Front bumper bra, Which brand is best?

Hey, HEy, HEY...! I resemble that remark.

ZC1

(My out is the disclaimer: if you can stand the look of the black bra....)

 

[FONT=&quot]The hood deflector I purchased was OEM. The expensive Ventureshield you guys keep pushing is not. The thin film is not going to protect the hood from dents caused by most road debris. The deflector saves the hood of my car from countless dents on a weekly basis. To simulate a small rock striking your hood tap your hood with the handle of a screwdriver. I tested my deflector with a hammer without a dent. Ventureshield and all the other expensive clear film will not protect my hood from dents I normally would get while driving on the interstate. [/FONT]

The Prius is a very ugly car especially in the front. The deflector dresses the car up.

I have had zero changes in MPG's since installation of the deflector. (Please cite something independent to the contrary). I could not afford $50 on a weekly basis to remove the dents I would receive without the deflector. It would have to be large boulder dropped from a cliff to break the deflector. I have had several large rocks hit my deflector with no damage to the car or the deflector.

Covering all the parts you did is overkill. What was the total cost?

 

If you have that many rock dings and etc.. on every front facing part
of your car after 3 years I would say you drive on gravel roads, rocky
terrain, and drive about 5 feet away from spewing salt trucks. it is surely
a sign of driving too close to other vehicles in my mind.

i was just shocked that to apply a plastic coating on the front of a prius
they want basically 3% of the value of the car new. in other words 600
bucks approx.

I am not sure that represents good value when you could simply replace
the piece of the car that got the damage in normal driving conditions.

But that is just me. I of course have driven cars and never noticed a termendous
amount of damage due to rocks. Most older cars seem to have their paint
in lousy shape due to lack of washing and waxing... let alone minor rock
chips.

soo i guess you mileage may vary.

also i do not think any of the products out there yellow anymore. i think
they have worked out that bug long ago. but i can be wrong.

 

Austin50mpg,

In all fairness, I had a hood deflector on my last car. It hit too many rocks and decided to crack and break, but it took years to do that. Finally, I just ripped off the remaining dangling plastic. The deflector was fine for that vehicle, but I decided against it on the Prius, resorting back to a new improved bra scheme.

ZC1

 

$500, guaranteed for life and worth every penny of it, especially during love bug season. Which parts do you believe to be overkill? Florida has a horrendous love bug problem twice a year and I bought the film to avoid their damaging the paint just as much to avoid stone damage. Those pieces pretty much cover all of the front surfaces where bugs would hit. What happens if your multiple rock projectiles are not polite enough to aim for the space age acrylic plastic device, but instead take a fancy to your bumper or headlight? The rock that damaged my hood was large....perhaps the size of a ping pong ball. Small pebbles cause no damage. If you like that thing, more power to you....if you don't want to spend the money on film, I understand. But to suggest what you have is somehow superior completely misses the mark.

 

I saw a "Clear Bra" that is put on new Toyotas by a dealer in Folsom, CA and they were adding $1,200 to the list price. The market for the Prius has gone crazy here in the Sacramento area so I have no idea what the clear bra should cost. It is a clear film that is applied to the front of the car and is supposed to last for many, many years. If I can find who is doing the work I'll post it here.

 

Wow $500 plus $50 every time I get a dent in my hood? That is not worth it at all and very inferior to a $80 deflector. Love bugs damaging paint? They must be huge prehistoric love bugs. Either that, or one must be too lazy to clean off the love bugs before they bleed through the paint. In my area the love bugs have one mating season a year but it last the entire month of August. I just clean them off before they bleed through the paint. I suppose your luck is worse than mine. I have never had any rock or road debris damage my headlights or any of the other parts you paid to cover...especially the roof. As far as the bumper is concerned many rocks have hit and bounced off my bumper without any damage. The bumper is very flexible on the Prius. If you like over-paying for a product that will not protect you aginst dents in the front of your hood, than more power to you! It is not an inferior product to the overly inflated price of clear film especially when it comes to dent protection.

 

The following link will take you to the dealer locater page for the US

VentureShield.com Dealer Locator

I get the scratches on the side. I have 1 small impact on the grill. Of course it missed the VentureShield & pipe insulation. Something scraped across the left corner of the front bumper causing some damage to the film but nothing to the paint.

 

Sorry. I misused OEM. Your right about the deflector being so and ventureshield not.
What I meant was Ventureshield(or any clear bra) is invisible, therefore OEM by default(in my interpretation), where as the hood deflector looks out of place, like it doesn't/shouldn't fit there, making it not OEM(in my interpretation).

By the way, where the HECK are you driving that you get hood dents from road debris? I've never seen that. Chips, yes, dents, no. Do you live next to a gold ball factory and drive behind their rickety delivery trucks?


Seriously, as mentioned earlier, to each their own. There are several ways to achieve the same result. I just want to be ready in case debris takes a liking to my fenders instead of my hood.

 

LOL

 

My bad ZC1. I was getting a little too snobby for my britches with that comment. My apologies. :grouphug:

 

So Chris, does that mean you finally like the bra look on my car?

(We'll see if he changes his mind on this one...)

ZC1

 

Interstate driving between three cities. I never had problems with dents from road debris BP (Before Prius) I discovered within the first week the Prius has a large magnetic-like device which attacks anything and everything on the road. Even birds make suicide runs into my hood.

Too bad the Prius has a aluminum hood that dents very easily and paint that be scratched with a fingernail. I was frightened to see the front of the hood each time I got home before I installed the deflector.

Look around on Prius chat and you will see hood dents are a major problem for a lot of members.

 

I am still undecided about hood protection. I have 3M on a car that I recently sold - I was NOT impressed. Although there was limited yellowing, the bugs and debris that impacted the material became imbedded (or left marks like they had become imbedded). THe buyer wanted the film removed - the detail shop charged a LOT to remove. The issue with bras has been documented. The deflector looks like a possibility.

 

I have liberated by Prius and it is now bra-less. Just let your front end hang out. I get lots of looks from guys when the "headlights" are on...LOL!:eyebrows:

I actually have the Toyota OEM black bra available if anyone wants to buy it. PM me and make an offer. It's just sitting in my garage now.

 

I did my homework and found the deflector is the best hood protection for the Prius period.

 

Where did you get it? A quick google search showed that it is available at Toyota dealers in Canada but not in US.

 

I purchased mine here http://www.toyotapartsstore.com/product_info.php?cPath=11_166&products_id=3818 For less than $70 with shipping

However, I hear they are getting more diffiuclt to find and may be out of stock in a lot of locations.

You can also try http://www.sigmaautomotive.com/jdm/prius/prius0405.php

or

http://www.classictoyota.com/ (latest confirmed in stock)

or some members here have ordered from Canadian dealers.

http://www.toyota.ca/

Or search around on Prius Chat and see where other's have been getting their deflectors lately.