paint protection film option

Hello.
This is my first time on this forum. I just brought a white Prius and my friend's performance shop in SF applied the film on my Prius last Saturday. He was able to use one of his middle size film to cover the entire hood of my car. You will not see any line on the hood, because the Prius hood is so small. however, on my 2006 Odyssey, I do see a line half way up my hood. From a distance, you will not notice it much. My odyssey entire front bumber, fog light, headlight and rear bumber, side mirror, door edges, handles are covered too. In the city with so many hills, the rear bumber get a lot of hits. The cover film help a lot in preventing damage in the paint. I am still waiting for to do the front and rear of my Prius. I hope my experience will help answer your question.

 

I'm not a fan of this stuff due to the fact that you can notice the edges. With the small hood on the Prius, they can probably do a good job of covering the entire hood (assuming they can navigate the crease near the top) so you won't see an edge going across the hood like on most cars. The front bumper is another matter--there will be lots of edges.

From a distance they're hard to see, but when you approach the car I find them to be unattractive.

My suggestion is to see a Prius (or some other car if you can't find a Prius) with the film installed so you can see for yourself and decide what you think. If you can't find a car with the film installed, look at the pieces on the Prius near the lower rear corners of the rear doors and adjacent door opening.

 

I have it on my wife's Prius IV sandy beach and love it, wish the installer did a better job but it is still well worth it.

I am also getting it on my Prius V with tech White.
Lifetime warranty on both.

My last Prius, 05 red was perfect except for the front end that was like it was sandblasted, they gave me a little grief about it when trading it in and I was also constantly touching it up but it came to a point that there was just too many chips.

I got it and hopefully I will not be sorry.
Good Luck

 

I just had it installed today... I think it looks great! I also had stone clips on my 06 that is why I had this installed.

 

Anyone know if they're still using 3M Scotchcal for these protectors, or have they moved to a newer material?

 

I had Venture Film put on mine and love it.

 

I think the degree of how happy you are with it depends on the installer and the film they use. I came across this site last year that has a list of clear bra installers. It's called The Official Directory for Clear Bra Installers! Find a clear bra installer and protect your paint today!. I went to a local guy here and got some work done on my last car and it was pretty good. I'm not saying I would be happy with anyone from there doing the job so I suggest calling around.

 

A much better locators are Installer Map Locator - justPPF.com , www.mmm.com, www.xpel.com and PROFORM Design World Map This is where all the "certified" installers are listed and this is a free information site for both installers and folks looking for information on PPF. The other site you just pay and you are on the site. Hope this helps

 

I see people talk about how it looks when it's new but I see no one mentioning how it would look few years down the road. I've seen few cars, expecially white ones with noticeably yellow looking film. I've been warned by someone who said it will turn yellow in couple of years on white cars and actually permanantly discolor the paint too. I can understand the film turning yellow but it's hard to believe that paint will actually discolor too. Is this is a story of early generation of flim? Was there any advancement in film material lately?

Also, what about pre-cut kit sold online? I believe I have the skills to do it but not sure if pre-cut is worth considering compare to buying bulk and cut it as I apply. Or just forget it and go with pros?

 

Do it yourself? Sure you cn do that but i'd recommend you find a installer close to you and ask him if you can watch him do a install. THEN think about if you still wanna do it yourself

 

Great questions. Refer to www.clearshieldprotection.com
which will provide some FAQ's on yellowing, do it your self kits and other pertinent questions regarding paint protection films. Also do a forum search on "Paint Protection films".