Full Front vs Full Body PPF: How to Choose Coverage

A full front covers the entire front bumper, the full hood, both full fenders, and the side mirrors. Most of our full front jobs also include the headlights, which keeps them clear and protected from pitting and haze. Because the film covers the whole hood and whole fenders, there are no visible film lines across the front of the car.

This is where the vast majority of rock chips land. Every car ahead of you on the 118, the 405, and the 5 kicks gravel straight at your bumper and hood, so a full front stops the damage right where it happens.

Full body means every painted panel on the car gets film. That includes the doors, the roof, the quarter panels, the trunk or liftgate, the rear bumper, and the rocker panels along the bottom of the car. The rockers and the area behind the front wheels get sandblasted by your own tires, so they benefit a lot more than most people expect.

The big advantage is that the whole car is protected from door dings in parking lots, scratches from bags and keys, bird droppings, sap, and the everyday wear that slowly builds up on paint. Every panel ages the same way, so the car looks just as good at year eight as it did the week you picked it up.

When we walk around a car with a customer, we point out the same spots almost every time. The leading edge of the hood, the front bumper, and the mirror caps take the most chips. The lower doors and rockers take sand and road grime. Door edges and the cups behind the door handles pick up scratches from rings and fingernails. The top of the rear bumper gets scuffed loading groceries and luggage.

A full front handles the first group. Full body handles all of them. Plenty of customers start with a full front and add door edges, handle cups, rockers, and the rear bumper ledge as a middle option.

A full front is the sweet spot for most daily drivers. If you commute through the Valley, drive the Santa Susana Pass, or head down the 405 a few times a week, it protects the parts of the car that see the most abuse at a price that makes sense for everyday cars.

It is also a great fit for leased cars. Front end chips are one of the most common lease return charges, and a full front helps you hand the car back looking clean.

Full body is the way to go if you plan to keep the car for years, if the color is expensive or difficult to match, or if the car has a matte or satin factory finish that cannot be polished. It is also the favorite for exotic and collector cars, where original paint makes a real difference at resale.

Many full body customers also pair the film with matte PPF to change the look of the whole car, or top it with a ceramic coating so the entire car washes up easily.

Every job at WRPD starts with a walk around. We look at the paint under our shop lights, talk about how and where you drive, and show you the coverage that makes sense. We also check whether the paint needs a correction first, since film seals in whatever is underneath it. That way your paint goes under the film looking its best.

On every package we wrap the film around panel edges by hand wherever the panel allows it. The edges disappear, stay clean, and hold tight wash after wash.