DIY tint your own car windows?

[dbias]

Two things I don’t do to my own vehicles are transmission repair ( outside of fluid and filters) and window tint. I feel I could get it 90% good if tinting it myself but it would take me hours longer than the shop could do it and my OCD would drive my nuts over the imperfections from doing it myself. Money well spent to have it done by a professional

 

[Brett776]

I wouldn’t have the patience or finesse to do my own tint. Place nearby I have taken both my cars and families cars… almost always under 200 for ceramic. I think the Tahoe was 300 but that was doing every window, back hatch, etc. for that price and flawless tint I have no reason to try and save 150 bucks or so.

 

[CarLuver]

all right i will pay to get it done . LOL

 

[97prizm]

my son had his car tinted at a shop . was $375. looks nice with it tinted. thinking about doing my own car. i see pre cut tint kit for around $100 all over the internet. thinking of trying it myself

anyone use a pre cut kit and do the tinting yourself? how did it come out ?

I tried a diy tint kit on my 84 Accord years ago it was cheap any not diy friendly. I layed the tint up in sections so it never quite was seamless. Apparently according to a few window tint installers I've talked with you have to cut the tint about 1/2 inch short on the top to keep it from binding. They also use a heat gun to get it to adhere. It's definitely an art form for sure.

 

[mrsilv04]

Window tint is one of those things... that when it looks good, it looks good. When it looks bad, yeah, it looks bad. Just like with lots of things, just because you can... it doesn't mean that you should.

I paid to have the front windows on the 2004 Silverado tinted to match the back windows. All these years later, they still look great. The workmanship was top notch, and the tint has held up well without fading. The interior of the truck still looks like new as well.

Until window tint became 'legal' in Illinois, there were several times that I thought I'd get ticketed, but never did.

 

[BrainThicknessVariation]

I've done PPF before and it actually came out good. Any imperfections are more than acceptable when you consider I probably saved a few thousand in installation costs.

I'm going to be trying this on my TT pretty soon. The setup lends itself well to this sort of thing. Eg, the front drive and passenger windows are free-floating (no window frame), and the rear window is easy accessible by opening the hatch.

 

[meep]

I’ve done it 3-4 times? The first time was a disaster, and the second was darn good. I cut it myself on the outside of the glass. I did not remove any glass from the car. That said, for perfect work, the guys who do this daily will have the feel for it, which you will not, the first time. The pre-cut kits give a better edge, but are more frustrating if dust blows on one, or it falls on the ground. I probably had a disaster like that every time I did it, and having extra material was almost necessary.

 

[ctechbob]

I'll put it this way. I worked at a shop for a good long time that did window tint. I helped install large pieces on back windows, helped clean when I wasn't busy doing stereo work, and helped out doing things tint adjacent. I've seen 1000's of cars tinted.

I know enough I don't want to pick up a squeegee and even attempt it myself. My buddy makes it look easy because he and his wife have been doing it for 30 years. To this day I book an appointment and let them handle it.

 

[Skippy722]

I tried it once… burned a hole through the film on one window and the back glass… okay all the glass… was wrinkle city. I ended up pulling it all off and paying $300 for a professional to do it. For $30 bucks off eBay it was cut very well though, I just sucked at shrinking it and I’m sure it was just cheap dyed film that would have turned purple.

 

[D60]

I know it's been beaten to death but I too tried when in college (and thus very broke). I did not use pre-cut tint, and you can already see where this is going.

It turned out pretty terrible and after doing one window I abandoned the project. As already stated, it's just more art than science. The one local guy who was really good was not what I'd call a smart man, so you don't have to be a genius -- just practice and probably some tips from pros aka on-the-job-training.

I'm more meticulous now but I still think it would turn out very poorly if I attempted again without plenty of practice. There are probably vids on YT for pointers -- I've never looked.