On November 21st, I took delivery of a new 2009 Audi A4 S-Line with an Ibis White exterior.  While there is a great deal I could say about the car, let me simply say that I love the car, and I'm really interested in keeping the exterior in pristine shape.  So, as I thought about how I might best protect the exterior of the car, I did a bit of research, and I spoke to a few others who have new cars, and who might have experience with film based exterior protectants.  I had conversations with Pete Solari, and Dave Ruddock.  Both of them have recently purchased cars, and both of them said that for these new cars, they used a product called California Clear Bra.  The product is manufactured by 3M, and sold as a kit from several manufacturers, one of which is a company called xPel.

Well, if ClearBra is the best product on the market, then I had to make the decision of whether to install it myself or to have a professional do it for me.  I'm pretty handy with tools but it only took a few conversations to determine that this is not the kind of project that you want to take on yourself.  There are really two good reasons not to do it yourself.  First, since these are kits, and you might spend as much as $400 for a kit that covers the front of the car, if you make a mistake, you'll likely have to buy a new kit.  Some mistakes are impossible to recover from, so unless you're a pro, it just doesn't make sense to try to do it yourself.  You'll either have to buy a couple of kits, or you'll have to settle for a job that not perfect.  The second reason to hire a pro is that installing a product like this is very much an art.  As we'll hear later, you can't just read the manual and get to it.  You really need to have experienced several different kinds of mistakes on test vehicles so that you can understand which of the number of techniques available are right for your car.  The temperature of the car, the temperature of  the air, the cleanliness of the car, the cleanliness of your hands, the overall contours of the car, and whether or not the xPel kit is perfect or not are several of the variables which factor in to the decision of what technique to use at what point in time.

Now that I had decided not to do it myself, I once again spoke to Dave and Pete to find out who they chose to install their ClearBra.  Both of them had chosen to use East Bay Auto Spa in Walnut Creek, CA.  Ron at EBAS has a reputation for doing great work, and he is a master installer himself.  EBAS is a well equipped shop, with the ability to cut the stencils for your car on site, at their facility in Walnut Creek.  That settled it, I figured it was time to give Ron a call.

I spoke to Ron about the process, and how long it will take to do my car, and before he answered me, he said that we needed to sort out exactly how much coverage I desired for the car.  As it turns out, the kits can be cut to cover the front grill, and small portion of the hood, or they can be extended to cover more of the hood, all or part of the fenders, the mirrors, side skirts, and the back deck, just below where the trunk is.  Ron told me that this is a common area to protect if there is a golfer in the family.  The top of the rear bumper takes quite a lot of abuse from golf clubs, so he said it's a good idea if you're a golfer.  Well, I'm not a golfer, but protecting this portion of the car made sense, so I added it to the list of the protected areas.  In the end, I chose to protect the entire grill and fascia, along with an extended area of the hood, the mirrors, a portion of the fenders, and the rear deck, near the trunk.

Ron said that an installation like this takes about 4-5 hours, so we made an appointment and I waited for the car to arrive.  With thehelp of a friend, I took delivery of the new car on the 21st at 7PM, and then the next morning, I was at East Bay Auto Spa at 6:30 AM.  Although Ron did not arrive for about 90 minutes, it was important for me to be there early so that the entire front of the car could be sufficiently cooled, allowing for optimal working conditions, and making it easier to produce a perfect installation.

or statOn June 12th, 2008 Niello Audi of Sacramento hosted the North American Launch of the 2009 Audi A4.  This was every bit as much car launch as it was a happening.  The launch was, in effect, a fantastic party that included a number of events to keep everyone busy until the new cars were unveiled at 9PM.

Author - Clifford Musante