Has anyone tried any paint film protection on to your car? What's the film thickness you use and brand name?
We've put clear bra on all of our cars since about 1998. Many of our friends and relatives now use it too. We found our installer, Ace Automotive (www.aceclearbra.com), by looking at the 3M web site, where Ace Automotive was listed as the certified 3M clear bra trainer for Colorado. I don't know the thickness of the material but it is plenty thick. Our 2012 Prius vee still looks like new after over 3 years of continuous use. In fact, the 2001 Avalon we bought new and sold to our neighbor still looks great due to the clear bra. Our installer now gives you your choice of using 3M Clear Bra or a newer material called Xpel, which has some restorative qualities. What's great about this guy is (a) he makes house calls, (b) he uses 24" wide film (dealers usually only use 12" film), (c) he covers all painted surfaces in the front of your car (i.e., the bumper cover and headlights) in addition to hood and front fenders, (d) he uses film from a large roll instead of a pre-cut template, so the edges of the clear bra are not exposed but are, where possible, rolled under (e.g., the front and side edges of your hood) and (e) his price is about half what the dealer charges (about $700). He also covers the backs of the mirrors, the door edges and the door handle "pockets." On my Highlander Hybrid, I also had him put a 6" strip right above the windshield as I often drive on dirt roads and that area can get stone chips. I find it is well worth the cost. Hope this helped.
I had a 3M clear bra installed on my Honda Fit. I did not have it installed on The Prius. I think the product works great. The only reason I did not have it done on The Prius was cost. To really have all the area's done I wanted it became way too cost prohibitive.
My custom place here in Henderson, NV did the pre-cut 3M film for $650. I thought that was expensive until I saw others were charging up to $1,000. for the same thing. The installer did an absolutely perfect job. In this photo you can barely see the film's edge line on the hood I wish I'd done to other cars I've owned.
Definitely well worth it, especially if you do a lot of highway high speed driving. You forget it's even there.
I have done it to all my cars, I paid about $650 for my v (it's still a lowercase v for the Prius v wagon because only 2010 Prius used uppercase Roman numerals for model designation) well worth it, and like Xterra says, you forget its even there yet your front end stays new looking
The car's first trip is to get shrink wrapped in VentureShield film. 3M, Xpel & VentureShield are all good. The specs for the film change over time. Speak with the installer & go with their recommendation.
