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Originally Posted by MNBoxster
a.) They are NOT invisible
b.) As they age, a Dirt Line appears, making them even more visible, especially on light colored cars.
c.) They scratch easily when washing/waxing/claying and look old before their time.
d.) They offer some UV protection and so the paint underneath will fade at a lesser rate than the non-protected paint, making it noticable over time.
e.) They offer some protection, but for larger impacts, they merely hold the paint chip in place - remove the Mask and the paint comes away with it requiring a respray when this is exactly what one spent $$$ to avoid. A conventional Bra offers much greater impact protection.
f.) A friend who had it on his Countach had a pin hole penetrate the Mask unoticed and he got some corrosion because of the water it trapped underneath.
g.) Inevitably, use a Clear Mask, and you get chips just above it, so you're Touching Up anyway.
I guess in sum, they offer some protection, but at a price which is out of proportion to what you get. If you're keeping the Car for 2 years, maybe worthwhile for preserving the Resale, but keep it any longer and the Mask becomes more a burden than a blessing. As always, just my humble $0.02...
Happy Motoring!... Jim'99
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Good points! I know it's not "invisible" but it looks better than a regular bra. Th e bit about the dirt line is definitely true on light cars, but on my seal grey, no problems and the dirt line can be erased with a little work, supposedly.
I've never seen paint touch-ups that really satisfied me and wow, I get a lot of rock chips apparently--my other car is covered on the front. Resprays never adhere as well and so you end up with more rock chips than before and then you end up on an expensive schedule of respraying the car all the time.
I'm trying to protect the original paint on the car as much as I can, so disregarding the cost, I went with the clear bra. Since this is my daily driver getting over ten thousand miles a year, the cost-benefit thing doesn't end up seeming as ludicrous as it might for someone that owns a multitude of vehicles.
The UV issue is the one that freaks me out the most. SUPPOSEDLY it's not going to do that... but we'll see. In any case, it's certainly going to be less of a difference than if one were to leave a regular bra on a car year-round!
Oh, and tqtran, maybe it's the version you've experienced, but on my car, the yellow stains disappear very fast. That had me worried the first time I saw it happen, but when I looked later, the stains were gone.