What do people think of Clear Bra Paint Protection?

bluzman

I got mine done (front end/bumper, hood, fenders, mirrors and tinting) for $720 OTD

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miguez

One way to avoid the lines is to cover the entire hood and fenders. Xpel sells kits in all kinds of variations, and they have a full hood, full fender kit for the 370Z available. Check out all the options here.

rbratton

Full protection is an option, but very expensive. If you keep your car clean, the line is virtually invisible and hard to notice. Brown lines are a thing of the past with the films used today. Sometimes you can get wax buildup up, but that's easily remedied with a soft towel or Q-Tip.

cg370z

Xpel Standard or Xpel Premium???? Which should i go with for our Nissan-grade paint. I'm thinking the Standard will most likely match our factory paint surface finish? Anyone have an input?

HTP AutoWorks

I honestly would not go with either. Xpel is in pretty bad shape right now... business wise and may not be around in a few years.

Honestly people keep talking about using a film that matches the paints finish. Where did this bad information come from??? What kind of sense does it make to put a film with more orange peel on it than another because it matches tha paints finish? You should use the cleanest smoothest film you can get... period. A perfectly smooth film wil blend with any paints finish... more orange peel with cause the area to look even worse. VentureShield Ultra and ClearMask AR are two of the best out there and have no orange peel. Xpel is ok but if the company is out of business in a year, who is going to warranty it???

Justin1686

clearly pretty much everyone here likes the clear bra. i plan on doing one soon after i get my Z. but after reading through, doesnt seem to be much of a concensus on whether people prefer Xpel or Ventureshild.

so, what are most of your opinions, do you prefer Xpel or Ventureshield?

HTP AutoWorks

VentureShield Ultra. Xpel is dooing very poorly business wise and may not be here to much longer to provide warranty replacement. ClearMask AR is also an excllent film.

SoCal 370Z

I have the VentureShield Ultra on our 370Z. VentureShield was bought by 3M so there should be no worry about them disappearing here shortly. Sorry to hear Xpel is struggling.

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miguez

Hey HTP,

Thanks for the info. Just wondering where you've heard this, any details?

rbratton

What color is your car? The XPEL standard film looks great on lighter colors and the premium film looks better on darker colors. Both films are great, the company isn't in financial trouble, and the film will hold up much better than Ventureshield film. Trust me, I speak from experience.

MightyBobo

Im going to get the Ventureshield Ultra on mine. The installer put a small piece of both (3M versus VS), and the 3M had noticeable orange peel texture, whereas the VS did not.

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rbratton

Where do you get your information on Xpel's financial or business situation? You are mistaken, the acquired a new CEO last year and things are going fine for the company.

On another note, VentureShield does make a good filme and it has less orange peel than the Xpel standard film. That being said, it doesn't hold up nearly as well as either of Xpel's film. Having used all three films, the Xpel premium film is by far the best film out there. The only difference between the Xpel premium and standard is a the orange peel as they are constructed the same way; assembly methods differ so there is less orange peel.

As far as picking a film for a particular color, color does matter. The orange peel shows up more on darker colors. For light colors you can get away with standard films; on darker colors, the premium film from Xpel looks best and better than VentureShield.

HTP AutoWorks

Its pretty comon knowledge that Xpel has been going down the tubes.They would have been better off focusing on the pattern side of the industry and not making their own film. Here is the companies stock info... look at the 52 week chart. High of a $1.38 per share and now its $0.02 a share. Looks pretty rough to me... would you buy the stock with that kind of return???

XPEL Technologies Corp. (DAP.U): Stock Quote & Company Profile - BusinessWeek

As far as using a film with less or more orange peel on different colors, I dont buy your respsonse. I will use the same film no matter what the color is because an owner should not have to accept more orange peel if they have a lighter color of car. I prefer no orange peel... no matter the color.

VS Ultra is top coated and very durable. And I will put ClearMask AR up against any film out there. Durability, finish, or clarity... it is simply the best all around film out there. I have tried them all at some at some point in the last5 years and I think these two are the best options on the market. I have tried Xpel and there was simply too much orange peel on it for me... so I pulled it right back off. In all honesty I can not speak for the durability of the film because I didnt leave it on the car long.

HTP AutoWorks

I am a member of a paint protection film installer forum. I also talk to numerous installers around the country who use their product. Although the industry as a whole is having a tough time, Xpel is really having issues. Read the previous post I made...

ocfoilist

VentureShield all the way! I just had it done on the full hood and front fenders, bumber & fascia, pillars, side mirrors, rockers and they even put an extra area on on the front side of the rear fenders. It was indeed pretty expensive (there's a lot of material there), but in my opinion it is money well spent. One of the best investments I made in my original Z. I had 3M on my 350 for 6 years and it kept the paint pristine. No yellowing or peels, although I did hand wax my car regularly.

What impresses me about VentureShield is its' look. There really is no orange-peel type finish to it. It looks like glass on my new 370. And with the front hood and fenders done, there is no line. They even wrapped all of the edges (including the rocker panels up into the sills) for $100 more.

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