school me on tint

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WhyMe

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want to get my civic tinted. max 15% front and no limit in the rear or back in my state. might take a road trip down south this year and will need it. So i am confused about the many types of tint. would like something that works well but not too expensive.

please school me on tint

thanks
 
So as someone that worked with a professional window tint installer at a Lexus Dealership ceramic is the way to go now. No cell or radio interference makes the windows less likely to shatter upon impact, longer lasting etc. I had bronze tint back in the day and it looked very professional.
 
I would not use 15% (or 20%) as it will be too dark and I suspect it will be illegal in your state as well.

I believe 35% is plenty dark for a daily driver.
 
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Keep in mind that at night, even moderate tint is going to be difficult to see out of. If I have to back up into a parking space, I usually roll down the windows. Can't even see well thought the side view mirrors.
 
I've got 35% all the way around and it's not a problem at all, day or night, for me. My wife has 20% all around and since I don't drive her car as much as her, driving it after dark really takes getting used to. I mean, once you're out on the roads, it's not really that different after a bit.

When I say "all around", I'm not including the front windshield. Personally, I'd never "tint" a front window. "Film" it with ceramic ? Sure. I've discussed adding ceramic to the front with the tint guy I used for my wife's car and our son's. It's expensive though ! He will tint (5) windows with 3M tint for about the same price as doing the windshield with ceramic.
 
35%, and definitely do ceramic. You get the most infrared and UV blocking from ceramic tints. That's what affects temperature and interior fade, plus it keeps the bad rays off your skin!

I've only had a few tinted cars (legal limit is 50% in MN, hardly worth the time), and I've found that anything less than 35% light transmission SEVERELY hinders night time driving. I had a car with 5% (limo) tint, and it was downright impossible to drive after dark.

Also, I noticed you mentioned taking a road trip. Another benefit of lighter tint: LESS ATTENTION! You can easily go from a state to state and attract tons of attention just because of tint. It's one of the easiest things to be stopped for, next to a burned out light or expired registration. For example:

Minnesota (my home state) states for a sedan type vehicle:

Windshield: no tint allowed

Front windows: 50% light transmission

Rear windows: 50% " "

Reflectivity: 20% max

South Dakota:

Windshield: Non-reflective allowed over factory tint strip

Front windows: 35% light trans.

Rear windows: 20% " "

Wisconsin:

Windshield: Same as SD

Front windows: 50% light trans.

Rear windows: 35% " "

As you can see, I can drive between 30 and 100 miles in either direction, and have completely different rules to abide by. Now, obviously if your car is registered in a certain state and you have a license from said state, you'd be fine. AFTER the traffic stop. Why give the police a reason to stop you? That's my argument for 35% max on a sedan.

If we're talking an SUV then the laws are mostly in agreement: any tint level behind the driver is fine. Why that is, I have no idea. Lawmakers, I suppose.
 
Originally Posted by 14Accent
As you can see, I can drive between 30 and 100 miles in either direction, and have completely different rules to abide by. Now, obviously if your car is registered in a certain state and you have a license from said state, you'd be fine. AFTER the traffic stop. Why give the police a reason to stop you? That's my argument for 35% max on a sedan.

There was another discussion here not that long ago where folks were arguing that what you said about your car being legal in your home, registered state, didn't matter. Problem is, some of them just made it blanket statement that covered the entire country and insisted it was fact. I can assure them that that is NOT the case in Ohio no matter how strongly they think they're right. Ohio has tint laws but it specifically pertains to, I'm paraphrasing but it makes the point well enough, "vehicles registered in Ohio". So, someone from state "A" that allows 5% tint (I'm making up numbers) can't be cited for a tint violation in Ohio.
 
Originally Posted by WhyMe
want to get my civic tinted. max 15% front and no limit in the rear or back in my state. might take a road trip down south this year and will need it. So i am confused about the many types of tint. would like something that works well but not too expensive.

please school me on tint

thanks


Dye: Least expensive, can fade, not great heat rejection, doesn't interfere with RF signals.
Metallic: Medium price, medium heat rejection, can interfere with cell phone, radio signals, etc.
Ceramic: Most expensive, best heat rejection, doesn't interfere with RF signals

Ceramics has 2 type, as they are hybrids, there is a dyed/ceramic and carbon/ceramic, where the carbon/ceramic has the higher heat rejection between the 2.
 
I had ceramic tint applied to my Caliber, and metallic on the 300. They are both 20%. The ceramic looked more "smokey" vs the glossy of the metallic. I have no issues with any kind of reception with the metallic film. I prefer the metallic to the ceramic.


Never had problems with cops and my tint... though the times I have been pulled over, I roll down all the windows so they can see into the vehicle/show I've got nothing except some spam mail in my back seat
lol.gif


Obligatory pictures

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Originally Posted by atikovi
You'd probably get pulled over on a daily basis in the white car around here.


Why's that? The Charger has a LOUD exhaust, 300 is almost silent lol
 
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I have 18% SunTek Carbon (non-metallic) on my GTI and while I love the look, night driving can definitely be sketchy. Backing into the parking spot at work, even all lit up by the bright LED parking lot lights, cannot be done without rolling the windows down. I would not recommend going that dark if you do alot of night or early morning driving.
 
I've see dark tint jobs on driver's side windows making the vehicle look like a gangsta car, but apparently the police don't do anything about it up here ( unless you lip-off).
 
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Originally Posted by atikovi
Side tint too dark and windshield tint is a no no.


My windshield isn't tinted, but yeah it's a bit dark.
 
I had my front side windows on my Escape tinted with 20% to make it closer match the factory tint on the back windows. Very good for privacy. Technically not legal but it's not super dark so nobody really cares.

On my Suburban I left the front side windows alone but limo tinted all the back windows because I keep lots of stuff in the car, it's practically my storage unit, and I was afraid of it getting broken into. I'll tint the front windows soon. Not super dark,but maybe 35%.

In both cases, night time driving is hindered. I had to stop doing Uber because I couldn't find house numbers in the Escape. And in the Suburban backing up at night is a guessing game, similar to when I drove a cargo van with no windows.

I used lousy cheap tint from the auto parts stores on both cars. On the Escape I paid someone cheap to do it, on my Suburban I did it myself. It didn't turn out very good. I'd suggest paying someone to do it.
 
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