Hi everyone, I installed a clear bra on my car and it looks good so far but two small rocks did manage to penetrate the clear bra - leaving two very small chips. I never had this on my silver 997.2 but on the black 991, it happened.
For those that have had a clear bra installed on their cars for awhile now, have you noticed any small chips or tears happening from rocks hitting the bumper? I can't imagine its perfect protection or is my clear bra just bad quality?
I have the 3M clear bra on my 09 C2S Cab and my wife's 08 987 Boxster LE so that's 7 years of total time and I've never had a rock chip go through the plastic into the paint. That doesn't mean it can't happen if a particularly high velocity stone w/ a sharp edge happens to hit the car.
I have 3M and so far no problem. Check your warranty as for mine the dealer will repairs the chip, repaints if needed, and replaces the clear bra. At least that's what said on the paper.
Really sorry to hear it, and yes I have seen it many times. Just saw a Ferrari F430 this weekend with a clear bra half way up the hood. It took a good stone that penetrated the bra and let water get in underneath it. Now there is a fairly large area under the bra about 10 times the size of the actual ding where the paint is ruined and extremely noticeable,...it turned a dark red instead of the typical Ferrari red.
This is one of many reasons I buck the trend of not liking clear bras at all. I'd rather just take the time and repair the chip rather than have a clear bra hassle.
Now, what to do? Take it back to the installer and at the very least have it sealed so that water/moisture cannot get in and under the nick. Then talk to them to see what would be the best way to fix the chip if you want to.
Good luck!
Thanks guys. The two chips are the size of a pin so not sure if its even worth sealing. I was just checking to see if this is weird or not. But looks like the clear bra from responses are almost perfect protection - things can still happen.
Clear bra is made to take the beating so that your paint doesn't have to. Once the clear bra gets beat up a little bit you can buff a lot of it out. I had someone scrape their mirror down the side of my truck and put a long scratch in the clear bra. It 90% buffed out with a Mothers power ball and some scratch x. I was surprised.
I have a black truck with mud tires that is too big to fit in my garage. I installed 3M, Venture, and Avery clear bra on my personal truck so I could compare the life span of the 3. The Avery and Venture are long gone (faded) and removed. The 3M down the side rockers and fenders still looks brand new after 5 years of San Diego sunshine and kicking up rocks all over it's self with the mud tires. There are lots of new and expensive films that look nice and smooth and promise a lot. But I will always stick by the good ol proven results of the 3M.
My baby:
I have the 3m and have a few minor chips through on the hood . It's only been on a year . Nice to know you can buff it . I do keep it waxed . I'll give that a try , thanks
I had expel ultimate installed on most of my cgts. Went to Vir and came back with a very small rock chip or tire chip on the front hood about the size of a large pin but I could see it . took it back to original installer and he spent some time getting the dirt or rubber out of the chip. He then sealed it . Now I can not even find it on the hood. Very pleased with the product, I also had ceramic pro put on over the expel.
You didn't mention the name of the paint protection film that was installed onto your car? You compared films, were the same films? All paint protection films are not equal and yes quality certainly does vary!
FWIW I have a bit of experience with both Xpel Ultimate and 3M 948Pro (on the latest car), both provide great protection and deflect/protect against all but the larger sharper rocks. I always find it interesting that there are those who think that paint protection film is impervious to damage, sure it helps a lot but the material is only so thick and can only provide a measured amount of protection. I think of these products as a line of defence against the daily rigors of driving, they do a lot to protect the painted surfaces and can reasonably be replaced if they take a bigger hit that cause damage, but they will get scratched and torn if the projectile is large or sharp enough to do damage, to expect otherwise is a dream.
In answer to your question, of course the PPF on my cars has chips out of the film as well as scratches and tears, considering what comes at the car how could you expect otherwise?
My theory is this, I like to drive but I also want to do a reasonable job of protecting the car's finish, if it were a garage queen and only came out to drive to coffee with the gang, sit an look pretty then I would have skipped the paint protection film, but because I drive 1000's and 1000's of kilometers every year to go to Escape, Treffen and Parades the paint protection film serves as a buffer against damaging hits that will undoubtedly be encountered in the real world.
