Paint Protection Film: Just the front or do it all?

[Turboencabulator]

First Post!
So I need some advice...
I want to add Paint Protection Film (PPF) to protect my 392 and I need help deciding if I should just do the front facing bits or PPF the whole vehicle. I found a local shop that does amazing work and I trust them and like the way they treat people. They use STEK ProShield combined with ceramic top coat or you can opt for STEK DYNOshield with or without ceramic topcoat.

Option 1: Just the front facing stuff $3104 incl. tax (shown in pink below):

• Wash, Decontaminate, prep and PPS Full Front End, Grill, Hood, Fender flares Front and Rear, A-Pillar/windshield surround, rockers = $1995
• Single Stage Paint correction / DA polishing = $450
• 4+ Year Ceramic Coating w/ Graphene = $450

Option 2: PPF the whole enchilada $5577 incl. tax (shown in pink below):

• Wash, Decontaminate, prep and PPS Full Vehicle = $4750
• 4+ Year Ceramic Coating w/ Graphene = $450

This will be my all-year daily driver in the snowy/salty midwest. So I want to protect my new Jeep but not waste money on stuff that's not going to be useful.

What do you think?

 

[Blankman]

I had stek dynoshield installed on the hood, grill, fenders, flares for $1900 (Fort Wayne) paint correction was included. STEK dynoshield has hydrophobic properties so I’d skip the ceramic coat. If you do the whole thing you could just run it through an auto wash. Any scratches would self heal.

 

[Bhodi11]

I just had your option 1 done with XPEL plus headlights, fronts of the hinges, door handle cups, and around the door bolt area (keeps from scratching taking doors on/off) then Ceramic pro over everything including all trim and all 5 rims. I also had the tint matched on the front doors with the back. Deal included full paint correction as well. Paid $3150.00 out the door. Very happy. The full wrap would have been nice but price was nearly double.

 

[Tree]

First Post!
So I need some advice...
I want to add Paint Protection Film (PPF) to protect my 392 and I need help deciding if I should just do the front facing bits or PPF the whole vehicle. I found a local shop that does amazing work and I trust them and like the way they treat people. They use STEK ProShield combined with ceramic top coat or you can opt for STEK DYNOshield with or without ceramic topcoat.

Option 1: Just the front facing stuff $3104 incl. tax (shown in pink below):

• Wash, Decontaminate, prep and PPS Full Front End, Grill, Hood, Fender flares Front and Rear, A-Pillar/windshield surround, rockers = $1995
• Single Stage Paint correction / DA polishing = $450
• 4+ Year Ceramic Coating w/ Graphene = $450

View attachment 3291View attachment 3290

Option 2: PPF the whole enchilada $5577 incl. tax (shown in pink below):

• Wash, Decontaminate, prep and PPS Full Vehicle = $4750
• 4+ Year Ceramic Coating w/ Graphene = $450

View attachment 3292View attachment 3293

This will be my all-year daily driver in the snowy/salty midwest. So I want to protect my new Jeep but not waste money on stuff that's not going to be useful.

What do you think?

Ppf the entire vehicle… you won’t regret it!
I love mine.

 

[Striker392hydroblu]

I live in Phx and use Permaplate for my vehicles and do it myself. I have a F150 black widow that's lives outside in the heat for 8 years this June and paint still looks amazing. 7in lift keeps it outside and no covering ever. It's paid off and only 46k miles but never did the ceramics or wraps. It's the black speckled ford paint and I do take care of it very well and no salt roads here btw. On the 392 I have also coated it with permaplate two times so far but she lives in the garage. Would love to afford the special paint work just too much money for my budget at this point. Maybe someday. Cheers all,

 

[Striker392hydroblu]

 

[Mrtintsd]

A lot depends on how you use the jeep BUT the fact you said daily driver and salt/snow. The whole thing would be best in your case.
most CARS, we recommend the whole hood, fenders and front bumper. but JK/JL/392 the whole thing is a better option. even if you don't off road much. I have 2 personal experiences with jeeps. I can share.
-My daughter's jeep is 2015 black JK. she always keeps it clean. doesn't take it off roads and we live in San Diego. No weather here ever except occasional rain. One day in the sun I noticed all the way down both sides (doors) she had some really bad scratches that were running horizontal. It looked like she had been driving down a long brush trail. It turned out to be the carwash she was using. She has an unlimited wash pass and it's a new high-end carwash, but it has brushes that spin horizontal. She would use this 3 times a week and it eventually caused enough scratching that when the sun hit it.....it looked horrible. Anyway, it took 4 days of paint correction to fix it. That alone cost more than the additional cost to PPF whole car.
-My 392 jeep is white. I got the jeep in August 2021. I immediately PPF the jeep but the jeeps were so new that the cutting software did not have patters for the jeep yet, we bulked wrapped the hood (that's best anyway) but used patterns on the fenders for a regular rubican. They were short or small for the 392. I left them in place anyway for protection until the patterns came out for the 392. WHAT I NOTICED........ the parts of fenders that were not protected tuned yellow. Kind of like the old school white from Toyota. This only happened on the plastic painted pieces (fender flares mostly), and it was so subtle that I probably would have not seen it if I chose not to keep the partial coverage on. I assume it was UV damage. The point to this story is PPF is mainly for physical damage, but it also protects from the sun too.

Too Everyone
-if you chose to do a partial wrap then it is always better to do the whole panel. An example is hood and fenders. There are packages where only the leading edges (high impact areas) are covered. The PPF is stopped 12"-18" up the hood. This saves you money and works well BUT when removed will leave a fade line in the paint that cannot be color corrected later.
-always PPF first then ceramic coat the whole vehicle
-Llumar Valor, Stek Dynoshield and Suntek Ultra all have a really good hydrophobic layer built in and don't need a ceramic coat. It is so slippery when installing we use rubber gloves for traction and sometimes takes 2 guys to stretch in place. These PPF products usually cost more to install and purchase so the ceramic coating is offset.
-most PPF have a hydrophobic built in, but I would recommend a ceramic coating over them with an exception to the product previously mentioned. This seals the PPF and helps with bee pollen and bird droppings.

Word of caution
-we have been in the market (window tint, PPF, ceramic coatings) for 30 years, PPF is a really new product considering. most the advances have come in the last few years because the market has more demand, so everyone is jumping into it and most manufacturers now offer it. What I am getting at is, we are seeing PPF installed 4-5 years ago coming back yellow, cracked and foggy from well-known manufactures. these are 4th and 5th generation PPF films. The plus is....... the paint still looked outstanding under the PPF. The bad is almost all of them are out of warranty.
-New generations of PPF (last 3 years) are self-healing and a polyurethane. This helps with install and long life
-newest generations have great hydrophobic
-The takeaway with all mentioned above is "NEW". I have yet to see PPF look good after 5 years, but I do believe the newer PPF coming out now will last close to the 10 years as warrantied. Valor has a 12-year warranty and is made by the biggest window film manufacturer in the world. They use a weathering machine that can simulate a years' worth of weather in weeks. So, they have a good idea.
-"warranty is driven by the market" everyone wants to say they have the best and a 12-year warranty implies product is better than a 10-year warranty. just make sure whoever you buy from and what ever manufacturer you pick will be here 10-12 years from now and more importantly "what is covered". Warranty may only cover material and you get stuck with labor????

Sorry, I get carried away...... simple answer is All my off-road vehicles, 2 jeeps and a 4x4 Toyota pickup have full PPF coverage, My BMW X5 has front end coverage and my Chrysler 300 is vinyl wrapped.

The price you are quoted look really good.
san diego we would be $3700 and $7700

 

[JD37064]

First Post!
So I need some advice...
I want to add Paint Protection Film (PPF) to protect my 392 and I need help deciding if I should just do the front facing bits or PPF the whole vehicle. I found a local shop that does amazing work and I trust them and like the way they treat people. They use STEK ProShield combined with ceramic top coat or you can opt for STEK DYNOshield with or without ceramic topcoat.

Option 1: Just the front facing stuff $3104 incl. tax (shown in pink below):

• Wash, Decontaminate, prep and PPS Full Front End, Grill, Hood, Fender flares Front and Rear, A-Pillar/windshield surround, rockers = $1995
• Single Stage Paint correction / DA polishing = $450
• 4+ Year Ceramic Coating w/ Graphene = $450

View attachment 3291View attachment 3290

Option 2: PPF the whole enchilada $5577 incl. tax (shown in pink below):

• Wash, Decontaminate, prep and PPS Full Vehicle = $4750
• 4+ Year Ceramic Coating w/ Graphene = $450

View attachment 3292View attachment 3293

This will be my all-year daily driver in the snowy/salty midwest. So I want to protect my new Jeep but not waste money on stuff that's not going to be useful.

What do you think?

I did the front all the way to the edge of the passenger door and all 4 fenders. Then had the whole thing ceramic coated. My logic was that almost all stone chips (from road driving) happen in those areas. Good luck!

 

[dblplay1212]

I saw someone with a black 392 that did a matte finish PPF and woo boy it was awesome. I'd love to see how a matte Granite Crystal would look.

 

[Foxbat]

I've had PPF done on my last 6 vehicles. It's worth it's weight in gold, but I wouldn't do areas that are not prone to rock chips, as it is expensive. Here in Florida, love bugs are a bigger problem than rock chips, so I just stand at the front of the vehicle and imagine where a rock or love bug would likely hit. I generally do the entire front end, front 18 inches of hood, A-Pillars/windshield surround and front half of painted fenders.
I accidentally hit a mailbox with my last 4 Runner on the front fender, put a gold ball size dent in it. Had a paintless dent removal guy come out, take off that piece of PPF and pop the dent out, not so much as a scratch in the paint because of the PPF. FWIW, I had my last 4 Runner for 4 years and 88K miles. The PPF looked as good when I traded it in as when it was applied.

 

[Turboencabulator]

A lot depends on how you use the jeep BUT the fact you said daily driver and salt/snow. The whole thing would be best in your case.….

Sorry, I get carried away...... simple answer is All my off-road vehicles, 2 jeeps and a 4x4 Toyota pickup have full PPF coverage,

Thank you for the detailed write-up @Mrtintsd
I am still just taking it all in.
I hope in the next week or two I can get it scheduled and make a final decision. I think this PPF cost more than my first car a 1977 FJ40 in high school.
Thank you for everyone’s help!

 

[Mrtintsd]

Thank you for the detailed write-up @Mrtintsd
I am still just taking it all in.
I hope in the next week or two I can get it scheduled and make a final decision. I think this PPF cost more than my first car a 1977 FJ40 in high school.
Thank you for everyone’s help!

Tell me about it. We use to tint cars for $160 and it took 1/2 a day. Now we have films that hit $900 and we are done in 1/2 hour? Guys don’t let me in the showroom cause I give things away

 

[Turboencabulator]

Thanks for all the responses!
I am sold on full PPF. (It ain’t cheep but neither is the 392. )
I went and visited several shops today in person and I have narrowed it down to 2 shops. The first shop is the one I listed above in the original post. I’ll call it shop #1.

Shop #1: The small shop, the owner has been in the the business for 15 years and 4 years ago he went into business on his own. He has a crew of 3 guys working with him. They use STEK DYNOshield and are the only official STEK Installer in my area. I know that @Blankman and @Mrtintsd mention DYNOshield had good hydrophobic qualities.
The owner is super knowledgeable and spent plenty of time with me discussing patterns and how to avoid seams like removing the mirrors. He said to leave it with them for about a week. They will clean, decontaminate, clay, DA polish, install DYNOshield, and Ceramic coat (JaxWax Ceramic) everything for $5500 including tax. I asked about dropping off the keys on a Sunday evening and he said he would drive in and meet me to make sure it is safely parked in the shop for the night. I saw them polishing a basic Honda Accord and they were really working at getting it right, shiniest Honda I have ever seen . They didn’t have any PPF vehicles in the shop today to show me, but they did have a vInyl wrap that looked good. I think this shop is small and will give my Jeep plenty of care and attention but because they are small they probably haven’t done as much PPF volume as a big shop would.

Shop #2: The BIG shop. They have been in business for 17 years. They are also a major distributor of detailing supplies under the website 44tools.com which operates out of the back part of the business. They have a nice shop, a dedicated wash area, a special clean room separated by glass doors for installing PPF then a final prep area for completion. Kinda reminded me of an operating room. They were in the process of applying PPF to several cars that they showed me all of which looked good. They use XPEL Ultimate Plus and are an official XPEL installer. They also spent plenty of time explaining the process. They will clean, decontaminate, clay, DA polish, install XPEL but no ceramic coat. They quoted me $6400 with tax. They were very professional and have an amazing setup but I think it’s more high production getting vehicles in and out and I think less individual attention but they defiantly do more PPF volume.

So I am trying to figure out which one to spend my hard earned money at. Any thoughts?

Also has anyone removed the 392 badge off the hood for PPF. It looks like there are 2 alignment holes. I assume it is just attached with adhesive but if it is plastic rivets it would be nice to know. I may just order new badges just in case.

Again thank you for all the help!

 

[el_guapo]

Thanks for all the responses!
I am sold on full PPF. (It ain’t cheep but neither is the 392. )
I went and visited several shops today in person and I have narrowed it down to 2 shops. The first shop is the one I listed above in the original post. I’ll call it shop #1.

Shop #1: The small shop, the owner has been in the the business for 15 years and 4 years ago he went into business on his own. He has a crew of 3 guys working with him. They use STEK DYNOshield and are the only official STEK Installer in my area. I know that @Blankman and @Mrtintsd mention DYNOshield had good hydrophobic qualities.
The owner is super knowledgeable and spent plenty of time with me discussing patterns and how to avoid seams like removing the mirrors. He said to leave it with them for about a week. They will clean, decontaminate, clay, DA polish, install DYNOshield, and Ceramic coat (JaxWax Ceramic) everything for $5500 including tax. I asked about dropping off the keys on a Sunday evening and he said he would drive in and meet me to make sure it is safely parked in the shop for the night. I saw them polishing a basic Honda Accord and they were really working at getting it right, shiniest Honda I have ever seen . They didn’t have any PPF vehicles in the shop today to show me, but they did have a vInyl wrap that looked good. I think this shop is small and will give my Jeep plenty of care and attention but because they are small they probably haven’t done as much PPF volume as a big shop would.

Shop #2: The BIG shop. They have been in business for 17 years. They are also a major distributor of detailing supplies under the website 44tools.com which operates out of the back part of the business. They have a nice shop, a dedicated wash area, a special clean room separated by glass doors for installing PPF then a final prep area for completion. Kinda reminded me of an operating room. They were in the process of applying PPF to several cars that they showed me all of which looked good. They use XPEL Ultimate Plus and are an official XPEL installer. They also spent plenty of time explaining the process. They will clean, decontaminate, clay, DA polish, install XPEL but no ceramic coat. They quoted me $6400 with tax. They were very professional and have an amazing setup but I think it’s more high production getting vehicles in and out and I think less individual attention but they defiantly do more PPF volume.

So I am trying to figure out which one to spend my hard earned money at. Any thoughts?

Also has anyone removed the 392 badge off the hood for PPF. It looks like there are 2 alignment holes. I assume it is just attached with adhesive but if it is plastic rivets it would be nice to know. I may just order new badges just in case.

Again thank you for all the help!

Plastic rivets. Had to order replacements after ppf and it took a couple months

Full ppf as soon as I got it, so happy I did. No worries taking it off road which is nice. Plan to hold on to it forever so easy to justify.

 

[Mrtintsd]

Thanks for all the responses!
I am sold on full PPF. (It ain’t cheep but neither is the 392. )
I went and visited several shops today in person and I have narrowed it down to 2 shops. The first shop is the one I listed above in the original post. I’ll call it shop #1.

Shop #1: The small shop, the owner has been in the the business for 15 years and 4 years ago he went into business on his own. He has a crew of 3 guys working with him. They use STEK DYNOshield and are the only official STEK Installer in my area. I know that @Blankman and @Mrtintsd mention DYNOshield had good hydrophobic qualities.
The owner is super knowledgeable and spent plenty of time with me discussing patterns and how to avoid seams like removing the mirrors. He said to leave it with them for about a week. They will clean, decontaminate, clay, DA polish, install DYNOshield, and Ceramic coat (JaxWax Ceramic) everything for $5500 including tax. I asked about dropping off the keys on a Sunday evening and he said he would drive in and meet me to make sure it is safely parked in the shop for the night. I saw them polishing a basic Honda Accord and they were really working at getting it right, shiniest Honda I have ever seen . They didn’t have any PPF vehicles in the shop today to show me, but they did have a vInyl wrap that looked good. I think this shop is small and will give my Jeep plenty of care and attention but because they are small they probably haven’t done as much PPF volume as a big shop would.

Shop #2: The BIG shop. They have been in business for 17 years. They are also a major distributor of detailing supplies under the website 44tools.com which operates out of the back part of the business. They have a nice shop, a dedicated wash area, a special clean room separated by glass doors for installing PPF then a final prep area for completion. Kinda reminded me of an operating room. They were in the process of applying PPF to several cars that they showed me all of which looked good. They use XPEL Ultimate Plus and are an official XPEL installer. They also spent plenty of time explaining the process. They will clean, decontaminate, clay, DA polish, install XPEL but no ceramic coat. They quoted me $6400 with tax. They were very professional and have an amazing setup but I think it’s more high production getting vehicles in and out and I think less individual attention but they defiantly do more PPF volume.

So I am trying to figure out which one to spend my hard earned money at. Any thoughts?

Also has anyone removed the 392 badge off the hood for PPF. It looks like there are 2 alignment holes. I assume it is just attached with adhesive but if it is plastic rivets it would be nice to know. I may just order new badges just in case.

Again thank you for all the help!

So to clarify
Shop #1
$5500 with ceramic

Shop 2
$6400 without ceramic?

This will mainly be a gut decision but at first glance its hard to get away from the $5500
Shop #1
-are they certified at any of the trades? PPF, ceramic coating or tint? This actually doesn't mean anything as far as installation goes because most these certification classes are 1-5 days and it takes years to pick up these trades and be good at it. The certs just show they are willing to go the extra step for the clients
-Is the shop clean? this is a big tell. shops that take the time to epoxy floors, have waiting rooms and bathrooms for customer, WIFI, maybe a coffee or small fridge with drinks want to go the extra mile for your business
-Insurance? no one ever asks us for liability insurance but we actually car a higher policy these days because the darn cars are bank now
-what ceramic coating are they putting on for you? some shops might use a over the counter spray ceramic. make sure there is value in the product. Truthfully even if there was little value here you could still pay for a 5 year ceramic and be under SHOP 2
-the biggest negative is both the shop, and the products are newer to the industry

If you like all the answers here, then it's hard to justify the added cost

SHOP #2
-we would actually fall under this category. We occasionally purchase from 44tools.
-the $6400 price is right on par for the industry
-all of the questions above. I would be willing to bet they have or can supply
-You can see they invest a lot of money into the business, so the finish product meets your expectation
-bigger shops usually have more pull with manufacturers because we buy more. This means we call the shots when it comes to warranty. no preapproval required.
The CONS are
-bigger shop, more equipment, Higher insurances, national brands, certified employees ALL EQUAL higher overhead so naturally higher prices but peace of mind
-ALSO you will want to ceramic coat the Xpel.

As far as the badging goes. the 392 does have alignment holes. It can be removed and reinstalled with 3M foam tape. you can also PPF around it fairly easy if you don't want it removed

 

[Mrtintsd]

We had some jeeps in our shop today

 

[Mrtintsd]

We had some jeeps in our shop today

Well…. Video is too large to post

 

[Perk392]

I had stek dynoshield installed on the hood, grill, fenders, flares for $1900 (Fort Wayne) paint correction was included. STEK dynoshield has hydrophobic properties so I’d skip the ceramic coat. If you do the whole thing you could just run it through an auto wash. Any scratches would self heal.

At Polishworks?

 

[Mallcrawler_392]

Did you guys PPF the roof also?

 

[Turboencabulator]

Did you guys PPF the roof also?

I’ve got the SOT so I did PPF the painted rails but 90% of the top is fabric. I will say PPF is one of the best things I’ve done to the Jeep. It’s like Teflon for the painted parts. Super easy to clean, no scratches, no swirls, keeps it looking like it just came off the showroom floor.

Just as an FYI to anyone reading this, if you live where they put salt the roads, PPF the painted parts, but then definitely undercoat the frame with Blaster SurfaceShield it’s like PPF for the underbody, no rust after 2 ½ years. Wipe off the lanolin undercoating and it looks band new under there.