Had Suntek ceramic tint installed this morning. Kept it legal and did 35% on all windows. Certainly looks much better and the ceramic should help quite a bit come summer time here in Phoenix. I am about to get some PPF installed as well but wanted to ask if anyone has an opinion on doing the half vs full front end? With a bigger SUV I feel like doing the half coverage on the hood and fenders should be fine right? There will obviously be the line across the hood but keeping it clean should hopefully keep me from noticing it. Again, anyone have thoughts/recommendations on which option to do?

 

tint looks great.
no input on the ppf, ours came with it on half the hood (oem) and I'm indifferent to it... if it's not installed perfectly it's easily noticeable and annoying when detailing the car and to look at in general.

 

I had PPF installed, did only half. If I were to do it all over again, i'd do the full hood/fenders. Every time I notice the line, I wish I had done the full hood/fender. On the upside, I also have a white gx, and it's not that noticeable. I like the PPF in general, i can bump into bushes/shopping carts at low speeds and don't have to worry so much about damage. I used to have a 4runner with an arb front bumper, I didn't have to worry about scratching anything up front

another note, don't wait on the PPF. The GX in my opinion has some really flaky paint up front. I got a rock chip within 300 miles of ownership. I had the PPF done right away after that. My PPF installer said that some owners get their brand new cars delivered directly from the dealer to their shop specifically to avoid that kind of damage.

 

Do the full front end, or at least full hood. The hood is likelier than then fenders to get hit with bird droppings and other potential damage since it's such a broad surface. I have full normal/half fenders but otherwise full front-end on my SUV. I also did the pillars and the area between the windshield and sunroof. Sounds like overkill, but I have chip in that area before - maybe that's the crappy CA roads though.

You may have already known/taken care of this, but if you need to have any paint correction done, make sure you do that before getting the PPF otherwise you'll just be sealing all the imperfections in.

 

If the line from doing half the hood is in your head now, then it'll be 10x worse after it's installed. Do it right once, and do the full hood.

 

is PPF the same as a clear mask?
if so, mine came from the factory with the hood, fender and back of the mirrors. I had the whole front bumper wrapped. its clear the quality difference from the factory and the after market. the factory has yellowed some and you can certainly see the lines where the bumper is clear and no visible lines (the shop did a fantastic job shaping it). I also had the top of the rear bumper wrapped to prevent scratches when loading things or stepping on it to get to the roof. I will be going back this summer and removing the factory wrap and having it wrapped with the after market stuff. I will most likely do the whole hood and fenders to prevent any lines and also wrap the front part of the roof up to the sunroof.

 

PPF = paint protection film. So, yes, it's the same thing as clear bra.

 

I am outside of Flagstaff and had my 2020 white GX PPF installed at ozbraz.com in Gilbert. I had the partial and paid 900.00 , dealer quoted 1700. A full was 1900. Good luck.

 

pricing is pretty similar to the shop I am using down here. I went to Shane's tint and clear bra. He did a great job on the tint and he does the partial for $650 and the full for $1600. Although I know I would prefer the full, this is the wife's truck and I guarantee she wont notice a difference. Going to go with the partial on the GX and when I get the front end of my GS repainted later this year, I will do the full on that.