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Two weeks ago I had my moon roof tinted. I never left my shade open because I felt that the interior was too bright. The tint I selected was the darkest they had and now I can't tell whether the shade is open or closed. Most of the time I now drive with the moon roof tilted, it's more noise of course but I like the airflow.
I never felt I needed to tint the windows in any of my previews RXs. But I feel this one needs. Especially if you have a panoramic roof. It's just too way much light and heat in the car and can't really enjoy the shade being retracted at all times.
So, I went with ceramic 35% all around. It's not super dark in front but provide adequate privacy and UV/heat protection.
The tints made my car look even more bad ***, very happy!
How did you get 35% tint all around if the rear factory windows are 20%?
Also, I'm in Illinois too and wondering where you got that done? Looks very nice.
Figured I'd post here since our NX sub forum doesn't really have a thread like this.
I tinted my wife's 18' NX with 3m color stable 20% on the front. Love it. From the OUTSIDE it matches pretty perfectly with the rear factory tinted windows. However, when you are inside you can definitely see a difference in the fronts from the backs. Does anyone have pictures of the inside looking out from only front window tint?
It definitely bothers me more than my wife. My wife doesn't seem to care, but when I drive her NX just being able to see the back windows when I turn and look compared to the front are bothersome in a way. I was thinking of getting 50% tint 3m CS for the rear but I am really hesitant because I don't want the back windows to be super dark or hard to see. The front 20% is already some what difficult at night. Making the rear darker would not be good but I'm looking to match as close as possible. I just haven't ever seen 50% over the factory rear tint or how much darker it would make it...?
Here are exterior shots of what I did.
Now here is an example. NOT of our NX but almost the same deal, you can see that the front windows are darker than the rear. The rear windows let in more "white" light and have a different "hue"/"color" to them. Fronts are definitely more charcoal compared to the rear factory privacy glass which is lighter.
EDIT 1:
Found this youtube video and did a sreen shot. You can see the fronts have a different hue/color than the rears. You can see the difference I hope. Just wondering the best way on correcting that. It's obvious from the exterior so I could only imagine what it looks like from the inside. Where ours looks good from the exterior but is off from the interior looking out.
Here in MD, front windows have to be no darker than 35% but the rear windows can be as dark as you want them. I got 45 on the front since technically the factory windows have 2% already thus the 35 would be 33. Most cops don't care about the 35 but there is always that one that will get you for everything. 10 on the rears. Almost looks like limo tint. Ceramic of course.
Got mine tinted with 35% on the fronts and 50% on the backs with Xpel Prime XR Plus, so far I am happy with the looks, will see how it handles the summer.
In the post a few above (lots of pics so don't want to quote/re-paste all of it to save forum space) he brings up the point about the difference in color. That's my concern also, how do you pick a quality tint AND get to match hue of the factory tint?
Any suggestions for that? I'm Googling films based on earlier posts, but I agree with the above... that I'd like the tint hue to match as close as possible.
I received both the 35% and 50% CS samples from the guy I got the 20% tint for the front windows. I haven't been able to pull my wife's NX in the garage due to me installing a remote start on my friends NX.... so once that's out of the garage and I can pull my wife's in then I'll have a better idea. Just putting the two on the rear windows still doesn't seem like it's going to bring the rear up to the same hue as the fronts. I was thinking 50% would be good but in all reality I think 35% OVER the factory rear tint is going to be the best bet. I will post pictures hopefully this weekend to better help others hopefully and to show the hue difference. My garage is bright white on the upper half so it should be easier for the camera to pick up.
I don't know if it's really obvious to most folks who get windows tinted. To me it was immediate in terms of not matching from the inside looking out. I will say that talking with a lot of tinters this is a common problem that they normally take care of before handing the car over back to the owner or they at least tell you "fair chance it will match from the outside, but not the inside...etc"
All the cars I've ever done has always been all 4 windows plus rear windshield, so everything has always matched. This is the first time trying to match to factory dyed glass.
I really suspect if I would have gone 35% up front it would have been better though not as dark or private would have made the rears darker than what they appear. Also not being a tint guy I don't have all different manufacture's samples to hold up against the glass to see which would have been the best bet. I do know that there is no ugly green hue that I have read a lot about.
I'm about ready to get this done next month - I've read most of the thread but have a question.
I was going to go 20% on the driver and passenger to match the factory tint. But I want some heat resistance on the other windows, so I was thinking of going with a really light (as light as possible, like 80 or 90) on the rear passenger and rear window, just for the heat blocking. I think that adding that in the rear three spots will more or less keep the existing factory tint (i.e. it won't get noticeably darker). Goal is to have all 5 windows reasonably close, but I don't want the front darker than the back. I'm OK if the back is slightly darker than front.
Does that sound like I'll get a balance with that plan?
I'm about ready to get this done next month - I've read most of the thread but have a question.
I was going to go 20% on the driver and passenger to match the factory tint. But I want some heat resistance on the other windows, so I was thinking of going with a really light (as light as possible, like 80 or 90) on the rear passenger and rear window, just for the heat blocking. I think that adding that in the rear three spots will more or less keep the existing factory tint (i.e. it won't get noticeably darker). Goal is to have all 5 windows reasonably close, but I don't want the front darker than the back. I'm OK if the back is slightly darker than front.
Does that sound like I'll get a balance with that plan?
70% is basically clear so if you go with anything above that it's only going to be for heat resistance. When I put the 50% test sample I have on our rear windows it barely makes any difference at all. So if you go that high it will not make the rear windows darker.
70% is basically clear so if you go with anything above that it's only going to be for heat resistance. When I put the 50% test sample I have on our rear windows it barely makes any difference at all. So if you go that high it will not make the rear windows darker.
-Nigel
Thanks! Actually not darker on the rear is what I'm aiming for. WA legal limit is 24 and I'd prefer not to draw too much attention.
Got mine done today. This is Xpel Prime XR ceramic, around 88% UV blocking. The fronts are 20%, and I did the rear window and back window in 70%. I didn't want the back much darker than factory, and I wanted the front to match as close as possible without being darker. The installer said the rear actually test out at 16%, and the fronts are real close to that (around 18%).
Nice! Looks like a Caviar F-Sport... I just did the XP on my Caviar premium. Since you mentioned they tested percentage... did they also show you anything on solar performance?
If your Car is in direct sun I wonder how hot the windows feel on the inside?
With my rears/sunroof darker, they are MUCH hotter than the fronts. This concerns me enough that I ordered a solar meter. I want to know I got the ceramic I paid for. If that heat is normal I’m gonna rethink the value of the ceramic premium.
Nice! Looks like a Caviar F-Sport... I just did the XP on my Caviar premium. Since you mentioned they tested percentage... did they also show you anything on solar performance?
If your Car is in direct sun I wonder how hot the windows feel on the inside?
With my rears/sunroof darker, they are MUCH hotter than the fronts. This concerns me enough that I ordered a solar meter. I want to know I got the ceramic I paid for. If that heat is normal I’m gonna rethink the value of the ceramic premium.
It's a bit hard to tell but it's a Nightfall Mica.
The only think I know about the solar performance is the UV blocking (88% according to them). However I could tell even on the drive home far less heat was radiating through. But I haven't touched it yet to see how hot - it will be in the garage all weekend but I'll know more Monday. My car sits in the sun all day at work.
Yes, please report back! My “online history” involves a lot of cutting bull*****... and I’m gonna flesh out this tint thing.
One thing I’ve found, while trying to find my own answers, is most tint companies tout the enhanced UV protection, but you’ll be glad to know that Lexus REALLY takes luxury to unexpected levels.
A stock RX with ZERO additional tint blocks almost ALL UV! Not just UV-A but also B... The Xpel brags 88%... meanwhile STOCK RX is between 95-100% on the “clear” windows!
What I want to prove (OR disprove) is IR rejection and improved heat performance. I.E. “does ceramic tint do what they say it does?”
I just want to know. Of course I bought a very similar package as you, so I have a good base for testing. Please report on the heat you feel on the windows inside the car.
I have a theory that dark tint doesn’t “reject” heat as they claim, but actually absorbs extra heat and convects it INTO the car.
I HOPE I’m wrong... and that “ceramic” is a good idea/effective... since I already did it to my entire RX.
What set me off is Google returning ZERO and lots of misinformation... “there’s no way to tell... you’ll never know”... yeah, I don’t accept answers like that.
08-18-18, 05:22 PM
