GRPFAN

Many I see here have the clear paint protection applied to their new RX, and I have one question.

I know the whole idea is to protect the painted surface from deep dings, but.......

If that film is marred or scrapped by a stone or a shopping cart etc., wouldn't that leave a mark/flaw on the surface of that soft film,
and wouldn't you see it on the surface?

Just not convinced if the $$$$ is worth it.

Thanks

kitlz

Yes, the clear bra will get damaged if a rock hits hard enough. But I just think about how much damage the clear bra prevented. Two RXs without it sold me.

Evitzee

Depends on where you live and type of driving you do. If you do most of your driving in rural environment or on interstate highways with relatively uncrowded roads a clear bra won't help all that much. If you live in urban location drive in lots of traffic it may be worth it. I've got a 5 1/2 year old IS which is LOW to the ground in front but since I drive mostly on rural roads and not much driving in the big cities I have almost no dings on the front bumper which does not have a clear bra. On the RX it sits up way higher and shows no marks after 15,000 miles, again mostly on open highways. It all depends on how much road debris gets kicked up by vehicles in front of you.

InRBigness

Dont get it, not worth the money... oh wait yes it is and I just put it on the whole hood, both fenders and the full bumper.

Seriously, the idea behind it is not to be the equivelant of a Kevlar vest but to be a deflection for minor scuffs and scrapes. The rock that gets flung up from he truck that is passing by instead of leaving a paint chip that needs paint filling, you have a scuff on the plastic. You can treat the plastic just like the paint as far as the polishing and waxing goes. If you do get a major ding you can peel off the plastic and reapply without repainting. I was tired of using clear nail polish to fill chips so that they would not rust.

Only you can decide if its worth it, but I decided to do it. My only hesitation is that I never liked the seam. I solved that by asking the installers to do a full wrap. Best of both worlds.

GRPFAN

Thanks for your feed back.

I got a 2000 RX 300 with very few dings, so after 11 years it's not that bad.
If you can remember on those 300's, there's a complete plastic lower trim section that does a awesome job for that.

The only thing I question is the side protection from other cars doors etc.
Yes, there's side guards you can add, but I'm wondering if even that is enough.................

MX5NES350

Here in Pennsyltucky the winter road crews LOVE their cinder treatments on roads. My old ES got eaten up on the fron bumper and hood. $2,500 repaint after 4 1/2 years or just replacing what pieces of the clear bra get hit between $50 and $100 each. I took the latter for my new RX. Again, it depends on the environment.

As far as protection from other vehicles - the side moldings, IMO, are more cosmetic and protect against a limited number of things that can happen. They can protect against the perfect height and angle of a shopping cart or other vehicle door. If a higher SUV opens their door into you the guards won't do anything. My solution is to just be careful where I park and park away as far away from other vehicles that I can in parking lots. Although tha practice usually results in some idiot in a big conversion van parking next to me most likely for spite

lalewla

i'm thinking of getting it too for my RX. this is all good info to help me make my decision.

MX5NES350

Another discussion with some good feedback: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...rd-update.html

InRBigness

I got body side moldings for my RX from Sewells and with the Club Lexus discount I paid $111 shipped. I put them on last night and it took me all of 30 minutes. In my mind they are a requirement as the door panels are 20 sq/ft of door ding magnet.

The only tools you need are a tape measure, some alcohol (for cleaning the doors, athough a drink would have been nice as well but best to wait for completion), some masking take, a pencil and a straight edge. I also used a roller to press against the door when installed to make sure I had great adhesion.

Clean the door, mark the placement where moldings go with the supplied measurments, peel off the tape, start at one end and line up with your marks. Do the same with other peice for other door, use a straight edge to make sure they are flush and then use roller to press into the panel.

Repeat for other side and you are good to go. Now go pour yourself a drink and enjoy your work.

PTmobile

One thing to remember is that the new environmental regulations have been passed since 2000. Paint is much sifter these days since they are all water based. Any new vehicle, no matter the manufacturer, will have soft paint.

Sure the film will absorb damage. I have 145,000 miles on my Jeep SRT-8 that is my install vehicle and I have yet to hit a rock that has damaged the film itself. Now a car did back into me and scuff the bumper piece, but it protected the paint... which is what it is intended to do. Much easier to replace a piece of film than to repaint a panel... and have it match.