Is there an easy way to remove tint from the rear window? It seems like the tint is preventing the auto dimming mirrors from functioning. I need it for the side mirrors.

 

I hear using a clothes steamer does the trick. But you may want a pro to do it, you don't want to mess up those heating elements.

 

I'm interested in this as well. I don't think there's any "easy" way to do it. I've seen videos of professionals doing this, and it didn't look too difficult, but I think this might be one best left to a professional. I'm always open to doing my own work.

 

That brings up another reason I would like the tint removed. It seems like the heating elements work slowly compared to other vehicles.

 

My heating element didn't work when I purchased the car. Body shop forgot to plug the harness back. My friend Tommy plug it back, now it's working great. No slower than any other car that I've noticed. You may want to check your elements for any damage.

 

It works. The back window does clear up along the lines, just slower than I'm used to.

 

If it was me and its just the rear glass, a pro shop might only charge $35 to have it removed so i'd go that route. Bunch of youtube vids out there if you feel more comfortable doing it yourself.

 

Don't mess with tint removal on the back glass if you are not a professional. Damaging the defroster lines is going to be a costly repair.

 

Just tint your front windows darker and then the glare from your side mirrors won't be as bad? My sunshade stays up 24/7 on top of my tint so my side mirrors never dim, but I don't really have any issues with it.

 

Interesting. I have 20% tint on my rear window and am pretty sure my auto-dimming side mirrors work just fine? My side windows are also 20% so maybe I just never noticed because I can barely see out as is

As far as the window tint effecting the defroster, I've actually read the opposite that the window tint actually helps the defroster work better because it distributes the heat more evenly across the window.

 

I have the rear tint as well. Can anyone tell me if this is factory installed (Usually, I assume that all tints are aftermarket or dealer installed). I purchased the car used and the rear was already tinted. I really don't care about rear tint.. it makes the car too dark inside. I would rather use the motorized shade in the peak of summer.

 

OEM rear glass has a UV protection rating but does not come tinted from the factory on the GS. It was likely tinted aftermarket...dealers will have tint installed at local, trusted shops and if it was pre-owned, the previous owner likely had it tinted.

 

The exterior mirrors on a 2000 LS400 I used to have stopped dimming properly after I had the side and back windows tinted in 2003. I was disappointed but decided to live with the problem.

When the back window tint on that car began to fail after around eight years, I learned that the written lifetime warranty the tint shop owner had given me meant whatever he decided lifetime to mean. He refused to remove and replace the failing tint, told me that he couldn't do it without damaging the defroster grid and suggested that I buy a new back window.

I once removed tint from a side window after a body shop porter damaged it during clean up not realizing that the window was tinted. The tint was fairly easy to remove with razor blades and a recommended liquid solution I mixed up following instructions I found on the Internet but I wouldn't have been able to do it on a back window with a defroster grid.

Maybe a tint shop has some magic way to do it but I suggest that you live with the mirror auto dimming problem. After that one rear window tint debacle, I've never had tint applied over a defroster grid again.

 

And you believed the slime bucket? It's done all the time by pros, no magic needed.

 

I got a similar response when I went to another much larger tint shop - that the tint could be removed but there would likely be damage to the defroster and antenna grids. The difficulty in removal might have been related to the type of tint used on the back window - different and non-metalized like the tint used on the side windows due to the radio and cell phone antennas being on the inside of the back window glass. I especially depended on that cell phone antenna back then - very spotty phone service in rural areas without an exterior cellular antenna.

Tint shop business is declining due to the popularity of SUV's and cross-overs that come with factory privacy glass. The Visible Light Transmission (VLT) of factory privacy glass on vehicles manufactured by Toyota typically ranges between 11% and 24% depending on window position and not many people want darker than that. The only aftermarket tint we get these days is to front side windows.