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After market tint

R

Rezist

Senior member
Just wondering if people are still throwing there own tint on vehicles or getting done by a shop. Also if it's worth it to order from factory so the tint is built into the glass.

Another question most states/provinces don't allow any tinting in the front or drive/passenger windows but I'd like to tint every single window with a light tint that wouldn't be so obvious has anyone tried this with success?
 
We had a fairly recent discussion on this - link.

As far as your local laws...it's hard to say. Some places, you can get away with it..others, not so much.
 
depending on the angle of your windows (steep/less steep) I would consider getting factory. I did the most expensive aftermarket I could find and even with it, it absorbs enough IR to be a problem. The window then heats up and radiates just as much into the vehicle as if there wasn't any tint.
 
most of the time factory tinted glass is either the way the car comes or not. It's an extremely mild tint though and not going to do much UV/IR blocking...it's more cosmetic.

Tinting films are the only real way to get good UV/IR block.

3M Crystalline would be the film you'd want to look into. It's very expensive and only carried by a limited number of shops, if they have to special order it; you are usually responsible for buying the complete box of it.
 
Not too long ago i had a shop do my windows at 27% (legal in SC) but someday I'm thinking of being a rebel and going darker. The tint gives a really nice atmosphere when you're inside the car on a sunny day with the windows up. Too often i see really shoddy work with aftermaket tint, thats why i went with a local shop, that came highly recommended.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
The thickness and the quality of the materials is very important. 3m crystalline is great but pricy.

Find someone local that uses maxpro. Lifetime warranty and made in America.

Takes a decade to get good at tinting
 
I would just try to find a good local shop to do it. Considering it could look like a massive mess and a pain in the ass to re-do it's just not worth the effort when a shop could do it for pretty cheap.
 
One of the scary things I noticed when pros tint, is how much water they splash on EVERYWHERE. And they do not know or care where all that soapy water goes. It will leak all over into your doors and into your trunk. I was rather disturbed by all that.

I made sure to ask my tinter to be a bit more cautious and so he taped plastic over the interior doors and rear decklid to protect it during installation.
 
modern cars are pretty much designed to expect some liquids to happen inside. I never have known any car to suffer damage from this.
 
It may be because I used to tint (casually) but I actually love the soapy water smell. Today there are other catalysts tinters use (Johnson's baby shampoo) but I still love the good old dish soap smell. I love on hot days when, because so much soap and water was used, the smell still comes around even years after the tint was laid.

As for tint, most make good tints these days. Long ago I liked Llumar. They had adhesive issues back in the day but they're good now. Suntek is good middle road tint.

3m is good. I have a Camry with their CS (color stable) series on it. As opposed to something like $130 to tint the whole car, it was like $230 and I'm not totally sold on it being worth it because the rear window is starting to blur after 4 years but the sides are still nice and thes no fade or purpling.

Whatever the shop, whatever the brand, tell them what look you like and how long you want it to last. That will help them know what to pick for you. :thumbsup:
 
alkemyst said:
modern cars are pretty much designed to expect some liquids to happen inside. I never have known any car to suffer damage from this.
Click to expand...

I was talking to a tinter about what sort of damage he's seen. The example he talked about was the BMW 7 series. Apparently there's a bunch of electronics near the trunk area. If you weren't careful, you could drench them and cause problems with the car's gizmos.

The other example we talked about was tinting the front window. He said he did a Corvette's front once. As the owner drove off, about a gallon of water splashed down onto the owner's feet. After that, he said he refused to do any more front windows for fear of damaging the car.
 
madoka said:
I was talking to a tinter about what sort of damage he's seen. The example he talked about was the BMW 7 series. Apparently there's a bunch of electronics near the trunk area. If you weren't careful, you could drench them and cause problems with the car's gizmos.

The other example we talked about was tinting the front window. He said he did a Corvette's front once. As the owner drove off, about a gallon of water splashed down onto the owner's feet. After that, he said he refused to do any more front windows for fear of damaging the car.
Click to expand...

I doubt your friend is a real tinter especially that much water for a windshield.
 
alkemyst said:
I doubt your friend is a real tinter especially that much water for a windshield.
Click to expand...

LOL. Thanks for the laugh.

The way I found him was researching on pro tinter's forums like tintdude.com. He was considered one of the best by other pro tinters. He's won competitions and has been tinting for 30 years.

Here's his Yelp page:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/richs-tint-shoppe-walnut

42 reviews; 41 of them five stars. Only one guy gave him four stars for being "super busy."

Here's his Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Richs-Tint-Shoppe/58313432998

He made my car his cover photo, so I'm guessing he did a good job of it.
 
alkemyst said:
He may win competitions or whatever, but a freaking gallon of water for a windshield is insane.
Click to expand...

Hence my original warning.

If you watch these guys tint, they have a bucket of water and they drench the windows. If it were just a few drops of water, I wouldn't have brought up the issue. As tinters have told me, the more water they use, the better the job comes out. Well, if that's a necessary evil, then just ask them to be more careful if you care about your car.
 
I got a guy from tintdude quote me the following for a '13 Elantra... are these good tints. Do these provide UV protection? Was really just going for looks at a minimum.

35% all around except front windshield:
global QDP color stable lifetime warranty for $200.00
EWF true smoke 7YR warranty for $160.00

My car is Suntek Carbon which has been good for me but that was 4 years ago... sounds like a lot more choices days.

Another question is - do they usually take the door panels off? Nervous about that on a new car - didn't do that to my other one previously and it still turned out pretty well.
 
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