hosh

Hi to all, first time poster but 2 times Lexus owner.

Just ordered a LC500 V8. One of my friends is a gun window tinter so I'd like him to tint the new LC.

I asked the dealer what's involved and they said they remove the door trims, back seats and parcel shelf. They charge around 800 bucks AUD for the tint and 1100 to remove the parts.

I removed everything on my ES350 in 1hr but that was completely different to this beast.

My question is, has anyone done their car yet? I would like to get a heads up on the procedure.

These trims look a lot harder to remove.

Thanks in advance, any help greatly appreciated.

Davo

uchujin

I haven't done any of this with my LC, but I've also removed panels in other Toyota and Lexus vehicles with a trim-removal tool. I suspect the LC door trim would be straightforward. I'm wondering about the rear window though... it may be easier and cheaper to have a glass shop remove the window completely. That way it can be tinted perfectly. It might be very challenging to get into the corners even with the seats and shelf area removed.

TimboIS

Sounds pretty absurd. I’ve never had the need fo an installer to remove door panel to do tint.

uchujin

On many doors, the glass rides against rigid felt, rather than flexible rubber. In that case, the only way to apply the film below the upper trim is to remove that trim. In some cases, it is possible to push the tint film below the inner window-guide without removing that trim piece, but it's typically very easy to remove the trim when doing the install, thus insuring the lower edge of the tint film (that you can't see when done) adheres properly. If the film isn't installed below this inner edge-guide, the bottom edge of the film is very susceptible to damage as the window closes.

TimboIS

uchujin

Yes and no... Depends on the installer and the installation I think. Some trim pieces can be removed very quickly (like under a minute), which might make the installation easier in many cases. YMMV...

uchujin

Huh - I was surprised to find there's lots of discussion out there on this topic. Some remove the trim, some don't...

https://acurazine.com/forums/third-g...indows-609320/

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=287042

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...el-or-not.html

hosh

Thanks for all the replies, I'll take a look at those treads Uchujin.

I'm sure my mate can do it, If that gear does need to be removed then that's something I can do in preparation. I like to get the info so I can help and streamline the process.

I really can't see how you could successfully tint that rear window without removing something to gain access.

All good, I'll post info how it's done when I get the car. Wait time is 6 months for us so it will be end of July.

uchujin

Either way you do the doors, it's gonna be very straightforward. I'm more curious how you end up doing that back window. I can't even get in there to clean it very well. So I can't imagine trying to do a neat job tinting it, even with specialized tools. I still think you should compare the cost/effort of having a glass shop remove the glass and tint it that way, vs removing the seats and rear shelf area. Perhaps that's easier than I'm imagining, but removing all that stuff seems like a nightmare to me. If removing that rear glass is anything like removing a windshield, then a qualified glass guy should be able to do it in under an hour with no damage to the car or trim. Once the glass is out, it would be a piece-of-cake to tint it. They would likely use suction-cups to handle it, so the new tint should be unaffected when re-installed.