Do any of you have experience with clear 3M plastic shielding products such as Invinca-shield? I commute on an expressway that has a lot of truck traffic and the crap they drop on the road is taking a serious toll on the paint on the front of my TSX. I'm thinking of getting Invinca-shield put on the front, but I have the following questions:
1. When properly applied is the trailing edge noticeable?
2. If not, does it get noticeable with time?
3. Any problems with yellowing? My car is Meteor Silver and I don't want it to appear two toned.
4. Any other issues?

Thanks for the help.

 

i have an clear bra installed on mine. got mine thru an installer on this site www.xpel.com. see my answers for u questions

1. Nope
2. Not so far, had it for 5-6 months
3. Not so far
4. Nope, i'm glad i have it.

You can press my WWW button to see my ride with the clear installed. i bet you'll be hardpressed to find the edges

 

Thanks, dabuda. Some more questions: How does it look when you wax the car? Does it have the same shine as the uncovered areas? What wax do you use? I've been using P21S with good results, but am considering Zaino next time.

 

actually i havent waxed my car since i got it, really no need yet...but i am planning to zaino it next month

EDIT: I also forgot to add that my installer said there is really no need to wax the film. best thing is call one of the installer near you and ask him about the wax ? , good luck

 

Landerso,
I have invisi-shield on my car. I installed the deluxe kit. It includes complete front fascia of car, and 1/8 of the hood, i got matching clear rok guard head light covers as well. Also, the side mirrors are covered as well. These guys make the shield custom fit to your car's specifications. Installs are around $500 professionally but I had a friend do it. He just followed the video that is included in your kit. Imagine a clean car window, ...its easy to keep clean on the outside right? Well, as long as you apply the invisi-shield on a clean car (do not wax car before applying shield) the body will stay spotless underneath. And when you do wax the car, it looks perfectly uniform. No yellowing, no discoloration, NO PROBLEMS WHAT SO EVER! And you can take off the shield very easily. Its great. YOu can see it when you stare at the car upclose, but from a few feet away, its as stated....invisible. Its much better than a lame black bra. Let me know if you have any more questions. I have never posted pictures of my car but will just for you if I get a chance to!
good luck

 

Thanks prestige. How long did it take to put yours on? My car already has a few stone chips and two coats of wax. I can remove the latter, but the chips, even repaired are not perfectly smooth. There are no professional installers in Charleston, so I can either drive a couple of hours to the upstate, or do it myself. Hmmm...

 

There are two installers in the Charleston, SC, area for Invinca-Shield. One is at Auto Works, 808 Folly Road, 843-762-4000 and the 2nd is Autometrics Motorsports, 1913 Belgrade Avenue, 843-763-0575.

 

Hey, I'm also in Charleston. Unless you're my friend you're like the 3rd person in Charleston I know with a TSX.

 

"Hey, I'm also in Charleston. Unless you're my friend you're like the 3rd person in Charleston I know with a TSX." << Ha-ha King V! I hear you! It irritates me when I see another TSX on the road! For the longest time I felt like I was the only one with this imported sports sedan. Now I see a number of them here in Dallas! So much for exclusivity! Landerso, it took us close to three hours to install. I would suggest trying to install it urself unless you can find someone to do it cheap. In Dallas, the installers said they would charge $400-700, the kit only cost $289. Even if you used two of them cuz you messed up on the first round, you would be saving $200. Anyway, lemme see if i can get some pics up here by next week. first, i gotta take them, then figure out how to post them on here!~

 

Prestige:
The worst part is, I go to work one day and see another TSX in the parking lot, so I'm all "Dammit, someone in the incoming class has my car". Then I see the guy and I know him from previous Navy stuff, and while talking to him he tells me that my dad convinced him to buy a TSX. Thanks a lot dad, now I'm no longer a unique and special snow flake.

 

That's just wrong! No one in my office has a TSX. That means that its one TSX of 2000 cars parked in the garage! And I have not seen more than 1 -2 Silver TSX in all of Dallas.
Well, we can either think good resale value or lost of exclusivity. I didn't go for the TL cuz its American assembled, and I tend to think TSX and Acura as a car company are acquired taste~
Its like saying, "I have money, but where I spend it really matter to me"~ I actually purchased mine with 90% cash upfront~ Now that I think if it, I could have leased a 911 atleast for a year!~

 

tonto340 - I spoke to the Invinca-Shield folks a couple of months ago and they told me that one of the two installer is definitely NOT RECOMMENDED by thye distributor, and the other will only do Porsches. If you have more recent info, please reply.

KingV - I responded to you on another thread (Anyone in Charleston?) It sounds like you're in the Navy. I'm at SPAWAR at the Naval Weapons Station - where are you?

 

landero - I don't know what other towns are nearby but if you go to www.invinca-shield.com you may find someone you're willing to drive to. Also you can go to www.xpel.com and look for an installer there. I think they charge more though. The xpel installer here in Maryland wanted double what invinca-shield cost.

 

The nearest installer that is recommended by Invinca-Sheild is in Greenville, about 3 hours away. Luckily it's near my in-laws, so I may work a trip to the mountains (gettin' kinda hot here on the coast) out of it. I'll check out xpel. Thanks for the lead.

 

Maybe I can answer some of your questions for you since I install the film everyday.

1. The product will only be noticeable along the top of the hood since you cannot hide the line. This is only noticeable upclose.

From five feet away you will be hard pressed to see it on any color. This factor may change depending on what the design of the kit looks like. Usually Invinca-shield ahs more peices adn cuts so the kit can be moer noticeable over time. What happens is dirt can get trapped inbetween two butting pieces and the adhesive collects the dirt. This may not be the case for the TSX not sure.

2. Look at question 1.

3. 3M just came out with the newest version of the 3M clear bra called Scotchguard now. This product is not suppose to yellow for 5 years according to them. I have been installing for so long that I dont see that happening so we offer lifetime warranty for cracking,, fading and/or yellowing for as long as you own the car. Not every brand is the same. You may want to check this out before purchasing if it is a concern of yours.

4. Any other issues?

The only other things I can point out is that your clear bra will look as good as you keep it. Make sure to wax and wash frequently. It has a clear coat finish on the film so using polishes and waxes is a good idea.

Here are some pics of a recent TL that I did to check out. All pictures were taking from 5 feet or closer. If you have any other questions please do not hesitate to ask.

 

The hood looks like an orange peel.

 

Yeah it looks that way, but it is just the clouds and mirror finish from the awesome Zaino finish SSR did on the car.

 

Looks nice to me. Maybe you could plan a weekend trip down to sunny Charleston and write it off as business travel

 

question for those of you who have covered the fogs too.....is the center of the film being burned/discolored from the heat??

 

A few questions.. Which material did you use (40-mil, 20-mil, <20-mil)? How long after the installation did you use your fogs?

I had something similar happen to me:
I initially had the 20-mil material installed on my fogs...left them on while driving home for an hour after installation. Came back and noticed my fogs were smoking. I thought it was some bug splatter just cooking away so I touched the foglamp with my finger and smeared the clear material (material was soft and gooey). Checked the next day and there were cracks and imperfections/air bubbles on the other foglamp. Talked to my installer and he replaced them with 40-mil material..but this time I waited a couple weeks before I turned on my fog lights and I didn't notice anything this time. I will check again tomorrow and report back.

 

I havent seen any issues of this happening on the TSX.

 

i'm not sure...whatever was shipped from xpel. i think i used the fogs the same day..?

well, just got off the phone with them, and they're telling me that there's not much they can do and that i should remove them before it cracks the filament?...or it might have just been break the glass housing. <sigh>

off to go see if i can find an installer who'll guarantee the work.