J Vette

We went to the Corvette Expo in Sevierville TN today. Met some nice people. There were lots of nice cars both for show and for sale. We had a good time. However, we came across a Black 09 Z06 with the Ventureshield clear film on the nose partial hood, fenders & mirrors. It did not look good. My wife, who has been skeptical from the beginning was even less impressed. The film was quite noticeable.
The owner was sitting in back of the car and I inquired who had installed the film and when it was done. Turns out it was installed about 2 1/2 yrs ago by the installer who is scheduled to do mine next Thursday. The job itself is not done bad. Its the clarity of the film and how noticeable the the difference between paint and film are. I wanted to ask him more, like Was the film clear when it was new? Etc. But I didn't want to offend the fellow. He may have been satisfied with it. Some people are more bothered by chips than the film. I OTOH would be bothered more by the film. To each his own, I suppose. His demeanor didn't give much of a clue as to his satisfaction level.
My installer has given me some reference cars to look at. One is a red GS here in town. The owner said I can look at it. So I will definitely take a look before I put the film on my car. The only glitch I can see is that he too has Ventureshield and I was supposed to use Xpel Ultimate. My car is yellow which is supposedly a very good color for NOt showing the films presence. But from what I have seen today, it will have to be much much better for me to be satisfied. I will withold finaal judgement until I see the red GS.
So now, I'm looking for good touch up paint systems.

pewter99

had it installed on my 07Z when I got it...ripped it off and got my money back....looked like ***....I don't care what people say you CAN see it

4SUMERZ

I have a 2006, with over 45K miles on it. It goes on at least 1 or 2 long road trips a year, averaging 3000 miles a trip. I find that as long as you keep the front end waxed (zaino) regularly, and wipe the bugs off as soon as possible, that the paint will hold up well. The only rock chip I have is on the hood, and I used Mr Color Chip to fix, and it's hardly noticeable.
I find that clear bra looks really good when newer, but doesn't age very well. I just couldn't justify the cost vs what damage it may prevent.

That is just me...

barduch

Don't know how it will look on yellow but I have no problem with mine on Blade Silver 2010 ZR1. Wouldn't be without it up here in "Gravelsota". I believe mine is the 3M product.

ncvette_1FUNRIDE

I have a 3M clear bra on my front bumper, part of each front fender, the rocker panels, mirrors and the front part of the rear fenders.

You can see the edge lines (in certain places) in the right light if you are looking for it. Most of the time you would never notice it.

I think that some colors are better than other at hiding a clear bra. I would think black would be the worst and yellow would be one of the better colors for hiding it.

HammerDown

I've been debating having it put on at the Corvette museum before I pick up my car. Mine is a black GS. I had it on the front bumper and partial hood of a 2005 black Infiniti G35, and I remember that after about a year it was very obvious. I have no idea what brand or type of film it was; it was on the car when the dealer delivered it. I'm leaning more and more toward just leaving it off and saving that money away for a re-paint when it needs it. I do plan to drive the car almost every day, if I can, although with it being black I'm much less inclined to drive it on really nasty weather days, just because of the huge maintenance effort required to keep black looking good.

SmokinBill's C6

If you repaint, The car becomes very used. the worst that can happen, if you dont maintain it. Is you have a dull clear bra afer a couple of years, Kinda like how your tires wear out,your brakes get worn, So does the clear bra, Remove it and replace it where needed. and you still have original paint without chips and still cheaper and better that "REPAINT"

LS WON

and film is too thin to get maximum protection against a rock or debris that will penetrate film.

BayouCountry

I had XPEL put on my a couple weeks ago. I took it back today to have the doors and rear fender done. It looks great but it's not perfect. I will put up with a couple irregular spots for not getting chips on my nice carbon flash paint.

I think the decision comes down to how often you drive it. Mine is a daily driver.

phileaglesfan

Quite expensive to replace every 2-3 years. VS scratches too easy also. There are some good new products out there but since they are new no one knows how long they'll look good. If you properly wax your car often it is easy to tell what part is clear bra and not.

HammerDown

That Infiniti still had rock chips that got through the film. And that stuff was pretty thick.

I hear you on the repaint, but I don't think that's a big deal anymore with Corvettes (my opinion, based on personal experience). Now if it was due to a wreck, someone might care about that (just because of the wreck), but original paint, parts, numbers matching and so forth, no one seems to care about that anymore, except for the guys who have played in the NCRS game in a past life. I don't see any of these cars being high valued collectors in any of our lifetimes (if ever). ZR1 and 427 excluded.

And I'm talking about a bumper and rocker panel repaint/repair, not the whole car.

I don't know, still mulling over it...

J Vette

Bill, I understand what you're saying. I believe that most things come down to compromise. There is no perfection, so we must decide what compromises we can live with. In this case,the choice seems to be rock chips or unsightly film.
Considering your assertions, my choice seems to be whether to have a beautiful car to drive or a beautiful car to sell. I would not be satisfied with the car I saw today. That doesn't make his choice wrong. And certainly not wrong if he likes it. I guess it comes down to priorities. Then too, I may be kicking myself a few yrs from now when I want to move up the ladder to a 427, etc and thinking, Yep, Bill was right.

I'm going to look at the red Vette in town before I make any decision. But right now, I'm leaning towards cancelling Thursdays install.

Slider-01

I had Xpel Ultimate film put on the front, partial hood, fenders, rockers, mirrors and door handles on my base blade silver coupe and it looked good till the day I got rid of it two months ago and it went on several long trips.
Also have the film on my wife's 12 SRX and on my 12 MKX.

Last month right after I took delivery of my 13 SSB GS I had the entire front end, rockers, door handle openings, and rear brake ducts done using the Xpel Ultimate film. Most can't believe it has a film on it.

IMO what film you use and the installer makes a difference.

Wayne O

I think 'Saran Wrap' is great for a track car that's under constant heavy bombardment. For a street car I just don't feel the need. To each their own though.

J Vette

Slider. How long was the film on your car?

Slider-01

2.5 years;
15k miles including a 5k road trip through the Dakotas, Montana, Utah, Idaho, etc and most all back roads where we could.

The film held up great. It took a couple of hits on the mirrors but that ultimate film is pretty awesome. Eventually had the installer take it off the mirrors and put a new piece on.

To me it was better than having the rock chip in the paint.
I just kept it waxed like the rest of the car.

Kvothe

It's much more noticeable on darker cars as is everything. I don't care for it myself but like the idea behind it.

LMB-Z

My LeMans Blue Z has the film on the front nose and mirrors. Don't have any ideal who made it or who put it on. The only part that is visible is on a couple of the edges and you really have to look to see them.

EyeMaster

My car is white and I can see it a lot. Some edges were not stuck properly and got dirty, so it's even worse there.

Do I regret it? No. I do autocross and hit lots of cones. I'd rather make black marks on the clearbra than on the paint.

J Vette

Slider, I am scheduled to install the Xpel Ultimate also. So I may be comparing apples and oranges somewhat. Plus I don't know if the owner had taken proper care of the film or if the Ventureshield holds up as well as the ultimate. All I know is that my wife loves the color of the car and if I mess it up in any way, I'm going to have to hear how I messed up a gorgeous car til the day she or I die. (-: