Do stones "bounce off" PPF, and not leave a mark?

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Skip

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A PPF installer told me that in many cases, stones will simply bounce off PPF without leaving a mark, because it is soft. (they didn't say this will ALWAYS happen, but they said because of this behaviour, there will be less marks than there would be without any PPF)
Opinions?
 
Just to be clear - I am concerned about marks/chips in the PPF itself - not the underlying surface. It is obvious that the PPF will provide good protection for the painted surface, but the only reason PPF will make financial sense for my decidedly NON exotic car is if the PPF itself is very resistant to stone chipping.
 
I had the factory PPF on rear quarter panels and had installed PPF on the front bumper and front hood area. I have no chips after 4 years but I don't do a lot of highway driving. You are more likely to get stone chips from highways then in city. I did pull off the factory PPF just last summer and had it redone, it was turning yellow and really showed abuse. I don't think the quality (thickness) of the factory PPF was up to snuff. Make sure it is a good quality 7 or 8 ml. I had 7ml expel and it has held up well. Also if you are doing correction tape the edge of the PPF so product doesn't start leaking under the edges.
 
They don’t bounce off, but many of the PPF’s have what they call “self healing” properties. Meaning that the mark disappears after a while. The big player in this market is XPEL. See their website.....
 
I have PPF on my car and yes, the PPF is resistant to scratches and marks left by small pebbles and stones. PPF has self-healing properties so most scratches and marks will disappear once the PPF is heated by the sun.

Of course, a bigger stone can damage the PPF beyond its self healing abilities. But even in this worse case scenario, it is not that expensive to replace the PPF. My left front fender was damaged by someone parked next to me opening their door. They hit it really hard. The PPF protected the paint, but it had a small hole ripped in it. I had my local installer remove the damaged PPF and repalce it with a brand new piece. The whole process took an hour and cost $150 (parts and labor).
 
Thanks. The quotes I've obtained so far are rather expensive, making it pointless (if it weren't for the self-healing aspect), because it's about the same price to simply repaint the bumper!
My thinking, initially, was that if the PPF is cheap, then I'd simply replace it when it had lots of stone chips, but it's not as simple as that.
 
Most "pebbles" bounce. I've attached a 1/4" stone chip thru a thick PPF that did not bounce off my minivan.

I'm a believer that if you travel on the highway you need it. I installed it on the hood of my new minivan back in 2012. 100K miles later (2.5 yrs) the hood looked very nice.....the bumper cover (no PPF) was a sandblasted mess. I had an accident resulting in a new bumper cover and paint. 30 days later I had PPF installed and now 150K miles later it still looks very nice.... maybe 3 chips that you can see if you look for them.

My C7 Corvette at 45K miles has a number of spots/cuts from pebbles in the PPF. I could leave it in the garage and cry over it but it's made to be driven and that's what I do... it would be much worse without PPF.
My friend's vettes with big name PPF's that are supposed to be cut proof have cuts too.
 
We got my wife a 2019 X5 in mineral white. In a year of ownership we got more stone chips than we had in the ENTIRE 7 previous years with our Acura MDX. I guess it's a combination of the paint and the way the air flows over the car. Anyway we got XPEL PPF and other than one hit from debris on the front bumper that put a slight tear in it, it has been flawless in terms of protection. My only issue is I have some dirty edges that show up on the white car.
 
Most replies have covered the benefits. I always said the next car I financed would get ppf on the front. When I got my ranger I found pre cut Kits on eBay so I figured I’d give it a shot. Overall it came out good and for a fraction of the cost. Is it perfect? No but I did the front bumper, leading edges of fender, a pillars, front of roof and all lower rockers for a fraction of what just the front nose cost from local shops.

Again I’m not a ppf install expert but for the price I paid and time it took me to do I’m happy with the results and am happy not thinking of paint chips when I drive. If I need to ever re do a piece I can do it on my own time and not need to have my truck at a shop for days.


I can say that the cost as others have mentioned is really labor. My truck is relatively flat so it’s straightforward. But I praise anyone who can free hand cut these pieces to some of the complex curves of modern cars.


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
Skip said:
A PPF installer told me that in many cases, stones will simply bounce off PPF without leaving a mark, because it is soft. (they didn't say this will ALWAYS happen, but they said because of this behaviour, there will be less marks than there would be without any PPF)
Opinions?
Click to expand...
•On the surface (ie. “that in many cases”):
-I agree with what this PPF installer
told you.

•Digging deeper...
-All it means is that, in some cases,
it may not always ring true. Why?

-The variations of the stones’ sizes; the
rate of acceleration when they’re ‘thrown’;
and the amount of force they exert upon
impact; are a few points to consider.


{Another thought for your consideration:
Take a gander at XPel’s Ultimate PPF.}


Bob
 
Skip said:
A PPF installer told me that in many cases, stones will simply bounce off PPF without leaving a mark, because it is soft. (they didn't say this will ALWAYS happen, but they said because of this behaviour, there will be less marks than there would be without any PPF)
Opinions?
Click to expand...

I have PPF on both of my vehicles, car and truck. As Funx650 stated, it depends upon the size of stone and velocity it is traveling. I even have PPF over the headlights to protect them too!

My local highway drive involves a ton of light sand and small pebbles and yes it will show up in the PPF. That said those are they ones that leave a mark, if the bounced off I would not know it.

Now for the ones that missed the PPF on the front clip, yes they chipped away my Clearcoat, Ugh!

So if you want protection then PPF in my opinion is a must.

PS: Larger or sharp objects can gouge out PPF and these DO NOT self heal. I have proof.
 
I'm a believer in PPF - specifically Expel (now Expel Ultimate) for my cars. I had it on my Audi Allroad and when I traded it in last month, the front of the car (that's most prone to the pings and dings) was perfect. I had the front of my Mazda CX-5 done, including, hood, headlights, fenders, mirrors, A-frames, front part of roof and door handles. Of course, last week driving home from NYC, I heard a very, large "bang" from the driver's door and when I got home I saw the damage that the rock did; small but down to bare paint. I'm sure the damage would have been less if I had PPF on the doors, but that gets pricey. As an aside, I cringe when driving on the major roads in the snow and I see those salt spreaders ahead of me.
 
FWIW, here's a demo of Xpel. They show that it protects the paint, but they don't mention any improvement in the appearance of the panel with the PPF still on the panel.
XPEL Gravelometer Test - YouTube
 
Nice demo. My friend must have been traveling over 70 when his Xpel cut on his C7.

I was looking to replace my 6 year old PPF with something newer until comparing films on others C7's. They all had cuts and holes.
 
This is the video that convinced me to get PPF. Skip ahead to time mark 1:20 where the presenter purposely scratches his clear coat with a metal brush and then makes all the scratches disappear with some hot water or a heat gun. Keep in mind that PPF is 4-6 times as thick as the clear coat on your paint and also has self-healing capabilities, as demonstrated in this video:

Scratching And Healing My Own Car - How Protective Films Work - YouTube
 
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