denIS200

iTrader: (4)

No issue with mine :
Before :

After :



Denis.

LEX ES300

Sorry to revive an old thread, but the exact same thing is happening to me with my newly purchased 2004 LS 430 in Australia. I took the vehicle to two seperate professional window tinting companies....get this.....even the one that is used by Lexus themselves in my state and everyone says installing tint on the car is too hard!! (LS 430's are fairly rare in Australia)

The previous owner did have it tinted interstate but they couldn't do a perfect job because of those window mouldings that BFG23 was talking about and the tint installed was very light. (the tint also has a few small particles of dust trapped in the tint because they cant do it in the right way because of the mouldings. I don't want to be drilling out the rivets, and also none of the companies are willing to remove the rear tint from the back window because they said once they use a steamer and chemicals to remove the tint and left over glue they are worried that they will get the cleaning liquid/glue on the rear felt lined pillars of the car. THey dont want to damage it and niether do I!

At the moment I will just have to live with the existing tint. What a P.I.T.A.

V8_Fan

x2. There is no cutting or removing of door panels required. They tuck the tint under the rubber at the bottom of the window. I used Formula One ceramic tint. They have a list of dealers on their website. This is what the my local lexus dealer used (when I lived in AZ). Most of the tints sold in CA are dye-based. The next level up is probably metallic (tiny particles of titanium). It rejects heat much better than dye-based tints. Some people claim that metallic tints interfere w/ cell phone reception or remote controls, but I've had Formula One metallics on three cars and was still able make calls and never had issues w/ locking/unlocking via the key fob. Top end is ceramic tints...more heat rejection, no cell phone interference. I got this since my vehicle has the smart key...didn't want to take any chance of that not working. The most difficult part of the tinting lexus vehicles is the defroster lines on the rear glass are so thick that the tint doesn't lie flat enough (you get a tiny air gap next to the defroster line. If the window is being retinted, the installer can use bronze wool and scuff the old tint adhesive off the defrosters, which also thins them a tad, making for a cleaner installation.

sajack

I got a quote yesterday of $148 from an installer that has tinted cars for me for the past 20 years. I specifically asked if tinting a Lexus was any different from any other and if they needed to remove the door panels.They told me nothing needs to be removed and it is no different than doing any other car.
They use Llumar film.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I just had mine done last Saturday and my guy didn't have any issues. I figured it'd be a hassle to tint the LS, but he finished it faster than any of my other cars.

ddmavis

Recently had windows tinted ("Auto Gear" Edmond OK - highly recommend) and window now grabs inner rubber seal, folds it in and binds window. Dealer no help. Tinter going to redo to drop tint edge below rubber; however, that will not solve problem as it grabs rubber seal even after it is on the tint. After cleaning, conditioning and even tried silicon, which made it worse, I discovered the fine little hairs in the rubber are worn off about 1/8 inch down and no matter what I tried it grabs the window. Rear windows have this hairlike material all the way to the top edge of rubber. It was problematic before and probably is what burned out my window motor, I just didn't discover it until the tint was applied. Tint appears to slightly less slick than glass. I will update this post when fix is done to confirm my diagnosis.

Yup, problem fixed after cutting back the rubber to the point where the "hairs" (or felt-like material) start. Rubber sliding, or not sliding well, on glass is causing the window motor to work extra hard and I believe it is what took out my driver side motor and has worn the passenger side motor as well. Hard to even see what I cut once door panel is on and don't know if I'll go to the trouble and expense of replacing the window rubber or not. The info I got from this forum was a lifesaver on how to remove the door panel. I am now an expert door panel remover! LOL.

Anyone having a slow window or motor overload happening might want to check the inside rubber. You will probably find about an eighth inch of solid rubber that makes contact with the glass before the felt-like material starts. It has worn away.

tcr101

iTrader: (2)

hey ddmavis. I have this issue on the driverside front window on a 2001 ls430. I was able to remedy it by sliding half a business card into the back edge of the window (closest to the rear door). Its a ghetto fix, but I am unable to see the card from the inside or outside. Hope this helps.

034SL

Hey tcr101, would you happen to have pictures of how you slid the business card into the back edge of the window? TIA

tcr101

iTrader: (2)

Heres the inside/outside shot. Just a heads up do not use a key or something sharp to position the card there is a high chance you'll scratch your tint. If you use a black paper stock or something I am certain it would be even less visible.I've used this fix for ~ 8 months with no issues.

fyi, its 15's all around

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I had my tint done by Superior Autosports in Edmond. You might want to talk to them. Other good shops to get the tint looked at is Audio Plus and Superior Concepts, both in Edmond. I used Lumar tint and didn't have any trouble like that.

ddmavis

The rubber starts folding in from the front as soon as the window starts coming down so I don't think the credit card trick would have worked, but a darn good idea though. The rear windows have that felt-like material right up to the top edge of the rubber and they don't bind. The passenger front doesn't have as much wear as the driver and the problem isn't as severe. I took drastic steps as I figured I'll be replacing the seal anyway and cut the rubber edge back until it didn't catch and fold in. It now doesn't bind.

ddmavis

I don't know what type tint it is, but they do a lot of work for Eskridge Lexus. I will ask about the Lumar type, though. Thanks for the info.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

You're welcome!

If they do work for Eskridge then it's probably good tint.

tcr101

iTrader: (2)

If mine folded from the front, its possible this trick will work as well. I was never able to figure out why it would bind, but this fixed my issues. If you want a quick fix, I would try sliding a card at the front (just slide the business card 1/4 inch in) and see if the seal still folds

HiloDB1

iTrader: (3)

Just had mine tinted.



Didnt have any issues with the tint. But we did remove the felt/rubber seal to get the tint all the way down the class. It was a little tight on some edges as we tried to get the tint as far to all the edges as possible.