You mentioned that you are mobile, but would Seattle be considered in your area? Partially kidding. I just got quoted $861 for the basic 3m installed on hood, lights (fog and head), door edges and mirrors. I walked away quite disgusted. Do you have any contacts in my area by any chance if the 206 area isn't quite in your range?

 

I paid $995 which including tinting all my windows. I knew it was high, but the guy I used is "the guy". The Fit is my third car with clear film.

Yes, you can put it on carbon fiber just like regular painted surfaces.

 

I cant imagin that 3 m would be second to any one in products... I know that is a big thing to say but they are a company that does a wide variety of products but they are all excellent. 3 m company does not play around at all

 

holy hell. I was thinking it was $200-300 for the clear bra installed. I could get my whole front end resprayed for $600. I am still gonna call around and find competitive prices tomorrow,

 

A well covered front end with large hood coverage, side mirrors, headlights, driving lights and such takes four plus hours to do. The hourly rate ranges greatly plus materials. I think the guys that did mine took more time than that (maybe 6 hrs). You could buy a kit on ebay, try it yourself and decide that it doesn't come out right, take it off after wasting a Sunday and then go get it done professionally. It's definitely way expensive.

 

respray your hood and it may not match perfect. There are other issues. the clear bra is really the way to do it..... It is way good for the long term.

 

yea, I hear yea. I am just shocked it's that much.

 

Hello!

I am going to getting my VBP fit in june right off the truck and will be driving from Idaho to California and really think I should get the clear film on the front end to protect from rocks and bugs.

How much have you paid for yours?

 

All my price quotes for tinting and paint protection are coming out nearly identical, so I thought I'd see if anyone has any opinions on whether to go with VentureShield or StonGuard. Any opinions out there on this matter? I've been googling it for about an hour and haven't come up with a whole lot besides "independent" studies. Are they roughly equal in quality?

 

I've never seen the clear bra,,,will do some searching on the net,,,what do ya think about the black vinal bra's?

 

I would say NO to the black bras cause not only do they take away from the look of a vehicle but they rub and scratch what they were suppose to protect!

 

Well ,,,actually with all due respect I will disagree on the "look" of a bra in general. I have 04 Camry that looks very nice when it has the bra installed. To me it's very racey and looks very bare when it's not there. MHO fur sure. We did notice a slight dulling ( on the clear coat) in a couple places from the rubbing but when a friend told us to put a coat of wax on and NOT to buff it off where the bra sits it has not gotten any worse. It also takes extra work to clean the dirt out from behind the bra to prevent the rubbing. So now I'm thinking the clear bra first then for those of us that like the nose cone on won't need to worry about rubbing. Not knowing how a 3mm clear bra would take a good sized rock compared to a thick heavy, vinal bra ( I think the vinal would be more protection, what do yo think?) Does the factory nose cover work on the Sport or just the base model?

 

If you use a black bra, you have to take it off when it rains. If not, that can fog the paint over time. It is a lot of maintenance checking for bugs and junk until the edges of the bra. For waxing, you don't necessarily need to leave the wax on, but I have done multiple applications at the same time with success.

The Fit is my third vehicle with the clear film bra. It hurts the pocket thou. $$

 

I found an interesting hood protector/bra on eBay---
eBay Motors: MAGNETIC CAR BRA for 2007 HONDA FIT auto nose mask (item 230134084149 end time May-30-07 21:38:39 PDT)

 

Hmmm.....

"The Magnetic Car Bra is made from safety-coated, flexible magnetic sheet....This material is also used for magnetic car signs and the seal around your refrigerator door......Flexible magnetic sheet precisely follows the contours of the hood. The finest detail will show through. It will make your car look great, on or off."

I wonder if you are just getting a cut sheet of magnetic plastic, or an actual molded part to fit the car?

Then the fine print:

"Returns: Because of transaction costs and discounted prices, sales of all eBay items are final. For a small additional fee a satisfaction guarantee is available for this item through Paypal."

But with 4000+ positive feedback, they cannot be too bad eh?

 

Spule 4-

I have seen this product before, and at that time they did not offer it for the Fit. I visited the mfgr's. web site, and it is a heavy duty magnetized sheet guaranteed never to blow off, and is supposedly "theft proof". The flexible magnetized material is strong enough to conform to all curves in the hood.

I only posted this because I thought that it might interest others. I do not like bras because they guarantee paint fading over time, but at least the magnetized ones would prevent rock & bug damage without trapping moisture and grit against the paint.

The color of the material is hard to judge from the eBay photos- could be brown or black. If brown, the only car color that it might look good on is the BOM (like mine). If black, it might look OK on all colors.

I might have more interest in this product if I had not just installed a hood air deflector that I bought from a Canadian Honda dealer. This deflector not only protects the front surface area of the hood against rocks & bug hits, it does not rest against the paint, lets light through so no paint fading, and at freeway speeds, most bugs are deflected over the roof and don't hit the windshield.

I will post a review and DIY Install of the deflector over this weekend on the Bodywork/JDM Styling forum. Be forewarned- the Canadian Honda hood deflector does work well, is extremely sturdy in its attachment to the hood and looks great, but it cost me $153.00 from a West Coast Canadian dealer ($50.00 of the cost was UPS shipping).

After installing the deflector, I drove 250 miles to Nevada. There were HUNDREDS of bug hits on the bumper, headlights, side mirrors and stalks at my destination, but only ONE bug splat on the windshield.

 

hey DAVE i didn't know that you also have special talent to count the number of bugs,man youre so good !! (just kidding)

 

yes,,, there is alot to take care of with the vinal bra. I take it off to wash the car and NEVER let it stay on long enough to let mold set in. You can drive with it on in the rain if you want, just don't leave it on for very long when it stops raining. I think it will take a bigger hit from a rock before you have a dent IMHO.

 

Then this brings up anonther issue....

There have been a few news stories here of the magnetic "Bless our troops" yellow ribbons removing the paint under them. The headmistress of my daughter's school had this happen to her Nissan van.

Google turned this up:

https://tv.ku.edu/news/2005/03/04/po...-damage-paint/

Wonder if that would be the case with this stuff? Potential paint damage from vanity or jingoism in either case?

 

Anything is possible, but I think that the small magnetic emblems may be causing paint damage by being moved around by air pressure (wind) at high speeds. They would have a tiny fraction of the mass and magnetic force of the mass/force of the hood protector sheets. The "theft proof" mechanism is probably some form of attachment under the front edge of the hood, which would also prevent air pressure from shifting the sheet backward toward the windshield. Assuming that the hood was completely clean before you adhered the sheet to the surface, and movement of the sheet is not possible, no damage could occur.

Since this is the only product being sold by the maker, it is doubtful that paint damage would be built into its design, since it is being sold to prevent such damage. But, I repeat my first sentence. Again, I have no interest in this particular type of protection because of the protection that I already installed that cost 3 times what this one does, but looks and performs better.

Thanks for bringing up the possibility of damage from magnetic signs/decorations though.

Dave