Camry Hood Protector/Bug Deflector: Opinions? (Pics)

[Yuko]

Got a hood protector for my Camry from O’reilly for $40.
The reason was to prevent more rock chips; too late for 3M film.

What's your opinion on this? Like it, hate it, useful, useless?

Don't see many Gen 4 with hood protectors.


There's a bit of a raised lip at the edge to redirect bugs away from the windshield.


Plenty of room to clean and wax underneath and it doesn’t touch the leading edge of the hood.


I'm trying to figure out how to remove the AVS logo on the left side. (Alcohol maybe)


In my view, the hood protector reminds me of those colored visor people wear at the beach. (fig. 1)
On the other hand, my sister thinks my Camry grew a Unibrow. (fig. 2)


The hood protector feels strong and it's hard to bent it onto the painted surface. Not sure how it would do in an automatic car wash but I always hand wash my it. Fitment seems to be an A- but that might be due to the light frontal accident years ago. (hood and fender survived) Overall, not bad for a hood protector made in the U.S.A.

[DarkSideMoon]

First off, that paint looks excellent.
As far as the hood protector they really aren't my thing. Personally I think a hood with minor chipping damage looks better than one with the protector, but that may just be me.

[Tom 2000]

The hood protector works well. I had it on several cars.

It blends especially well with a black car like yours.

[sensei_]

looks better than the toyota offerings, unfortunately im no fan of hood protectors. i prefer to wash my car down after a drive on the open roads.

[rusty9]

I wish I had one of those for "love bug" season in florida.

[iovaykind]

It doesn't look bad because you have a black car.. so I'd say keep it. Should help that beautiful paint stay on that car

[Yuko]

Originally Posted by DarkSideMoon

First off, that paint looks excellent.
As far as the hood protector they really aren't my thing. Personally I think a hood with minor chipping damage looks better than one with the protector, but that may just be me.

Thanks. I tried to keep it waxed and clean as much as possible but what the camera can't pick up is the heavy rock chips and tree tar damages on the paint.

Originally Posted by Tom 2000

The hood protector works well. I had it on several cars.

It blends especially well with a black car like yours.

Yep, I drove though the rain and the water barely moved on the hood. It looks big but I can't see it from inside the car so that's good.

Originally Posted by sensei_

looks better than the toyota offerings, unfortunately im no fan of hood protectors. i prefer to wash my car down after a drive on the open roads.

Never seen an OEM version. I called the dealership and they don't carry them but they do have those full-front mask/bar for $170. Funny, because a new driver-side sun visor is $190.

Originally Posted by rusty9

I wish I had one of those for "love bug" season in florida.

Yea, summer is coming and there will be no shortage of bugs here in Texas.

Originally Posted by iovaykind

It doesn't look bad because you have a black car.. so I'd say keep it. Should help that beautiful paint stay on that car

Thanks, just trying to protect the fragile paint. My friend like it too and wish they made one for his black ES300.

[sensei_]

Originally Posted by Yuko

...
Never seen an OEM version. I called the dealership and they don't carry them but they do have those full-front mask/bar for $170. Funny, because a new driver-side sun visor is $190. ...

I remember seeing it at my local toyota when i got my timing belt changed (14months ago). i estimate the cost to be about AU$200+ at the dealership

[fenixus]

useful? for sure.
if I like it? not really personally but it's just me.

In Jersey, drivers learned to not care much about older car's bumpers and chips on hoods ... or rust on suspension parts LOL ... seems we are getting a mixture of worst climate things here! ... and probably most often collisions among all US states

However I have to admit, that it blends very nicely with your car's paint! I would keep it if it was my car

beautiful car!

[pmesfun]

Looks good, we had one on our 94 Grand Cherokee 5.2 V8.

You can see what was left of it after the accident. lol, only had 60k miles.

God I loved that truck, it was going to be handed down to me.

[Chris Crash]

Looks good. Might get one for my gen 4...

[Yuko]

Originally Posted by sensei_

I remember seeing it at my local toyota when i got my timing belt changed (14months ago). i estimate the cost to be about AU$200+ at the dealership

Yep, most of us learn that dealerships carry some reasonably priced parts but most of the time, the price is enormous.

Originally Posted by fenixus

useful? for sure.
if I like it? not really personally but it's just me.

In Jersey, drivers learned to not care much about older car's bumpers and chips on hoods ... or rust on suspension parts LOL ... seems we are getting a mixture of worst climate things here! ... and probably most often collisions among all US states

However I have to admit, that it blends very nicely with your car's paint! I would keep it if it was my car

beautiful car!

Thanks. This Camry used to be a Chicago vehicle and the bumper covers were dinged and scratched by 5 years of parallel parking. Then it had a small frontal accident and was left that way. Later moved to Texas and I took over the car and fix it. The city can be very rough on vehicles.

Originally Posted by pmesfun

Looks good, we had one on our 94 Grand Cherokee 5.2 V8.

You can see what was left of it after the accident. lol, only had 60k miles.

God I loved that truck, it was going to be handed down to me.

Hope everyone was fine from that accident. In fact, my friend’s 00 ES300 (black, almost VIP styled) was hit by a truck in the parking lot yesterday. Destroyed the rear quarter panel but he’s handling that well. (I would be flipping houses.) He was still admiring my hood protector after that.

Originally Posted by Chris Crash

Looks good. Might get one for my gen 4...

Just be ready for a few tease of it looking like a unibrow. My sister is the only one that said that and haven't given up on it.

[fenixus]

sounds familiar besides Chicago climate is very similar to NJ, perhaps even more harsh (both summer & winter).

I parallel park my car every day on the street, already earned a hit on my front license plate and its bracket (someone hit it with a tow hook) ...
and even my parking lot by apartment complex where we live is not safe LOL getting a ding or scratch here and there every few weeks/months ... abandoned the idea of keeping our cars bodies looking perfect a long time ago, impossible ...

as you did, we would probably have to move out to more peaceful (and spacious!) place

Originally Posted by Yuko

Thanks. This Camry used to be a Chicago vehicle and the bumper covers were dinged and scratched by 5 years of parallel parking. Then it had a small frontal accident and was left that way. Later moved to Texas and I took over the car and fix it. The city can be very rough on vehicles.

[Yuko]

It's nice and open here but boring and hot, I missed the lake shore. Driving here is easy and there's not many place that has parallel parking. Having said that, the speed limit is high (and everyone does 10 over) so when there's an accident, it's not a fender bender like in the city. Usually it's a bad wreck. Seen two or three accident happen in front of me per year.

[Chris Crash]

Try parking on a college campus, dings and scratches everywhere!