Hi,
I bought my 99 TL in Texas(new) from dealer in 1999. Dealer got the windows tinted before delivary. Looked beautiful. A couple of years later I relocated in Pennsylvania. Now I've been in Penn for 2+ years (3 state inspections) and yesterday, near Harrisburg, I got pulled over by highway patrol and got a citation (about 100$) that my window tint is illegal and needs to come down...

anyone have any details of the tint rules? ... Are they different from state to state? If so, how do you travel to another state in your vehicle.. or it's that the dealer opted for the tint that was illegal in the first place (Something about 30 as compared to 60-67)
Also shouldn't they have caught it when vehicle was registered and inspected for the first time in new state (Pennsylvania in this case?) I got it re-inspected again at the Acura dealership a couple of months ago - The acura dealer in pitt didn't say a word about this tint being not "OK" for the new state I came to when after coming here I visted and let them know that I just relocated and weanted to make sure my vehicle was all ok to drive in pitt....

Any advice on how to respond? Any DIYs to take it off?

 

man they are really cracking down in all states. just got one last month in MD. In PA/MD the you can only have tint on your window that allows 35% or more light. I don't think the dealer is obligated to check your tint to see if it's within specs.

 

in MD they only give work orders. so i usually just take that to a crooked mechanic and they just sign off on it. then just mail it in.

 

it's easy to remove, with the exception of the back window. Get some razorblades, a spray bottle with a mixture of dish soap/water. Start at a corner on the top of the window and pull the film off. Once the film is removed, remove the glue residue by spraying the solution and scraping with the blade. You can also use steal wool. Gotta love the hold on the tint law in ga- 5% baby

 

See if you can just pay the fine and be doen with it, or if you have to remove it, I believe they will give you a form where you have to get it signed by someone who removed or you might have the option on the ticket to check off the box saying that you did it yourself. If there is that option, just check it off, have a friend sign it as a witness and mail the fine in. This is what I did in NY.

 

http://www.pavehiclenews.com/windows.htm

 

You are safe if your tints are ABOVE 30% in NYC. This applies to BOTH your front and back side windows.

 

I know Texas really isn't strict on their tint laws at all. I've seen dealers with 20% on new cars. FYI Lousyana is a little more strict I've found but I was usually begging for the tint ticket instead of what I was actually pulled over for. Tint laws vary from state to state...just driving through you can usually get out of a tint ticket but if you reside there might be a little harder. I would rip the tint off, go show the ADA or DA that it is off and try to get out of the fine. Then I would go put some 5% on it just because I'm stoopid like that

 

Was the cop a PA State Police or a local? I ask because PA does not have a 'highway patrol'.

BTW, the PA state inpection is primarily a safety, and in some counties, an emissions inspection and not an inspection to confirm the car meets all vehicle codes.

I'd take it to a tint shop and have them remove the illegal tint and install legal.

 

if youre talking legally, then i dont know what NYC you live in but that is VERY INCORRECT! you cannot have window tint film on BOTH your front-door and rear-door windows. the ONLY window that can have tint in NYC is the rear defroster window. check your facts, the legal percentage for both front-door and rear-door windows is 70% and as we all know, 70% is the standard tint that comes from the factory so basically, you canNOT have tint on these windows in NYC.


however, in real-world situations, it all depends on what borough you live in.

 

I don't think that's the case anymore. I was told I have to take it to the State Troopers. They have to sign off on it.

 

yo the tinting law is 25% for the front and whatever u want on the other windows except the windshield in texas. I would know i got a citation for 10% mirror.

 

Any recommendations for tint shop in Pittsburgh area? any around airport?
Thanks.

 

funny, i put up the same story a while ago and everyone tried tearing me a new asshole for "whining" b/c im 18.

Check the DMV website for your state and find the vehicle code section and look up the specific code u were cited for. I thought front tints were legal in CA at 35% an above, and i got my first ticket 2 years after tints were put on the car...checked the vehicle code on the CA DMV website and looked up my citation number, turns out tints on the front windows are illegal, no matter what % in CA.

So look it up for Penn.

Read the vehicle code sometime, its interesting, very ambiguous...but i found out white turn signals are legal for the front in CA, always thought it had to be just amber.

 

Correct, now you have to take it to a State Troopers barrack when its not raining and they will somehow review it to make sure its correct however if you just take the tints off the car they will just sign it. I had this issue with my C32 last summer with 20% tints and just took them off so I wouldn't have to deal with them.

 

That is what I thought also, until I got pulled over for running a red light. Luckily, the cop let me off and told me to becareful. He then asked about my tints, he used that lil machine and saw that I have 20% tints ALL around. I gave some story and he let me off on that also. I asked him what is legal in NYC before he did the test, and he saids if my tints are above 30%, I'm safe.

BTW, this happened in Elmhurst, Queens when I got pulled over. More specifically, it was on Broadway by Queens Blvd.

 

yea one of my friends actually got a $146 ticket today for not having a "tint sticker" bullshit if you ask me, but he did have 20% all the way aroun

 

he meant that as long as he can see you thru your window, then its OK and usually 30% is light enough. what i said before is correct with NY because my friend owns a tint shop. plus, check this out: http://www.tintdude.com/laws.html and NY Vehicle and Traffic Law Chapter 775, Art 9:

12-a. (a) Every motor vehicle, except a motorcycle, when driven or
operated upon a public highway, road or street shall be equipped with a
front windshield in a fixed and more or less upright position
constructed of safety glass as defined in subdivision fourteen of this
section and required by subdivisions eleven and twelve hereof. No person
shall drive any motor vehicle with any sign or other nontransparent
material other than a certificate or paper required to be displayed by
law upon the front windshield or the sidewings or side windows on either
side forward of or adjacent to the operator`s seat.
(b) No person shall operate any motor vehicle upon any public highway,
road or street:
(1) the front windshield of which is composed of, covered by or
treated with any material which has a light transmittance of less than
seventy percent unless such materials are limited to the uppermost six
inches of the windshield; or
(2) the sidewings or side windows of which on either side forward of
or adjacent to the operator`s seat are composed of, covered by or
treated with any material which has a light transmittance of less than
seventy percent; or
(3) if it is classified as a station wagon, sedan, hardtop, coupe,
hatchback or convertible and any rear side window has a light
transmittance of less than seventy percent; or
(4) the rear window of which is composed of, covered by or treated
with any material which has a light transmittance of less than seventy
percent. A rear window may have a light transmittance of less than
seventy percent if the vehicle is equipped with side mirrors on both
sides of the vehicle so adjusted that the driver thereof shall have a
clear and full view of the road and condition of traffic behind such
vehicle.

 

I am not going to argue with you. I am just reiterrating what the cop said to me. He used the tint testing machine, so it isnt just for the eye.

 

if any one cares i got one in nassau county by a NYS trooper $50.00 but i will never take it off!! I just think of it as part of my high insurance rate

 

The good thing is if you are out of state, you can't get a ticket no matter how illegal it is.... its when you are in your own state that it causes a problem.