drck1000

Those of you who had clear bras installed on your 2006 GS, how much of the front bumper did it cover? I took my car if to have a clear bra installed this morning and they did have a pattern with cutouts for the park assist sensors, but the portion of the film that covers the portion below the fog light looks like it just covered the front portion with a slight wrap into the port adjacent to the fog light. The installer said that he could cut additional pieces if I wanted the coverage to extend farther into that port, but I opted not to. That would create a joint and I guess the main front portion is covered. Just wondering what kind of coverage you ended up with.

The installer showed me the patterns and the front bumper came in three pieces. One for the main portion of the bumper and two smaller ones for the lower portion in the middle in between the fog lights. I was actually concerned about them placing the film over the park assist sensors, but the pattern incorporated that, so it's all good.

bloozeman

That sounds about right. I was a little surprised at the vary same thing after I had an invisible bra installed on my new GS. It appears they just ensure coverage is on all directly frontward facing surfaces. I too have the park assist and they asked up front whether the car had the feature or not so they could ensure to have the right pattern for the install. On my Flint Mica the bra pretty much disappears and is hardly visible.

On a side note, I just wish it went further up the hood at this point because my 80 year old mom put something on the hood of the car while it was parked in their garage last week and it scratched the hell out of it. The car had been on their driveway for the first couple of days and was full of dust so that must have acted like sandpaper. Of course the scratches are about 8 to 10 inches above where the invisible bra stops on the hood. The lowest part of the scratches is pretty close to the bra so I'm also afraid my detailer will tell me I need to remove it in order for him to get the scratches out (hoping he is able to) which means even more $$ down the tubes. It is making me sick that my 2 week old b-day present to myself (traded in my 98 GS400) is now potentially looking at getting the hood painted!

Raptor.1

Yes I was very proactive with getting my clear bra on. The day I drove my GS off the lot I took it straight into the shop to have the clear bra installed, "since Lexus didn't use this product." Not only that, I had them do the entire front end of the car; Full hood, both front fenders, nose and lip, lights, mirrors, and rear deck. A year later and my car still looks brand new. This is a very smart investment and with the right tape "Venture Clear Bra" you can’t even see it. Anytime you have to repaint a car it looses its value, I can always remove my clear bra and it will be the factory paint underneath.

thenod

How much did it cost you to put the Venture on everywhere you mentioned? Also, how long did it take? Thanks!

drck1000

Initially I wanted the whole hood covered as I didn't want "the line" across the hood. The installer that I went through didn't have that as an option. In Hawaii, there aren't that many installers for the paint protection film. Most of them are in smaller shops that I haven't even had recommendations for them installing tint. I ended up going with the shop that did the tint on my last two cars and have been doing the paint protection for many years.

When I picked up the car, I was sort of disappointed that the front hood piece didn't wrap under the hood and did leave a small gap around the perimeter of the film. I guess that I assumed that the film would wrap the hood edges and the fender pieces would match the protected surface extactly. But I took a look at my friend's Lexus who had it installed at the Seattle Lexus dealership and his looks the same. I've also found pics of the same condition on the autopia forum, so I guess that's how the program runs the pattern. They also said that their film wasn't for use on the head lights. Something about it not being rated for the heat generated by the HID headlight. It's really the front bumper and the hood and fenders that I was really wanting to protect so I got the main parts covered. I guess to have the film wrap into the ports adjacent to the fog lights would require numerous joints to blend the film around the perimeter curves of the port.

When you say "rear deck", did you mean that you had the protection film covering the top portion of your trunk lid? Just curious, but why did you choose to have the film installed there? To protect from bird bombs and other contaminants?

Raptor.1

Sorry I didn't mean the trunk, I was referring to the top part of the rear bumper. That is weird that the guy left that much space for your hood and other spaces. I do remember that this was a hard to find install and mine didn't go perfect the first time either but they did make it right for me. I paid $950 for the total job to be done in one day. "A second day was required to make things perfect." The company I had do mine was basically a couple of guys working out of a leased garage space. One guy had been doing it for years but the other was new and he was the one that messed things up the first time around. The vet stepped in and made it perfect the second time around and I didn't have to pay a thing until I was completely satisfied. Kind of a little bit of hassle to go through but I am a total happy camper now.

drck1000

Yeah, that's not what I was expecting at all. But here's a link to some pictures from Autopia. The gaps in the film on the hood and fenders are similar. See the second picture from the top on the second post.

http://autopia.org/forum/showthread....ight=clear+bra

The largest gap is approximately 1/4". It kind of looks like the installation shown here. I have to call the manager to make sure what I got is normal. He wasn't there when I picked up my car, but he's supposed to be the trained installer. Dunno if they have more than one in this shop. Can't hurt to ask though huh?

Raptor.1

Yeah definently do ask, a 1/4" does seem a bit much. There is no spacing on my hood or on the fenders at all and maybe that is because it was more of a costum job. Like the diagram you shared they did the cut for the front bumper the same way and the spacing is more noticable in this area. If your job was done not too long ago I am sure they will fix it for you if your not feeling ok with it. They should work with you.

bloozeman

My install was done by one of the two local UltraShield installers in the Phoenix area. I actually purchased it through the dealer (at their cost - which was part of my negotiations for the new 06 GS430 since they were basically raping me on my 98 GS400 trade-in) and had it installed there while I had one of the dealer loaner cars for the day. According to the ultrashield web site their are 3 options to the kit, e.g., hood, fenders, and mirrors; front bumper; and the rear bumper top. For $495 I had the kits for the front end installed. I would have had the rear bumper top installed as well but it wasn't an option through the dealer.

I wasn't able to get it installed the same day I bought the GS but I basically didn't drive the car at all over that weekend and had it down at the dealer first thing Monday morning for the install. It looks like there is about 1/4" gaps on mine as well so I suspect Raptor.1's custom job is why his gaps are significantly smaller.