I just thought I'd share my experience after having a LeBra installed for a little over 10 months on my brand new Toyota Prius C 3. Overall I'd say yes it did protect me from bugs and stones, but the damage it did to the fenders is most likely worse than perhaps all those little stones would have done. Since discovering this, I have taken it off my car for good and will most likely throw it out. I'm bummed because I always read these things were supposed to be great for protecting a car but this damage is painful to see on my first brand new car. Any advice on what I should do to fix this would be appreciated. LeBra Prius C Damage - Album on Imgur
Damage was from the hooks that hold the bra on? Most of the problems associated with bras was with condensation and moisture trapped against the finish, and grit getting between the cover and the finish causing wear and damage to the finish.
IMO, car bras are an example of irony. I would try touch up painting it if you've done that sort of thing before with success. Otherwise you should contact a recommended bodyshop in your area. Good luck.
Touch it up with touch up paint and forget about it. You'll be the only one that will notice it. Better yet, touch it up and put the bra back on. It can't do anymore damage and it'll hide what's damaged.
When I was interested in getting a Bra, I read on one of the manufacturer's page that the surface where the bra is placed should be cleaned on the regular since grit can build up and cause more damage than good. The only time i will ever think about using a bra, is if I ever go on a cross country trip from coast to coast. `
Throw the Bra away. (.... I'll pause now for a second..... ) Anyway - get rid of the bra. They're garbage. They look goofy - in a bad retro sort of way, and it's impossible to install them without damaging the clear coat that they're supposed to protect. Clean the rubbed-through areas thoroughly and apply some touch-up paint if you wish, but really.....it's a Prius and if you're in SoCal they're like wall outlets. They're everywhere, and nobody is going to notice the scratch but you. If I'm wrong (it happens a lot!) and you're not on the left coast, then you might want to consider the touch-up paint for corrosion prevention purposes as well. If you don't want to pay Toyota prices for touch-up paint, get some fingernail polish that's close. You can even put some some clear on afterwards. Good Luck!
Up here we get a touch-up pen, has a felt pen style applicator at both ends: one end color, the other clear. The "felt" bit can piston down slightly, which draws paint to the tip. Works pretty good, only thing, at least in my experience: the clear coat is guaranteed to lift the color coat, even after a days curing. So I just use the color end. I would just clean that area very well, wipe down with isopropyl alcohol to strip off any wax. Then carefully stroke on paint. Stop quickly, before it starts to dry. Wait a bit, apply a second coat, going slightly further. Just cover the area, slight overlap. It's on an edge, and not that obvious: it'll more-or-less disappear and be forgotten. And oh yeah: Bras are for the birds.
I would get touch up paint. I got some off amazon but my car is Super White. If you are the east coast like me then I would highly recommend getting this fixed ASAP.
Had one on my mom's dodge and the bumper and fenders were ruined. Had one on my xB's cf hood and it ate through multiple parts of the clear in less than two weeks .
My apologies for the delay in response. Yes the damage is from one of the plastic clips holding on to the quarter panel. I'm in Ohio, which means this will have to get fixed before next winter or it'll most likely rust.
Yes as pointed out I think the "Good News" if any, is that those scratches look like they can be rendered nearly invisible with touch up paint. You're probably lucky you removed the bra in 10 months before it might of gotten worse or caused more damage. I think styling trends aside, there is a reason these Bra's have fallen out of usage favor, and I think a big part of that is that they can be as much a device of damage as a device of protection.
I have the same bra, (for the car) , and have used them over the years. I have had very little issue with a good fitting bra. The most important things to do is remove the bra weekly and wash the car and wax the front area weekly. This reduces any chance of etching the paint from dirt. Also make sure the inside of the bra is clean. The plastic hooks that did this are hard plastic, I would put blue painters tape on the fender area That the hooks grab onto. This way the paint is protected from rubbing from the hooks. I would not toss out the bra, but do these things and see if it helps.
