Users of Front End Masks

I've had bras on my last two vehicles and now also on my Prius.. On the first vehicle, an salvage-title Toyota Tercel that had a Maaco-style aftermarket repaint, the bra-covered paint went a bit yellow, but this cleaned off easily with a bit of rubbing compound.. On this car, I was rather fanatical in the first few years about taking the bra off every car wash and washing the car and the bra and letting it dry, etc before re-installing..

On my next vehicle, a Toyota Corolla, with original factory paint, I simply left the bra on 24/7, 365 days/year for the entire time I owned it (over ten years), and there was *NO* effect on the covered paint- in fact, it looked brand new, with original factory gloss where it was covered, but lots of scratches and swirls on all the rest of the exposed paint. There was *NO* fading or change in color despite being covered for over 10 years and never being removed...

On my Prius, I bought it 2nd hand, and the original owner drove it without any kind of hood protection and it's covered with stone chips, so it *needed* a bra if only to cover up the damage. The bra has been on for two years now, and I've taken it off a couple of times and have again, noticed *NO* fading in the covered vs. uncovered areas..

Basically, I think the reports of fading paint are greatly exaggerated.. Perhaps this happens with Ford and GM paint, and it definitely occured with aftermarket paint, but my experience with original Toyota paints indicates that there is no noticable fading even after 10 years of continuous cover-up.. What you do find is that the exposed paint tends to pick up scratches and swirls, whereas the covered paint stays protected, but I think, whether you like bras or not, the hood on the Prius is at just the right angle that it gets a lot of damage from stones/dust/road debris unless protected in some way...

 

Trying to make??? That's going to be a lot of work... I have a 2006 and added the bra from Toyota by removing the lip and then adding it back. If I wanted to make something I would buy the Toyota bra and make a small addition to it so it went over the lip and not under...

 

get a clear bra

 

I should mention that I don't use the bumper portion of the bra, only the hood portion.. The bumper is all plastic so I'm not concerned about rusting and dings, and I just don't like the way the car looks with the bumper all covered up on the bottom, so I've always, even in my previous cars, used only the hood protector portion.

On my previous two cars, I used a "Le Bra" brand, and on my Prius, I've got the genuine Toyota.

If I had a brand new car, I think I would probably go for the clear bra, but with the severe pitting on a used vehicle, the film was simply not an option (unless I repainted the hood first), so the regular bra is the next best thing.

 

from some friends comments, the bra can be a job to put on the first time. most stretch a bit to conform making the first "put-on" a bit of a tug-of-war.

having a friend is HIGHLY recommended. i have helped a few people do it and its much easier. after the first few times, the bra will have been stretched to the size and shape of the car and will be much easier

 

If you tend to drive through dirt roads or are in an area that uses sand on the roads when it snows, you need to be very careful cleaning the bra. If small stones or sand get caught under the bra it can end up leaving the car's finish nicely scratched up. In the winter I found that there was always some gravel getting caught under the bra. I had to take the bra off every time I washed the car in the winter, clean it, and wait half a day for it to dry. With the last two cars I ended up having a 3M clear bra installed. Absolutely no paint damage, almost invisible, and no maintenance required.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(narf @ Dec 5 2006, 12:10 PM) [snapback]357945[/snapback]</div>

Narf,

How much does something like the 3m clear bra run? Did you have a dealer or local shop install it? (Our Prius is still only 3 weeks old to us, and we're still dreading that first ding).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(stanlwyjohn @ Dec 3 2006, 08:18 AM) [snapback]356921[/snapback]</div>

I have a clear bra which goes up the hood 22 inches and also a Colgan bra. The Colgan bra is a quality product and just take minutes to take remove and re install. The bra does need to be removed occassionally to be clean and wax the car. Personally I would think, over a great deal of time wearing the bra that there would be a color difference due to sun fading.

 

How much does something like the 3m clear bra run? Did you have a dealer or local shop install it? (Our Prius is still only 3 weeks old to us, and we're still dreading that first ding).
[/quote]

Most dealers contract out the installation, figure about $500 plus or minus.
That price should include the mirrors and headlights.
This is my first clear bra, I feel it's a great upgrade from the old black thing.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MegansPrius @ Dec 5 2006, 11:27 AM) [snapback]358063[/snapback]</div>

http://www.xpel.com/products/configurator....p;submodel=4610

They have a dealer network as I sure wouldn't want to install one of these myself.