Jacobian

With the new "dot matrix" antennae in the car, I'm particularly nervous about getting my windows tinted. So I was looking to someone on this forum who has had good quality work done in the Sacramento area to recommend a good shop for tinting that offers a lifetime warranty.

One poster mentioned a shop called "Eclipse" and I found one listed in the phone book, but this was a 2nd hand reference. I'm looking for 1st hand experiences.

Also going to install a better car alarm, so I'm looking for a high quality installer for Clifford alarms.

Although I'd rather not travel to the Bay Area, recommendations for Bay Area installers are also welcome (particularly if they are in Marin/North Bay).

Thanks again,

Erik

tdoh

Did you say "Eclipse", as in Eclipse Window Tint? I think I know what shop you're talking about--it's on Auburn Blvd., right? If so, then I know the guy who runs it--he's my brother. And I will say that he does really good work, and I'm not saying this because he's my bro. If you follow the Sac Kings basketball team, then I will say that he's tinted Jason Williams' and Lawrence Funderburke's cars, and has autographed pictures to prove it. He could tint dozens of cars all day if he had enough people to help him--he's had to turn away jobs because of the lack of good help.

He's tinted dot matrix windows (recently on a CL). Dunno what kind of solution you're looking for as far as dot matrix goes but he uses dark vinyl film to "hide" the dots and it comes out pretty well.

He's done *all* kinds of car windows and will know whether he can properly tint a TL Type-S rear window without messing up the antenna. I may be wrong but I believe that metallic-type tint film can't be used on such windows, if you were looking at getting that kind of tint.

BTW--he's tinted my Integra GSR, one of my buddy's car, my mother-in-law's Accord, so I know first-hand. Yes, I'm probably coming across as a bit biased but heck, if my mother-in-law was pleased with the tint job, well...in any case, I'm gonna have him tint my TL-Type S probably this weekend.

HTH,
Tony

vperkins2

Tdoh,

I was the one who mentioned your bro's "Eclipse Window Tinting" shop to Jacobian. I went to the June Northern Cali TL/CL meet and met a dude by the name of Ben Raji who owned an Aegean Blue TL-S.

Ben said that both his CompuStar car alarm and his tinted windows were done at Eclipse. I was pretty impressed by both installations -- so much so that I tracked down his cell phone number (from a couple of forum members) and spoke to him to verify where he'd gotten the work done.

Anyway, when I get my TL-S I plan to have Eclipse do mine too!

Jacobian, if you want to speak directly to Ben (he doesn't mind talking to folks) just send me a PM (private message) and I'll send you his cell number. Then you can get firsthand info!

Later,

V.

Jacobian

Thanks V. I am going to stop by the Sacramento CL meet tomorrow and check out the tint on a couple of CLs done by Eclipse.

I stopped by Eclipse yesterday and spoke with two of the guys there about tint and an alarm. I don't think I'm going to get an alarm there, but I'm sure I'll get my tint there. Now the only question is how dark.

Hopefully I'll get an idea after checking out some other people's rides tomorrow morning.

Thanks again for everyone's help.

Erik

tdoh

J and V,

My bro will be pleased that you're considering having his shop tint your car. IMHO (if you can get past the perceived bias), you'll be happy with the work, plus if there are problems he'll be more than happy to correct it at no charge 'cause he's got a rep to keep. Plus it helps when it comes to referrals and repeat business, too!

If you do go back to Eclipse, ask him if he has a bro named Tony--he'll probably get a shock out of that!

Jacobian

Tony,

What's your brother's name?

Erik

tdoh

Erik--

His name is Bob; what--you don't believe me??!! j/k...

Tony

Type SSSS

got mine done there, no problems, looks kick ass too. bring cash if you want the fronts done.

who's driving the white tls north and south on I5 ???
besides me of course


len

my2sense

how much for the tint job @ eclipse?

do you remember what other alarms they carry (cliff, python, etc.)

Type SSSS

250 i think. it was expensive but i did call around and they werent the most expensive. dude just seemed honest about the quality of their work and the type of tint they used and the other places i called were like, "just bring it in..."

not sure about the alarm systems, i figure if someone wants it they are going to take it but they did seem to offer a lot of stuff.

good luck

len

thebeaud

If you're interested in Marin Co, check out a place called "Total Eclipse" in Novato. My old roommate owns that business, and they've been doing tinting for 10-15 years. They also have a location over in Hawaii.

You asked about how dark - I'd be interested in hearing what some of you did? How much in the back vs. the front (I know you have to watch the fronts here in CA). Any other advice besides non-metallic?

LarryLynx

Type SSS--I drive between Woodland and Sac a couple times each week, in my WDP/Ebony. I have a client in Granite Bay and one on Scripps, in Sac.

my2sense

I'm going to be making regular drives from Sacto to Stockton on I-5. Maybe I'll see you around (in my rearview mirror)

Type SSSS

if you look in the back of the owners manual (when you get one)
you will notice that the white ones are faster

reeeeeeeeeeeeelax im just f*in around. seriously though i drive that Krap 5 days a week. haulin ass in the tl barely keeps me sane. trust me if/when i go off the deep end, theres going to be planes crashin and people dying.

until then my friend

len

atc
gotta keep em separated...

vperkins2

Shi-et! Here's hoping your TL-S keeps you sane!

Later,

V.

P.S. Hey, Len - What are your days off? I need to fly down to SoCal.

----------------------------------------------------
Stack 'em, pack 'em, and rack 'em!
(or something like that!)

Type SSSS

ya know im just playin around, i hope.

air traffic is great. like a big video game with a lot of rules. although im not sure if that sounds any saner than the last post

having no seniority stinks, i have tues/wed off. only for the next 10 years though...WOOHOO!

gee golly wally, i sure do love my tls.

kbye

my2sense

Do you happen to have the phone number for the Eclipse shop on you? For some reason, I can't find the listing in the white pages. Or if you could tell me the nearest intersection on Auburn that the store is located at, I'll just drive over there. Thanks.

vperkins2

my2sense,

Eclipse Window Tint is between the Carmichael Honda dealership and the ARCO gas station. Can't miss it! I think the nearest cross streets are Greenback & Auburn.

Good Luck,

Vincent

tdoh

(916) 728-4867...

msu79gt82

... is the metallic type? I had all the windows tinted by the dealer at the time of delivery. Ever since I've had the car I've had intermittant problems with a clicking sound from the radio. Now I am curious if there is a connection?

Although, the clicks occur when CDs are playing as well so I don't think the antenna is involved?

msu79gt82

We had all the windoes tinted at the dealer and love the way the car looks and obviously are pleased with the way it keeps the sun out.

However, the rear window appears to be distorted at night. We never had the car w/o the tint so I can't compare a before and after. But at night with the lights shinnning, the rear glass seems distorted somewhat. I'm not sure how much of that is the defroster lines, the tint, or both?

Anyone experience this?

my2sense

Bob @ Eclipse told me there were two ways to cope with the weird dot-matrix print on the rear window:

1) Tint normally, and expect a "white haze" to be visible from the outside of the vehicle. This is apparently unavoidable.

2) Pay a little more for a black vinyl strip to layer across the area where the white haze would form. The con to this would be losing visibility in that section of the window.

For you guys that used Eclipse, which way did you go? If you didn't get the vinyl strip, is that "white haze" really noticeable? I plan to tint 30-35% on the rear window.

Guest

I went to the Eclipse Auto tint the one on Auburn and Greenback. I'm from the Sacramento area, live in the bay area... was in town and spontaneously decided to pay $255 to have all my windows tinted 20% in my rear windows and 15% in the front.

That was my Acura CLS. The asian cutie did fairly a nice job, but I did get some dirt trapped in one of my rear windows, which I didn't really like, but I don't have time to fix that.

Dot matrix? I hate that thing, I decided to tint over the window, it came out hazy with 20% tint. I am using Llumnar metallic tint. If I would do it again, I opt to vinyl or better yet, paint it flat black.

my2sense

I went to Eclipse today and got a 35% (rear) / 70% (front) tint job for ~$255.

Wow.. there were nice cars there.. a souped up ML55 AMG, CLK, and in the back, Bob's CL600!!! SHWWEEEETTT.. I was soo jockin that car!

tdoh

Man, you should know better than to have the windows tinted by the dealer (or maybe he outsourced it); I was looking at a TL-S sitting at the dealership with tinted windows--when I pointed out the shoddy tint job to the salesguy, he couldn't say anything...

Tony

tdoh

Squishy--

That's what happens when you don't get Bob to do the job himself; he does really good work but you gotta keep in mind that he has a small shop with just two people doing the tinting; on some days things can get a bit hectic. I'm not saying that you don't have a right to be displeased with the quality; by all means have Bob do it again if you're not satisfied with the tint job. Believe me, the last thing he wants to hear is that he does shoddy work.

Then again, if he did the job himself...

Tony

my2sense

Well, I got my car back from Eclipse.

I got a 70% Front, 35% Side, 35% Rear Llumar Tint job. Upon my initial inspection, it looked pretty good. Tomorrow I'll scrutinize it, but I'm pretty positive that he did a great job. He even handled the hazy dot matrix area really well.

The car looks 100x better now, after the tint.