Help w/dealer options: Permaplate, clear bra

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Azholley

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Do they adhere to and ruin the paint? Turn yellow? My thoughts were that it's always garaged and not a daily so really would only be in the sun for a few months of the year. Was 114 the other day tho and damn could've cooked an egg on the hood I swear



I've seen both happen. But I've seen them all eventually get dirt and dust on the ends so it starts turning brown/ black and begins to crack once it dries out enough. Drying out doesn't take very long here lol. It helps that it's garaged but I still wouldn't risk it. I'd pay for a lifetime ceramic coating and you'll be good. Bugs and dirt will fall right off.


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jaz13

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Don't live in Az but this is the 7th vehicle with a X-pel 10MM wrap in Pa. Have white daily driver that sits out at work all day in direct sun and no yellowing after 5 years. Don't plan on removing it so cant say if it damages paint or not but what I can say is protects paint from road debris especially in winter with heavy cinder and sand anti skid treatments. Scrubbing bugs off front never worry about scratching paint either. Not a single chip in any paint that is protected by the product, do have a few heavy stone hits that have marred the x-pel but nothing that has broken thru paint. On the 17 Raptor did grill, hood, headlights, side mirrors and full rockers. Had it on the 13 raptor it protects the rockers from front tire stone ejections. Happily paid the man $1350.

Does it make sense to spend $1350 to protect the paint? Curious if anyone knows what it would cost to have the hood and mirrors repainted? I suspect that ty the time the hood needs to be repainted, the plastic protectant would be pitted and looking bad enough to need to be replaced too. Our hood and fenders are not made of metal, so rust isn't a problem.
 

mr_beaverhousen

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I looked up X-Pel after it was posted here and wow that stuff is expensive! You have to buy it in sections and if you did most of the truck it would easily be a couple grand just for the product. At that price point, I would just rather take the dings and repaint the whole car when it's needed.
 
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chi_weezy

chi_weezy

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True. Spending 2k on clear bra you could prob just have the fenders and front end repainted after a few years for about the same price. Quite the dilemma. I like the coatings but they don't protect against rock chips
 

DANACO

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Does it make sense to spend $1350 to protect the paint? Curious if anyone knows what it would cost to have the hood and mirrors repainted? I suspect that ty the time the hood needs to be repainted, the plastic protectant would be pitted and looking bad enough to need to be replaced too. Our hood and fenders are not made of metal, so rust isn't a problem.

Really ? Not metal ? Since when ?
 

fso119

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I googled clear bra and hot sun; I only found this old Volvo with a clear bra that got fussed into his paint, started to brown, crack, then rust.

Im concerned about leaving a car with a clear bra in the hot California sun daily too. It's been 99 the last week. Arizona 120?

You must have SafeSearch turned on when you googled "clear bra" I got entirely different results. :)
 

jaz13

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Really ? Not metal ? Since when ?

Hood and front fenders are definitely not aluminum. Not sure if fiberglass or some kind of polymer. Roof and bed fenders are aluminum.

I'm curious if anyone knows what color the hood and fender material is. Wondering what color rock chips will show through as. White, grey, black, or something else.
 

Jayrod

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I have Xpel and a ceramic coat imo well worth it. Truck looks amazing and Xpel can take a huge amount of abuse, has a warranty, and self heals. I did the entire front, full hood, epillars, tailgate etc more than usual and it was 2k. You can do a little less and get under 2k. Getting it repainted is not something I like doing, down time, paint flaws etc. I do a lot of interstate driving so I have the potential for a lot of flying objects.


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DANACO

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Hood and front fenders are definitely not aluminum. Not sure if fiberglass or some kind of polymer. Roof and bed fenders are aluminum.

I'm curious if anyone knows what color the hood and fender material is. Wondering what color rock chips will show through as. White, grey, black, or something else.

And how do you know they're not aluminum ? Unless this can be verified I'm very doubtful.
 
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