Q: To wrap hood or no?

[rdswriter]

I'm looking for real life experiences of people in the southern US and wrapping hoods on cars. The angle of the sun and my commute put me driving directly into the sun at sunrise and sunset a couple months out of year and the glare becomes quite distracting (even with polarized sunglasses on).

In short, I don't have a garage, so my 5th Gen TEP sits in the sun every day. I've been to a couple shops that wrap cars and both have said:
1) Don't expect the 3M matte black wrap to look good or last more than about 3 years in FL. The reason given is that the constant expansion and contraction due to high heat (weather & engine) & then cooling rain wears the product out (no different that what we experience with roofs in FL.)
2) Both want over $500 to wrap the hood.

Given the expense and expectation of replacing it every three years, I'm inclined to spend my money elsewhere.

What has been your experience in similar geography/conditions with wrapped hoods?

 

[SWTrail]

I'm looking for real life experiences of people in the southern US and wrapping hoods on cars. The angle of the sun and my commute put me driving directly into the sun at sunrise and sunset a couple months out of year and the glare becomes quite distracting (even with polarized sunglasses on).

In short, I don't have a garage, so my 5th Gen TEP sits in the sun every day. I've been to a couple shops that wrap cars and both have said:
1) Don't expect the 3M matte black wrap to look good or last more than about 3 years in FL. The reason given is that the constant expansion and contraction due to high heat (weather & engine) & then cooling rain wears the product out (no different that what we experience with roofs in FL.)
2) Both want over $500 to wrap the hood.

Given the expense and expectation of replacing it every three years, I'm inclined to spend my money elsewhere.

What has been your experience in similar geography/conditions with wrapped hoods?

Curious as well as I’m thinking about wrapping the area of the hood around my Trail’s scoop.

 

[Jono.ful]

go get yourself a couple cans of Plastidip. easy on, and if you don't like it, its easy off too. It will fade after a year or so, but again, its cheap, and easy to apply.

 

[leftyguns21]

if its that annoying to you and you have the extra money...seems like a wise investment. 3 years is a long time to get use out of it. I wrapped mine in a 3M clear bra, its 9 years old and hasn't faded or anything in the hot Colorado heat and cold Colorado winters.

 

[N.Alvarez]

I'm looking for real life experiences of people in the southern US and wrapping hoods on cars. The angle of the sun and my commute put me driving directly into the sun at sunrise and sunset a couple months out of year and the glare becomes quite distracting (even with polarized sunglasses on).



In short, I don't have a garage, so my 5th Gen TEP sits in the sun every day. I've been to a couple shops that wrap cars and both have said:

1) Don't expect the 3M matte black wrap to look good or last more than about 3 years in FL. The reason given is that the constant expansion and contraction due to high heat (weather & engine) & then cooling rain wears the product out (no different that what we experience with roofs in FL.)

2) Both want over $500 to wrap the hood.



Given the expense and expectation of replacing it every three years, I'm inclined to spend my money elsewhere.



What has been your experience in similar geography/conditions with wrapped hoods?

I can't speak to a wrap specifically on my 4Runner, however, I did have a large black hood wrap (not 100%, maybe about 75% coverage) on my FJ Cruiser. The FJ had a super flat hood and glare was definitely an issue as well as my rooftop lights bouncing light off the hood. I bought my custom fit wrap from Amaesing Decals for only $50 and I too parked outside all the time in southern California. https://amaesingdecals.myshopify.com

It held up great & had it on there for 4 years before I sold the car. I bet it would've held up even better if I had made a point to throw some armor all on there once in a while.**

Hit them up and see if they can make one for the 4Runner, it says they do one off's on their website.

Hope that helps

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jrandom]

3m 1080 matte black, full hood, going on 4 years in August, outside truck, only issues are a couple of spots from rock hits.

 

[CNJ Runner]

just plasti dip it and thank everyone that recommended it later :hello:

 

[fogcitysurfer]

Dear god don't plastidip! From personal experience, and stories from others, it can adhere to your paint and become almost impossible to get off. And yes I tried all the tricks on this website. Some applications came off easy, but some are still on the 4th gen that I sold because they would not come off. I know there will be a bunch of people telling me I'm wrong, but I will NEVER do it again. Spend the money, let a professional do it, get the wrap. Just FYI I was quoted $300 for the 3m hood wrap.

 

[toyo808]

My old xB had a wrapped roof and it was piano black. It looks nice, but the sun and bird poop kick the hell out of it. It was going on 3 yrs and still looked good, but stains from bird poop and scratches from washing are very visible up close. I would honestly rec not wrapping your car. To many negative factors. Only plus is that it protects the paint, but after time it won't match the rest of the car due to it being covered.

 

[oljedi11950]

I went with flat grey 3m on my 11' cuts glare nice so far been on 3 yrs now !! Cpl posts from folks that did it themselves seems fairly easy with newer 3m , not so dependent on keeping it wet ! Should be some older posts on it .