3M Crystalline or?

[Synomenon]

So I live in the desert Southwest of the US where we get 300+ days a year of clear, blue skies and harsh UV radiation. We also get alot of very hot days.

Looking for tint for my car and I see alot of people recommend this very expensive tint called "Crystalline" by 3M. It's apparently very good at "rejecting" heat even though it's almost clear. Because it's almost clear, they can do the whole front windshield as well with this tint and that is appealing to me because I like the idea of tint on all the windows, that reject much of the heat buildup inside the car.

Again, it is expensive though. The quote to do my whole car with this tint was almost $900.


Anyone have any recommendations on good tint that does not cost this much? Or is good tint and not that expensive mutually exclusive?

 

[gorcorps]

Did you get a quote for just the windshield? Or the windshield and front windows? Seems like you could spring for the expensive tint on your main viewing windows and then cheaper tint on the rest

 

[NutBucket]

Cheap tint is never a good idea since replacing it when it fails is a major PITA and not cheap. The money in tint is for the install.

 

[jlee]

I've usually paid in the $200 range for tint and haven't had a problem with any of it. $900 seems incredibly high, but if it's actually effective, the ability to keep sun/heat out of the windshield would be amazing.

 

[NutBucket]

That's cheap. I've always assumed a typical sedan would run at least $500 for quality tint. Maybe that's just LA labor....

 

[Synomenon]

Yeah the $900+ quote was to do:

- entire windshield
- sunroof
- four door windows
- this place won't do the back / hatch window unless I remove the lower rear spoiler first which would cost me an additional amount from my dealership since I have neither the tools nor the skills to do that myself

all in 3M Crystalline. 70% for the windshield and sunroof. 40% for the rest. I don't want dark tint. All I want from the tint is heat rejection. I probably should have asked them already regarding any warranty as well. This is the place:
http://nvtint.com/las-vegas-auto-tint/

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I got a quote from my dealership too. They use Llumar CTX though. Not sure how it stands up to 3M Crystalline. Dealership wants $820 for:

- entire windshield
- sunroof
- four door windows
- back / hatch window (dealership is able to do this while the above tint place is not)
- lifetime warranty (not sure if it's just on the labor or the tint + labor)

the dealership says they can do the entire windshield and sunroof with 50% or 70% Llumar CTX and the rest of the windows with 15% or 35% Llumar CTX.

 

[NutBucket]

Llumar is suppose to be very good too. Can't go wrong with either.

 

[Crotulus]

Llumar CTX is a good ceramic tint. I went with Pinnacle Formula One ceramic (40% sides 30% rear hatch) to tint my car. Both run about $300 for 5 windows in So Cal. The 3M Crystalline tends to be really expensive. Most people only use it if they want to block UV from the side windows but not have a tinted look (70%). Otherwise they just tint the windshield with it and use another ceramic on the sides and rear. I was quoted $250 to tint the windshield in the 3M but I skipped it. I just park with the hood facing away from the sun when I can.

I don't get why you'd need to remove a spoiler to apply tint on the back hatch. The tint goes on the inside of the window. Did I miss what vehicle you're tinting?

Also, I've heard that it's a bad idea to tint a sunroof. Apparently there is high rate of sunroof glass cracking when tinted. The idea being that the sunroof is in direct sunlight and the tint will actually trap heat between it and the glass (different material from windshield and side glass). It should be well tinted already, just close the cover to keep the heat out of the cabin.

 

[Synomenon]

Oh, forgot to mention what car this is. It's a 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring. Yeah, not sure why some of these tint shops say they need the spoiler removed to do the tint.

Looks like 3M Crystalline has been around for a long time. Hard to believe in all these years, no one has come out with something better than that. People still seem to sing praises for it. I'll probably end up doing the windshield and maybe the two front doors in Crystalline (70% for the windshield / 40% for two front doors) and the rest of the car with 35% Llumar CTX. Might look weird with the front half of the car having very light tint and the back half, darker tint.

 

[Crotulus]

You may be better off with the 35% CTX all around (excluding windshield). This way you can have the same brand product on all the windows. While there won't be much difference between 35% and 40% tint there could be a color difference between the Crystalline and CTX. Seems like that could make for an odd look.

 

[Synomenon]

Ok, so one of my coworkers introduced me to Rayno Phantom S9 today. Looks interesting and costs less than CTX or Crystalline...

 

[NutBucket]

Again, all the cost in tint is labor. Decide whether saving a few bucks on an lesser known product is worth the risk. Removing tint is a major pain.