boston04tl

Just bought a Black '04 Acura TL....looking for comments/info. about the 3M invisible car bra...

- Has anyone had it installed on their TL ? If so, is it worth it?
- Any concerns with installation on Black?
- Any recommendations for installers in the Boston/New England area?

NBP04TL4ME

I'm in the same boat as you. There is a poster who goes by Rockblocker and I belive works for a company based in Seattle. I have asked the same questions and there is an installer in Brighton/Allston (can't remember which) and one in CT. I bookmarked the thread, but it isn't working right now. I'll check again later and try and post the link for you. Others in the Metro Boston area have shown some interest. We should look into a group buy/discount.

PS - I bought my TL at Acura of Boston from Joel. You??

caha14

I have 3M clear bra on both our cars - TL-S and Accord - and I swear by it.

My wife's Accord is dark green. After 2 years and about 35K miles, the front looked pretty beat up (with the clear bra on). I honestly thought that the damage had gone through to the paint. Well, I decided to have the bra replaced and to my surprise, the paint looked brand new under the beat up bra.

Here's some info for you:

Autobahnd International
44 Wood Ave.
Mansfield, MA 02048
(508)261-0308

They do an awesome job. Good luck!

NBP04TL4ME

Thanks!! I'm in Norton, so I definitely will look them up. Approx $$?

caha14

When they do it at a dealer, I think dealer charges about $600.

I'm guessing that if they can do it in your garage, it will probably run lower than that (no need to pay the dealer!). The kit usually includes protection for hood, front bumper, front fenders, and mirrors.

One thing I noticed the other day when I took my TL-S in for service is that the hood piece on the '04 goes much deeper into the hood than mine does. Mine is about 5" wide, and the one I saw was more like 10"-12" (much more protection!). Last time I checked, my dealer (Herb Connolly) used Autobahnd, so I'm guessing this is their kit.

vothsc

I don't have a selection of installers in my area (1) and they want over $1,000 to install so I'm going to pass on it. CAHA just answered one question I had - what happens when you clean off the baked on bugs in the Summer since this material is softer than the paint? (it looks beat up). I say what's the difference between a beatup Clearbra and beatup paint - they both look bad. Sure you can have a new one applied but that's another $1,000 out - for that kind of money you can have the hood repainted. Of course, if you can get it installed cheaper ($500), that changes everything. I don't drive my car in the Winter and my 2002 TL-S only had one paint chip on the hood and the clearbra wouldn't have prevented that one anyway (high up on hood). I guess if you drive in the city it might be more worth it too but I drive mostly country roads without a lot of semis to deal with.

caha14

vothsc - I agree with you that $1000 is too much.

Just to clarify what I meant by beat up... The 3M film is actually fairly sturdy. The problem was that there were a lot of trucks in the highway that my wife had to take to go to work. So, there were a lot of flying rocks. The film did its job in my opinion.

The choice is up to you obviously. I'm very picky about my car, so I'd rather replace the 3M film than repaint anything. Although I've seen really good paint jobs, I'm always afraid that the repair is not going to be as good as the original.

Rocketsfan

Do a search for clearbra in the forum. There are several of these threads that can give you more info. rkilian even posted some pics of his that have the clearbra installed. I asked him to post pics to show the clarity of the bra on a NBP and there's a thread that does that as well. I have a NBP and will be getting a clearbra installed probably in the next 2 weeks (as soon as I can find the time).

Mav

Got the same at Rockets and I can see the edge of it bigtime. I also dont like the skuffs on the clearbra from the install.

Rocketsfan

Ok Mav, I have to ask... clear bra and full nose mask? What's up with that?

marquis

We should definitely look into a group buy/discount since there appear ot be enough of us showing interest in getting this.

I'm still trying to reach my buddy who owns a window tinting company and uses LLumar to see if he installs this and if he would be interested in doing a group discount for us. He's based out of Bolton (out along 495 near Marlboro/Worcester), but installs stuff all over new england.

Woodstock

Anyone have recomendeations for the clear-bra in the Seattle area?

SSH

Chad at RockBlocker.com is the way to go. Great price, great service.

Mav

Yeah its a good question....The full mask was part of the deal at the dealer...then I found a place to do the clearbra locally. So...for more protection...I use both. I really like the look of the full mask more then just the clearbra.

tlnyc

keep us updated on the group discount

rkilian

I started a post not too long ago called not so invisible clear bra or something like that. In there you can find pictures of the clear bran on an NBP. Although these are severe exhagerations of the focus, they do show that it's not quite invisible.
Yesterday, while washing the car, I noticed at least a half dozen mars on the clear bra that would be paint chips now. One in fact punctured the clearbra. and left a very mark on the paint below. Not dented maybe just a piece of rock.
I do a lot of freeway driving and I love the product.

NBP04TL4ME

Marquis,

Count me in and let us know when you hook up with your buddy.

RockBlocker

Woodstock,

I got you covered. AS you can see SSH has had his car done as well as others here.

If anyone has any questions on the product, price or installers let me know and I will see what I can do to help you out.

RockBlocker

marquis,

I would be willing to offer a group buy/discount on the product.

Here what I can do for everyone since there has been so much interest with the TL's.

The full kit is normally $320 plus shipping for the hood, fenders, mirrors, mirror posts and front bumper.

I can get them to you for $250 if you can get 5 or more people. This is half or better than anyone else selling a comparable kit.

Let me know if this sounds good to anyone

04REDTL

Rockblocker

I am interested. Only big question - in your opinion - can a reasonably intelligent car guy install the kit on his own - or do I need to find a pro?

boston04tl

'NBP04TL4ME' and 'marquis'.... I'll join in on a group discount too.

Thanks for checking with your Bolton friend. I will do some checking with Autobahnd... assuming a minimum of 5 people to start from.

se-ex

We are currently having a winter special on EBAY that'll end at the beginning of spring for northeast customers; group discount available. Go to the ebay auction for more pictures & references. When in doubts, PLEASE ask & check!

RockBlocker

04REDTL,

We do not ever recommend anyone but a trained installer to do the installation, but I have to some people can do it without much trouble. The last thing anyone needs is to have you fail and be upset.

Email if you would like to discuss your options more

paddiwakk

I had my car done with 3m clearshield today (8mil) by a shop that does all my dealers stuff. I did it through the dealer and paid $200.
I called the shop and asked them what they would charge me - they said $300.00. The dealer is in my good books.

RockBlocker

May I ask what you got done for $200.00?? Seems kind of low. Good thing the dealer hooked you up though.

TheyCallMeSteel

Do you have anyone in Chicago, and for a 2002 I35? If you, maybe you can work something out about including me in this group buy?

RockBlocker

No problem,

We have the full kit for $224 and I can refer you to an installer in chicago. I will send you a Pm with the details

paddiwakk

The hood, mirrors and fenders (or whatever the sides of the hood are called).

I agree its seems like a good price - I'll post some pics when I get a chance

RockBlocker

That's what I kind of figured. I was gonna say if you got the bumper too that would be steal. It still from the dealer anyways since the dealers here want anywhere from $1000-1500 for a full kit.


$200 bucks is a fair price for the partial kit installed. Please post pics when you can.

nalidrvr

I am an XPEL authorized dealer/installer in Orange, CT. I would be willing to do a group buy/install using 3M Paint Protection Film.

The cost of the complete XPEL engineered kit with full wheel well to wheel well bumper coverage is $672.85 (hood, fender, mirror, headlights & bumper). For groups of 5 or more I will install for $600. (I've been doing it for over two (2) years now consistently).

Regardless of who installs this product make sure you get 3M material. I've had experiences now for two years with others (namely Avery Dennison) and the others do NOT hold up to the elements as well as 3M.

nalidrvr

I am an XPEL authorized dealer/installer in Orange, CT. I would be willing to do a group buy/install using 3M Paint Protection Film.

The cost of the complete XPEL engineered kit with full wheel well to wheel well bumper coverage is $672.85 uninstalled (hood, fenders, mirrors, headlights & bumper). For groups of 5 or more I will install for $600, 10 or more $550 & 15 or more $500. (I've been doing it for over two (2) years now consistently).

Regardless of who installs this product make sure you get 3M material. I've had experiences now for two years with others (namely Avery Dennison) and the others do NOT hold up to the elements as well as 3M.

RockBlocker

I cant agree more with using 3M. I have been testing all the materials that come out for two years and havent found a replacement for 3M yet.

rced

Count me in too.
Any news from your friend?

moregrip

I'm having this kit installed Wed (Deluxe plus all optional pcs) for $600 installed at my house in my garage.

http://www.invinca-shield.com/asp/genkit.asp?kit=129

It's 3m product and the guy has been installing for about 2 years now. I'll take pics and let you all know my impressions when its complete.

RM44341

I bought my TL at Acura of Boston last week and wanted the clear bra but they didn't offer it so I surfed the web and found Tint King in Billerica and just had it done today. A Super job, I highly recommend them. Interestingly he said he avoids black cars because it's awful hard to get it right. Mine is WDP, which along with silver, is the easiest color to deal with he said.

EluSiOn

I have a 04 TL black night hawk pearl and I wanna install clear bra as well.. I am at Columbia SC, I can drive to Charlotte NC or Atlanta GA just to install the clear bra, anyone have any suggestion where to install? Please PM me and let me know!!!!

moregrip

oh, i forgot

you can search for a dealer in your area here:

http://www.invinca-shield.com/main.htm

hope that works

rkilian

I would highly recommend it, specially for the NBP. the underbody color is white so it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Here's how mine looks; installed on hood, fenders, bumper, mirrors and aluminum trim on the hood.

RockBlocker

Elusion,

You have a PM.

se-ex

If you can go to atlanta, Dynashield.com is your best bet. He aint cheap, but you wouldn't be disappointed with the result. He and I had our differences, but I try to refer clear bra prospects to highly competent installers. Whoever's installing the clear bra should be competent enough to do ANY color vehicles. To somebody who knows what he's doing, he should know HOW to deal with black.

Another channel to search for a clear bra installer is to check out the list of car forums on my website. The list is on the 'clear bra' page. By doing a search for 'clear bra' on some of the forums, you should be able to find a highly competent installer at a reasonable price.

www.SE-EX.com