This issue came up in another thread and I thought it would be better to start a new thread and not jack the other one anymore.

The issue that came up was that a poster said his rear glass was showing streaking. It was pointed out that the tint was not on the inside of the glass but baked on the outside. This made it subject to wear over time especially from the rear wiper.

I've never heard of this before and find it puzzling that Lexus would do this. Is this the case for the 3RX? There were some threads from 2010 on this subject but I couldn't find any other new ones. It seems nobody has posted a complaint or comment since.

Will over use of the wiper will wear the tint off?

I'd like to hear from the experts here to comment on this.

 

rogerh00, can you link to the thread from the member who said his rear glass is streaking? It's not something I've heard before with the RX. The rear wiper hasn't gotten a lot of use over the past five years but I've had to clear snow, ice and dirt in addition to cleaning the inside of the rear window with nary a nick to the tint. From my understanding it is in the glass, not baked on.

 

Like Anita said, the original post would have to be read to give any kind of answer to your question. Like all the dark tinted glass that comes standard on the RX, the tint is internal in the glass. Unless some external tint had been applied it's just not logical a wiper could wear the tint off. There is nothing for you to worry about.

2nd edit; just had another thought. Even when additional tint is added, it's on the inside and a sheet of film.

 

Here's a link,

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/nx-...parison-3.html

It's at the end of Corrados RX vs NX comparison in the NX forum. AndyL included three old links to the discussion I mentioned.

 

rogerh00, that's news to me. In my 16+ years of RX ownership, I've never had a problem with the tint on any of the windows. The three threads that AndyL posted are all by the same person who had a mysterious substance on the window. There's no definitive information about exactly what that was. The damage appeared by caused by using a razor blade. Claying or using a heavier duty glass cleaner was also mentioned in links within the links. I do that every year with all the abuse the windows receive from the elements and daily driving. Again, nothing's happened to the tint.

 

Anita, thanks for the reply. Your experience is as I thought it should be. There have been no other complaints that I can find so I'm not going to worry about it.

It would be nice though if someone knows exactly how the tint is applied by Lexus to chime in here. If not I'll ask my SA when I go in for an oil change soon.

 

Rogerh00, the glass tint is not applied by Lexus, or any other car maker. The tint is part of the glass production process where certain chemicals are added to color/tint the glass to the desired darkness. The process tints the glass throughout the entire thickness of the glass. There is no "surface" tint added during the glass production process. A surface tint is usually a film that is applied on the interior side of the glass by an aftermarket installer.

 

It does state in the owners manual only to use plain water on the rear hatch glass.
I'm sure that some glass cleaners are too caustic to use on the defogger grids.

 

That recommendation in the manual is because of possible damage to the defrosters. I've been using glass cleaner for years, wiping in the direction of the wires.

 

Thanks for clearing that up.