Hey, so I'll finally be getting tint on my car!

The place I'll be going to, Sun Shield Window Tints (Sherman Oaks, CA), carries multiple brands, but two they recommended:

3M Color Stable
Llumar ATR

Knowing nothing about tint, I don't know what brand is best to go with.
Any suggestions?

edit: those two were suggested based on the fact that I had Navi in my car.

 

I got Sun Tek on mine. So far so good! The tint shop I went to told me this is a good brand for the IS (or any car with a lot of electronics, i.e. navigation) because some films (depending on the brand) have harmful carbons that will effect electronics in the car. The choice is yours...good luck with the end result.

http://www.suntekfilms.com/

 

I've said this before and will keep saying it, ALWAYS go by the quality of the work of the shop first, then just go with the best tint that shop offers.

 

Yea I've checked out several shops in my area. This shop was one of the few that asked questions about my car to direct me to the right window films.

Now I just gotta get down to the tint brands...

 

Sun Shield Tint is a good shop. 3M color stable and the Llumar are both good. Personally, I would choose 3M. They also have Solar Guard ceramic tint which is more expensive but a good investment for the summer. Only bad thing about ceramic tint is that its not so dark.

I have the 3M color stable on my 3GS and the Solar Guard ceramic tint for my LS460. If I had the chance, I would buy the ceramic tint for my 3GS too.

 

It seems that ISx50 owners are getting more and more picky about their cars....Tints...tint. I personally use 3M though

 

go for ceramic! expensive but well worth it!

 

i have heard the 3m is good, buddy has a tint shop and recommended it, so i will be going with that if i tint in a couple weeks

 

Last time I got my car tinted ('00 GTI VR) they actually offered me Rayban or Oakley tint , same used on sunglasses, I went with the Rayban , very pleased.

 

3M CS is a very soft tint. It will crease very easily.. so beware. I ended up removing my 3M CS and installed Johnson's Ceramic Tint. So far, it is holding up really well after 2 years.

 

I've got the 3M black chrome, and heard somewhat of the opposite.

I believe that the tint is actually a little thicker tint than most, which means that it takes a little more work to shape it to the window....especially given the ultra curved front window that the 2IS has.

 

Since you're in CA you might want to consider V-Kool for fronts since Suntek or other metallic tint don't have 70% vlt or higher. VLT = visible light transmittance. The higher the percentage the less darker the tint. I see a lot of idiots driving around in CA with very dark 30% or less for front windows and not expect to get pulled over.

 

a lot of people choose to ignore that 70% vlt front window law for safety reasons. if thieves can't see into your car, they won't know theres anything there to steal. of course you could also just not leave anything lying around, but we all forget from time to time.

 

Formula One Pinnacle 15 series

after 2 years, still just so VIP

 

if you don't mind a not-so-dark tint, and want really good heat rejection, go for huper optik. their tint is pretty light, but huper optik only lets certain tinters use their film, so you can be sure of their quality. its also pretty expensive, around the $400 range. but i've heard the heat rejection is unbelievably good.