e-man

There's nothing like washing the car on the driveway on a sunny Saturday afternoon (at least I think so). I'm seriously considering dumping the tint. What do you guys think? I know a lot of you are big fans of tinting, but I think it takes away from the beauty of the alpine silver. Any thoughts?

WhiteTiger

I think it enhances the Silver color.

And, imo, there would be quite a few things I would choose over washing the car. Granted it can bring enjoyment, but there are a few other items that just might creep past it on my list.

BTW, nice job on the wash, your car looks great!

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

At least keep the tint through the summer where you'll get the most value out of it. I think it looks good.

Is it a crappy tint job up close and that's why you don't like it? Or just tint in general.

svt5150

On silver I would go with a really light tint. I always liked the clean look without the tint.

koreanpers

i would keep the tint. imho it adds to the car. when i got my car tinted....it was love at first site! LOL

e-man

Thanks for the input guys. DaveGS4 -- the tint job is excellent. Very professional and classy. Not too dark either. I'm just not a big fan of tinting. Like SVT5150, I too like the clean look of a stock, untinted car. Dave -- you're probably right that it's a good idea to keep it at least through the summer when I will get the most use out of it. Also, once I take it off, it's off -- I'd never put it back on.

e-man

Here's one more picture to show the tint. The sun actually makes it look darker than it really is. If I had to guess, I would say that the front windows are 50% and the back seat windows and rear window are maybe 35%.

kdl001

IMHO

Tint is functional it keeps the interior temperature down in the summer. Since heat is the main enemy of leather I would keep it just for my interiors sake.

just one man's opinion

e-man

KDL101 -- it's funny that you mention the functionality of the tint. Just last week, I went to a tint shop to get an estimate for removing it. The guy says, "Why do you want to remove it?" I told him that I just wasn't a big fan of the look. He replies, "That tint is the main reason that your black leather is in such great condition. Without the tint, the leather would be faded and cracking." He's probably right.

philip fra

your car looks great with the tint.

REMEMBER THIS: the big plus about the tint is it protects your interior and will make it last longer by protecting it from direct and heavy sunlight. it does make a difference! plus it keeps the car cooler in the summer. also i am a big fan of a garage kept car. take two 2 cars and leave one outside 24/7 and keep the other in the garage when not being driven and tell me if you see a difference in 5 years. YOU WILL. BOTH INSIDE AND OUT. the tinting also has a similar effect.

my 2 cents

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

I'm on your side. I got my car tinted 2 months ago. I hate the look. The clean look is gone. I almost took it off imediately but wanted to give it a chance. I notice a tremendous difference in the inside temp. I know I live in hot sunny south fl but the difference is tremendous. No longer have to get into a hot heatbox on a 90 degree day. When it's 90 and muggy, letting the windows down for a while means little. It's just hot air. I think I'm going to keep the tint.

chaskim

e-man

I think you may have a problem with the tint not being dark enough. In the picture it looks kinda of light. Maybe if it was darker. I think light tint makes the windows look kinda grey ecause sunlight is coming in from the front.

Therefor, making the windows look dirty grey and not black or the clean look of glass.

Either way it is still a clean car and most of all its a GS

chaskim

e-man

Chaskim:

Interesting thought -- one I definitely hadn't considered. You may be onto something. Either go dark or don't do it at all (in my case, I wouldn't do it at all). I think DaveGS4 brought up a good point. I'll stick with it for a while (at least until the end of the summer), and make up my mind then. There's no harm in leaving it on (other than I don't love the look of it). I can always get rid of it later. Now the spoiler is another story. Don't get me started.

e-man

SeattleGS400

iTrader: (1)

E-man:

I'm not a fan of tint either, but one of my past cars had tint on it when I bought it (used white 95 Maxima with light tint), and I thought about removing it (which from what I understand is not too hard to remove, it just takes time). I did definitely notice that the interior was a bit cooler inside during the summers, but at night, it limited my side and rearward visibility somewhat. That is, I couldn't always quite discern what type of car was behind me as it seemed so dark, unless they got really close.

While I left it on the Nissan for the 2 years I owned it, if I had to do it again, I probably would have just removed the tint from the outset. I also noticed that it had developed a uniform abberation as well--that is, if you looked out the glass at greater than 60 degree angle, you'd noticed that it wasn't quite as clear as would just normal glass. The Nissan, being stored in the very high heat of Texas, probably had something to do with creation of the film abberation. While the tint fit the glass just fine, looked uniform (you could tell it was professionally applied), and didn't bubble, the optical clarity just didn't do it for me.

Anyways, I'm like you--I like the clean look of a non-tinted car (esp. on a dark color like my back GS). But again, we've all got our own unique preferences. . .

Hameed

The fact that you are a member here on CL means you love your car. The fact that you love your car means you should protect it from the sun and the high temps that can affect a non-tinted car.

I have the exact same color car with 35% tint all around and it looks absolutely amazing. I know for a fact that the tint does an amazing job at filtering out the harsh effects of the sun. Just driving down the road with the window slightly down so that it filters the light hitting my left arm makes such a big difference in the feel of the sun on my arm compared to having the window all the way down and the sun hitting my arm directly.

Here's mine with the 35% tint: