I've always liked the braless look. Nothing like beautiful curves being displayed as much as polite society will allow.

OK. get your mind out of the gutter I'm taking about my XKR of course. I don't tailgate and except for situations I can't control, like stoplights, always keep a substantial distance behind the cars in front.

Nevertheless, the paint on the leading edge on my hood is taking a real beating. So what do you people do about that ? Do you use one of the clear plastic overlays ? Or do you cover up those beautiful organic curves.

I really need advice on this one. It looks like my hood has already had at least one re-paint as the color doesn't quite match the rest of the car. But re-painting the hood every year is a poor solution, and too pricy anyway. There's always more pressing maintenance and repairs that have priority than some numerous paint chips.

Z

 

Yeah, a clear bra is probably your best bet. Ones nowadays are nearly imperceptible (except if you're really close to the car). Definitely better than the ones I used to see when I was a (younger) kid.

Other than that, you could see if ceramic coating does anything. I have my reservations about that stuff, but I put it on my friend's brand new grand cherokee (flawless paint) just before he drove from Boston, MA to Pensacola, FL, and he had no rock chips or anything despite driving through a winter storm or two (the salt kicks up). There were a couple places where you could see that the ceramic coating itself had chipped away, but the paint itself was/is fine. It's supposed to harden the finish of the paint so as to be more resilient against rock chips etc., while also providing the hydrophobic properties of wax. Be careful with application, though, as it takes (or claims to take) years to wear off. You could probably compound it off with some patience, if absolutely necessary.

 

I've considered a bra, but don't want to cover the gorgeous front end of the car. As for little chips in the paint, those are badges of honor, letting all know that this car is driven.
For me the solution is very carefully applied touch up paint.

 

Check this out--clear bras have come a long way.

 

Last month I had the XF's front bumper repainted due to a scuff and went ahead and did the hood again for the second time due to chips. So soon and I already got one chip. So now I'm thinking about having this PPF installed. My painter told me to wait at least a couple of months. I got one quote and was shocked that it was nearly as much as I paid for the paint work. What is a reasonable cost to do the hood and front bumper cover? Is it worth it to do the full hood or just the leading edge? All the chips in the past have been on the first eight inches of so. There have never been any on the fenders and the bumper cover had accumulated a few, but nowhere near as bad as the hood.