Clear Bra....is it worth the $$$?

Got a quote for $1495 out the door for full hood, fender and bumper coverage for a 2017 platinum... Seems steep. It was for Xpel. What is a decent price? TIA.

 

Kinda long on my reply...

I paid $1200 back in 2014 with less than 100 miles on my new Platinum. Full hood, headlights, fog lights, full bumper, grill, hood bulge, windshield pillars, both front fenders, rear tailgate lip. De Chromed and took it back and my tech did the mirror caps free.

Is it worth it? My truck has zero paint scratches or nicks, no dings no runs and no errors now approaching 50k ODO. The paint is perfect. No fade or yellowing from EXPEL or orange peeling. So I say it's worth it if you plan on keeping your Tundra. If you flip vehicles every few years no no not so much.

XPEL is the top paint protection in the business from what my tech tells me and he is a straight shooter. He has done several of our cars for the last 9 yrs. He really knows his craft is an excellent installer. And trust me you want an excellent installer it makes all the difference. My tech does Mazzies, Lambo's, Benz, BMW, Lexus, and even Bentleys.

Your price is probably what the market commands now, the material is not cheap and it's fairly labor intensive. Like 6 hrs.

I did receive a little break due to being a repeat customer. If I ever buy another new Tundra, it will have XPEL applied for sure. My Tundras paint still looks factory and shines up great with Plexus.

Good luck with your choice. I am glad I did it, other mods had to wait after laying down the cash for the XPEL, but for me it was worth every dime.

This photo does no justice to the paint protection, but it's there. One other pointer, do not have XPEL installed over any nicks or paint dings. It will highlight them. Do it while the vehicle paint is new. Cheers!


The painted areas you see in this photo have XPEL applied. Except the leading edge of the top of the roof. Shoot me a PM if I can answer any other questions.

 

Yeah.. i pretty much keep things for a while, but maticulous with my things. Just wasnt sure what the going rates were for full front clear bras.

 

That rate is pretty close. And keep in mind that XPEL is not a standard clear paint protection that dealerships add on. Dealers take the cheapest route they can on tint and paint protection.
The Toyota paint protection for example is NOT XPEL. It's a cheap 3m knock off, my installer would not touch the Toyota clear bra. Good luck with your choice, as stated I am very happy with XPEL and would not own a new car or truck with out it.
Cheers!

 

At the height these trucks have, not sure how much damage they get from rocks. A car sitting much lower I can see that, but so far I haven't had any issues with chips and scratches by not having a bra.

 

Good info Steve, some dealers install the knock off clear bra and charge full price for XPEL...how would the unknowing buyer know? The tech that installed my XPEL told me crazy stories about how the dealerships want quick fast cheap tint and clear bra. He turns down dealer work to install XPEL in his shop. And he actually takes time and pride in his work. A very rare character trait these days.
I can't speak for everyone's clear paint protection, but almost 4 years later and I am very happy with XPEL.
FWIW...

 

Yes, its expensive, and its worth the money !!!...all the front sheet metal ..1/4 of the hood, all the bulge and grille if yours is painted...i dont think its necessary on the fenders on our Tundras due to the design..fenders are not going to take anything head on except the SMALL upper portion of the fender above the headlight

 

I"ve seen people have the ENTIRE hood done

 

Very true ....cars are vulnerable cause they sit much lower...Tundras only vulnerable areas are the painted grilles, bulge

 

Here is a price list from XPELs website for a Tundra CM for just the material. So $400-500 labor is probably about right for a trained installer depending on how large a pattern/kit and time involved. e.g. The full bumper takes a lot of time.

My tech even does a clay bar paint treatment prior to installing XPEL. Installing this material really does take a trained tech. Not something I would try at home due to the expense of the reordering more material if you screw it up. Some of the more challenging rounded area and angles a trained tech knows how to work with the material.

http://www.xpel.com/search-coverage...ht_Trucks/2014/Toyota/Tundra/CrewMax/Platinum

 

I bought and installed SunTec paint protection film myself, bought it from www.Lamin-X.com. Partial hood, hood bulge, grill, area under headlights, partial fenders, A pillars, door cups. It was a tedious install but so worth it, especially if you have a bit of OCD and plan to keep the truck a while.

 

After hand washing I use Plexus on the XPEL paint protection...a light spray and wipe with a clean terry cloth towel for a mirror shine. Been using this for years on my Tundra, wife's Accord and both of our dual sport bikes.

 

I have the clear bra on my 45th Anniv. 2SS camaro. I have the highway package and paid $400. The fella installed in my driveway. Five years later it still looks like it was installed yesterday. She is the ultimate Garage queen.

 

I use this on my M109 and the paint just glistens in the sun.....

 

Nice looking Camero! Those wheels are really nice. Do they come with the 45th anniv?

 

Beautiful! And Go Air Force!

 

No. I went with 22 inch concave stag vossens on 295 rear, 275 fronts

 

The F-Performance protective film has been on my car for a year now, I am happy with how it has passed all the tests. I removed those traces that appeared on the surface of the film, with the help of boiled water and everything disappeared!

 

it's my truck for life so it was worth it to me. as part of a full refresh on my 08 i've owned since new, just did paint correction, ceramic pro 9h (2 layers), ceramicpro topcoat (1 layer) and xpel ppf full front and rear quarterpanels. 10yr warranty on both. that price for only xpel ppf full front as OP described is right at the going rate in norcal at a quality shop if that also includes headlights and fogs. i also did the rear quarter panels to stop any further flare damage to paint after having them on for two years. most of the flare damage came out in correction but some didn't.

a really good shop can get the xpel wrapped around or deep enough so you don't see most of the lines. i'd recommend you also get paint correction before xpel to remove swirls and make the paint pop before it gets protected.

 

In the mountains around me they sand the roads in the winter, so hell yes it's worth it.

I drove over Donner Pass every week for two years and you should see my windshield. Not a nick in my paint though.

 

are you gonna take your truck off road ? asking because trail pinstrips will take everything out

 

I wished I did it on my truck when I bought it new. Was planning on swapping out the chrome then wrapping it. When I finally swapped out the chrome and ready to wrap, it had chips all over the place. Too late to wrap for me.

 

I wasn't sure what clear bra's were, so I googled them - wasn't disappointed.