Clear paint protection for Mercer Island
Clear bra, PPF and clear paint protection film are three names for one product. We install STEK DYNOshield, a self-healing gloss clear film with a 10-year manufacturer warranty, at our Kent shop about 30 minutes south of the island.
What clear paint protection actually is
Clear paint protection film is a transparent urethane film laid over your car's factory paint. It is roughly the thickness of a business card, it is optically clear so the paint color shows through unchanged, and it is built to take the hit that would otherwise land on your clear coat: stone chips, road grit, bug acid and light scratching. Warmth makes it self-heal, so wash swirls and fine marks close up in the sun or under hot water. Properly installed, the edges are wrapped around each panel and tucked, so there is nothing to see and nothing to catch.
The thing worth understanding before you spend anything is that it is a physical barrier, not a treatment. That is the whole distinction between film and the products it gets confused with. A ceramic coating is measured in microns and makes a car easier to clean. Wax is measured in months. Film is measured in thousandths of an inch and is the only one of the three thick enough to stop a stone at freeway speed.
We install STEK DYNOshield, a gloss clear film with a hydrophobic top coat built into it rather than wiped on afterward, carrying a 10-year manufacturer warranty. SeaWraps is a STEK certified installer, and every install is done in our own bay in Kent rather than subcontracted out.
Clear bra, PPF, clear paint protection: which is which
This is the most common source of confusion in the whole category, and it costs people money, because two of the products below are quoted at wildly different prices and do completely different jobs. The short version: the first four rows are all the same thing under different names. The last three are not.
| What you might hear | Same or different | What it actually means |
|---|---|---|
| Clear bra | The same product | The oldest of the names, from when installers covered only the nose of a car in a piece shaped roughly like a bra. Still the term most shops use on the phone. |
| Clear paint protection | The same product | The most descriptive of the names and the one most people reach for when they have not bought this before. It is what the film does, said plainly. |
| Paint protection film, or PPF | The same product | The industry name and the one on the manufacturer box. PPF is simply the abbreviation, so "PPF film" is saying film twice. |
| Self-healing film | The same product | A property rather than a product. Quality urethane film closes light swirls and wash marks when it warms up, in the sun or under hot water. |
| Ceramic coating | A different product | A liquid that cures to a hard, slick layer microns thick. It makes the car easier to wash and helps it bead water. It is far too thin to stop a stone, so it is not an alternative to film. |
| Vinyl wrap | A different product | Colored film. It changes what the car looks like and is not built to absorb impact. Plenty of cars wear both: a wrap over the body, clear film across the nose. |
| Wax or a paint sealant | A different product | A sacrificial layer measured in months. It adds gloss and some chemical resistance and offers no physical protection at all. |
If a quote you are comparing looks dramatically cheaper than the numbers further down this page, the most likely explanation is that it is for a coating rather than a film. That is not necessarily a bad product or a dishonest quote. It is a different purchase, and it will not stop a chip.
Every mile off the island is freeway
Mercer Island has a road situation that almost nowhere else in the region shares, and it matters more for paint than anything about weather or parking. There is no surface-street way off the island. Whatever the errand is, the first road out is I-90 and the first speed is freeway speed, in both directions, with no slow suburban buffer at either end.
That changes the arithmetic. Stone chips are not really a function of how many miles you drive, they are a function of how many of those miles are spent at speed behind other vehicles. A car in a dense city neighborhood can cover a lot of ground at 30mph and stay largely unmarked. A car that leaves Mercer Island twice a week for groceries has done more genuine freeway mileage than that, and the front bumper shows it.
Then there is what is specifically under the tires on the way out. A floating bridge has to move with the lake, so the deck is interrupted by expansion joints that traffic crosses at full speed, and anything loose on that deck gets picked up and thrown by the car in front of you. There is a tunnel at the Seattle end and a full bridge span at the Bellevue end, and the open deck gets treated when it turns cold. Nothing in that list is dramatic on a single trip. Four years of it produces the scatter of chips across a bumper and a hood leading edge that people usually notice all at once, under a showroom light, when they go to trade the car in.
The practical conclusion is the one we give most island customers: cover the whole front end rather than the leading edge. A partial front stops in a line partway up the hood, and on a car whose every trip is a freeway trip, the paint behind that line is taking the same weather as the paint in front of it. Partial front exists because for some owners cost decides it, and a protected bumper is far better than nothing. We simply will not pretend the line is in the right place.
Full front end, the honest default
Every panel that faces into traffic goes under film in one piece, so there is no line across the hood and nothing on the nose of the car is left bare. On an island where the only way out is a freeway, this is the tier that matches how the car is actually driven.
- Full hood edge to edge, no seam partway up
- Both front fenders top to bottom, not just the leading edge
- Bumper, headlights and mirror caps
- Door cups and door edges, where parking garages do their damage
STEK DYNOshield, and why it is clear
A gloss clear urethane with a hydrophobic top coat built into it rather than applied afterward. It self-heals light swirls with heat, it does not yellow the way older films did, and it carries a 10-year manufacturer warranty. Installed properly the edges are tucked and the film disappears.
- Gloss clear over factory paint, no change in color
- Self-healing on light swirls and wash marks
- Hydrophobic top coat built into the film
- 10-year manufacturer warranty
Clear paint protection pricing, same everywhere
There is no Mercer Island price and no Kent price. One shop, one bench, one published list. The figures below are shop averages for a vehicle in ordinary condition rather than a quote on your car, because panel size, curvature and the state of the paint underneath all move the number. A large SUV costs more than a coupe for the straightforward reason that there is more of it.
| Coverage | What is under film | Time in the shop | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partial front | Front bumper, leading edge of the hood, leading edge of both front fenders, headlights | About 1 day | $1,400 |
| Full front end | Full hood with no seam, both fenders top to bottom, bumper, headlights, mirror caps, door cups and edges | 1 to 2 days | $2,000 |
| Full body | Every painted panel: doors, rear quarters, rockers, roof, trunk and rear bumper | 3 to 5 days | $7,000 |
The one thing that reliably adds cost is paint that needs work before film goes on. Film is clear, so whatever is under it stays visible and stays sealed in for years. On a car that is a few years old we will usually recommend paint correction first, and we would rather tell you that at quote time than have you discover it through the film afterward. A new delivery with clean paint needs nothing more than a decontamination wash and careful prep.
Glass and lamps price separately if you want them handled in the same visit. Windshield protection film runs $400 to $650 depending on the vehicle, and headlight or taillight tint is $200 per set. Given the drive, most island customers combine rather than make two trips.
Worth reading before you book
If you are still deciding between products rather than between coverage levels, the PPF versus ceramic coating comparison is the one to read, and the PPF cost guide expands the pricing above into what actually moves a quote. If you want the film to change the color rather than stay invisible, color paint protection film and matte PPF are both real options that protect exactly the same way.
The full paint protection film service page covers our process end to end. Neighboring cities have their own pages if you are comparing: clear bra in Bellevue and paint protection film in Seattle.
Clear paint protection questions, answered straight
What is clear paint protection, and is it the same as a clear bra?
They are the same thing. Clear paint protection, clear paint protection film, clear bra and PPF are four names for one product: a transparent, self-healing urethane film laid over your factory paint to absorb stone chips, road grit and light scratches. We install STEK DYNOshield, a gloss clear film with a hydrophobic top coat built in and a 10-year manufacturer warranty. It is not a ceramic coating and it is not a vinyl wrap, both of which do different jobs.
How much does clear paint protection cost for a Mercer Island car?
The same as for anyone else. We quote by the vehicle, never by the zip code, and there is no island surcharge. On average a partial front is about $1,400, a full front end about $2,000 and full body about $7,000. Panel size, curvature and the condition of the paint underneath are what actually move a quote. The PPF cost guide breaks down what pushes a number up or down.
Is a full front end worth it if I only drive off the island a few times a week?
Probably yes, and the reason is the shape of the trips rather than the number of them. There is no way off Mercer Island that is not a freeway, so even a short errand is several miles at speed behind other traffic. A car that leaves the island twice a week racks up freeway miles faster than a city car that is driven daily, and freeway miles are where chips come from. If you genuinely stay on the island, a partial front covering the bumper and the leading edge is a reasonable stopping point.
How far is your shop from Mercer Island?
About 30 minutes without traffic. I-90 east to I-405 south, then SR-167 down the valley, lands you at 8620 S 228th St in Kent. Going west on I-90 and picking up I-5 south is a similar distance and tends to be the worse of the two at peak. We are open Monday through Friday, 10am to 6pm, and closed weekends, so tell us your schedule when you request the quote and we will book around it.
Does the floating bridge really matter for paint?
The expansion joints do. A floating bridge has to move, so the deck is broken up by joints that a car crosses at speed, and anything sitting loose on the deck gets thrown by the traffic in front of you. Add a tunnel at the Seattle end and a full-width bridge deck that gets sanded and treated in a cold snap, and the front of the car sees a lot in a short distance. None of this is dramatic on its own. It is the accumulation that puts a constellation of chips on a bumper over three or four years.
Can you take the film off later without hurting the paint?
On healthy factory paint, yes. Quality film is engineered to be heated and peeled cleanly at the end of its service life, and the panel underneath usually comes out better than the panels that spent those years exposed. The exception is paint that was already compromised: a resprayed panel, previous bodywork or a clear coat that is lifting can come away with the film. We inspect the paint before we quote and tell you what we find rather than discovering it on removal day.
Should I have the paint corrected before the film goes on?
If the car is not new, usually yes, because film is clear and anything under it stays visible and gets sealed in for years. Swirls, wash marks and light etching are worth removing with paint correction first. Deep scratches that have gone through the clear coat are a different conversation and we will say so honestly rather than filming over them. On a new delivery with clean paint, a decontamination wash and a careful prep is all it needs.
Can I get film and a ceramic coating at the same time?
Yes, and it is a sensible combination rather than an upsell. Film takes the impact on the panels it covers; a coating over the top of the film and the rest of the car makes the whole vehicle easier to wash and helps it shed water. They are not competing products. The PPF versus ceramic coating comparison sets out what each one actually does.