Prius bra update: Annual removal is probably too infrequent!

Jim,
Thanks for that detailed report, I will make sure that once the Bra goes on that I do take it off periodically, more than 2 times a year, maybe every 3 months or so.

Last night, after much reading and research, I decided to order one from Colgan and I bought the 2 piece Carbon Fiber Bra from Anything Automotive for $123 compared with buying it right from the Colgan website for $135. I got free shipping from the other website, and they did have all the years for the Prius, so I am hoping this one I bought is specific for the 2008 they way they made the selection process appear when you were selecting your vehicle and what was available for each year.

It will not be shipped until May 22nd according to what the website told me, maybe because I am getting free shipping, they are not to quick in getting it out to you.. But I am excited and can't wait till it comes in.

I also bought some molding strips that fit on the ends of the doors and they just slide right over the door edges, I put them on all 4 doors and they look pretty good. This will prevent my doors from getting dinged if they get opened up into another car, since I have a 10yr old child, I have to watch for this,

My next purchase will be the color keyed Molding stipes that go along all 4 doors to prevent other doors from banging and chipping paint on my door. I saw them for $100 something on the Prius accessory shop on this website.

 

Thanks Jim. It makes me feel ok about not buying a bra for the car. I got a hood deflector instead. I know that wont help the bumper area and am not sure what to do there yet.

 

Jim's going braless!

I'll have to remember to tell my wife so we'll know it's you when we pass each other.

BTW, she loved getting a Prius-wave the other day.

 

What great timing! I ordered a LeBra for my month old Prius and have had it for a few weeks. It hasn't gotten on the car yet, because I've been waiting for spare time and decent weather to coordinate for a good wash first. In the mean time, I've been going back on forth on whether I should have gotten it in the first place. I bought it to begin with because of all the reports of the hood and bumper being a rock magnet and I was afraid for my car. I've never used anything of the sort before, and the clear ones are too expensive (without saving up for a period of time). Now I'm kind of afraid to put it on for two issues, one being the degree of fading the paint uncovered will receive and the other being whether to take it on and off for the rain. Maybe you could offer some insight on these two things? I'm just afraid I will decide to take it off some day and the paint will either have a distinct line of faded/unfaded or else it will have some sort of damage from being wet. It just doesn't seem practical to me to take it on and off every time it rains, since that's pretty much half the winter and early spring here. Do you have any words of advice? I was considering just putting the bumper piece on and leaving the hood piece off to reduce the fade effect (i.e. no line across the middle of the hood). What do you think?

 

As far as permanent marks in the paint from the discovered "crud", it's possible but unlikely. Now I had 3M "clearbra" on three previous cars, and there is an insect here in Alberta who's guts can permanently stain the vinyl of the clearbra (orangey red marks), but the acrylic paint is more resistant to absorbing chemicals. Scratch yes, stain probably not.

It might help to treat the underside of the bra before applying with a nice thick wax, to repel water and the chemicals it can carry and lubricate the paint/bra interface. The Zaino probably will not protect the paint from the bra. The only other thing bra owners must ensure is they are tight and don't "flap" when driving, as that will surly scuff the paint. Your's looked nice and tight in the pictures.

Still too cool here to apply another coat of Zaino, but my little inner chemist is itching to mix it and apply!

 

Frshmtt:
Read your post and wanted to advise that I purchased the Golgan bra for the Prius from AutoAnything. I have an 8 week old 2008 and got the bra because I have owned Colgan products for my other car an 05 VW Jetta. After receiving the bra for the Prius, I must say it is not designed very well and the securing points are not easy to latch on to. There are strap hooks that you need to latch under the front wheel wells and they are not easy to get to. It also looked very ugly for my taste and took away from the style of the car. In fact, it left a fair amount of the front unprotected. In the end, I returned the 2008 2 pc bra to AutoAnything and received a full refund.

I opted for the 3M clear Bra pkg for the hood, bumper, fenders, mirrors, lights, door edge and door cups.. It was pricy but I felt it was a better invesment in the long term. I paid in the $700 range for the complete pkg installed but that product is scalable and will be priced lower for not as much coverage.

Hope you have better luck with the Colgan Bra for the 2008 Prius than I did. Or, maybe it is not to late investigate another option. Just passing along my experience - FYI..

 

Thanks for the info, well maybe I will end up returning it as well. I will see what my husband and I can do with attaching it, and if I don't like it, at least I know I can return it to Auto Anything without a problem.

Jim's looks so nice on his car though, I bought the Carbon Fiber one is that the one you had or just the regular black one??

 

freshmtt:
The colgan bra that I purchased was the standard finish with a soft interior. I am not sure but I would guess that the style/configuration is the same regardless if it is the fiber or traditional finish. As I mentioned earlier, in the end I returned the bra because it did not fit the car easily, did not cover all of the front fender area and did not look finished.. I have a colgan bra for my 2005 (new design) VW Jetta and it is designed well. It nicley covers and protects the front bump, fenders and portion of the hood. The Jetta bra from colgan is designed well and provides the protection a front end car bra is supposed to. When I received the colgan bra for the Prius, it was as I described herein, very dissapointing.. It was nothing like what I was expecting. Good luck with your product purchase.. I would be curious how yours works once you receive it.. I will be checking PC and will look for your response should you wish to share it with me.. Best RKSKEET

 

Rkskeet,

You've just scared me enough with your bra experience that I cancelled my autoanything.com order. Yes, A Colgan Carbon Fiber look 2008 Prius bra.

Now, next week I will be investigating a Clearshield install for the front end.


ZC1

 

Well I also decided to cancel my order, the more I thought about it, I would probably end up getting too frustrated with it. Thanks for the info, I am going to think about something else..

I wonder if anyone has the LeBra brand that actually has it on and likes it. Jim seems to have the Toyota brand one and he even said that it is a tight fit with a lot of stretching.

Maybe I will just opt for the hood deflector, but I want something on the bottom to prevent all the bugs from getting stuck

 

As a previous Toyota brand bra user, I say stay away from them. My Prius is scarred for life (or until I take it to a body shop to be painted) due to the bra I put on. No amount of wax or protectant could prevent the clouding of my bumper paint and the scratches on the fender. It was tightly fitted and looked good on the car. Unless you plan to remove it frequently, don't use them. I took mine off every spring and fall to clean under it, but this year took its toll on my Prius. Now, I have more damage from the bra than I would have from rocks and debris flying onto the front end. Clear bras are probably the only good solution to protecting the front of your Prius, but they just cost so much to have installed.....Hope you all find this post helpful in your bra research.

 

I have the lebra on my 2008. Put it on just fine and I didn't mind it but DH hated the look of it so I took the bottom off and just have the hood one on. I thought the installation was very easy, price was good, got it on ebay for around $50 with shipping included.