RshaoKh

If no one posts any pics up by this weekend I'll try to get some pics up for you. I have Tungsten Pearl and it's supposedly more noticeable on darker colored cars than lighter colored cars according to the person who installed my clear bra. I think it's the other way around... when I saw the guy finishing up on a black X5 I could barely see the cutoff line on the hood. On mine you can see the cutoff line clearly from the back. Other than the cutoff line on the hood you can barely see that the car even has a clear bra. From the front you can't see a thing. The reason you can see the line on the hood is because the clear bra doesn't cover the ENTIRE hood so it ends and you can see where it ends (I guess you can get a custom kit to cover the entire hood for more $$$). The rest of the car you can't see it since the clear bra ends where the car ends.

I got my 3M kit for $540 installed and the additional headlight/foglight clear bra was $80 installed. The owner was late installing my kit so he shaved off $30, gave me a free $60 clear bra piece for my lower front bumper lip (not sure if it was "free" because I was under the impression that the $540 whole kit included that "free" lip), and a free bottle of Plexus... So... $590 installed? So basically my car has a clear bra on about 50% of the hood, entire front bumper, lower front bumper lip, 50% of the front fenders, side mirrors, headlights, and foglights. I asked my GF to see if the clear bra was noticeable or not but she said it was almost invisible and the cutoff line on the hood wasn't too bad since it was slightly noticeable when looking from behind the car. I think it's pretty safe to say that if you're looking at your car from the front it's invisible. From the sides it depends on the angle but still nearly invisible. From the back you only see the cutoff on the hood and some of the fender. If you have some extra money ask for them to cut you a clear bra for the ENTIRE hood and ENTIRE fender. That way you won't see ANYTHING.

BTW this is the first time I've gotten a clear bra or have seen one and I must say that it was $590 well spent.

mtnduc

I live in CO where we don't use a heavy salt base on the roads in winter, not that this car will be driven in that kind of weather anyway, but instead use a sand & cinder now with Mag Cholride mixture that abuses cars in record time.
A clear bra is the way to go, no questions asked!!
A photo showing a clear bra will bevery hard to see. On my car you can't ven see the bra unless you get a the right angle.
As for not spedning on your leased vehicle. I leased mine and trust me they will not count paint chips as normal wear and tear. Go to a body shop and get an estimate to repaint your hood, fenders and bumper and compare that to the cost of a clear bra. You make the call.

JamRWS6

The terry towels have 100% cotton loops.....the backing material is still polyester. If your towel isn't a $10-20 bath towel it's most likely not 100% cotton and is not made of high quality supima cotton.

The Absorber is OK....I have one...don't use it anymore. There are better drying options out there IMO. You guys need to check out autopia.org..TONS of great info and helpful people over there.

After you use some of the very good quality cotton and microfiber towels and feel how plush and soft they are you'll realize how bad the other towels are.

Try the CD scratch test.....take your towel to a CD and if it scrathes the CD it IS scratching your car.



Here is a pic with the clear bra on. It is on the entire front bumper, front of the fender, and on the first foot or so of the hood. The lighting conditions aren't the best but I hope this gives you an idea.
You can see the line where it ends if you know what you're looking for...otherwise it is pretty invisible.

JamRWS6

Another of the fender.......can you tell where it ends?
Just looking through the pictures I have I can hardly even tell where it is and I know where to look

ecr527

I got one from these guys: www.ppfpro.com It was $175 plus $30 for the headlight and foglights. If you do a search for "IS350 clear bra" on Ebay, you will see some of their stuff listed. What's not to like about the look??? If you install it properly, you can't even tell it's on there. My brother and I installed it on my IS yesterday. Granted it was the first one either of us has ever put one on, it took us about 3-4 hours to put it on.

Kamikaze2b

So how did it turn out? Pics?

LeslieRC

That's true. I used to own a `99 Diamond White GS300. No clear bra and chips were barely noticeable. However, for those that were, touch-ups were tricky because that colour is a multi-stage paint process. I don't have that worry now because I invest in clear bras for my cars.

LeslieRC

According to the guy that installed my clear bras, ALL car manufacturers have switched to a "thinner" water-based paint, So, it's not just cars made by the Japanese that are more prone to showing rock chips.

250MT

Where do you get your clear bra installed? I'm loking for a good place in the DC area to get it installed.

-J

LexAppeal

I'm also looking for a good place in the MD/DC area to get a clear bra installed for the IS i will be getting in 2 months. Someone said in another thread that some dealers do this as an option now?

Kamikaze2b

I just googled these up, most of them have a way to locate a dealer.

http://www.invisiblepatterns.com/dealers.asp
http://www.xpel.com/
http://www.invisiblemask.com/site.html

LeslieRC

Rob at Maryland Performance did mine - www.proformauto.com. He's very good! He does custom work, lifetime guarantee, and he also installs clear bras for Team Lexus.

bunka

You guys jut don't get it do you? It's not the paint but rather the LAYERS of paint they put ont he car that makes the difference. BMW and Benz simply seem to put more layers (of both paint as well as clear coat) on their vehicles. I had a couple of kids wearing jeans use my late model BMW 7-series car as a slide one time. I almost had a heart attack but the body shop guy simply buffed them all out. I've had other minor issues with the paint in my 2004 TL and the same body shop people are like..."You should have stuck with the Beemer as they have FAR superior paint jobs". Pesonally, I think ANY Japanese car has poor paint quality. PS - I do have a clearbra on my GX470. Price was only $275 as I know the owner of one of those comapnies and got it at cost!

Kamikaze2b

Are you happy with it? Any downsides? I'm having one put on next week.

LeslieRC

It's not that I don't get it, it's just that I don't care. If you read my post (which you quoted) more carefully, you'll notice that it wasn't my opinion that I was passing along, but information that I had received from a professional. Anyway, thanks for clarifying that point.