[JCBERB]

Good to know about the rhino liner as i was considering doing the plastic piece of the front and rear bumpers. But ten years IMO is good enough for me. There are other similiar DIY options on the market now.

Depends on where you live the roads you drive on etc. By the way $700 should get you real 3M film developed for Army helicopter blades - which is bought by the roll and cut by the install shop on a computer run plotter. They should be covering your front bumper - your hood - your mirrors and in some cases they will cut a template for the pillars driver and passenger side. $700 seems a tad high know my high end custom car shop in CA charges from $600 and up pending how much you want them to cover the $600 fee is bumper - hood and mirrors on most cars.

That starts peeling off after about 10 years. And it comes off on your clothes.

Looking to have the bed of my pickup redone.

The VW I bought recently has clear bra on it. I wouldn't pay for it, personally. After I finished the test drive, a detailer happened to walk by and commented on the car. He suspected it has $1k of clear bra on it. That's just insane.

But - to each their own I guess.

 

[Soon2bSubaru]

You're better off leaving it alone. I contemplated the same thing, then realized the same thing that you did, it's an Outback.

Get a Magnet Bra for $50 and call it a day, you can even paint it if you want.

Enjoy the new car.

Also, if you have a white car, the clear bra turns yellow over time, not a good look.

I too looked into a clear bra and when I found out the price - WHOA!. I went with a magnet bra and could not be happier. It saved my paint earlier this year when I was driving back from SoCal in a windstorm. Huge tumbleweeds were blowing all over the road and eventually I nailed one head on. The magnet bra suffered some deep scratches but the paint is still perfect. Don't know how a clear bra would have fared....

 

[Tom28]

Just my opinion, and everyone has one....
I'd rather look at a chip or two every day, than look at a bra.
Also, I can't see a chip unless I'm up close. I can see a bra from 200 yards.

You're not wrong here.

The first time I looked at my now purchased VW that has it I thought someone had taken a key across the hood.

When everything is clean you don't notice it. But let it get a little dirty and it looks like a key scratch all the way across the hood.

The VW is dolphin grey. I doubt you'd notice it on white paint.

 

[Deanski]

With today's paint protection film, it's become less noticeable and tougher as well. Older films have been notorious for an orange peel effect and yes, those can be spotted easy. New film if installed by an experienced installer will be much harder to spot. That is unless the owner has poor experience in waxing the film and finish where you'll see build-up of wax along the seam(s).

I always have clear film on my cars, saves me numerous times from damage. New film does not yellow and does not have the orange peel effect. It also will not change the UV light hitting the finish so when it is removed, it's not obvious that there was film on the car from the paint hue change due to the film inhibiting UV light.

Those clip-on magnetic cloth/vinyl bras can wreak more damage in the long run from it rubbing the finish when dirt gets behind it and trust me, it gets behind them all the time. I've corrected more finishes due to this problem in the past until clear film came into fruition.

Clear film can be custom cut to cover more areas and it also depends on how experienced the installer is. I've seen custom work done well and some really bad. Installer with poor training can cut a finish with an Xacto knife while trimming the film. Seen that often for shops trying to make extra money by filming cars with techs not fully trained.

Now, there is film made for windshields (Clearplex) which will stop the sand abrasion on your glass. Right now, they are cut for more high-end cars, but the company can make a film for any car now. Works great in protecting the windshield.

It's a personal choice to go with film or the clip on bras, but for experience of having numerous car protected by film, it's the best protection going. Costly? yes! But the cost now outweigh the costs later to re-finish a panel.

I'm sure there will be other ways to add protection and have it look good.

 

[J Delman]

I had a nice bikini bra (top portion - not bumper) on a previous car. The look can be sporty, but yes, you do need to wax and clean under them a lot.

Also, if the car will be in the sun frequently for long periods of time, it's not a good idea. You may end up with significant paint contrast due to fading.

I bough the 'official Subaru' acrylic shield. I think it looks great, especially with the grill treatment I've done. It does offer limited rock protection. Check out the photos at this link: https://www.dropbox.com/home/Subie Grill

I had my headlights and fog lights done professionally with Clear Bra. The stretching he did to get it to fit the curves of the headlights created a messy orange peel effect. I had it removed after a few days. Left on the fog lights as they are basically flat and it looked fine.

 

[OutbackDon]

I am a fan of clear bras. I had an Xpel brand film professionally installed on my vette. Clear bras are popular with vette owners. While I think it is a great idea for my vette I am unsure of the value for my OB. If my OB gets a few stone pecks I am not going to get too bothered. But I can understand if some OB owners go the clear bra route.

 

[mitch.tellier]

nice, i like it