DIY tint your own car windows?

[CarLuver]

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 ?

 

[vavavroom]

30 years ago I tinted my 2-door Rabbit's rear side windows I pushed the glass out starting at an inside corner. I traced the window shape and cut the film with an X-Acto knife. I applied the film with dish-soapy water. I reinstalled the window with the help of soapy water and a thick string that I laid into the window gasket groove. I had a buddy pull the string outward and let the gasket lip slide over the glass while I kept feeding the glass into the groove. The glass popped right back in. Precut film should make this easy. The film was still on when I sold the car a year ago. No bubbles or lifting. Getting roll-down windows out may require some finagling. I'm not sure about installing film without taking the windows out. Shouldn't the film slip under the seal? They also have exterior window film.

 

[nobb]

Not worth it at all IMO. I say this as someone who DIYs my own paint protection of which despite the frustration, can be doable with minimal imperfections once you understand the basic concepts. Imperfections in paint protection are not a big deal, but on window tint which is something you look through, it would drive me crazy.

I tried my best on even a nice easy flat side window section and could never quite get it perfectly bubble or dust free. Now imagine doing that on the rear glass which not only has to be manoeuvered in place but heat shrunk down as well.

For the price it's WELL worth just letting someone experienced deal with it instead.

 

[Lubener]

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 would check your local ordinances first. I got stopped and ticketed in downtown Cleveland for my "light" window tinting. Nothing compared to what I see today.. I had to scrape it off, ruining my defogger and appear in court with before and after pics showing it was removed or pay a large fine. It was surely unwarranted to me.

 

[Dave Hess]

I would check your local ordinances first. I got stopped and ticketed in downtown Cleveland for my "light" window tinting. Nothing compared to what I see today.. I had to scrape it off, ruining my defogger and appear in court with before and after pics showing it was removed or pay a large fine. It was surely unwarranted to me.

Dang.

Down here in Florida the cops really don’t care unless it’s crazy dark limo tents.

I got 3M ceramic tint on my windshield / windows on all my vehicles to reduce heat and glare.

 

[joekingcorvette]

I tried it myself once when I was a victim of hard times. I had a sales job selling animal health supplies and the company provided a brand new 85 Ford escort 4 door hatchback which was a nice little car and it didn't have company logos on it. I drove it as my DD. The company was sold out and I lost the car without an extra car to drive. I purchased an ugly Dodge Aspen slant six to drive because I was young, married, and had a house and kids and bills. I actually tinted the windows a dark tint and it worked but was a long ways from a professional tint job. I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself unless you are very handy and artistic. It's not an easy job to get it right.

 

[Egg_Head]

Do you cut your own hair?

 

[skyactiv]

I tried tinting once and failed miserably.

I would check your local ordinances first. I got stopped and ticketed in downtown Cleveland for my "light" window tinting. Nothing compared to what I see today.. I had to scrape it off, ruining my defogger and appear in court with before and after pics showing it was removed or pay a large fine. It was surely unwarranted to me.

Ohio allows the rear window and side windows behind the front doors to be tinted any darkness level you want. Maybe the law changed or the cop was dumb. Ohio no longer allows municipalities to make their own modified version of a law that conflicts with the Ohio general law.

Another thing is that a cop in Ohio or any other state can't cite a driver for a tint violation in a vehicle where that tint is legal where the vehicle is registered.

 

[Kira]

A chain, Tint World, opened near me and I popped my head in to see the lay-of-the-land.
In no particular order:
The fellow I spoke to was actually sharp, informative and clear.
The prices listed didn't seem high or unreasonable in any way.
The other products and services offered -wheel refinishing/repair, noise boxes, pinstriping, oil changes, upholstery services- all fit....no surprise there.

1) My man said the only real add-on he's dealt with is removing bad tint jobs before they do it right. That didn't surprise me either.

2) He offered catalogs full of switches, brackets, running boards, roof racks, LED arrays, plastic wheel protective ribbing, floor mats......it was quite the selection. I must say, it was reminiscent thumbing through organized paper catalogs of this stuff.

3) Tint World Academy is in Boca Raton, FL

edit: No connection etc.

 

[2010Civic]

Don't do it. It is way more difficult than it looks and won't turn out good. Also the precut kits are probably using low quality film.

This is coming from someone who will go to great lengths to do stuff himself and avoid other people touching my car.

 

[wpod]

Pay a pro . I used to try to do everything I needed done my self , Now with my older age and [wisdom] There are things the pros. should do.

 

[fantastic]

I attempted this again recently on the F350 & I had to throw the eBay pre-cut tint in the trash by the time I was unfinished. It is worth not going through those misfortunes and wisely taking it to your local window tint shop. It's a skilled trade like electricity, make the wrong arm motion and it can kill you.

 

[Leo99]

I paid a shop to tint my Camry's rear windows and rear windshield per NJ laws. The price difference between the top 3M film and the budget film was not much and installation was reasonably priced. When I left the shop I was told the few bubbles in the tint would disappear after a few days. They were correct. Nine years later the tint still looks perfect.

 

[John105]

I did in 1986.

I live in Phila and I would say 35% of all cars are driving with 5% tints. NOTHING IS DONE ABOUT IT....virtually no amount of tint is legal in PA except when from the factory...

my wife's GM SUV has I believe 19% tints in the rear glass, which is factory

 

[John105]

I paid a shop to tint my Camry's rear windows and rear windshield per NJ laws. The price difference between the top 3M film and the budget film was not much and installation was reasonably priced. When I left the shop I was told the few bubbles in the tint would disappear after a few days. They were correct. Nine years later the tint still looks perfect.

I'm glad you are law abiding and obviously there's a very good reason. Here in Phila. more than 1/3 cars have 5% tints, and this is clearly not legal in PA. Yet there is zero enforcement. Unless it's really changed, these cars would have a problem driving up to New York State. But maybe it has changed.

 

[Lubener]

I tried tinting once and failed miserably.




Ohio allows the rear window and side windows behind the front doors to be tinted any darkness level you want. Maybe the law changed or the cop was dumb. Ohio no longer allows municipalities to make their own modified version of a law that conflicts with the Ohio general law.

Another thing is that a cop in Ohio or any other state can't cite a driver for a tint violation in a vehicle where that tint is legal where the vehicle is registered.

Those were the windows tested on my car. It was a local city ordinance of Cleveland, not a state law. This was about ten years ago, perhaps things changed since then.

 

[PF52]

I live in Phila and I would say 35% of all cars are driving with 5% tints. NOTHING IS DONE ABOUT IT....virtually no amount of tint is legal in PA except when from the factory...

I'm realizing it's one of those things that just don't get enforced any more. Tons of cars around here have nearly pitch-black tint, even on the windshield.

 

[paulo57509]

My experience, it's selectively enforced in CA by the CHP.

My relative purchased the Legend new in Washington 1987. That year, while he was visiting he took it to a tint shop in Campbell, CA to have the windows done. When I brought the car into CA in 2001 it still had the tint.

It wasn't until ~2014 when the CHP pulled me over, in-town for having tinted windows. Tracy PD could have cared less for those 13 years.

I spent an afternoon removing door and interior panels, razor blades and ammonia removing the tint. I left the rear window alone because of the defroster grid (CA allows rear window tint if there are outside door mirrors.

I'vee had gradient tint on the Camaro since 1990. It's difficult to tell if there's film on it. Never got hassled for it.

Ordinances change, so what was a violation then may be allowed now.

 

[vavavroom]

Do you cut your own hair?

Looking at your avatar, I must ask, "Do you?"

Yes, I know who that is, was. RIP.

 

[vavavroom]

As I said earlier, if you can remove the glass applying the film cleanly and without bubbles and dust is not that difficult. It's like doing a wet install of a screen protector at a larger scale. I deliberately didn;t talk about the legality and common sense of where to not put window film because local laws and common sens vary widely.