7or8

I dropped my car off today to get my windows tinted. The shop called back and told me that, like the new Accords, the rubber seals in the TSX's door panels are so tight up against the windows that they will scratch the tint over time. The guy at the shop said that removing the rubber is the only way to keep this from happening...but the shop doesn't remove door panels. So I'm having them hold off on it and I'll remove the door panels and rubber seals myself.

Have any of you guys with tint heard about this before?

cmf

First for me........

RogerPodacter

This is true. The tint on my windows has lots of vertical scratches etched into the two front windows. just something i live with.

vwong

I have that too!!!

iamhomin

I'm hoping this isn't the case with other TSX tinters? I was actually planning to tint the windows during the summer, but I guess I would have to reconsider if scratches gradually become visible by the rubber seals.

7or8

The guy at the tint shop said that this is common on the new Accords because of Honda switching from the felt they used to put there to these tight rubber seals. He said some Mercedes have the same issue. He also said he doesn't know why they even bother putting the rubber there since it wouldn't make much of a difference without it. They could cut out the rubber on the front windows and do the install but the rear windows don't go down all the way so they can't cut the rubber out. He said if I take off the door panels I can remove the rubber seals without having to cut them, so I could save them for future use if ever I decided to put them back on.

I've got my Helms service manual on order so I'll take the door panels apart and remove the seals when that comes in.



P.S. They're putting the clear bra on for me today. Yay!!

majormojo

Ack. I have scratches like that too. I was going to take it back to the tint shop to have it replaced. Actually, it's going back for a redo any way due to some small holes that appeared in the film on the driver side, so maybe I'll have those seals removed when that's being done.

7or8, I'm wondering how your tint shop can completely tint the windows if they don't remove the door panels? I thought that was SOP for all tint shops.

7or8

I'm not sure, I've never had my car tinted before..

...but these guys are pretty good from what I've heard...they specialize in tinting & signs. They work on anything from vehicles to buildings...and they're the only 3M authorized Clear Bra installer in Providence that's listed on 3M's website...so I decided to get both things done at once.

stevenng

can anyone please post pics?

Thanks!

MarkPinTx

I had wondered about whether they would cut off or remove a wiper/seal.

I had done at dealership, so don't know. Had it done on a Cutlass years ago (cut wiper off) and had no problems, so . . . .

ystang

No problems with my tint. I think it may have something to do with the quality of the material.

SeeVuPlay

my tint is all scratech up...nice perfect vertical lines. what I found was that they did the tinint without removing the panels (their sop). So, in order to get the tint down below door level, the shove it in there some how. In doing so, they pushed the seal down into an inverted position. When I put the windows down and up, the seal does not reset to its original position.

I managed to pull front door seals up, but not back doors (because they dont go all the way down). Scratches on the back continue to show up while front scratches have not increased.

Its an eyesore for sure.

7or8

The shop that I went to uses Llumar High Performance tint. They said they've had newer Accord's come back before cause of the scratches, so they advise their customers to remove the rubber seal.

Hmmm...is anyone here, who knows for sure that there tint shop
took off their door panels to install the tint, having scratching problems?

CHRIS97CIVIC

i also have tints and there are scrathes on both driver and passenger windows. i even waited a whole week before i rolled down the windows, guess its just something us tsxer's have to deal with.

Dan Martin

Damnit. I was going to get tints installed in a couple weeks. Well I think I'll hold off now....

tony4311

Don't let it stop you. The place I got mine tinted at warned me of the same thing. Just do your best to keep it fairly cleen and you should be alright.

speedyturtle

Apparently the new TL has this problem as well.
If you take a look on the TL forums, they recommend
this "mole skin" product that you can stick on the rubber seal
to prevent the scratches.

e_lectro

My car is into the tinters tomorrow, and the installer already told me about this problem. He takes off the door panel, removes the rubber piece, and replaces it with a felt piece.

The guy has been doing tint work on cars and houses for 20 years, and all of his work I have seen is great. I don't think I'd just trust your average Joe to take apart my doors

tony4311

link?

Qwertee

I also had the same problem with scratches, so the tinting guy put felts on the inner windows rubber seals, this worked for awhile, but when the windows gets really hot from the sun, the adhensive from the felt melts and will catch on to the tints and smear your windows.

I contacted 2 honda dealers and they told me that honda australia adviced them not to tint any accords. I then called honda australia and they will not even acknowledge the problem they said that tinting is an after market modification hence no support. F#*K YOU HONDA AUSTRALIA

I don't see the point of taking off the rubber seal because it was placed there and tight in the first place to reduce noise and vibration, so removing it will defeats the purpose.

At least honda could of made the inner seal with felt like it did for the outside.

Another thing, a good window tinter will need to take out the door panels to do a proper job. I know this coz my friend owns the window tinting company which i took my car to ( thats why he's cool with me returning to fix my tint 3 times). He told me he doesn't remove the door panel when he is too lazy hahah

iamhomin

So, when I take my car to get it tint, I would have to ask the tinter to place the "mole skin" or a "felt piece"?

Sturm

I was going to tint my car soon too since it's getting warmer now. Damn, I don't know if I could live with the scratches.

tony4311

well technically it is if you don't get it done at the dealership. However if you go through them maybe you could get them to replace the tint if it happens.

speedyturtle

Hope this helps somewhat.

http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showt...highlight=tint

Qwertee

Doesn't matter the tinting place here are lifetime guarantee, so they will replace it anyways. The tinting guy said if it happens again he can just remove the tinting and give me my money back.
But I prefer it with the tint. Just have to wait and see what honda will do about it in the future.

RogerPodacter

at that rate i would just leave the tint on, i have lived with the scratches. i'd rather have tint than no tint at all.

taewlee

Just wanted to let everyone know, I got madico onyx tints on my car and I have NO SCRATCHES OR DAMAGES at ALL on my tints. I've had them for 5 months now.

jiggaman

no scratches on my tint

binabink

well...i have no scratches on tint from any of the windows

~1 yr, btw.

MoMocedes

Yea well on my C230 coupe its the exact thing, they need mole skin to place between the panel and the window also you need double sided 3M tape.

ange1

3m tapes melt under the sun

maybe scratch resistant tints is a better solution

phirenze

tinted all the way around and I have no such problem. go find yourself a new tinter.

ange1

ha good to hear, but maybe they took of the rubber seals, so check that, and get ready to yell at ur tinter

JRock

If you have ebony interior (the only interior option that appeals to many people), there is no "just don't tint it" option unless you live in Canada maybe. Here in the US you will NEED tint during the summer months in a car with dark interior.

Dan Martin

Tint doesn't make your interior any cooler it just prevents the sun from shining directly on to you as you are driving. Any heat from the sun that would have been absorbed by your seats is just absorbed by your windows and heats up the interior just as much. Furthermore I don't know what Canada has to do with anything. It's not like it doesn't get bloody hot here too.

NocturnalEvo

If the tint is "scratch-proof" will that do anything to help?
Will the tint still get scratched by the rub-rail(as its supposed to be called hehe) regardless of whether its "scratch-proof" tint?

iamhomin

Nocturnal, does water permeate water-proofed leather?

Just curious

iamhomin

Okay, jokes aside, the scratch-proof will only work to a certain extent. Just because it's scratch proof doesn't mean it won't get scratched. I'm pretty sure it's more resilient in contrast to other tints, but...........regardless.

majormojo

Actually, I think most of the better tint films are designed to reflect infrared, not absorb it. So they definitely keep the interior cooler. I found the difference quite noticeable in my car (even in Canada!). UV protection in tint films is the thing that gets advertised a lot, because it can be damaging to plastics and various pigments, but UV light doesn't generate much heat.

ange1

lah, i don't care now
as long as my tint has life time warranty, it can scratch as many times as it wants to