What shade of tint do you run on which windows?
05-13-24, 12:21 PM
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
What shade of tint do you run on which windows?
I just got my ES about 6 weeks back. I bought a used 2021 F Sport and it came already tinted. The thing is, whoever had it tinted, had the back and rear windows tinted in "Limo tint". That's the description that I found in the Lexus Service History. I'm assuming "Limo tint" is probably 5% tint. When I was a teenager, I would have done limo tint but now it's freaking dark to me. My wife drives the car a majority of the time and to my surprise, she says she is good with it, but I'm not. She said she wouldn't have chosen that dark but she doesn't want to spend the money to have it changed. The tint company that I usually use wants $300 to change it out and my Lexus dealer wants $450. My biggest concern is the removal of the tint messing up the rear defroster and causing it not to work. For that reason, I'm leaning towards paying the extra for Lexus doing it so I can have them replace the rear window if they mess it up.
My real question is, what shade would I go back with? My LS430 that I just had to give up after 9 yrs had 35% all around and I was good with that. My only other option I'm kind thinking about is leaving the front doors at 35% and then running 20% on the rears and back window. However, I then wonder if that would only make it slightly lighter than it is now and it wouldn't be worth the money and effort to have it done again. If you have any decent pictures of your ES that can show the different tint combos, I would love to see what they look like.
Side note, who ever had the car tinted also did a clear UV tint on the front windshield. We know this because they messed up the clear tint when they removed the registration sticker. Researching that, I'm going to use some static film to put my registration on once I get it.
My real question is, what shade would I go back with? My LS430 that I just had to give up after 9 yrs had 35% all around and I was good with that. My only other option I'm kind thinking about is leaving the front doors at 35% and then running 20% on the rears and back window. However, I then wonder if that would only make it slightly lighter than it is now and it wouldn't be worth the money and effort to have it done again. If you have any decent pictures of your ES that can show the different tint combos, I would love to see what they look like.
Side note, who ever had the car tinted also did a clear UV tint on the front windshield. We know this because they messed up the clear tint when they removed the registration sticker. Researching that, I'm going to use some static film to put my registration on once I get it.
05-13-24, 01:13 PM
#2
What is your issue with the 5%? Is it how it makes the car look from the outside? Or is it visibility concerns from within?
If the former, you probably want to go with 35% or lighter. It looks classy without looking like you're a drug dealer or pimp (if that's the concern).
If the concern is visibility some of the newer ceramic tints can be quite dark from the outside but still shockingly easy to see from within. So you might consider those. They are also better at heat rejection than dyed tints (which is most tint jobs).
On some cars having darker back windows than front looks ok (trucks/SUVs) but I think on sedans it looks a lot better to be uniform all around.
On my ES, I have 35% all around and 70% on my windshield and I think it looks great. 50% would also be fine. 70% is only slightly darker than clear, but if you are concerned with heat rejection a good 70% ceramic will do wonders there, even (especially) on the windshield.
If the former, you probably want to go with 35% or lighter. It looks classy without looking like you're a drug dealer or pimp (if that's the concern).
If the concern is visibility some of the newer ceramic tints can be quite dark from the outside but still shockingly easy to see from within. So you might consider those. They are also better at heat rejection than dyed tints (which is most tint jobs).
On some cars having darker back windows than front looks ok (trucks/SUVs) but I think on sedans it looks a lot better to be uniform all around.
On my ES, I have 35% all around and 70% on my windshield and I think it looks great. 50% would also be fine. 70% is only slightly darker than clear, but if you are concerned with heat rejection a good 70% ceramic will do wonders there, even (especially) on the windshield.
05-13-24, 01:19 PM
#3
...
Side note, who ever had the car tinted also did a clear UV tint on the front windshield. We know this because they messed up the clear tint when they removed the registration sticker. Researching that, I'm going to use some static film to put my registration on once I get it.
Side note, who ever had the car tinted also did a clear UV tint on the front windshield. We know this because they messed up the clear tint when they removed the registration sticker. Researching that, I'm going to use some static film to put my registration on once I get it.
Lamisafe totally blocks ultraviolet (UV) rays passing through the glass. Health benefits (reduced sunburn and cancer risk)
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FastDawg (05-14-24)
05-13-24, 01:39 PM
#4
Instructor
Thread Starter
What is your issue with the 5%? Is it how it makes the car look from the outside? Or is it visibility concerns from within?
If the former, you probably want to go with 35% or lighter. It looks classy without looking like you're a drug dealer or pimp (if that's the concern).
If the concern is visibility some of the newer ceramic tints can be quite dark from the outside but still shockingly easy to see from within. So you might consider those. They are also better at heat rejection than dyed tints (which is most tint jobs).
On some cars having darker back windows than front looks ok (trucks/SUVs) but I think on sedans it looks a lot better to be uniform all around.
On my ES, I have 35% all around and 70% on my windshield and I think it looks great. 50% would also be fine. 70% is only slightly darker than clear, but if you are concerned with heat rejection a good 70% ceramic will do wonders there, even (especially) on the windshield.
If the former, you probably want to go with 35% or lighter. It looks classy without looking like you're a drug dealer or pimp (if that's the concern).
If the concern is visibility some of the newer ceramic tints can be quite dark from the outside but still shockingly easy to see from within. So you might consider those. They are also better at heat rejection than dyed tints (which is most tint jobs).
On some cars having darker back windows than front looks ok (trucks/SUVs) but I think on sedans it looks a lot better to be uniform all around.
On my ES, I have 35% all around and 70% on my windshield and I think it looks great. 50% would also be fine. 70% is only slightly darker than clear, but if you are concerned with heat rejection a good 70% ceramic will do wonders there, even (especially) on the windshield.
I agree, I like the more universal look of tint on a car better than light up front and darker in the rear. I'm not as concerned what it looks like from the outside but again agree that a universal shade looks better to me.
Last edited by caverman; 05-13-24 at 01:44 PM.
05-13-24, 01:41 PM
#5
Instructor
Thread Starter
That clear UV tint on the front windshield was a waste of money. The Lexus windshield is an AGC Automotive Lamisafe windshield which according to AGC Automotive"s Laminated Glass Lamisafe web page's Technical Information, Skin protection factoid:
You can't get any better than total UV blockage so paying for more UV blockage is in essence just burning money for no benefit.
You can't get any better than total UV blockage so paying for more UV blockage is in essence just burning money for no benefit.
05-13-24, 01:49 PM
#6
That clear UV tint on the front windshield was a waste of money. The Lexus windshield is an AGC Automotive Lamisafe windshield which according to AGC Automotive"s Laminated Glass Lamisafe web page's Technical Information, Skin protection factoid:
You can't get any better than total UV blockage so paying for more UV blockage is in essence just burning money for no benefit.
You can't get any better than total UV blockage so paying for more UV blockage is in essence just burning money for no benefit.
05-13-24, 01:53 PM
#7
My biggest concern is the lowered visibility from inside the car. Within 5 min of driving the car I was like "oh no, that's going to be too dark for me" especially thinking of driving it at night. It wasn't a deal breaker by any means but it bugs me and I can't see me owning the car 5 - 10 years with that dark of tint. It just bugs me and thus I just think the best thing is to change it and be completely happy with the car.
I agree, I like the more universal look of tint on a car better than light up front and darker in the rear. I'm not as concerned what it looks like from the outside but again agree that a universal shade looks better to me.
I agree, I like the more universal look of tint on a car better than light up front and darker in the rear. I'm not as concerned what it looks like from the outside but again agree that a universal shade looks better to me.
Xpel XR ceramic tint 35% on sides and rear. 70% on windshield and on pano sunroof. In my state, those are the legal limits. Visibility is almost unaffected from inside. I would say the sides at 35% looked almost identical to the (at the time) untinted windshield. There were no visibility concerns at all, just a slightly different hue on the tinted windows. I have no issues at night either. On my previous car, I had dyed 20% tint and would sometimes have to roll down my side windows at night particularly if it was also raining, but with this tint that is a complete non-factor.
The reason I chose the tint I did was that ceramic helps more with heat rejection (although, be careful, not as much as the marketing machine would have you believe) and just looks better. There are multiple brands of quality ceramic tint (3M, Llumar, Xpel, a couple others) and I chose mine because that's what the shop closest to me used. There's multiple levels of ceramic tints, but the mid-level worked best for me as it was the best cost to benefit ratio. Essentially, I could have done dyed tint with about 30% TSER (total solar energy rejection) for $225, or the XR ceramic for $365 with about 60% TSER or for $565 the XR+ ceramic with about 65% TSER. You can see the value quickly eroding at each step up in price. So I chose the XR and it works great.
Last edited by rocket363; 05-13-24 at 02:00 PM.
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caverman (05-13-24)
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05-13-24, 02:16 PM
#8
35% on the front, 20% on the rear, 60% on windshield.
Technically only the rears are legal here, but I've never gotten pulled over for tint ever. First time tinting the windshield and it definitely helps keep interior cooler and has minimal impact on visibility.
Technically only the rears are legal here, but I've never gotten pulled over for tint ever. First time tinting the windshield and it definitely helps keep interior cooler and has minimal impact on visibility.
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bullnobull (05-13-24)
05-13-24, 02:29 PM
#9
Lexus Test Driver
Although laminated glass provides a high degree of UV protection, citing "UV protection" as the reason for clear tint on the windshield being a waste of money, is a red herring.
The real benefit, assuming a high quality ceramic tint, is heat rejection in the way of IR light/heat and total solar energy rejection. A high quality ceramic clear tint applied to the windshield will help mitigate heat. Around 40/60%, respectively. Any available UV protection a tint provides is just icing on the cake, for any glass its applied to that happens to have any gaps, such as side windows or non-laminated glass.
Will the vehicle still get hot? Yes, given enough time. But it will do so, slower. So there is some value depending on where you live, the color of your paint, the color of your interior, the overall design/amount of glass your vehicle has, your HVAC etc. In a hot climate, the more you can reject heat/IR, the better.
On my extremely large front windshield, I have Llumar Air 80 which blocks something like 60% of IR energy. The feeling on the face is much noticeably less hot vs. without tint.
Not much downside other than cost and you can see a rainbow effect if you wear polarized glasses. But comfort is worth it. Now if I park outside, in summer, the inside will eventually reach the same temperatures with or without tint. It'll just take longer to do so.
The real benefit, assuming a high quality ceramic tint, is heat rejection in the way of IR light/heat and total solar energy rejection. A high quality ceramic clear tint applied to the windshield will help mitigate heat. Around 40/60%, respectively. Any available UV protection a tint provides is just icing on the cake, for any glass its applied to that happens to have any gaps, such as side windows or non-laminated glass.
Will the vehicle still get hot? Yes, given enough time. But it will do so, slower. So there is some value depending on where you live, the color of your paint, the color of your interior, the overall design/amount of glass your vehicle has, your HVAC etc. In a hot climate, the more you can reject heat/IR, the better.
On my extremely large front windshield, I have Llumar Air 80 which blocks something like 60% of IR energy. The feeling on the face is much noticeably less hot vs. without tint.
Not much downside other than cost and you can see a rainbow effect if you wear polarized glasses. But comfort is worth it. Now if I park outside, in summer, the inside will eventually reach the same temperatures with or without tint. It'll just take longer to do so.
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rocket363 (05-13-24)
05-13-24, 04:20 PM
#10
I did 15% on my backs, and then a full blackout fabric on the automatic shader. I use a rear view mirror cam, but it supports normal mirror mode when I put the shade down. I can't stand those tailgating pickup trucks trying to light me up with their aftermarket lights, so this was my solution and it has worked well.
05-13-24, 10:59 PM
#11
Although laminated glass provides a high degree of UV protection, citing "UV protection" as the reason for clear tint on the windshield being a waste of money, is a red herring.
The real benefit, assuming a high quality ceramic tint, is heat rejection in the way of IR light/heat and total solar energy rejection. A high quality ceramic clear tint applied to the windshield will help mitigate heat. Around 40/60%, respectively. Any available UV protection a tint provides is just icing on the cake, for any glass its applied to that happens to have any gaps, such as side windows or non-laminated glass.
Will the vehicle still get hot? Yes, given enough time. But it will do so, slower. So there is some value depending on where you live, the color of your paint, the color of your interior, the overall design/amount of glass your vehicle has, your HVAC etc. In a hot climate, the more you can reject heat/IR, the better.
On my extremely large front windshield, I have Llumar Air 80 which blocks something like 60% of IR energy. The feeling on the face is much noticeably less hot vs. without tint.
Not much downside other than cost and you can see a rainbow effect if you wear polarized glasses. But comfort is worth it. Now if I park outside, in summer, the inside will eventually reach the same temperatures with or without tint. It'll just take longer to do so.
The real benefit, assuming a high quality ceramic tint, is heat rejection in the way of IR light/heat and total solar energy rejection. A high quality ceramic clear tint applied to the windshield will help mitigate heat. Around 40/60%, respectively. Any available UV protection a tint provides is just icing on the cake, for any glass its applied to that happens to have any gaps, such as side windows or non-laminated glass.
Will the vehicle still get hot? Yes, given enough time. But it will do so, slower. So there is some value depending on where you live, the color of your paint, the color of your interior, the overall design/amount of glass your vehicle has, your HVAC etc. In a hot climate, the more you can reject heat/IR, the better.
On my extremely large front windshield, I have Llumar Air 80 which blocks something like 60% of IR energy. The feeling on the face is much noticeably less hot vs. without tint.
Not much downside other than cost and you can see a rainbow effect if you wear polarized glasses. But comfort is worth it. Now if I park outside, in summer, the inside will eventually reach the same temperatures with or without tint. It'll just take longer to do so.
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E46CT (05-14-24)
05-14-24, 02:15 AM
#12
How about side windows? Do they too block UVs?
I noticed my rear windows is a bit darker being the F Sport model. I don't know if it is worth getting the front side windows tinted.
That also begs another question, will it match with the rear windows if I only tint the front windows.
I noticed my rear windows is a bit darker being the F Sport model. I don't know if it is worth getting the front side windows tinted.
That also begs another question, will it match with the rear windows if I only tint the front windows.
That clear UV tint on the front windshield was a waste of money. The Lexus windshield is an AGC Automotive Lamisafe windshield which according to AGC Automotive"s Laminated Glass Lamisafe web page's Technical Information, Skin protection factoid:
You can't get any better than total UV blockage so paying for more UV blockage is in essence just burning money for no benefit.
You can't get any better than total UV blockage so paying for more UV blockage is in essence just burning money for no benefit.
05-14-24, 07:08 AM
#13
How about side windows? Do they too block UVs?
I noticed my rear windows is a bit darker being the F Sport model. I don't know if it is worth getting the front side windows tinted.
That also begs another question, will it match with the rear windows if I only tint the front windows.
I noticed my rear windows is a bit darker being the F Sport model. I don't know if it is worth getting the front side windows tinted.
That also begs another question, will it match with the rear windows if I only tint the front windows.
2) A good tint shop can work with you to match your front and back. They do that stuff all day every day. They can tell you what will work and what won't. Sometimes it's adding darker tint to one window and lighter to another. Whether it's worth it or not to tint is up to your needs/wants. Why do you want to tint?
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es250fsport (05-15-24)
05-14-24, 08:49 AM
#14
Something to note is that if you have a light interior, your tints will look lighter from the outside. I got xpel ceramic tint 50% on moonroof, rear and doors and barely looks like anything is on it.
05-15-24, 03:29 AM
#15
Extra protection from Australian sun.
If Lexus already has UV protection, I don't want to waste my money.
If Lexus already has UV protection, I don't want to waste my money.
1) A post from the Club Lexus NX forum purports to list the UV protection for Lexus glass. It appears to be 90 or 99 all around.
2) A good tint shop can work with you to match your front and back. They do that stuff all day every day. They can tell you what will work and what won't. Sometimes it's adding darker tint to one window and lighter to another. Whether it's worth it or not to tint is up to your needs/wants. Why do you want to tint?
2) A good tint shop can work with you to match your front and back. They do that stuff all day every day. They can tell you what will work and what won't. Sometimes it's adding darker tint to one window and lighter to another. Whether it's worth it or not to tint is up to your needs/wants. Why do you want to tint?