Vlad_Stein

Hello, there!

I want to tint the windows in my GS430 (I am going for that "mirror" finish: looks great, plus, protects the leather from the sun), but I am concerned with getting hassled by Bay Area's finest. I spoke to one of them and he did not reassure me at all (he did not give me any guidelines).

Let's say I was to look up window tinting in California's VC. Does anyone know a good place in Bay Area that does quality work with window tints?

By "good", I mean people that know what they are doing, have good selection of tints, can guide me towards street-legal (CA) products and have reasonable warranty on their work.


Any info is appreciated...
Thanks.

Kaban

Vlad, the darkest you can go and still keep it street leagal is 35% front and 5% rear, most shops will recommand 25% rear. Just go to a good tint shop and they will explain to you clearly. Sorry I couldn't recommand any good shops around your area since I am from LA, but keep it under 35/5 and you should be ok.

kevs

I have 35% Quantum on my car and I like it a lot. I think that going darker looks okay, but takes the elegance out of the GS.

No offense to anyone who tinted darker than 35%, though! This is just my personal preference......

gsnav

I also live in the bay area and have not been into trouble yet? (knock on wood) anyways, here is the pic of my windows with tint.





I have 35% all around, it's the reflective kind. But looks great and doesn't look like it's really there when there's sun.

D-MAN63

Very nice looking tints ! One reason I have darker tints ( 20% all around) is because I don't want no punks looking into my car and seeing all my electronic equipment. Also IMO I think darker tints really looks better.

futuregs

Ok folks let's get something straight about tinting....the lower the percentage..the darker the tint. The number represents the amount of UV light allowed to enter through the window.
So in essence 35% is the legal, therefore 20% is illegal.
I have 15% on my windows all around, no pics off hand im at work, looks great. 5% is called Limo Tint, and it cannot be seen through at all during any hour.

Jmai22

5% can still be seen through only from the back of the car to the front of the car. but if you are standing next to the car you can barely see in. when ever your car is in the shade it makes the tints look around 15% darker than they are in the sun. i have 5% in the back and 35% in the front of my first Gen GS. i think 35% is too light though.

On a side note you have to remember safety also. at night time when i look out my front windows i can see ok. but i have a hard time checking my blind spots in back side mirrors. also when you are backing up a night its even HARDER. when your driving on the streets at least you have other peoples headlights to guide you. but when you park your car or need to back up in the night. 2 words for you GOOD LUCK.

Vlad_Stein

Thanks for all the replies, people!

I appreciate it. I still don't have a name of a shop to start, but at least I know other people have done it.

I'll try and post some pics of before and after.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

go to california tint in campell (sp?) south of san jose. they are pricey, but the best you can ask for. they actually bake the tint, not just put them on, menaing they actually take off your windows and tint it up

rominl

iTrader: (4)

dude, get it right, your info is definitely wrong.

in california, for the rear (rear winshield, rear sides) you can get as dark as you want. but for the front sides, you can ONLY get up to 70%. for the front winshield, you can get up to 4 inches from the top tinted. this is the stated clearly in the california law.

anything darker than these you can get pulled over. from my experience luxury cars (acura, lexus, bimmer, mb) tend not to get pulled as easily whereas civics and integras are the main target. but still you are illegal to have darker tints, and if you are pulled over you will get a ticket.

and btw, 70% front is ridiculous, you're better off not putting anything there

minh

I think he was refering to 35% on the passanger and driver side FRONT windows.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yeah, that's illegal. in calik you can ONLY have 70% tint in the driver and pessenger side front windows

Jmai22

i'm not really sure who told you that. but i believe its 35%. i'm almost 100% sure its 35%

alexus

iTrader: (1)

metalic qunatium would look awesome on silver gs

make sure your GPS will still be functional after that

i have black on black

rominl

iTrader: (4)

well i got it through here:

http://www.autowindowtintings.com/main.cfm?action=laws

i got 4 friends with 35% and 50% front tint and nailed. and one time i had too much time in my hand, and i walked up to a cop in a shopping mall parking and asked him about the front licence plate and the tint. he told me the exact same info? this is about what he said,

"well you can have tint in your front, but it can only be 70%, which is close to nothing. so when we see your car passing by and there is any sort of color in the front, we can stop you. it's a fix ticket for sure."

i'd like to hear more comments too. for the record that's one reason why i don't have tint on all my cars. coz' i wanna do 35% all around if i ever do it