sharkster

hey tripp, (trying to get back on topic) I know the saying goes "opinions are like XXXX, everyone's got one" and I'd suggest taking a look at some cars in your area that have had film done (if that's possible). The only way to discern what's good enough for you would be to really look at a car in person and compare films/work? Sorry if that's stating the obvious and out here in the Bay Area we're lucky since we have a lot of Porsches to look at

PogueMoHone

3M is the material for protection, may not be the best looking but it is more than adequate and excels in durability. If you are a short term owner any product will do

We do extensive engineering tests on various tapes (and spend $ millions per annum on tapes for high reliability applications (mission (or life) critical) and the winner is always 3M, even though it is more expensive. Next time you take off or land in an airport, 3M is keeping you safe. You have to balance many factors including looks (often misleading), ease of installation and durability.

So guess what? I use 3M on my cars and will until someone gives me emperical evidence that there is a better product (and I have tried Venture). I got sucked into the argument that there may be better products out there ( a la Premier and Venture) but, in my case it was too good to be true, your experience may vary.

Different products offer better margins, but some just don't meet the spec at the extreme. You can count on 3M. Now, if you want to maximize profits buy the cheaper material (Venture?), and bank on the fact that the "extreme'' is never going to happen.

To directly answer question 3M is the best, but the reason it is the best is also may be the reason that it may give a little orange peel. Are you buying looks or are you buying protection?

Don't misinterpret, the 3M still looks awesome and in my application it is better than Venture.

mr997

Hi Colm. I met you at one of the Saturday gatherings in San Jose and you were gracious enough to share your thoughts to me regarding your Ferrari. Thank you for the referral for the clearshield guy, but I feel it necessary to bring to light that there were some major problems with him. I'm just trying to give my objective opinion on this, so don't hang me for it. First It took several calls and a week before I had a return call. He did take his time and was friendly when I finally had him booked, but the next daymy clearshield began to bubble on my rear-view mirrors back side and several areas on the nose. There were also some very strange wavy looking lines on the nose and mirror backs that never went away with it being some two months ago. I tried calling them, but have not received a call back. Just been too busy with work or I would have given him a few more calls. I was over at Carlsen concorse several weekends ago and saw Sharkworks green RS there. One word stunning. I had a chance to talk to Chris at Premiere and was shown what they did on Sharkworks' car. I will be honest, I did not know anything was on the car until I was told. That was a shocker. During the same time, another guy with a Cayman chimed in and was a bit irritated (possibly too much caffeine as he was holding a Venti from Starbucks). He went off ranting about how bad his looks compared to the green RS. After a few minutes of his bitch'n, I realized he used the same guy I was referred to by you. He said the guy didn't return calls (just like in my case) and was having some marital problems at the time (i guess some justification there - women!). My guy was cheaper by a little , but imo, after seeing Sharkworks car, I will have Premiere take it all off and redo it just like their green RS. The guy with the Cayman is also getting his shield replaced on the same day of my appointment this week.

Sharkworks, do you guys have any promotions for the AWE exhaust?

PogueMoHone

If the job wasn't done correctly, you should follow up with him and make him correct it, he will. He has always stood behind his work, and my 4 year old car (white) at the San Jose auto show was considered by many to brand new with the 3M tape on it.

Ther is no doubt that the Venture is easier to install than 3M, but that doesn't make it a better protector. Not in my book, my experience with 3M products instills that confidence on my part. I have no reason to change that. Interesting that I went to Premier because I heard great things, but honestly the hype was greater than the delivery (and durabiity), so I learnt that my guy was the better choice (for me), warts and all.

I know (and always say), that the guy I recommended, is slow, but he is a thorough (and never uses a hair dryer) on the film to get it to conform.

Sorry to hear that you had problems, and PM if you want my help in getting it straightened out.

I prefer someone who comes to my house, as opposed to burning 4 hours of time on round trips to drop off and pick up a car. That is one of the reasons I would not go back to Premier to get my items addressed. I can understand that sometimes things are just not worth the hassle.

I don't approach the Clear bra question from a perspective of looks; I look at it from a perspective of protection, durability and maintenance. that is where 3M shines (but it is harder to install), no doubt. The most invisible job may not offer the best protection.

However, any installation should look good (and protect even better).

If Premier used 3M (my requirement) and their prices were more competitive, then they might be worth the hassle (travel, etc.) for me. I feel with Premier (and their prices) I might be getting to the point where the side effects of the medicine are worse than the illness it was intended to cure. That is, a repaint (risks considered) is the better "economic" alternative.

WHB Porsche

So the 3M has better protection while somewhat sacrificing looks (orange peel). Some would say this defeats the purpose of a clear bra in the first place. Why protect your car from cosmetic damage with something that makes the car look bad? It's a bit of a Catch 22.

mastiffdog

You made a statement: "Premier is over priced for the quality of product delivered". Where is your proof? And how can you compare price without comparing the skills required to perform the installation.

Lovefest? The overwhelming majority of car owners who post here like doing business with Premier - I'd go out on a limb and say that is a fact. If anything you are the first person I have ever seen on the forum to ever post anything negative about Premier.

Premier does excellent work. They may not be the least expensive, but I think you get what you pay for in the end. Their follow-up service has been impeccable.

TT Gasman

+1 3M, good enough for Desert Storm, good enough for me.

whyb2nd

Board sponsors are not there do baby sit a thread if it gets off track, I think you know what their purpose is.

Regarding my post, "clear bra help" I asked What is best, not WHO is best, just wanted to clear that up.
Thanks for the info though..........

whyb2nd

Alex, Colm thanks for your imput. I'm manic about the durability due to the high speeds I run here, upwards of 175mph(The desert has its advantages over city driving). Hitting a pebble at this speed will ruin your day. But I don't want to defeat the purpose by reducing the quality look of the paint.
3M sounds like the way to go for sure, I'll see if these guys have done a Porsche and decide......

PogueMoHone

I have had many cars done, and I went to Premier expecting great things after all I had heard (through promotion on various websites). I am not negative (but realistic) about them, but they are not the all singing, all dancing solution that I constantly read about here.

Their quality is OK, their prices are exorbitant (imo) for the quality delivered, and I have other places that will give me better service at lower prices.

In my opinion Venture is inferior to 3M, but it may be cheaper for the installers and provides better margins, easier to work with and has less orange peel, and less protection (imo). We spend huge amounts of $ dollars specing tape products for critical and life threatening applications, and 3M always delivers. Sorry, but I have to go with my experience (and I have tried Vneture).

There is a reason for the difference in visibility (related to purpose and design). I have learned to trust 3M more than anyone else; and until someone shows me conclusive emperical evidence, backed with field applications, that there is better, more durable product (than 3M) that is the Camp I am in. My experiment with Venture was a failed try.

Remember, I was open minded enough to try the alternative (Venture Shield and Premier) based upon all the hype (about Premier) and was disappointed. Again, your experience may vary. I paid Premier a hugh amount of money (premium) and when balanced against the quality of the product the value wasn't there for me.

I can go in my garage and do a direct comparison between the Venture and 3m installation, and in my mind the 3M wins hands down (and you are welcome to visit and draw your own conclusions).

Is Premier terrible quality, absolutely not. Terrible value, absolutely (imo). However, your opinion may vary and that is what makes the world go around.

I said before, if Premier installed 3M and had competitive pricing, custom installion versus asembly line techniques, then I would be OK with them.

The purpose of these websites (I think) is to obtain balanced opinion and reliable information. To the extent that there is dissention and differences in opinion, it should help add to the quality of decisions made by users. At the end of the day, it is your choice to spend your money as you see fit, and value is in the eye of the beholder.

But, if you think you always get what you pay for, think again. It was PT Barnum, I think, who said there is a sucker born every minute.

Until I see prices publicized and coverage detailed; 'Tis the least any Sponsor can do for the members he is trying to create favor with, and profit from, I have nothing more to say.

Except,

"Caveat Emptor"

sharkster

no worries man. For one thing, make sure that wherever you go they've at least done a couple of 997TT bumpers. Those are not the easiest bumper to do based on the fascia... Take a look at some of their customers car so you have something to go by

mastiffdog

Colm, I never said that you always get what you pay for. With Premier, I think you do. As I stated before, the majority of forum members have been very satisfied with their work and service.

The original poster sought opinions from forum members on who they thought was the best source for installing a clear bra. I said Premier and I stand by the recommendation.

And I don't appreciate the shot you took at me with the overused quote from PT Barnum.

mr997

Let me now follow up on some of the issues we have realized yesterday with myself and the owner of the CaymanS. We were both scheduled in yesterday and dropped the car off to get Premiere to look over the shield. Well, let me say here that I am now ever more disappointed and extremely angry. For me I got the 3M shield with the installer you recommended Colm as did the CaymanS owner. His had 4 spots that looked like some rocks broke through the clear shield, so he was pretty disappointed with it after only 4000 miles. For me I have not put as many miles on it, so do not know if my 3m shield would end up looking like his. BUT Premiere first told him that he has some exacto cuts into his paint before they took the shield off. Peeling up some of these areas, they pointed out to us the exactoed areas. Now let me note now, we were present during this whole time, so we're sure it was not put on by Premiere. Another person from Premiere began to peel off the shield on my car and found the same placesdamaged!!

Paint Damage
2006 CaymanS - driver rearview mirror cover (3 inches), one light, nose air vent openings 4 inch to 8 inches (yes, in inches!)

2007 My Turbo - lower air valence (6 inches), one light sliced deep, washer area under the light (1 inch), and the surrounding area around the round circle cover on the nose

I guess it came down to this for me. I've been lurking here for a while now. Got plenty of valuable information for my Carrera, heard a lot about Premiere since I registered here (but bc I was over in the East Coast, I couldn't use their service). I chose to go with your shield installer because you were talking abut them highly and the 3M bra as the #1 choice for you. By the way, I did not see any issues with what Premiere did for you at that show. I contacted Premiere to see if they could use 3M and they said no bc of how visible it is. I decided to use CSS as you recommended, but now have realized it was a bad decision on my part. I should've listened to all of the glowing reviews of Premiere from this board - yeh, stupid me. If anyone would like to see the damage on our cars, please feel free to go to Premiere by the end of today. I would feel better if anyone can forgo the disappointment and frustration with this experience by learning from us. Premiere is polishing those places, but some are too deep. And no, I'm not going to repaint my 1000 mile new Turbo! fck! Abso-f*cking ridiculous! Colm, you should think twice about your guy. If you want, go to Premiere to see what your guy has done to our cars. Perhaps, you should look at yours as well. And for those who wants to know why not call the guys who did this? If you could put yourself in our shoes, it was difficult enough to first get an appointment and second to not get a call back for some of the bubbling, it would be a fruitless attempt. Personally, I'm not sure how or what I would say to them. So I'll just let the anger settle down first. On a lighter note, there was a stunning black RS at Premiere yesterday and the shield installation was impeccable. I'm not too familiar with taking pictures and getting them onto a forum, but the CaymanS owner did take a lot of pictures. If anyone is interested in seeing them, please privatemail me here and I'll get the pictures to you to get it on here.

sharkster

Hey Mr997, I don't want to hijack the thread anymore than it has been but I pm'd you so feel free to swing by. I think the best way for you to choose an exhaust would be to listen to them in person and I can go over some of the pros and cons. We had a TT with the Tubi and a TT with a MillTek today

TT Gasman

This thread has gone waaaay off track IMO. The question was about the best clear bra, not the best installer/vendor. What Premier does is completely irrelavent to 90% the posters in the rest of the country. Maybe we should start a new thread, "Premier... love 'em, hate 'em or I don't care"
Guys it's Friday nite, go have a cocktail. I know I would if I didn't have to work!