Tomorrow at 10am I am taking our FIT in for full front end paint protection using XPEL.com clear bra. This stuff is excellent crystal clear polyurethane that is applied similar to tint and prevents the paint from being chipped and scratched from superslab missiles and highway debris hitting the front of the car. Getting the front bumper, headlights, full hood, mirrors, windshield pillars covered. Also hainvg legal tint installed. I will post up pics of the install and after it's done.
It's not cheap, the precut kits are expensive and it's very important to have an excellent installer. I have used this on previous vehicles and have been very satisfied never having to repaint a car. My installer told me that some of his clients Porche and Lambo owners get the entire car covered! Haha! not me... I had my Jeep front and entire hood done as well as my wife's new Accord very happy.
FWIW...

 

XPEL installation is expensive. how much total (parts + labor) is this going to cost you? 3-4k range, im guessing

 

$950.00 including legal solartec window tint applied on all (9) windows. I will let you do the math...This is a pretty sweet deal as he has done quite a few of my cars, my 14 AEV Jeep and wife's 14 Accord EXL....so he cut me a little break. He uses the best products and is a perfectionist. I travel an hour to the appt.
If you ever have XPEL or 3m paint protection applied make sure your installer has been factory trained in the application process and has a lot of installs on high end cars under his belt. The paint finishes are thin on cars now days...I would not drive a car long term without this material applied. FWIW...hope this helps!

Another thought, if any installer wants to charge you more than what you feel is fair, tell him you can just have the car repainted for what they are charging.
I won't pay more than a grand...I like the paint protection but the price has got to be less than a re-shoot and blend at a body shop.

Cheers!

 

IMO, that's extremely reasonable for the whole package. Am being charged $325 just to do tint on the rear windows and hatch. That said, my guy is gonna use 20% Huper Ceramic. He has to order it from the mainland.

Don't forget, pics pls. when all done.

 

Pics for sure! I'll post up tomorrow night!

Dave

 

The dealer tried to get me to add clear bra, but I declined. Car experts seem to say it's an unnecessary rip, that modern paint has a super hard clear coat and combine that with waxing you are good to go. Do you disagree?

Plenty of loose rocks in TX (Houston area, driving through middle of nowhere, and west texas on a regular basis for many years) and neither of our cars ever got paint chipped off. Cracked windshields, yes! but never paint.

 

Amy_W, its certainly a "rip" when the dealer wants to have it installed through them. They easily mark it up by 100% and often, more. However, I disagree with the premise that the clearcoat is strong enough to take those pebbles spewed from a gravel truck. If your driving 80 mph on a dark summer night, them bugs splattering on an continuous basis will eventually damage clearcoat.

It also depends on the individual's driving routes and speed. If less trucks and semis in your area, the risk of paint chip drops dramatically. My daily commute is medium (25 mi. one way) but our speed limit is 60 mph and lotsa us follow (believe it or not) it. Also find our roads cleaner than the mainland. Therefore these surroundings play a big part too.

That said, I still bought an OEM bra cause I think it would look cool. Black against WOP. It won't be put on often. Only to Sunday for church!!!

 

Amywilhlmina, (long reply)
It sounds like you really are lucky and it's not something you may need. My wife and I commute on the interstate here in NC and the superslab generates plenty of debris which rolling along at 70 mph that will chip the really thin clear-coat and paint on today's cars. Call any body shop and they will tell you how thin the paint is on today's cars. But they also don't want you installing paint protection either haha! Any flying stone from a truck wheel that will chip or crack a windshield I have found is probably strong enough to chip your paint. In June we traded in our 2004 Honda EXL with 217,000 miles on brand new 14 Accord EXL. The front bumper, hood, mirrors covered with the clear bra was as perfect as the day we bought 10 years ago, no chips, no scratches nada...nothing. The car was rated in overall excellent condition and we got top blue book trade value for it.

Clear bra is certainly not for everyone, it's expensive but want a for us it's a little extra piece of mind or insurance. I might add our headlights never oxidized or got that cloudy condition on the 04 Honda. They really were in excellent condition due to being covered in paint protection. It does not orange peel, yellow, or dull. I use a product called Plexus to keep the clear bra looking great. Friends of ours recently had their Accord hood painted due to chips and it cost them 1000.00

Any clear bra paint protection installer professional will ONLY install this material on a new car or a car with out existing paint chips. If you anyone attempts to install this material over an existing paint chip or scratch it will enhance/magnifies the chip or damage....you probably don't want them installing anything on your car. An honest professional installer won't install this material if your paint is chipped or if you hood has road rash.

So if your going to have it applied, try and do it when your car is new and/or completely free of paint chips. FWIW.. don't pay more than 600-800 for a small car like the FIT. I paid a little more 950.00 because I am also having all 9 windows tinted.

Cheers!

 

15/Silver/EX-L congradualtions..looks great................

 

Sas002809,
Thanks, just arrived home from a full day of having the clear bra paint protection installed on full hood, fenders, front bumper, side view mirrors, wind shield pillars and all 9 FIT windows professionally tinted. I think it turned out great and I will post up pics in the morning!

Cheers!

 

Thanks for the info!! I think I am going to try without, but I am glad they are not pushing a product that is not needed for anyone. Can definitely see the use now!!

 

Paint protection and tint installed yesterday….very happy! Its really hard to get a photo of the paint protection. Installer did the mirrors, headlights, front bumper, entire hood, both fenders and the windshield pillars. its a honda wash and wax morning for the Accord and FIT.

 

wow, considering you got both tint and xpel installed, that's one heck of a deal

 

No wonder your happy. It looks awesome and am jealous cause we can't tint that dark all around on the islands. It will be a sure cop-ticket for us!!!

Nice work and well worth the coin.

But do you really think that's it for the expense??? Stick around this forum and you'll get sucked into the major conspiracy GD and GE FF's are doing to us. Just give it time and we're all gonna be going further.

 

Thanks!
Considering how thin the paint and clear coat on cars is today, and that any body shop worth doing business with will charge at least 1000.00 for a reshoot of the front bumper hood fenders...., yes it's worth it to me. love the paint protection!

 

Looks great, I'm awaiting an identical car, nice to see what I'm getting!

 

Your gonna love it! What a fun driving car! It's a blast! You picked the fastest color!
Congrats by the way!

 

Thanks! Looking forward to it!

 

Ok so after 1500 miles since my purchase on July 3, I can honestly say I am very happy with this car. It's fun and sporty to drive, I like the visibility along with the bkup camera and lane watch, love the heated leather seats and sunroof option, the electric assist rack and pinion steering is very responsive, braking is quite good given drum rear and disc fronts, the AC is cold and most of the time I have to turn it down I am averaging between 37-40 mpg's highway. The car handles very good in a severe down pour of rain of course keeping my speed reasonable. I added XM which really sounds great with the stereo that comes with an EXL.

I have gone over the car with a critical eye and have found no paint flaws.

So that is my story and I am HAPPY!

 

A long list of items that have "grown" on you!!! Lookin like you'll be having even happier feelings at 15,000 miles.

During my EX CVT test drive, got used to most items in the GK, but what was satisfying was the effortless steering. Others who tested it found it "too" light compared to the GD/GE. Looks like both of us came to the same positive conclusion.
Keep that great MPG going. Once an FF hypermiler gets a GK, watch these guys squeeze out 60 mpg!!!