I am getting my windows tinted soon. I talked to the guys at the shop about tinting the back window. The owner of the shop suggested tinting over the dot pattern on the back window. But the installer suggested staying away from the dot pattern.

For those of you with tints, did you tint over the dot pattern on the back window? If so, what was your experience? Did the tint adhere well? Did it look OK? If you avoided the dot pattern, how did that look?

Thanks!

 

ok... i used to work at a tint place...

if you tint over the dots, make sure that either you or the installer scotch bright the dots (and only the dots)... If you do this the tint will stick 100% better than if you dont... The tint from the outside may appear that its not sticking but it is.. its stuck to the dots which are elevated...

because of this people say not to tint them... they think it looks stupid.. i disagreee... i say having no tint there looks stupid and a black piece of sticker even more stupid...

TINT IT!!!! but remember, get some soapy water and scotch bright the shit out of the dots... then wipe it with windex and paper towels.. it will be fine!!!

 

I assume you mean use a regular scotch brite scrubbing pad with soapy water. Is this correct?

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

yes.. exactly!!!

 

when i got my car tinted with 20%s it didn't stick perfectly to the dots, but the guys cut it and put a solid black piece over it and it looks fine now. if you go with a dark enough tint the solid black piece blends in perfectly.

 

getting a good tint job is everything. i honestly can't stand looking at another car's horrible tint job. it irrates the hell out of me.

 

Just have them Vinyl the dot Matrix, you can't see out of it anyways, it does not affect your view out of your rearview and it is nice and clean....

Why bust your ass and make a mess with scuffing the Dot matrix up?.... and if you ever take the tint off it will look like shit!!.

This is what I did:.. take the back seats out and rear tray, the pro tinted it, I went back 3 days later after the tint dried and he put a Black piece of Vinyl across the top of the Dot Matirx on the inside of the window...

I have no distortion, no bubbles and I can clearly see everything behind me when looking out of the rearview... You never look throught the DOT matrix when backing up anyways.. it is at the top of the fooking window..

Hope this helped..

Smitty

 

Hey Dets,

I see you have 35%. I will probably go with the same. Did you tint over the dots? How does your's look?

 

Mines tinted 15%. No sanding of the dots, they just stuck it on there, looks fine from inside, & out.

 

the black vinyl looks like shit.. I tinted windows for 8 years... anyone who uses the black vinyl is NOT a good wiindow tinter!!!

 

mine is tinted up to the dots, not over them. looks great.

 

k i have YET to see a good tinting job on the vinyl dots... and ive seen cars all throughout dallas with dots that have been tinted at various different shops and they all look like shit to me... the way the tint kinda bleeds between all the little dots... just sticks out if you ask me if youre looking at the outside of the car. vinyl strip looks great from the outside and on the inside doesnt effect the vision in the rear of your vehicle. if someone you can get a good job then go for it but id hate for you to have it done and then have it look like shit...

 

this is a picture of my car from the inside out showing my vinyl strip it looks perfect, you cant tell from the outside at all (5% tint)
in my opinion you are better off with the vinyl than having someone try and tint over the dots its not worth the risk and the end result is almost identical

here is another pic of how it looks from the outside

 

 

I had 35% done ATWA and they tinted the Matrix and it looks great.

 

while tinting the matrix is important, it can be solved by using vinyl strip at the top. you can't see it from the inside or outside. but what about the annoying dots around the back and two small side windows? the only reason i haven't tinted my car yet is because i am looking for a place that would tint it so that it looks 100% clean from the outside. i called a few places but they all say that nothing can't be done about the trim around the window. i know for a fact that it's not true, i see cars with perfect tint jobs all the time. i just never can catch one with a driver next to it so i can ask where they got it done. by the way, any suggestions for philadelphia area?

 

dude all you have to do is not get the Llumar which in my opinion is the best but the glue is not the best "SOLAR GUARD TINTS" will prevent any problems with the dots. ask around and the guy who knows this trick get the job done there. Llumar has the best tints when your tinting your windshield or the side windows put when your doing the dots get Solar Guard ranked #2...oh and by the way not sun guard make sure its solar.

 

thanks lou, i believe i already asked you before where you got yours done. yours looks awesome. i just don't have the time to drive to nyc and get it done there. thanks for the tip though, i'll know what to ask them.

 

so did they tint over the dot matrix then put vinyl on top of the tint?

 

Just like mine.

 

My TL-S is tinted with 35% Llumar tint. The tint goes to the dots not over them. Looks great and you can't tell.

I had a great tint shop do my work and they said not to tint over the dots as it would look like crap.

 

They can’t be TOO great or they would have been able to do the ENTIRE widow including the DOTS.
Like MINE.

Shawn S

 

Solar Guard, over the dots, and the 3rd brake light, looks great and no problems.

 

i am a window tinter from ky ,it depends on the installer,and the film they use some film will stick good and some will not.mine are tinted and looks perfect,but it is my car so i took extra time whin i tinted my car,i sanded my dots with 320 grit sandpaper,i tint all dots dont matter what car and it turns out very good on most cars,some just wont lay right on the dots,but ours are different they are reversed dots,so i would check out the shops and see which ones do tint the dots ,if they say dont tint the dots they cannot tint dots well and dont let them, just my 2 cents

 

window tinter to window tinter...


AGREED!!!

 

shawn, how far are you from philly? i can't get over how good your tint looks. i think i'll just make an appt with the thermal sun screen and drive over

 

I’m about an hour north of Philly.
Why don’t you come to the next Philly Acura meet and check out my car first.

There ARE imperfections in the tint by the DOTS, but I’ve seen MUCH worse on other cars.
Fred at Thermal Sun Screen does great work, but I wouldn’t want you to drive all that way and be disappointed.

Shawn S

 

sounds good! see ya at the next meet