered all around except roof and in a week i will do the same with my turbo. the film has saved me so many times...

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Would never do half hood, it always looks gross. Either just do the bumper and no hood or full hood.

Yes Shop recommended waiting till spring, since the snow is going to start flying anytime soon. The car will go into hibernation. Getting anxious to pickup at shop, waiting for a clear weather day, it is 200 mile round trip. The pictures look good, will post some after I get it home. The shop bill has now almost doubled the insurance estimate.

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LP The last car a saw was a silver Caymen. The whole bumper was done, half the hood,about 15" behind the headlights on top of the fender. Theh a 6" strip on the front of roof. it was 3 years old, i could see the seems were dirty

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Got it back yesterday. I confirmed car was baked extra time in preparation for xpel. They recommend waiting until spring to apply. They have a Xpel installer come to do Porsche and Audi cars in the spring. Shop manager, said they would go over the front of the car again before the Xpel is applied. Here is what it looks like now. You Tube

I am in the process of getting quotes from installers for Xpel Ultimate Plus . A few of the installers are recommending getting Ceramic Pro on top of the Xpel. One of the reasons, " Since film is more porous by nature than your vehicle's paint, contaminants like dirt, pollen, brake dust, & others can embed themselves into the film making it difficult to clean at times. Ceramic Pro has non stick properties that prevent the adhesion & build up of contaminants on the vehicle." So the folks who have Xpel, is this something I should be concerned about? The closest Xpel installer is 100+ miles away, so I sent out request for quote to five installers, (upto 150 miles) there seems to be a large disparity in Professional knowledge and experience with Xpel, at least based on websites and responses. Does anybody have any recommendations for an installer in New York State / N.E. Pennsylvania area ? -David

Curious to know what they are quoting you for install of X-Pel. For the entire front (fenders, headlights, bumper, hood, mirrors) i was quoted $1700, $1800 and $2100 on a 996 GT3. The $2100 quote is from the shop regarded as best in San Diego.

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2003 Carrera Aero (Same GT3 front bumper) $900-$1000 Front Bumper & Full hood $1400-$1500 Bumper, half hood, top of front fenders (One installer includes headlights) $1800-$2000 Bumper, complete hood and front fenders (One installer includes, headlights and side mirrors) $300 - $500 for Aero Side Skirts No quotes yet on Ceramic Pro

The guy who ceramic coated mine also pushed me toward Xpel, but he made it very clear that he would not be ceramic coating the paint in any area that would be covered by Xpel (sounds like a belt and suspenders) and never said anything about putting ceramic on the Expel. These films are self healing, would seem to me that a) a ceramic coat would not adhere well and b) if it did, might impair self healing. Pretty sure the quote for Xpel was on the order of $2k for the whole front end. I chose not to use Xpel, just Ceramic Pro coating.

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It sounds like you like the Xpel, do you wax over it? Does brake dust or road film stick to it?

I have all receipts for my car from day 1. The original owner had Xpel put on over bumper. half way up hood and over front fenders, mirrors, door edges and under gas door on May 25, 2007. It still looks great, no yellowing, very minor orange peel (need to be looking at it at inches away) and you can only tell its on by the faint line running across hood (again need to be looking for it). I wax it the same way as car with random orbital and even use polishing compound on it and have never had issues with outdoor contaminants sticking to it. I just recently went to a ceramic pro installer and he said he would just recommend coating over it. 11 1/2 years, not bad.

Newer "Clear Bra" doesn't yellow like it did before from my understanding. Here is a video I found yesterday comparing 3M vs Xpel (guy does seem to favor 3M more for obvious reasons) You Tube Funny, been looking into this because my car came with some clear bra & some type of paint sealant / protection installed and have been looking on how to maintain this. Mine came with Front Bumper @ 18" from the bottom of the hood + fenders rocker panels up the rear fenders behind the door mirrors Want to say that they Ceramic Coated (or something similar) on the paint I've owned the car for a couple of months, PO had it for a 2 - 3 year and this was installed by PO before him. So far, can literally wash car with water only, dry and looks like I washed & waxed the car. Have used soap twice, and can't tell with or without the soap if it's "shinier". Clear bra film is supper easy to maintain. No wax or anything on top of it.

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David, We just want to clear a few things up. Yes, XPEL ULTIMATE PLUS is porous but that is not a bad thing as our top-coat is extremely stain resistant and it's very difficult for particulates to embed themselves into the film. Furthermore, because the film has a much lower surface energy than your paint (think it's much more slippery) it will actually be much easier to clean off bug guts, bird droppings, track rubber, and more. It is very common to have a ceramic coating applied to the top of the XPEL film and in fact we recommend it. It will add a deeper gloss and shine while also adding the hydrophobic properties making it even easier to clean. Check out this video below and you can see that we spray paint a hood and then bake it on by setting it on fire, we then proceed to clean the residue off with acetone and it comes off 100% leaving the film good as new. You should not be concerned about the film being difficult to clean, we can assure you of this. XPEL ULTIMATE PLUS Video Techno Duck, The Porsche 911 is our most popular model we protect globally. The majority of 911 owners opt in for our Full Frontal protection package. This includes the full hood, front fenders, front bumper, and side mirrors. This usually ranges from $1,895 - $2,195 so it looks like your quotes are right on the money. Just like other things in life, you get what you pay for and that's no different with Paint Protection Film. You want a skilled quality installer doing the work.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this aspect yet - clear film offers great protection from 99% of road rash, sand blasting, etc. (I have it on my 360 and 993). However in the event you get a really hard hit that cuts through the film and into the paint, and it happens sooner or later, clear film will make it very difficult to get a cosmetically perfect repair. I guess it's a trade off, but I've had the situation where a hard rock hit cut through both the film and chipped the paint. The repair is noticeable if you look for it. If there had been no film I could have made the touchup invisible......but then I'd have sand blasting on the front bumper cover. Anyone else had this experience?

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I treat it like regular paint pretty much....however, i dont do any paint correction stuff on my cars myself so i can't comment on those polishes.... as far as brake dust, i have not seen any difference though my daily drivers have ceramic brakes where brake dust is non existant

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Do I understand it correctly? You would have had the option of removing the Xpel, doing the paint repair and then applying a new clear film Xpel? Or is that not correct?

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Thank you for chiming in. Are Xpel and Ceramic Pro under the same cooperate umbrella? What ramifications is there to a warranty claim on Xpel if a coating like Ceramic Pro has been applied. Is there a difference in appearance of a product like Ceramic Pro on the different surfaces on a car, ie., areas with & without Xpel?

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I suppose I could remove the film, repair the chip, and pay to have more film re-applied.........if one is going to do that after each big chip, it would get rather expensive. Just as a reference point, my 993 has an older 3M version of film but since it's always inside and rarely driven, it hasn't yellowed and is in good shape. The 360 has Xpel applied after I had the front bumper cover repainted due to road rash.

Does ceramic coating protect against scratches and dings?

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Now ask them to quote a VW Beetle...Those prices are ridiculous for a 20 year old car!

809Bill, I suspect that any price difference on a Beetle has more to do with labor and materials both being more on a vehicle with lots of very curved surfaces.

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Yah, I'm sure it does, the Beetle might be more difficult too. I've just seen places Tax us Porsche owners in some other case's just because it's a Porsche and they think we must be loaded with $$$...

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Happy to help. No, XPEL and CeramicPro are not related in any way. There are no ramifications to the XPEL warranty should a ceramic coating be applied on top of it. Just note that if the film has to be replaced for any reason, then the ceramic coating will have to be reapplied too. No. Ceramic coated paint and ceramic coated XPEL film look virtually identical. Ceramic coatings may help protect against very fine scratches and swirl marks but that is it. They're designed to protect more against environmental contaminants such as bug guts, bird droppings, and more. Ceramic coatings of course also make it easier to clean and give it a hydrophobic effect. David993S, you're absolutely right in that the film can in fact get damaged and that certain rocks will go through the film and damage the paint. That said, should you have to do a big repaint, most insurance companies will pay to have the film put back on after the paint is cured. In smaller cases as you mentioned, you could have the film removed, touch up done, and then film re applied over top. If you know you're going to do a track day, rally, road trip, autocross, or other similar conditioned driving event, then we recommend installing our XPEL TRACWRAP temporary do-it-yourself paint protection film on top of your already existing XPEL film for that extra layer of protection.

Old post, I know, but ordering a 992 TTS and also live here in San Diego. Curious what shop you're recommending here. Thanks in advance.