Re-do the clear bra after hood replacement or not ?

[Zooks527]

So, with 7 days left on the 5-year corrosion warranty, my Mustang went into the dealer today for warranty replacement of the hood due to two 1/4" bubbles on the front edge of the hood.

Strikes me as bizarre that the only solution is hood replacement, but, not my circus / not my monkeys.

In any event, this is the third car where I've had a clear bra installed when new. They're going to have to strip all of it off the hood and fenders to blend the paint to match, so I get no price break on only replacing part of it (well, the cost of the mirrors, I suppose). At this point, my decision is to have it completely redone (all on my dime) or leave it off.

On the one hand, there are a few decent nicks in the current bra where it has saved the paint underneath. On the other, it's all aluminum or plastic underneath the paint, so it's cosmetic touch-up issues only, instead of rust prevention. The Ford matching paint has done quite well on chips on the non-covered sections of my car over the last 5 years.

I suppose I should listen to my own advice and ignore the sunk cost fallacy of it being a 5-year-old car. On the other hand, it's the hindbrain response that now I'm going to pay a grand-plus because of those two little bubbles (yes, emotion, not rational thought, but there it is).

Comments?

Sponsored

 

[Jstang23]

I don't know about you but I really hate when my car gets a big rock chip in the paint. No corrosion worry as you mentioned but I wish I had gotten PPF when it was new as I drive the hell out of the car. I'd say go for it!

 

[HKusp]

It's raining and I tried to get pics of the chips in my hood but they're hard to see because of the water droplets. I have several that I have touched up but not sanded and a few that are down to the primer. They drive me crazy. Put your clear bra back on. You'll be really pissed that you didn't after going through the process of getting a new hood. Just my $.02

 

[GTP]

I inflicted a gouge in my hood last year. Fortunately it is where the stripe is, so that gives me a couple of options for repair.

On one hand the issue gives me motivation to cut my hood for a hood vent (for track days). OTOH I like the look of my uncut hood.

Regardless, the repair requires removing the (full coverage) clear film, and at least a portion of one stripe (for the case if I also cut for the hood vent). I could have a body shop use filler/sanding to repair the gouge, and then not paint it. This is because the stripe will just cover up that area.

It's a booboo that will run me over $1000 to fix. For now, I just run a 1/4"-wide strip of matching stripe over the gouge and that makes it almost tolerable.

I wish my hood had the corrosion problem. Then Ford would pay for a painted replacement hood, and I would take it from there.

My 5-year is up in May.

This photo (pre-booboo) shows why the wife does NOT want me to cut my hood, lol!

Sponsored