dendenyc

Stupid question. On the edge of the rear door and spots around the rear tire I have this clear film on the car. The one on the back door is triangle shape so I'm thinking this is not a mistake on my dealers part to remove it during delivery.

JDR76

It's there to prevent rock chips in areas that are prone to chips.

Chris442

I believe I read on this forum that these factory protective strips won't stay clear for very long or the edges collect a lot of dirt. Anyone know how long they will stay looking good on an UW car? I am looking to put a clear bra on my IS 350 in the next week or so and was wondering if I should just have these replaced at the same time.

JDR76

Mine haven't yellowed at all (just over 2 years), but the edges are definite dirt collectors. My car is Starfire Pearl.

Chris442

Is there a good way to keep the edge clean without damaging the paint?

JDR76

Others may have had better luck, but I have not been successful in getting that edge to be clean.

dendenyc

that's what im seeing too, the edges are collecting dirt which is a noticeable (to me) line against the white paint.

tC2IS350

You can definitely see mine on my car after a year (UW) due to dirt collection around the edge. It's probably better to get them pulled off and recovered when you have your clear bra installed.

Chris442

Thanks for the info. Shouldn't cost much at all so I think that will be the way to go.

speedneed

I thought i remember reading that someone used a q-tip and some de-greaser and it cleaned the edges up well..

LeapFrog

Shouldn't the designers of a $50K car take normal road hazards into account and design a vehicle that doesn't have these kinds of 'exposure points'? My 1991 MR2 had several extra coats of paint applied at the factory to the quarter panels behind the rear wheels where rock chips were possible, and after 120K miles and 24 years there were no rock chips.

Lexus can do better, right?

dendenyc

interesting, does anyone have any more info on this? What type of de-greaser? dont wanna get something that peels the film.

faisal11ir

Removed it from day one and never had rock chips or whatever...it looks stupid.

J3ffrey

You just pull it off? Anything special needed?

AndyL

It depends on the road condition in your country. Actually these PPF patches are not installed in 3IS sold in Japan or at least I didn't see it in the Lexus dealership showroom in Tokyo. The roads in Tokyo are amazingly clean because they maintain it really well.

On the other hand, the road and weather condition in North America make this clear patch a must to most people to prevent from serious stone chips problems as indicated in this thread.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...heel-arch.html