Tinting options; Looking for opinions
10-03-11, 04:27 AM
#1
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Tinting options; Looking for opinions
Yea, there's a lot of you who are all "Darker is better" when it comes to tint, but there are safety concerns with that. I do a lot of night time freeway driving (driving to work at 5:30 am) and I don't know if I can deal with barely being able to see out of my rear view mirror (and then getting blinded by headlights from my side mirrors). It just seems like it would initiate an occular workout in my case.
I have an appointment with Best Buy this weekend to tint my fronts 30% (as dark as legal in texas), but I am strongly debating limo tinting the rear windows. So I want yall's opinions on the matter, and please keep it in context of my situation, thanks. Pictures welcomed.
My alternative option is to do 15% light transfer film.
I have an appointment with Best Buy this weekend to tint my fronts 30% (as dark as legal in texas), but I am strongly debating limo tinting the rear windows. So I want yall's opinions on the matter, and please keep it in context of my situation, thanks. Pictures welcomed.
My alternative option is to do 15% light transfer film.
10-03-11, 04:58 AM
#3
I thought it was 25% in Texas? I am planning on getting tint this week if I can make time. I will be doing 25% (or however dark I can go leagally) on all side then just a tad darker on the back window. I have never heard of someone getting tint at Best Buy, hopefully that works out for you.
10-03-11, 07:38 AM
#7
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I did 35% all around. Getting older and not into the whole limo tint anymore. 35% looks great, still blocks some heat and sun and not bad seeing out at night!
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10-03-11, 08:33 AM
#9
I love tint on cars, but my absolute least favorite thing on a car has to be different tints. It's one thing if it's the stock limo tinting on the rears of an SUV or minivan, but I personally strongly dislike a car that's been tinted aftermarket with differing levels of tint. By far the worst is limo tint on the rears and nothing on the fronts, but having a lighter tint on the fronts isn't much better.
When I lived in MO, the law was 35% on the fronts, anything goes on the rears. I ran 20% all around, and it looked great. Never had issues whatsoever with police. If I ever got pulled over, I just rolled the two fronts down anyway, and I think 20% vs 30-35% is difficult to discern when driving by someone.
I now live in MD, where the law is 35% on all windows TOTAL LTV, which means the total amount of light transmitted through the car's windows can't be less than 35%. What that means is practice is essentially you can't tint your windows legally with anything of substance. That's because all vehicles come from the factory with windows tinted to some degree, even if it blocks for example only 20% of light. That leaves 80% of light to come through, or 80% LTV. Say you want to put on 35% tint, which you think is fine because the law is 35%. The problem is combining 35% tint with windows that stock only allow 80% of light means your LTV is now .35 * .8 = 28%, and you're now illegal.
I thought this might be something I could get around but if you take your car for inspection in MD and have any tint whatsoever, they direct you immediately to a police station to get it checked with a sensor, so there's no leeway. Because of this, I now run no tint on my windows, because I think anything lighter than 35% tint is kind of a waste.
So my first caution is check the specifics of your state's laws, since as in MD's case, sometimes just looking at the % limit doesn't tell the full story. From your posts here you seem to be pretty knowledgeable, so you've probably checked this, but I wanted to state it anyway for the potential benefit of others.
My second caution would be against using Best Buy for tinting. I'd personally go to professional tint shop where all they do is tinting. I and others I know have had pretty terrible experiences using Best Buy for anything related to car installations. I'd also ensure wherever you go you go somewhere with a lifetime warranty against bubbling, etc. Finally, you say your options are only 30%, 15%, 5% - that must be only at Best Buy, because tint shops I've used have film that match pretty much whatever you want.
If I were you, I'd run 20-25% all around. If you wanted to stay legal, I'd say 35% all around. I personally wouldn't run different levels of tint, because I dislike it from an appearance perspective. It's all up to you though.
When I lived in MO, the law was 35% on the fronts, anything goes on the rears. I ran 20% all around, and it looked great. Never had issues whatsoever with police. If I ever got pulled over, I just rolled the two fronts down anyway, and I think 20% vs 30-35% is difficult to discern when driving by someone.
I now live in MD, where the law is 35% on all windows TOTAL LTV, which means the total amount of light transmitted through the car's windows can't be less than 35%. What that means is practice is essentially you can't tint your windows legally with anything of substance. That's because all vehicles come from the factory with windows tinted to some degree, even if it blocks for example only 20% of light. That leaves 80% of light to come through, or 80% LTV. Say you want to put on 35% tint, which you think is fine because the law is 35%. The problem is combining 35% tint with windows that stock only allow 80% of light means your LTV is now .35 * .8 = 28%, and you're now illegal.
I thought this might be something I could get around but if you take your car for inspection in MD and have any tint whatsoever, they direct you immediately to a police station to get it checked with a sensor, so there's no leeway. Because of this, I now run no tint on my windows, because I think anything lighter than 35% tint is kind of a waste.
So my first caution is check the specifics of your state's laws, since as in MD's case, sometimes just looking at the % limit doesn't tell the full story. From your posts here you seem to be pretty knowledgeable, so you've probably checked this, but I wanted to state it anyway for the potential benefit of others.
My second caution would be against using Best Buy for tinting. I'd personally go to professional tint shop where all they do is tinting. I and others I know have had pretty terrible experiences using Best Buy for anything related to car installations. I'd also ensure wherever you go you go somewhere with a lifetime warranty against bubbling, etc. Finally, you say your options are only 30%, 15%, 5% - that must be only at Best Buy, because tint shops I've used have film that match pretty much whatever you want.
If I were you, I'd run 20-25% all around. If you wanted to stay legal, I'd say 35% all around. I personally wouldn't run different levels of tint, because I dislike it from an appearance perspective. It's all up to you though.
10-03-11, 09:27 AM
#10
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Best buy comes with a lifetime warranty against bubbling / purpling. I also don't like having different tint levels between my windows (especially having 30% front and limo in the back, looks gaudy). I don't trust a shop to do the tinting that isn't going to be there in 5 years (has happened twice to me already), completely negating their "warranty".
10-03-11, 09:34 AM
#11
Best buy comes with a lifetime warranty against bubbling / purpling. I also don't like having different tint levels between my windows (especially having 30% front and limo in the back, looks gaudy). I don't trust a shop to do the tinting that isn't going to be there in 5 years (has happened twice to me already), completely negating their "warranty".
In any case, at least one of the tint warranties I had in the past was through the tint manufacturer, not the installer, so that affords a bit more protection.
10-03-11, 10:05 AM
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The problem with that, is how many tint mfg's are there? How do you find all the different places in your area that use the same stuff?
10-03-11, 11:14 AM
#13
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Check out Tintdude, it's a tinters forum that I stumbled upon when researching tint myself. There are quite a few brands of tint flm out there (Madico, Huper Optik, Llumar, 3M, F1, Suntek, etc...) and most of the higher end ones have a good warranty if installed by a licensed dealer. If you visit their websites they usually have a link to local dealers in your area. Some of the places here have been in business for 10-25 years. Obviously, keep your receipt safe, most places/manufacturers won't honor anything without that.
Our cars - perhaps even Lexus in general - tend to have very fragile rear defroster lines. This pretty much means you can kiss them goodbye if you have a hack job tinter do your rear window and he has to remove/retint after the adhesive has cured. Just something to think about if you have a more inexperience installer doing the work. I worked at BB for a stint and we didn't have any tinters so I have no idea how it works at your location, all I know is some of the car-fi guys were just people they pulled of the sales floor sometimes...
Something that I didn't see asked: Are you tinting mainly for looks or heat rejection? I know Texas can be horrible in the summer so that does make a big difference what you are going for. Lower VLT tint doesn't always mean more heat rejection. They make even an 80-90% tint that has tremendous heat rejection but still retains a significant amount of clarity. Ask the guys at BB what brand film they use to see if it matches your expectations.
Back on topic though, I think you'd be fine from a driving perspective with limo in the back windows unless you oftentimes find yourself peering out of the rear windows (for instance pulling out of my office park the lane merges at an angle such that I can't reliably use my mirrors/driverside window). The rear windshield is a different story. I'd personally not do it because of your morning commute and I like having higher visibility on the highways. You can probably get away with it (aka driveable), but it doesn't sound like you really wanted to deal with the headache of relying more on your sideview mirrors. I also wonder how it would look with the auto-dimming rear mirrors, probably a minor PITA to always have to switch it off every morning/night when you drive the car. Problem is, I agree with those who posted that uneven tints just look bad on a car. I'd go with the 30% all around to make it look balanced.
Texas (as of Sept. 1 2009) legally alows 25% VLT in the front sides and unrestricted rears. In GA the wording of the law gives a +/-3% allowance on that VLT number, not sure about Texas.
PS: Where did you go to school? I graduated with a BSME a year and a half ago.
Our cars - perhaps even Lexus in general - tend to have very fragile rear defroster lines. This pretty much means you can kiss them goodbye if you have a hack job tinter do your rear window and he has to remove/retint after the adhesive has cured. Just something to think about if you have a more inexperience installer doing the work. I worked at BB for a stint and we didn't have any tinters so I have no idea how it works at your location, all I know is some of the car-fi guys were just people they pulled of the sales floor sometimes...
Something that I didn't see asked: Are you tinting mainly for looks or heat rejection? I know Texas can be horrible in the summer so that does make a big difference what you are going for. Lower VLT tint doesn't always mean more heat rejection. They make even an 80-90% tint that has tremendous heat rejection but still retains a significant amount of clarity. Ask the guys at BB what brand film they use to see if it matches your expectations.
Back on topic though, I think you'd be fine from a driving perspective with limo in the back windows unless you oftentimes find yourself peering out of the rear windows (for instance pulling out of my office park the lane merges at an angle such that I can't reliably use my mirrors/driverside window). The rear windshield is a different story. I'd personally not do it because of your morning commute and I like having higher visibility on the highways. You can probably get away with it (aka driveable), but it doesn't sound like you really wanted to deal with the headache of relying more on your sideview mirrors. I also wonder how it would look with the auto-dimming rear mirrors, probably a minor PITA to always have to switch it off every morning/night when you drive the car. Problem is, I agree with those who posted that uneven tints just look bad on a car. I'd go with the 30% all around to make it look balanced.
Texas (as of Sept. 1 2009) legally alows 25% VLT in the front sides and unrestricted rears. In GA the wording of the law gives a +/-3% allowance on that VLT number, not sure about Texas.
PS: Where did you go to school? I graduated with a BSME a year and a half ago.
10-03-11, 11:46 AM
#14
Any good shop will have a lifetime warranty on every tint job that they do. I've run 30% before all around and felt it was too light. I prefer 15-20%. Driving at night isn't bad except when looking for pedestrians at a poorly lit crosswalk or backing into a space. But that's what power windows are for.
Getting it that dark is illegal in my state (GA) but I've only ever been pulled over once for it by bored college campus police. Didn't even get a ticket.
Getting it that dark is illegal in my state (GA) but I've only ever been pulled over once for it by bored college campus police. Didn't even get a ticket.
10-03-11, 12:21 PM
#15
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