What do people think of Clear Bra Paint Protection?

AutoPaintGuar

Hello Guys.
I read some of the threads and would like to chime in a little bit. I've been installing paint protection for 10 years now, and this is all I know and do. I currently stock 3M, Venture, Clearshield, Xpel, Avery and Llumar. I use them every day for different applications. For example, today I have a 2009 Alpha 8C to do. I am covering the full front end with Venture shield. I consider venture as a garage queen film. It is pretty to look at but don't touch or dare to drive in love bug season in FL. The clear coat is very weak, scratches easy, turns yellow etc. Did I mention i'm doing an 8C today? 2nd time since the first roll of 60" isn't good, (dimples in film.) So I bought 2 more rolls and trying it again. I'm not saying venture isn't good, but for Florida driving with love bugs and the heat on a daily driver I wouldn't recommend it at all. I only install this film on garage queens and I do a lot of them. Check out my site.

For every day use, I use 3M and Clearshield films. They both come with a 5 year warranty and THEY PAY THE INSTALLER FOR LABOR AND REPLACEMENT FILM, THEY EVEN PAY FOR THE INSTALLER TO REMOVE THE FILM IF GOES BAD. So if 3M does this kind of warranty on there Scotchgard film, why don't they do the same warranty on the Venture?

For every day drivers, I only recommend my customers the films that have the best warranty and that are easy for the customer to clean. 3M and Clearshield doesn't scratch and if treated and cleaned correctly 3M doesnt' turn yellow. Clearshield in 5 years of installing it, haven't seen one turn yellow yet. I have 3 personal white vehicles and 3M and Clearshield are miles past the others in terms of durability etc. I could go further into why clearshield doesn't turn yellow, but don't have time right now.

Attached are some pics. Yesterday I had a 3.5 year old tundra come in. He had damage on the bumper from a minor accident. Notice the film is clear as can be. 3rd picture is a C63 lorinser that also came in yesterday complaining of the venture having ripples in the film. Didn't have it when the car left. Dunno.

At any rate PPF is an excellant product and is def needed if you want the paint to maintain its beauty. The main thing is to find an installer that is very good. Installs shouldn't have any dust, lift lines, stretch marks, grab marks etc in the install. Based on your car and driving, different films may be required.

I can also help find someone an installer if needed.
Hope this helps.
Ryan Burroughs
Auto Paint Guard Inc. Tampa Florida Clear Bra 3M Paint Protection Film Car Bras

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Zultimate

After reading all this talk about different films i decided to call my installer. He's also been doing this for many years and very knowledgable on the subject. He's done 3 vehicles for me all in 3M. When i questioned him about installing the Venture on my new 370 (i have an appointment tomorrow) he said i'll install anything you want and then went into a list of pro/cons for each film. He also said the 3M film is absolutely the best choice for a daily driver because it just holds up better, lower maintenance etc. He said the Venture Ultra is fine for a weekend or occasional driver. One thing of note... he said the Venture is the only choice for a FULL hood wrap because the 3M only comes in 48" widths. At this point, i'm still undecided on which film to go with. Yes, my car is only an "occasional" driver but i've been very happy with the 3M product. Just not sure if i'll be happy with the way it looks on my black car. Decisions...decisions.

AutoPaintGuar

Long day, finally got a good roll of 60" film to finish the car.

Not many people use clearshield due to the fact it is very hard to install especially compared to Venture. Venture is a lot easier to install and takes less time. Clearshield you have to use a fabric steamer to soften the film. Clearshield also doesn't have the marketing money as 3M does.

I'm also the 3M Trainer for the Southeast so I train my competition in Florida. I work with all of the films literally every day and have to admit they are not all perfect, but from doing over 4000 cars 3M and Clearshield have well out lasted the competition. I have to admit though clearshield holds up a little better as it's clear coat is non poris which doesn't allow oils and waxes to dye the film. All of the other films are poris which eventually turn the films yellow. I like them all, I personally have better luck with using 3M/clearshield for durability and Venture on garage queen cars. Other parts of the country may have different results.

I'm not trying to argue, glad you have great success with Venture. I wish I could use venture all of the time, it looks great, and it is easy to install, I just get tired of the phone calls 3 months later asking how to remove scratches and HATE re-doing cars especially for free.

Thanks

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rbratton

I have 4 years experience installing paint protection film and have used most films on the market. The gentlemen quoted above is correct about venture's film lacking durability, but I have to disagree with his comment about 3M's film resistance to yellowing. The pictures below were taken of a Corvette with 3M film right at 2 years after installation. This car is well maintained, garaged, and rarely driven. My customer's father had an identical car with the same problem. I replaced the film on both cars with Xpel film and both are very happy with the results. I'd like to point out that my company installed both the 3M film and the Xpel film on both of these Corvettes.

Don't get me wrong, 3M does make a good product, but Xpel's is better. After a few years using the 3M film, we switched to Xpel and have never looked back.

3M has a 5 year warranty; Xpel has a 7 year warranty (both pay for labor and materials). Xpel's film has much less orange peel and is a much more forgiving film to work with during installation. As a result, the film installs easier and a good installer will have very few cosmetic blemishes that often happen when installing 3M film.

What really sets Xpel apart from the 3M film is that they have an entire system for installation and care of the film. Instead of using water and soap as slip solution like 3M teaches (they may have changed this; I'm not really sure), Xpel makes an installation gel that is far superior for installers to utilize. Additionally, Xpel offers a finishing solution that is applied immediately after the film installation that fills the film pores with a polymer to prevent discoloration. They also have ppf sealant, that is applied periodically like a wax, that contains the same polymer to ensure the film stays sealed and looking great for an extremely long time. Additionally, these products are inexpensive and simple to use.

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