Uh....hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the hood is at a bad angle for sand and stones. Much as I hate to spend that kind of money, I will feel a lot better with both the hood and bumper done.

 

This is the same guy who did my Mazda3 so I know the quality of his work. He now uses Avery Dennison Stoneshield vs. the 3M he applied to my car so the application is much easier since the Stoneshield is more pliable/conforming to angles. I expect the results on the bumper to be much better than what I have on my Mazda3.

If I had the funds, I really would get all the areas you mentioned done. However, I'm assuming that the bumper alone will be around $300 then a bit more to do part of the hood. Still not sure how much but that will depend on pricing.

Are the front fenders and rear wheel well area also key areas for rock chip damage? Again, I'm aiming on getting the areas of maximum impact/potential rock chip damage covered, that's it...

 

Oh oh...la la la...not listening! Well, I'm expecting a call from my guy any minute and will get pricing on the front bumper first. How much more the hood costs will determine how much of it I get done. Of course, the ENTIRE thing would be ideal but seriously $$$$

 

Your delivery date is delayed a week Canada Girl? How come? I was looking forward for you to share and expound with us about your new baby.

 

Dealer said it will be dropped off at the dealership here in Sudbury either tonight or tomorrow morning. He can only order my accessories once the car is inputted into their inventory (i.e. when it is physically on the lot). So they have to do whatever it is they do before handing the keys over to the owner, set up an appointment with the tint shop, and actually install all those accessories. I told him the door mouldings and tint are my only priorities. Everything else can wait though it would be nice to get the car with everything installed! So it's possible it will be before 4 PM Wednesday but they set that as the "worse case scenario". My brother (who got $2000 off the deal for me) returns to Edmonton on Thursday so this is perfect timing! Well, ok, perfect would be the minute it hits the lot but I do want the tint and door mouldings on...

 

O boy, you must be so friggin anxious. Especially when your car will be sitting at the dealership not far from you and it's within your reach but you can't have it yet. That would kill me.

 

Well I'm planning on dragging my 2 siblings (just visiting from out of town) to the dealership to visit my Fit on Saturday! Guess I should let the dealer know to expect me. Yeah, the wait will be a killer but at least now I have a definite date for delivery and for pick up! Not knowing was much worse. Now just trying to set up the Stoneshield application...

 

Get the clear bra on the bumper. It is a great investment. Honda bumpers are notoriously soft and pit badly. I just hit a 1 1/2" tree branch at 35 mph that fell off a landscaping truck with my TL and the clear bra took the whole impact. The bumper underneath is perfect.

 

IMO, not worth it. They will fade and it looks horrible on a light colored car. If you were getting silver wouldn't be as noticeable. Nearly invisible is a nice way of saying slightly viewable. Also usually when you uninstall it it will take off the clear coat also. I've seen this happen to an R8. $375 seems extremely low to from what I've seen for installation cost. Around Philadelphia area a good install will run about $700.

If your main concern is resale, keep the money and get the bumper and hood fixed when you sell. It will cost the same.

 

This post couldn't be more wrong. Modern films are all but invisible and are guaranteed stay that way for ever. When you remove them they pull off cleanly and I can't even imagine how it could pull off the clearcoat. I have many friends who track their cars so most of us have clear bras and without exception we are all glad we made the investment. The price seems is a tad high but may be accurate in that market. I paid $500 for bumper, leading edges, mirrors, and door edges.

 

The price I was just quoted here in Calgary by Icon Auto Tint (a shop recommended by a Honda parts dept. employee) is as follows:

Hood (up to trailing edge of headlight assemblies), front fenders and backs of mirrors: $209.

Bumper: $429.

A-pillars and leading edge of roof: $128.

That's $766. Plus tax.

 

I've seen many cars at the track that use this too, or just painters tape. I'm not saying it doesn't protect. But your experience with them is different from mine, and I think the OP was asking for various feedback.

I've seen this first hand twice with 3M clear bras, and heard many stories about it fading, especially with light color cars. Also when you do get a ding and the film protects your going to have a piece of loose plastic / bubble on the car.

Main point is that for something that's not invisible and has other draw backs unless you have hook ups to have reinstalls when you do get bubbles, it's not worth the cost.

Waxing is also an issue with these.

 

Is that the ENTIRE front bumper? On the sport the front bumper detail is quite elaborate so I figure the whole thing (including lower lip) needs to be done. So is the $429 what you were quoted for the top/bottom front bumper and lower lip???

 

I am not a aesthetic fan of a hood deflector, but you can't argue with it's functionality! It is not just rock chips, but road damage such as road gators to think about. I regret not getting my '07 protected. Even OEM bra would have been better than nothing! You really need to cover a bumper, hood, mirrors, lights, etc.
One thing starting to catch up is covering cars in vinyl! One guy covered his black 3 series BMW in alpine white vinyl as reported on Jalopnik and Autoblog. You must have seen commercial passenger cars entirely covered in advertising at some point. You can do the same thing in OEM color matching vinyl and a layer of clear vinyl over that for durability. It also help to have a thicker layer for the sake of removal in few larger pieces instead of spending a month pealing pieces the size of stamps! Longevity is 3-5 years depending on environment. Best of all you can go crazy and have it removed when you get bored without any paint damage!
This is used on race cars and it originally started on racing offshore speed boats. It is definitely high MPH tested with a flying colors!

Ivan

 

From talking to the guy, he meant the entire front bumper/ lip. (At least he'd better have!) He described the price as being where it was due to the very large size of the bumper assembly. He went on to say that the 3M material comes in sheets that are 24" wide and that the bumper assembly is wider than that. I tried to call him back just now, but it's almost 7pm here so they're closed. Phone number is (403)291-0616. Ask for Damien.

This would NOT include the hood, fenders or backs of mirrors. Those would cost another $209.

 

Heres my .02 cents. From having a car that I show as well use to daily drive. Once getting clear bra it does bring you a peace of mind and knowing you wont get rock chips, but there is also a down side to it, if an accident was to happen youre instantly at loss for the clearbra + the cost of a new bumper and paint job, there is also clear bras going bad where you will notice the turn a tad yellow due to exposure to the sun (if you can make sure if they will warranty this). So in the end I decided to just repaint my bumper each year or before shows costing me about $125 each time to do it.

 

Great points you brought up. In the case where the accident was not your fault would the insurance company not replace the clear bar similar to, for example, your stolen aftermarket NAV/stereo, provided you have proof of purchase?

 

I believe that would have to be with the policy of your insurance company. Most of the time for coverage of aftermarket parts, it would be a higher rate and added to your policy.

 

Ok. I'm booked for this Friday to get the ENTIRE front end done. Cost $900 PLUS TAX for Ventureshield (so $1017 grand total) applied to: entire front bumper/lip (whatever they can wrap the tape around), entire front hood, front fenders, side mirrors, and headlights plus foglights. In other words, yes the ENTIRE front end of the car. With my color (Orange Revolution) I really don't want to take any chances. The Ventureshield is guarenteed not to yellow and is much easier to apply than 3M (which leaves stretch marks...can attest to this since I have my entire front bumper done on my Mazda3). It is also thicker and more resistant to rocks so I THINK I've made a good choice.

Only down side is that no place in Sudbury does this so I have to travel 400 km south (to Newmarket)! I get the car tomorrow at 4 PM and leave the following day to get to my sister's place (10 mins from Newmarket). I drop off the car 8 AM Friday and they need it for 1/2-3/4 of the day (5-6 hours). Needless to say, the drive down on Hwy 69/400 will be very harry! I'll be so paranoid about rock chips but not much I can do about that except try to stay away from other vehicles as best I can...

 

With how the USD is going, you might be able to repaint your entire car for $1017 Ca in a year or two.

Just stay back from other cars when driving there.