Just to share my experience. I had my full hood covered with XPel Ultimate, which is one of the thicker films out there. After three years driving on the gravel-infested roads that are common here, I had several tears in the film. One of the tears was mid-way up the hood and actually penetrated down to the paint. I decided to replace the film. All went well until it came to removing the film near the tear where the paint had been scratched. Despite removing the film carefully and gingerly, a chip of paint about 1/8" by 3/8" came off with the film. I elected simply to touch it up with a paint stick (... which proved to be a PITA for brilliant silver), and apply the new film. Long story short ... the film is not bullet-proof, but I still recommend it since the hood would look much worse from rock chips had the film not been applied in the first place. I'd also recommend that any time a tear occurs in the film that you inspect it carefully for any sign that it may have reached the paint surface. If so, you might want to consider removal right away. I didn't, but instead continued to wash the car regularly ... which may have caused the paint to begin flaking from the water that would have penetrated the tear, resulting in the chip of paint coming off. I can't say for sure that this was the case, but at the very least I wish that I would have discussed things with the film installer at the time. Lesson learned.
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