Tint
 

Considering having my windows tinted when I have my paint protection done. However, I have the following questions:

1) How much light does the factory tint let in (as a %)?
2) Should I tint my windows or leave them stock? If stock,
2a) What % tint would you recommend on a white wagon?
3) Would you have your front windshield tinted with 80% tint to protect he interior further (mainly the dash)?
4) Anything else I should consider (type of tint, etc)?

BTW, I was quoted $350 for carbon tint all the way around (in 35%). Also, $200 for front windshield... also carbon tint (80%). Does that sound fair? I thought it was high.

Thanks!

It depends where you get the tint done and what brand you actually get. Ceramic tint is way more expensive but the benefits aren't really noticeable in the long run. Basically, it can match the performance of much darker but lower priced tints. Best thing to do is not spend too much money on tint as most are very similar in performance in real life. Try getting the tint for $350 including windshield.

I think it's high. I paid $76 with a groupon last week for a sedan.

The days of crappy purple changing tint are gone. Suntek, lumar, 3m.

All good tints in my opinion. Highest I saw in dc area was $225.

Mine is 50 front and 35 rear. If state law allows 35 is a good percentage that let's you still see decent at night. Pics attached.

Dr Saab can you share where you got your tints done and which brand? I want to get mine done but the shops I've stopped by in MoCo all seemed a bit sketch...

Clayton radio. They have a new location in laurel md. The groupon was about 95 and there was a 20% off groupon promo. You can call the shop and prob bypass groupon. The girl who did it has been doing tint for 13 years. Been a week and I see no flaws so I am happy. Not some fancy place but they have wifi so take a laptop and chill for 2 hrs and it's done.

I have a 2013 white wagon as well. I got Formula one ceramic 50% on all windows, 80% on windshield, and 5% on sunroof, total was $400. For those that think all tints are the same, go do a temp test. Ceramic tint blocks a lot more heat than regular dye based tint, and doesn't cause RF interference like metallic tint does.

Here's a few photos

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n...622_091358.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-L...622_091415.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-z...622_091431.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-N...622_091457.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W...622_091632.jpg

Mine was 320 for 5 windows for ceramic tint. The guy used winco tint and gives a real nice reflection that matches perfectly with my car. You can also significantly tell the difference of the heat too.

I had my E350 done a few weeks ago. The shop used LLumar 35. Not as dark as most people want, but fine for me. All four windows and the back was $180. My 2nd vehicle done in Llumar. I'm happy again.

Great thanks for the info I will look them up.

I am one of the odd one's that will probably just go with 50% max.

If you do 50% max, then it won't be much different from stock because even factory tinted cars are darker than that. And it won't provide you any privacy nor deter from thieves looking into your car for something to steal. Also, at 50% the heat and glare reduction would be minimal. Go to a tint shop and look at the different tints and decide for yourself what you are comfortable with.

With ceramic, the performance in heat reduction is better, but the price also doubles or triples depending on whether you tint the front windsheild or not. I believe that the front windshield needs to be tinted to maximize the heat reduction.

It depends a great deal on the interior color. In my E350 with black interior, 50% tint looks significantly darker than my C300 with tan interior with the exact same tint. on the C300, the 50% all around 80% windshield looks like there is just a hint of tinting there. on the E350 with all black interior, it looks very dark.
The tint does provide a significant reduction in heat and also blocks 99.9% UV so don't have to worry about interior fading/bubbling or getting skin cancer.

Don't also forget night time driving. Darker tint makes it harder to see outside the vehicle in the dark. My previous cars had 30% and 20% tint which I thought was way too dark for driving at night, so I went with 50% this time.

I got suntek carbon xp on my car which is a little underrated then the ceramics. The price was very affordable. I paid $180 for all my windows except for my windshield. I got 35% in the rear and 50% in the front window. California laws say no tint at all in front.

Thanks for the input! Still debating between 35-50% but I am not interested in privacy or looks, just want heat reduction and less UV hitting the seats etc.

Does anyone know what the factory tint his? I thought very minimal?

Factory glass typically lets through 70 to 80% light, thus if you get a 50% tint, you're effectively getting about 35 to 40% light through. a 35% tint would allow about 25 to 28% light through.

My local tint dealer informed me this weekend that it doesn't matter whether it's 80% or 20% when it comes to heat reduction for ceramic tint. Do you guys buy this?

That's not true. While the difference is much smaller with ceramic tint, there is a difference, the darker you go, the more heat it will reject.

Take a look at this spec sheet for Formula One tint Formula One Spec

The Pinnacle series is their ceramic tint. Difference in heat rejection (2nd column) between 50% and 5% is 49% vs 65%. so there's a 16% difference in heat rejection between the lightest ceramic tint vs darkest.
Compare that to the classic series (dye based) which has a 21% difference in heat rejection going from 50% to 5% and the Comfort series (metallic) which has a whopping 30% difference in heat rejection going from 50% to 5% light transmission.

Even the Air series (ceramic 80% light transmission, nearly clear) blocks 43% heat, while the Classic 5 (dye based, 5% light transmission, nearly black) blocks only 47% heat.

So Ceramic tint does block significantly more heat than traditional dye or metallic tint. and going darker does block more heat, even for ceramic.

Thanks for the thorough response! Do you happen to have the specs for Suntek film?

Here you go

http://www.suntekfilms.com/files/Sun...-specsheet.pdf

Thanks! BTW, how do you like the 5% on your sunroof?

It's nice, lets in just enough light during the day, and very little heat.

Looking at getting Llumar CTX 30 ceramic tint all the way around. MB dealer wants $300 for all windows. Found the shop they use and can get it for $250 direct. Llumar ATR metallic is less expensive ($100 less) but I am interested to try the ceramic for the greater heat reduction about 10% more in relative solar energy reduction according to stats.

Also thinking about windshield with near clear Llumar Air 80 for more heat reduction. That is another $80 from same dealer.

Llumar seems to be most prevalent in my area. Nearest Hubert Optick dealer is an hour away. There is a 3M dealer but they wanted $800 for Crystalline. I had Llumar metallic 35 on my last car from 8 years ago. It worked well but would like a little less heat. Never did that windshield on that one and your legs can get pretty hot midday in Florida.

I'm looking to tint my front winshield due to feeling the heat on my arms and chest in the summer months. Sides and rear tint are already done. From this post I'm assuming I should go with ceramic. I'm unsure how many inches it can go from the top of the windscreen in Massachusetts. Heat reduction is the goal. Thoughts?

if you google tint laws you can find charts that show each state. If front tint is legal in Mass it may only be the first 5-6 inches. local tint shops will know how far it can go and how dark is legal.

I an thinking about tinting my entire windshield which is not legal in FL. But I won't be the first person with it.

Windshield was the best decision for me. I went with Suntek 50%, Its great, I have Llumar 35% on the rest of the car. The difference is night and day, the heat on your hands/arms/body is gone. Also, it feels like I have a sun guard on the windshield when I come back in my car after being in my office all day. I thought it might be too dark and I was hesitant, but when driving I dont even notice it, you can see the difference if you put the side windows down but I dont feel like my safety is compromised at all.

Just curious based on your experience. Is the suntek or llumar tint you have metallic or ceramic? Do you see any rainbow effect when driving depending on the angle of light?