uicandrew

I was wondering if any of you guys had the clear bra on the rear bumper of your es350/es300h?

I got my es300h at the end of november so there weren't many kits available for the clear bra.

I already have the 3M clear bra from the dealership that covers the front bumper, hood, and side mirrors. i got that before i took delivery. and it's kept the salt off my car.

to be clear, this is NOT the official Lexus rear bumper applique that only protects the ledge of the bumper if you load stuff in and out of your trunk.

I was quoted $370 (labor and parts) for the rear bumper alone. is this on par of what you guys have seen out there? this wasn't an option when i got my car last fall, otherwise, i would've negotiated this one.

Mike728

How fast do you drive in reverse?

txes

Did you check pricing for a full wrap?

John

uicandrew

I don't know about a full wrap but I was quoted 1400 for the front end but negotiated down to 600 when I bought my car.

And it's for when people scuff the corners while trying to parallel park around your car. @mike728, you obviously have not parked in a Chinatown before. I saw this one girl grind her bumper into someone else's car as she "tried" to parallel park in one maneuver. It was painful to watch.

Arty101

I had my ES wrapped by an indep. installer. I had him do the front bumper, front of the hood, headlights, fog lights, mirrors, door cups, and the rear bumper (not a full wrap) for around $700, using the 3M clear bra.

I agree with you about the bumpers, front or rear, with parallel parking in the city. People don't know how to park or no respect for other vehicles. That's why I got it for the rear too, although you don't see it on too many cars.

txes

Usually if your bumper is dinged from parallel parkers, no amount of protective covering like that will do much good.

John

uicandrew

Arty101, do you mind taking a picture of the the rear film? I'm curious how much it covers.

Arty101

True. But for small bumps and taps, the cover is better than nothing.

Arty101

I'll give it a try, but it's pretty hard to get a good picture that you can see, unless you get it at the right angle and lighting.

SW17LS

Thats the issue, the PPF isn't going to protect you from vehicle to vehicle bumper contact, and even if it did it would wind up damaging the film. If it costs $300 to put the film on the bumper, if it gets damaged it'll be $100 to remove the old film, and $300 to replace it. For $400 you could have the bumper repaired and repainted.

Arty101

The front and rear clear bra provides some protection for those minor parking by Braille drivers. The clear bra is also somewhat self healing. I'd rather get some nicks or scuff on the bra than the bumper any day. Of course the bra will not protect against any hard impact.

SW17LS

The clearbra is only somewhat self healing depending on the clearbra. 3M does not have a product that is self healing.

Arty101

You can't really see the film, but it goes just below the red bumper reflector and just to the corner on the side.

uicandrew

Oh ok. Thank you for the picture. I thought it would go around the corner of bumper.

Arty101

I could have done it over the corner, but forgot to mention it to the installer. NBD.