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

[Thomkirby]

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?

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.

[bob m]

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.

[Skip]

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

[John U]

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.

[joebruin77]

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