bam

All along I thought the tinting the front driver and front passenger windows were illegal in CA but I just checked the DMV website and some other website searches and they're now saying CA allows a 70% light transmission tint. It's very light but at least they're now allowing some tint. Still no tint on the front windshield but maybe in time CA will allow 50% tint on the front driver and passenger windows. Does anybody know when this was changed?

davyjordi

huh, i just looked it up and you're right, the tint laws were changed. my front (and rear) windows are lightly tinted anyhow at 90% and my windshield is tinted at 90% as well with 3M's crystalline, but it's nice to know that the tint is legal save for the windshield. i also wonder when the law was changed. it had to have been sometime in the very recent past.

mmarshall

With the fierce desert sunshine and triple-digit temperatures that large parts of California get each year, it's a surprise, IMO, that they have not allowed at least some tinting before. Yes, I know that many police organizations are opposed to dark tint because it can make their jobs more dangerous (such as not being able to see weapons or suspicious activity inside the car on a traffic-stop)...but many other states have allowed light-tinting for years that has not put police at undue risk. Besides, one cannot quality as a police officer, or graduate from the police academy, without having minimum standards of eyesight.

Sulu

It is not just about the police; it is about general safety on the road. If front windows are not tinted (or only lightly tinted), so that any pedestrian or a driver in another car can see the driver -- and especially the driver's eyes -- you are much better able to determine what the driver's intentions are. If you know what the driver's intentions are, you are better able to avoid accidents. If, for example, a pedestrian can see the driver and notices that the driver has not taken notice of the pedestrian, the pedestrian can stop and not cross in front of the oncoming car.

Fizzboy7

CA here. When I got my front windows tinted in 2008, I thought I researched it and found that some light tinting was okay on the fronts. Then a few years later, all of a sudden everyone was saying any tinting up front was illegal. I never heard about any new laws being passed within that timeframe. So if it's okay to have now, I guess I just got lucky the last nine years of not having any problems.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

The law has been like that for years now, probably 10+ years.

The 70% VLT rule does not mean you can add 70% tint to your car. It means the total light visibility (glass + tint) must be a minimum of 70%. Why do people say adding tint to the front driver/passenger window is illegal? Because the OEM glass is already at 70-80%. Adding any sort of tint will pretty much drop it below 70%; therefore, making it illegal.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

a good alternative would be 3M crystalline on the windshield that rejects 70% of IR radiation. You can get 90% crystalline and it will still appear clear

davyjordi

Yep. I have 3M's Cryatalline on all of my windows, windshield included, at 90%. It appears nearly untinted but there is a hint of something there.

plex

iTrader: (11)

Has there been any proof that states like FL which allows darker tint have issues with pedestrians and drivers like you're stating?

ArmyofOne

I have had 20% tint on the front 2 door windows, and 5% on the rear of every car I have ever owned, except for my current lexus because it was already tinted when I bought it, and I think its 20% all around. I have never had an issue seeing anything or anyone out of the 2 front windows or windshield day or night.

The rears are another story, however. But with the advent of backup cameras, it has become less of a problem when backing up. Regardless, the tint on my ES will need redone soon (beginning to turn purple from age) and when it is, it will likely get 20%, for the simple fact that there is no backup camera on the car (too old) and I am not getting any younger (so my eyesight at night is slowly slipping).

Johnhav430

It's my impression that folks use differing numbers in discussing this topic. My wife's car is a SUV and it has 19% from the factory. This means 19% is let in. And that's fairly dark already.

For whatever reason, I don't prefer tinted glass and have never done that to any car that I own. But I do not live in FLA, AZ, CA, etc.

premier3IS

This is your answer right here folks^^^^. No law has been changed, its been like this for quite some time now. I'm pretty sure the 3IS tint is factory 70% from what I read.

FatherTo1

Agreed, I thought 70% light transmittance has been the standard on front windows for decades in CA. I tinted our LS 430 at 50% and drove around for a year without issues and I always had the windows up and visible for cops. The tinting company said they've never had a customer come back with 50% front window tint, however they have had to remove darker 35% tint on front windows for customers after the driver was ticketed. Tinting and a windshield sun visor really helps during California summers. However, what also helps tremendously is cracking your front windows 1/2" - 1" to let the hot air escape, or tilt up your sunroof. I don't crack my rear windows because I like to keep the rear sunshades up and lowering the rear windows tends to lower the rear sunshades automatically.

Fizzboy7

There's a lot of misinformation out there. Everytime there is a police chase, the news media announces, "...and that's why there's a law for no front window tinting." And at all of my neighborhood watch meetings with guest LAPD speakers, they all say the same thing. The reasoning is to be able to see the face of who's inside during a crime.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

this post says it all