XPEL Clear Bra

[Quasar]

I decided on having a clear bra installed as I have owned the car ~8 months and already had 10-15 rock chips in the front. Pretty depressing to say the least. After exhaustive research I decided on the XPEL Clear Bra from Chicago Auto Pros in Glen Ellyn. I had them do full frontal which is entire hood, bumper, fenders and mirrors.

I did a lot of research and from what I gathered XPEL and Suntek seem to be the best. I believe they are both 8mm thick (depending on what type of Suntek, 3M is thinner), XPEL comes with a 10 year warranty and the Suntek has a 5 year warranty. The warranty protects against discoloration, peeling and bubbling.

Chicago Auto Pros had 50+ reviews at 5 stars and had worked on high end cars, so I knew they would do I great job if I went that route. They were competitively priced with other shops in my area, with way better reviews. They touched up the paint chips, polished the car, applied the film and did an interior detail. They even got all of the little orange specs off my paint. They had some of the best customer service I have experienced in a while and I highly recommend them to anyone in the area. It wasn't cheap, but I am glad I made the investment. I was pretty unhappy with all of the chips and now the car looks new and someone even asked me if I had just driven it off the lot (random guy at Autozone 3 days later). I think this should be the first mod for anyone given how delicate our paint is, I wish I had done it sooner. You can't even see the film unless you are very close. Definitely recommend to anyone who wants to keep their car looking new!

Rock chips before the touch-up/XPEL:



Install in progress:



End result:

 

[hydrix]

Awesome! I also have xpel on my car too and it's so much nicer not needing to worry about it chipping all the time. I had suntek on the bumper beforehand and from what I saw suntek is a glossier film but the film isn't as thick and the adhesive isn't as strong as xpel. But both are great products.
Anyone in the Arizona area looking to get this done, hit me up and I can get you some wholesale pricing on it!

 

[Chris G]

I also have Xpel on the front end of mine. After almost two years of commuting 60+ miles every day on the freeway I have maybe 1-2 dings on the front end. [emoji1360][emoji1360]

 

[Muldoon]

Car looks great! I also went with xpel, only about 10,000 miles so far but it held up against a Pennsylvania winter quite well.

 

[terr3nce]

Looks good. May I know the total cost of fixing the rock chips and applying Xpel film?

 

[Ceecab705]

What did it cost you?

 

[Fourm1]

I had mine done right after purchasing the car. Same as op full front coverage with xpel ultimate. Def does a great job of keeping it looking new

 

[Guaji]

next week I'm going to have my cracked fog light replaced, then i will have xpel installed on the entire hood, front end and lights.

 

[Quasar]

Looks good. May I know the total cost of fixing the rock chips and applying Xpel film?

Clear-bra for the full frontal (entire bumper, hood, fenders and mirrors) was just under $1,400. I called 3 different shops that all quoted me within $100 of this amount. One shop did 3M, the other Suntek, I ended up going the XPEL route.

Clear-bra for partial (entire bumper, 12-18 inches up the hood, half the fenders and full mirrors) was just under $900. Again, all 3 shops quoted me around this amount.

It was a very tough decision to shell out that much extra money for half a hood and half the fenders, but I went that route as I had a few rock chips pretty far up my hood near the windshield. I figured if I was already going to be invested $900... I may as well spend the extra $500 to have complete peace of mind. I also didn't want half of my hood marked up with rock chips. Depending on where and how you drive, the partial may be more suitable. Surprisingly, the shop only charged me an extra $25 for the touch-up (I supplied a paint pen, otherwise it would have been $50). The other shops did not offer the service.

 

[anticon]

After getting a rock chip in my hood, and front fender in the first 1,000 miles, I am getting an XPEL Ultimate clear bra installed today. I am getting full hood, front fenders, and mirrors. The installer's regular package also included the door handle cups, the bumper and the edges of the doors. I am more worried about rock chips than my own negligence when opening doors, so I negotiated a package to get XPEL Prime HP 30% window tint included instead for $1,800 total. He quoted the full clear bra package at $1,595, and the window tint at $349. I called two other installers in the area and got similar pricing. I also spent a lot of time preparing the paint for the bra myself so I hoped to get a slight discount for minimizing prep work on their part.

I washed it last weekend, then treated with Iron X (didn't get much), then I wiped it down with a Eagle One Clay Mitt, and rinsed and dried. Then I went over the whole car with Chemical Guys Fine Grade Clay and Lube, and rewashed. I still wasn't satisfied with the surface (testing via the plastic baggy wiping roughness test.) So then last night I went back and tested the Eagle One Clay Mitt, versus the Chemical Guys Fine Clay, and a Meguiar's Clay that I got a while ago. I just used warm water as lube from a spray bottle, because I didn't want to rewash, and rinse, and the car was almost immaculate at this point. I was surprised but I got the best results from the mitt, so I went over all the surfaces again, with a little more pressure and dried again. I figure at this point, it's about as good as it is going to get. BTW, the car only has 1,000 miles on it, and is garaged at home and at work, my commute is through mostly rural paved roads (although I live on a 100 yard long gravel driveway), so there was probably not much contamination in the first place. My wife officially thinks I am crazy, I hope it is all worth it. I've got Rally Armor Mud Flaps on the way to hopefully add some more protection, now that my tires protrude from the fenders a little.

Here is a photo of the hood before the XPEL, I will update once I get the car back.

20180306_074644

 

[apex1]

I had Llumar film applied on day 2 of my ownership and have not regretted it. It is actually a lot of work to install film on our cars because the bumper is very complex.

 

[TrickSTer]

XPEL ULTIMATE is 8.5 mils (.0085 inches) thick.

8mm would be .315" (%/16"+)! That would be hard to miss!

Looks good!

 

[Quisp]

Wish I would have done this when new. I'm constantly getting chips on the hood.

 

[Alkoran]

That will be the first thing that I do when I get my car. I'll ask the dealer to not remove the white protecting plastic installed at the factory and drive it straight to the detailer/bra installer. That and then I'll seal the wheels as I see that everyone talks about the brake dust this car produce.

 

[appst8]

I went ahead and installed the Llumar film installed on the hood/bumper/mirrors/partial fenders after 1 week of ownership and it turned out fantastic. Can't reccomend PPF enough for this car after seeing the rock-chip horror stories on here.

 

[DaveG99]

I paid $750 for entire hood, bumper, fenders, and mirrors with suntek

 

[ZREXER]

My first drive in my car was to get the full EXPEL treatment. Managed to get it done prior to any chips. Got front bumper, 3/4 hood with matching fender treatment, 'A' pillars, leading edge of roof and back of the mirrors They also did a full install on the lower plastic rockers. They took off some of the factory ford stone guard in this area. I have them completely covered for the full length. They also did directly behind the rear wheels. I also have the top of the bumper done by the hatch area to prevent scratched from cargo going in and out.

Modern paint sucks, Expel gives your car a fighting chance.