I just got Venture shield on my 09 Fit. I got the whole hood, front bumper, headlights, fog lights, side view mirrors, and door handles done. The installation looks very clean and you couldn't tell it's there unless you were up close. I"m really happy about how it turned out and alot less paranoid about rock chips!

I got it done by Scott Kim at Advance Auto Engineering (http://www.AdvanceBra.com) in Alhambra, CA. He's a real nice guy and did an awesome job. I highly recommend him if you're in the area.

On a side note, I got another rock chip on the way to get my Venture shield installed!

Check out the pics:

 

erm, help a noob here, whats a venture shield and a rock chip?

 

Venture Shield is a clear film applied over the paint to protect from rock chips. oh yeah, rock chips are when a stone or canned ham flies up from the road and nicks your paint.

 

ahh thats what i thought it was, what about bug splats or bird poop? =\

 

The installer recommended bird poop should be cleaned off asap, due to the acidity marking the film. He said to keep it waxed with Plexus to help protect the film. From what I've read on other forums, bird poop may etch the film, but claying and polishing will remove it.

 

Nice, I live pretty close and I was wondering how much did it cost to do if you don't mind me asking?

 

Had my entire front hood, entire front fenders, entire front headlights (minus the "bulge"), patch at the back of the side mirrors, and as much of the front bumper/lower lip that tape could be wrapped around (i.e. almost all). This was at The Detailing Shop in Newmarket (Canada) and cost was $900 cash. Took the guy 6.5 hours but the job is fantastic! Really can't tell where the tape is unless I run my fingernail over the surface. Needless to say, you need a real professional to do this and I would definitely classify this as NOT a DIY job! I also got a free can of Plexus which is what is recommended to clean/wax the tape.

 

dang... so who are you saving the car for?

nice job.

 

Dang for $900 you can have the hood repainted and replace the mirrors with lighted ones. Hmm and what are you saving the car for? I can see having this done for a $40k+ car, but a Fit? Oh well... each to his own.

 

You think so hey? I just had to have extensive paint repairs done on my Winning Blue Mazda3 so know from experience that it is way more $$$ than you might think AND there's the issue of color matching. Factory paint, in most cases, is much better. My Fit is Orange Revolution so I'm trying to avoid any type of paint repairs.

Live and learn so hopefully you don't actually have to go through any extensive paint repairs to realize that it isn't so simple or as "cheap" as you might think....

Other points. Having the front end repainted would, at minimum, be a 2 day job. Unless you have a second car, there's the expense of a rental vehicle. AND any paint work on a car will negatively impact the resale value. So yeah, $900 was steep upfront but I'm planning on keeping my car a long time and it would end up costing me more than that later on to have the front end repainted/rental car/decreased resale value...

 

for $900, i would get some EnduraTech coilovers....

 

I was just thinking that Fit owners can be broadly divided into 2 groups: the ricers (lowering car, upgrading wheels, performance mods, etc.) and the ones who buy it as an economy car. I'm the latter (well, I DID get the interior carbon fiber trim so touch of ricer there) and am trying to keep the car stock for many, many years. After the drama of my first car (Mazda3....had to trade-in after just 4 years due to major rust/paint issues, attributable to a factory defect), I'm looking to do everything possible to keep this car's original paint looking great!

So for ME, spending $900 on paint protection (via Ventureshield) is worthwhile whereas a ricer would probably see that as a waste of $$, better spent on say "EnduraTech coilovers"....man, I don't even know what those are!

 

i just dont understand the logic. so what happens when a rock hits the film on the car? is it not going indent/scratch the film which would end up giving a rock chip appearance? i understand the paint would not be chipped but it would damage the film meaning the film would need replacement after a while the same way paint would need to be redone after the abuse.

 

There is quite a bit of flexibility in the Ventureshield and it is fairly thick, hence no damage to the underlying paint and I expect fair resistance to damage to the tape itself. See here for more details: VentureShield

 

that's not very nice, so here is my response to your post since it
was uncalled for and you apparently do not have much experience
with clearbra or budgeting your money efficiently.

if you bought (hopefully cash like me cause lease or loan is not
economical) the Fit as an "economy car", why did you spend another
$900 on a cheap car when you can easily prevent majority of chips by
driving 3-4seconds behind the car in front of you for free? clearbra's
are far from being perfect. it turns whitish upon impact and paint still
cracks under the bra upon big enough impact. also it swirls very easily.
it also turns yellowish in UV. manufactures say it doesn't yellow, but
it can if used on a daily driver.

i use clearbra on my Cooper-S (only on the dealer painted aero kit
bits which are much softer than factory paint) so, i talk from experience.
since my cooper-s is not a daily driver i do not have issues with the
yellowing, but i know there's paint damage under the bra, and even
though i take great care of my car, there are unavoidable light haze in
the bra from using my plush MF detailing towels and plenty of QD to
remove bug spatter. it's just the way it is. i hide the haze using
carnauba wax (Griot's Best of Show to be exact).

i dont use clearbra on any of my other cars other than the kickup area
infront of the rear fender on my G35C. that was factory installed and
has good reason to have it there because the kickup from the front tires
is unavoidable.

when you go back to get the clearbra replaced a few years down
the road, the cracked paint under the bra will pull up with the bra...
so you end up having to have to paint it anyway...or at least
touch it up. in the mean time, your clearbra will appear pretty
swirled in close light, far from perfect. so comes down to the question...
who are you saving the car for?

but again, it's your car so you do what you want. but your judgement
of being economical is far from being truely economical.

assuming that i am a ricer is just naive...

 

The smiley face at the end of the post showed it was not meant to be offensive. You need to read posts more carefully. I don't have anything against people who choose to spend their money on lowering their cars, etc. That's their choice and hey, it's their money. For me, I choose to spend my cash on protecting my car for the long-term. Again, that's how I think my money is best spent. Tone is really hard to read on forums at times. Your post is pretty obvious in its intent, which is definitely "not very nice" and uncalled for.

For background, my Mazda3's paint after 4 years was in deplorable condition. NOT because I follow too closely (I don't) and NOT because I drive on gravel roads (I don't). In the end, it needed over $2500 of repairs which Mazda did cover since it was due to a factory defect. However, having been through the experience of taking extremely good care of a car and seing the paint fall apart, can you understand why I would want to do my utmost to preserve the paint on another brand new car? Especially one I'm hoping to keep for several years.

I do know that clearbras aren't perfect since the front end of my Mazda (only part that was perfect, in the end) was covered with the 3M variety. You don't need to tell me how it wears since I do have experience with it. The Ventureshield is GUARANTEED not to yellow. There is a lifetime warranty.

I also realize that no solution is perfect but preserving the factory paint job vs. not doing anything because it's "an economy car" and getting the front end repainted is ridiculous.

So re-read my posts (and note the smileys) and then re-read your rude comments. I meant to be informative, having had extensive experience with the clear bras and with paint repairs. If you want to go down that route with your car, so be it but I would advise anyone else to put some money on the paint protection film....

Oh and in case you don't understand my tone with this message...

 

Man good on u for geting that its ur car do what u want. not every one likes to lower there cars and get exausts for it. Some just like the car the way it is and have other things to spend there money on besides a car. There is more to life than a car. Now me i tryed to get the Fit so i would not want to put money into it seeing i put way to much money in my old Evo. But now i seem to be puting some money into the fit. I am not trying to make it fast so no engine mods as of now. but i am upgrading the looks i would say. I have reabadged it with red honda emblems and put some tint on it. Next i want to lower it and some new tails. And sooner or later throw some new rims on it or paint the stockers. But i really did get the car due to its cheap to maintain and great on gas. I thought oh i will never want to mod this car untill i found this site. But hey each his own mod ur car how u want it if that means clear bra and interior pices than go for it. Or if u want to trubo it go for that to. I am happy with my car so far but i am doing my mods slowly this time and have a budget with this car unlike the evo i had

 

Exactly. To each's own! BUT when someone comes on and spreads misinformation in an offensive manner, yeah I have issues with that. Do you think the people who DO own the 40K+ cars who apparently are justified in spending money on Ventureshield protection would do so if it RUINED the paint? Come on. Then to say "well this is JUST an economy car so it isn't worthwhile protecting the paint"??? Someone who may be considering getting the clear bra done may read those posts and have second thoughts, then regret it down the road when their front end is totally rock chipped.

Another point, due to environmental regulations, cars today are painted using a new process which effectively applies all 3 coats (primer-paint-clearcoat) in a single process, resulting in a very thin/fragile layer. This affected my Mazda and many others here would concur with how fragile 1st generation Fits' paint is to this day. I'd strongly recommend getting a clear bra for that reason alone.

You don't have to spend $900 like I did to get the ENTIRE front end done! There's different price points, depending on coverage. I knew from my Mazda that the area right above my 3M line on my hood was badly rock chipped, hence getting the entire hood on my new Fit done. That plus, well, have you SEEN the size of the hood on the Fit? Could be done with a single sheet. Yes, my guy custom cut all the pieces too so I consider the quality of this work well worth the money I spent.

So for anyone considering getting Ventureshield or any other type of clear bra, please do your research and don't take any one person's comments as being correct!

 

noted on the smiley.
but you have to agree that you are getting a bit carried away.

 

Well, I'm all about setting the story straight so here goes. You're right, I got "carried away" because you issued a personal attack on my judgement. Hello! Anyone would have been offended. I'm not the one who issued negative feedback because I was "not nice", nor did I write "you apparently do not have much experience with clearbra or budgeting your money efficiently." Who got carried away, really?

My comments were not meant to be personal or offensive in any way, but you obviously took it as such and chose to give ME negative rep then had the nerve to say I don't know how to spend my money wisely. You've heavily modded your car but I wouldn't disrespect you by commenting on that fact. I think we're both grown ups so can choose what is the wisest way to spend our cash, right?

Just for the record, I've tried to contribute positively, in a friendly manner, to this forum as much as I can. As a mature professional, I was/am offended that you would state that my "judgement of being economical is far from being truely economical". Seriously, who are you to say that to anyone? If you have no constructive comments/criticisms to make, just move on...