Looking to get ceramic on my 05 LS 430, looking to get all the windows and rear windshield done the same percentage/shade for a nice uniform look. Right now I’m debating between 55%, 50%, 45%, or 40%. Was wondering for those of you who have ceramic tint in this percentage range, how is your visibility with the windows up while driving during the day and at night? I went to a shop to get a quote, and he showed me a vehicle there that had 55% ceramic tint, it wasn’t super dark from the outside but definitely darker than 70%, and the visibility looking through the window while sitting inside looked basically identical compared to the windshield that had no tint.
I’m looking to get between 40% to 55% tint so that way my visibility while driving is as close to how it is without any tint as it can be, while still having a nice shade on the windows. Also, I live in California, where the front windows legally cannot be more than 70% tinted, I don’t mind going darker than that obviously, but I’m also not looking to black out my windows and im not looking to get a fix-it ticket and have to take it off.
Also here are some of the shops I got quotes at today in the Sacramento, Ca area. I’m leaning towards one of the shops that is $300-$350, $250 sounds nice but that seems pretty cheap to me for ceramic tint, even $300 sounds low. The $250 also offered ”premium ceramic” for 350$. A few of the shops had higher prices for premium ceramic tints (the shop I went into isnt on the list, they charge $380 for ceramic and 600 for "premium ceramic"), but I don’t understand what that means and how it’s different compared to ceramic tint besides helping with not letting as much heat through. Also the $250 shop is Midtown tints and wraps, dont know if any of you guys have gone their and have an opinion on the quality of the tint



So if any of you guys have ceramic tint around this percentage, I would love to hear your feedback on how the visibility is and how you like it, as well as anything else, thank you all.



UPDATE:
Havent got it installed yet but I have an appointment to get 50% on all the windows and rear. I chose 50% for a few reasons; although it isnt the darkest it looks much better than 70%, I know a lot of people prefer to go darker, especially with the rear windows and windshield but I wanted a uniform look and going down to 35% seems like there would be a much higher chance of getting a ticket. I also chose 50% because its effect on night time visibility will be virtually none. When choosing which shop I was deciding between "Tint Club" and "Deluxe tint coat and protection" because tint club uses 3M Ceramic IR (50%) and Deluxe uses Xpel PRIME Black XR(45%) (All the other shops had brands like Suntek, HiTek, global express, geosheild, etc. And Id prefer to go with a brand that has a very long and very good reputation). 3M ceramic IR had higher IR(83% vs 78%), TSER(54% vs 52%) & IRER(66% vs 58%) percentages, as well as being known for more clear visibility. Xpel PRIME black XR had higher VLT% (46% vs 50%(50% 3M tint vs 45% Xpel tint))and Glare reduction (50% vs 32%) as well as being know for a nice matte black color that looks really good. I went with 3M because the slightly better visibility and better heat and harmful light protection, and I never have problems with glare (plus its not going on the front windshield) so that factor didnt matter much to me(And all ceramic tint helps with glare no matter the % so theres that). 45% does sound nice since thats 10% darker than 50 (well really more like 8-9% when looking at VLT percentage, so only 4% darker compared to no tint) but its a decision I made. All the shops I called for ceramic tint came with lifetime warranty(for bubbles and peeling) no matter what brand tint they offered, I only reached out to shops with a 4.8 rating or higher and the shop I close only has 57 reviews (have been in business over 5 years) but have only gotten 5 star reviews. Also something important to note is that most shops up their prices in the summer time by quite a bit, I'd definitely suggest getting quotes now even if you arent ready to get tint quite yet, so that way when you do decide you can see how much the price has changed and decide if you want to wait till summers over to get it. Also, I'm sure the other brands offered by the shops like Suntek, HiTek, global express, geosheild, etc. are all great too, I personally wanna keep my car forever so I went with 3M for their long standing reputation. The shop im going to is charging me $380, but their prices are going up to 450 for this summer. The other shops I called (on the cheaper side) were $300-$350 (was quoted $350 for the Xpel shop), and the more expensive shops were $420-$600 btw.

 

Just out of curiosity, why do you want the windows that dark?....the fierce California sun in the desert?

Also, keep in mind that, (all else equal), the darker the tint, the worse the nighttime visibility.

 

I have 50% on my windshield and I don't feel any impairment in night time visibility at all. I have had 40% before and that one felt darker for sure.

My side windows are tinted to 15%.

 

I have 30% on my windshield, 5% on doors front and rear, and 5% on rear glass. Rear doors and rear glass on my truck were privacy glass already so I am guessing i have 2% or less VLT in the back. I have a TXDPS tint exemption for Traumatic Brain Injury causing Photosensitivity (migraines) and my wife has one for her degenerative eye disease that is accelerated by UV light. Hers is arguyably worse than mine, I just get headaches. With hers, sunlight literally makes her go blind over time.

 

Just for reference this is 40% with nothing on the windshield. It does a good job with heat rejection and no nighttime issues.

 

There's a few reasons: I dont like the "fish bowl" look of the car, and getting 70% tint doesnt help with that at all basically, just want it to be harder to see in a bit plus it looks way better that way (but like I said before im not looking to black out the windows), and it gets pretty hot here in ukiah, reaching in the 110's, so itd help with the heat a lot. And from the ceramic tint ive seen on peoples vehicles it doesnt seem to effect visibility much at all really, but I havent seen a ton of examples

 

from the
Nice, love to hear that! Any chance you could post or message me a picture with the window and the windshield from the inside of the car to see the difference in visibility looking out of them?

 

I had 50% on my first vehicle to remain law abiding per my state of residence. From what I recall, it was helpful and not an issue at night. I dropped to 20% on my second vehicle, with a doctor's note. I feel like night driving was a bit noticeably altered. And thought brought up a memory I hadn't recalled in a while: the turn signal on the vehicle had side lamps specifically for night/dark. I miss that.

 

I won't be able to get a picture from inside. We sold the car (and miss it too). Sorry.

 

No worries, what you got now and have you got tint on it yet?

 

The last time I had my windows professionally tinted was many years ago.

I'm sorry but I don't remember the tint % but what I do remember is that it was much darker to see through at night than I was expecting, if that makes sense.

On my old RX330 it has factory tint but I don't know what %.

 

But was it ceramic? regular tint is far harder to see out of than ceramic, also doesnt block out the heat nearly as well

 

Hmm, I don't know.
I thought he said it had titanium in it but I don't remember anything about ceramic.

 

We are also wanting to ceramic tint our windows sometime this year.

We would like 30-35% on the sides and maybe 50-55% on back and 70-80% on the front — Going by these guides below.

We still need to price it out but would like to use XPEL XR Plus, but don’t want to break the bank.

Has anyone used 3M Crystalline or Llumar IRX with good results? I know it also depends on the reputable shop you go through.

 

I have Llumar IRX on my LC - no complaints. I've had XPEL XR+ on other vehicles, also no complaints. XPEL XR+ does have a somewhat noticeable blue hue to it. Llumar is more neutral maybe an ever so slight bluish/green hue - very, very slight.