It does make looking at the side windows slightly darker because of auto tinting mirrors. Often times, I just disable the dimming. Otherwise, the vision is excellent out of the side windows. The way tint works nowadays is the tint seems darker from the outside than it does from the inside looking out.

 

I am going to be getting my windows tinted soon. I was thinking about 20% Platinum Plus. I have a breakwater blue 350.

Anyone else get any tinting done? What did you get, any photos?

Thanks!

--Elise Harp
Elise Harp Online

 

There's so many tint brands that's it difficult to keep track. Just be mindful that the darkness of the tint may be illegal depending on your state. Perform a search for tint and you'll find a post by me that has a file containing legal limits for each state. I chose to get tint that's slightly lighter than the rear windows so it doesn't attract so much attention. I'll upload before and after pics.

 

I found the post for you. HERE it is.

Before - Notice the nice bird doodoo


After

 

In that picture, are only the two fronts done? I need to get mine done soon and I was thinking about making the back darker, or doing the two front and a film put on th windshield like I did in my GS.

 

Tinting below 4" on the windshield is illegal in all 50 states. If you look closely, there is a little hash mark at this point at the edge of the windshield. A tint shop did my wife's old van with heavy tint all around plus about seven inches of brow tint and she got a warning ticket within hours. She drove it straight back to the shop and they fixed it, no questions asked.

I had my front windows done to match the rear on my Savannah Metallic RX and the result is very nice. I had extremely dark (OEM, don't know how they got away with it) tint in my first Suburban and it was a black hole aft of the driver's window, especially at night. My dad proved it by backing my week-old baby into a tree and doing about $3K worth of damage. I'm sure I was still ahead on dollars - I'd wrecked a couple of his cars over the years.

 

Looks really nice, TripleDES, what brand and % did you go with?

 

32k, I honestly can't recall the brand or the shade. Perhaps it's SolarGuard. They had many types to choose from, but I just asked for the closest match to the rear windows. As I stated previously, it's slightly lighter than the rear. The shade is definitely not legal in CA, but so far, no authorities have challenged us.

I'll try to look for the paperwork and post the brand/shade.

 

As the glass on the back and rear windows are tinted at the factory, my question is: Is this shade the same as the tint film in term of UV reflection?

As they are already darkened, if I apply another tint film it will make the windows even darker to apoint of significantly reducing visibility. But if the shade doesnot reflect UV rays (a much more important point than just darken the windows) then a film is needed. What a dilema! Do they make completely clear film not to darken but only to reflect UV rays?

Any words of wisdom on this issue? Thanks.

 

I've heard of a ceramic based film that is almost clear with a much better UV block and no interference with cell phones.

 

is it preferable to go with a dealer tint to match up with the rear windows or did you all go with aftermarket tinting?

 

In Australia, the legal limits are 35% Visual light transmittion (vlt). which means that 35% of visaul light must pass through the window, therefore the lower the percentage the darker the film. OEM bypasses state tinting laws (OEM being fedral juristriction)

All window films reguardless of price and darkness will cut out 99% of uv, that is what they are designed to do, you can purchase 50% and now 95% vlt films which means you can tint remaining privacy glass and get the added benefit of UV protection and safty aspects of glass not shattering.

As a general rule, privacy glass is about 15% VLT which I would be quite supprised if any states in USA would legally allow. Price wise, your dealer will probably be making about 200% markup on tinting, go to your local tint shop, In Australia we charge about $110 Aus which means about $80 US as a guide.

 

i called my dealer and they dont offer tinting so i had my front two windows tinted to a very close match at an aftermarket shop for $70.

money well spent.

 

yea what is the exact match for the stock tint?

 

I'm in California and if I'm not mistaken, I think there is a law against window tinting on the front windows.

If so, does that mean NO tinting whatsoever? Or is tinting allowed only up to a certain shade/opacity?


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