iowagary

A clear bra is supposed to last 7 years - how long do you think some more paint will last? When you have several dry and hardened coats of paint, they become somewhat brittle, so when something like gravel hits the front of your car at like 70 MPH, it's going to go through the extra clear with only slightly more trouble than the stock paint. The 3M clear bra stuff was developed to protect helicopter rotor blades. It can actually stop this from happening. I've got one. I love it. It's barely visible at all (almost invisible especially from the front). I've got no rock chips. And best of all, if something happens to the front that screws it up, you just peel it off and get a new one. That way you've always got PROTECTED FACTORY paint. I don't want some extra clear. I want the paint that's baked onto the car at the factory. If you're actually interested in protecting the car, take care of it, don't tailgate, try to avoid the door dings, and get a clear bra.

psyontific

daveman needs to chill. I've owned several cars and had to repaint most of them. (actually wanted more than needed) We all buy rubbing compound, touchup paint, bras, guards... But the cool thing is in time we'll have a legitimate reason to freshen up the look of the the car we love. Change the color,style. Get some bodywork done. I plan to do more performance work first then shift to the asthetic later. It's a good plan and keeps people from racing you untill your ready of them. chips on your hood are a good excuse to buy that carbon fiber hood w/ scoop you've always wanted! ya gotta learn to roll with the punches

Mista3

See, thats funny cause I mentioned something like that to my g/f for my b-day.

speddlysmitt

Where do can you get the 3m clear bra?

daveman235

hmm i guess, still sucks. why the hell does toyota try to ____ me off ?

iowagary

You have options. You can buy the film in roll form from places online, but the tC is very hard as these things go, so I wouldn't do that. You can buy precut kits online for about $250 - that's where I got mine - someone who runs an ebay store. Then comes the installation - it's supposed to be quite tricky so I just called some of the installers listed on the 3M website (http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/_...8912/_l/en_US/). Call around and see who you like. The place I took my car to is the one that does all the installs for the local Porsche dealer, but you pay for the quality of the install. If you do it wrong, it sucks. If the car isn't new, they should clay bar it and make it super smooth because after installation, anything down there is stuck down there. Also, if you get fingerprints on the adhesive side, they show up. There is one tiny little print in the corner of mine, but it just reminds me how glad I am that I didn't do it myself. It costs some real money - the same as it would to repaint the front frankly, and I was a bit hesitant at first, but now I'm so glad I did it. I'd do it again in an instant and I plan on doing it to any new cars I get in the future.

By the way, the usual treatment is to cover the leading half of the hood and the front fascia, as well as the backs of the mirrors, but you could probably get your installer to throw in the door edges and maybe the rocker panels if you wanted. Anywhere really scratch prone.

squareone

Dude, youre ____ing yourself off. I think you need to chill. It seems like you are somewhat of a newbie, and expect everyone to jump at your question and answer it the way you want it answered. Rocks hit cars. PERIOD. No amount of paint will prevent that. Now lets lock this damn thread.

DJ_X_Trodinaire

YUMMY

squareone

LMAO !

Souljah347

while you at it blame the earth for having rocks, and jack frost for creating snow and then the state/county for salting the roads.

i swear some people just can't understand ____ HAPPENS!!

Scrib

Does scion/toyota offer "touch" up paint kits for small chip repair?

trench

YOu have to get the whole car done or the shine wont be even! lol.

No it doesnt prevent scratches and chips! NOTHING DOES that. Stop tailing cars! That causes rocks to fly and ish to hit your car. Try to drive slow if you have to drive on a road with gravel or anything. Its inevitable. You'll eventually get chips and/or a scratch. But I look forward to a new paint job every 3 years or so anyway!

iowagary

I'm sure they do. So does www.paintscratch.com, which offers the standard brush type, the paint pen type, and even little spray cans for bigger repairs. They have our Scion colors.