MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

=[ sigh. well jsut picked up my car from tint shop. not too good of an experience for my first "mod" lol. the tint looks great overall however, pretty satisfied with the way it came out! got 20% all around on a ASM which looks veryyy niceee. but then comes the minor details that bug me.

first off, i was expecting to get 3M 20% Color Stable tint. but then the guy gives me some shit called Madico Charcool Automotive Film or something. x_X i haven't looked up this film yet but he says its "scratch-resistent" and smacked on a "life-time warranty". Tint film doesn't look bad but just worried about the brand.

secondly, there are a ton of tiny air bubbles. the guy said they would "dry out" so give it a few hours. I'm not driving my car for a day and leaving the windows up for at least two just to be sure. BUt he said if they dont go away, they stand behind their word and they will re-do the car.

third, and worst of all, they fucked up the quarter panels x_X. Left that ugly gray strip. dude said they wont go back there becuz "trash" will gather, and they dont take the windows out. x_X i was like damn... it makes it look so bad though... anyone have a suggestion on what to do about that?

anyways. hopefully Madico is a popular brand so I can see if another shop will do the quarter panels for me.

Bad Quarter Panels =

woot427

iTrader: (5)

1.) -- there are bubbles after tint is put on. depending on weather in your area will determine how long it takes for them to come out. if its hotter, they will come out quicker, and eventaully it SHOULD be nice and smooth.

2.) -- i dont understand how all these places cannot do to quarter panel. I had it done perfectly and can take pics if desired. I maybe paid a premium for my tint job ($250), but its the only place in the area that anyone goes to b/c they know their work is good.

MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

yeah i'm calling aruond right now... but dang i paid 180. i guess i got what i paid for =[ sigh.

btw my car is sitting in the garage, would it be best to leave it out in the sun?

also, anyone know anything about Madico tint?

woot427

iTrader: (5)

leaving it in the sun will get the bubbles out quicker. they'll disappear eventually regardless, but quicker if in the sun.

Also, the place I went to uses these brands:

Solar Gard
Solar Zone
Madico
Global Automotive

I dont know whats on my car though...maybe Madico just like you?

MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

ohs, btw what brand did you use woot?

i'm still wondering about this Madico stuff.

woot427

iTrader: (5)

I do not know what brand they used. But it does look good!

Here are some pics I already had:

woot427

iTrader: (5)

fyi, my tint is 5%

MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

clean man! yeahs, mine is 20% and looks dark and veryyy nice on the silver, but just freaking hate the gray strip they left on the quarter panel =[

Elegant TYPE S

iTrader: (2)

Madico is an alright brand.. not terrible by any means.. so dont sweat it. What do you mean by grey strip? If you referring to the gap in the quarter panel window in the rear then to me thats not a clean job.

3M colorstable would've been the best option, I then say its LLumar Platinum Plus comming in a close 2nd. Solar guard people say comes in 3rd.. but I can tell you, the one F'n car we did with Soloar guard turned purple in the 5th year. Of course they re-did it but this time with 3M and it looks phenomenol! I'm running LLumar on mine for the last 3 years, not an oune of problem, but thats only because 3M wasn't making tints then, so LLumar was the best, but if I was going into it now, I'd do only 3M.

And btw, paying $180 is about average. There is a place over here that I just found, can't vouch for their workmanship, but they quoted me to redo my entire tints, with 3M color Stable, $250 with removal of my LLUMAR.

If you really want to get picky, there is a tint called Huper Optik, I urge you to go find out prices on that..

MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

^^^ wow i saw that in the guys tint shop, "Huper Optik", but i didnt ask about it cuz i didnt know what it was lol. The guy "supposedly" carried Llumar, 3M, and Huper Optik. no where in his store did he advertise Madico lol. so i was wondering what he just gave me when he told me he used Madico lol.

but yeah he left that gap in the rear quarter panels, i'll take pics in a second. but i heard it was a common problem with tint shops not being able to do it.

woot427

iTrader: (5)

good tint shops can get it done. i would suggest you ask them to re do it or a prompt refund would be appropriate. Then maybe make a post in your regional forum asking for a good tint shop in your area.

NetDiver

Madico makes good quality films. I have their ONYX line on my RSX, and it's been good for 5 years. No fading, no bubbles, no scratches.
I recently put on their non metallized WINCOS on my TL-S. So far I have no problems. Did they install moleskin? If they didn't, the chance of scratches is increased dramatically. I know that the warranty said "Will never scratch", but do you really want keep going back for warranty work? In case they didn't put on moleskin, you can still do it yourself. It's pretty cheap and fairly easy to do. Search this forum on instructions how to do it. So to answer your question. Madico Charcoal is good, non-metallized film, and as long as it's been installed correctly, you will be happy with it. BTW, good price for $180.

woot427

iTrader: (5)

^^ and yes, to add to what he said, moleskin is definitely very important. When i add my tint done and they asked me if i wanted it, i thought they were upselling me on something unnecessary. Well, i willingly said yes, not really sure as to what I was going, but as I learned from this forum, I am glad I had the moleskin installed.

MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

yeah i called him and asked about moleskin and he said he's never heard of it x_X but yeah he told me the film was scratch resistent. and yeahs 180 isn't bad, but if he doesn't fix it then i'm going to have to pay like 70 more to fix the quarter panels which makes it 250 =\

MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

here are some pics of the car now.









overall the tint looks good, but as you can see, those gray strips are eye soring x_X

MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

btw... does anyone know what happened here?



if you look close, it looks like the little design thing faded x_X is that normal or do you think the tint had something to do with it.

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

Now I see that your saying about the quarter panels. That looks horrible I would for sure go back and have that fixed. I have seen a lot of tinted TL's and never once saw one of the rear windows done like that.

And yes the bubbles go away after a few days. Im surprised they didnt tell you that. Also, it is best to leave the car parked in the sun for the first few days to expedite the drying process. Then you can safely use your windows again to.

James

MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

thanks man. but any idea on the fading under the brake light?

Fulani has a TL

iTrader: (1)

Its not fading, just moisture stuck up in between the tint and enamel band. It will dry out and look equal

psheu

ehhh.... that's not the quarter panel.... a quarter panel is the metal piece between rear door and rear glass/trunk.... when you said quarter panel I was like wtf were they doing to the body work when they are only suppose to work on glass......

that gray strips are caused by cutting the film to small.... a good tint shop can get tints all the way to the edge of the window glass so it won't leave that blank area

CCBBUUMM

Mob,
How tiny are the bubbles? If they are pinhead size then yea they will dry out in the sun. If they are quarter size, then you have a potential problem. I used tint by Axius 20% all the way around and only (12 bucks a roll). I bought 2 rolls and had enough left over for the lexus. I do my own tint because I don't trust others working on my car. As for the grey strip, Definately get them to fix that. Cheesy in my opinion.





CCBBUUMM

chairguru22

Like people have said, small bubbles will go away over a couple days, sunny day helps. The quarter panel should be redone though. The place I went to use Llumar film and had it computer cut for a perfect fit. Cost $165. Shades of Gray it was called, highly recommended here in PA.

woot427

iTrader: (5)

^^ I didn't go there, but have had some of my friends that live in the city that went to Shades of Gray and their work appears to pretty decent.

MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

yeah, the bubbles are small and some have dissappeared after i put them in the sun a few hours ago.

and im going monday to talk to them abuot fixing the back window panels (sorry, dont know what to call them lol).

and also, i saw in the rear window what looks like a scratch in the tint but it turned out to be a fucking air bubble in the shape of a piece of hair... and i can still see the hair strand. its small but wayy noticeable not certain if that will go away but dang really is kinda like WTF cuz i thught they were suppose to make sure that didn't happen x_X

woot427

iTrader: (5)

^^ at this point, do you even feel confident in them re doing it. i think its time to just tell em to take it off and ask for full refund.

MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

hmm wonder if they will do that?

woot427

iTrader: (5)

well, i guess first option would be to see if they can do it right..wth none of their body hair under your tint.

just be polite about it. "look, if you guys cant do it, thats fine -- just take it off and ill take a refund." may not go as smooth, but good luck!

Elegant TYPE S

iTrader: (2)

That' to me is unacceptable. And not to mention looks retarded. At the very least if they dont do it, just go find another madico dealer, and get that portion redone.. yes you will have to pay, but sometimes its just easier then trying to get a bunch of ideots that don't have competence to do it and since they can't do it, they will say "IT CAN'T BE DONE"

Replacing that portion of it won't cost much, max $40. Pay $40 and not argue. Or if they guy tells you it can't be done, tell him if you find someone else who can do it, are they willing to pay you for what it costs you and you will supply a receipt. That's basically telling them politely that they are retards.

Yvuru

The tint job looks nice but the rear quarter panel must be redone. It truly is an eye sore. Go back and demand they do it right.

WayneJay

I don't care for my tint at all. I look at others cars often as I know very little about tinting. My looks good from outside, but inside I have some small scratches which don't bother me much. It's hard to explain, but the part I don't like is that from inside the car it actually looks a bit cloudy, especially when you're looking toward the Sun. I'm thinking I definitely have a bad tint job.

Anyone know of good shops in the Washington, DC area? I live in Montgomery County, MD, but I'm willing to go to anyone in the area if they do good work at reasonable prices.

Elegant TYPE S

iTrader: (2)

When you say it looks cloudy.. does it looks kind of hazy? At night time do you see halos around street lights?

MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

yeah thanks for the tip dude. i've gotten a ton of compliments from my friends but when i show them the strips they are like yeah that looks... ... most likely i'm going to go in monday and ask them to redo it, but just in case i've already called a guy who deals with Madico as well and he told me prolly $70 total to re-do both panels. x_X price i have to pay i guess.

MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

that looks clean man. dark for 35% too x_X wish mine would have came out that way. sighh lol gotta wait till monday morning to sort this out.

tinteduptls

i do tints professionally and that gap on the quarter windows are common all it is is that the installer deos not want to spend more time on just a small window because in order to not have those gaps u have to take the door panels off so that i can work the tint all the way to the edge thats how i did it on my 07 tls

hondadna4

Im getting my windows tinted come Tuesday. I think Im going to remove the rear door panels so I dont have problems like mobtowntl did. Im going to a new place to get my windows done its called Sun and Sound in Central Mass I went to Ziebart with my old Accord and I had the worse dust trapped inside my windows. The windows were all scratched up and i think the tint was too light for 35% tint. Is there any kind of tint that will make it look darker. Anybody in Central MASS down to tint the TL CASH in hand!!! PM me
Hey thanks alot MoBTownTL I would of had the same thing happen to me if I did not see the post. I hope they fix your shyt right and for free

pnoi521

Make them fix the window with the strand of hair and the quarter window.
But at least they didnt cut around the 3rd brake light. I know this guy with a 3g Tl and he has the same quarter window gaps and they cut around his 3rd brake light, it looks so bad.

psheu

i don't think you have to take the door panel off to tint... at least my tint shop didn't do that to my cars... with that tiny back non-open-able window, it won't help if you take the door panel off... there is actually tiny space that tint film can slide and fit through... and the squeegies they use to squeeze out the excessive adhesives and bubbles trapped, can fit through the tiny space and the space between the window and door panel felt... taking the door panel off to tint is just too far fetched (it's like taking the back windwshield off to tint the back window)... of all of my cars, every single one was tinted including my friends and family cars... all of them got life time warrenty and all of them use top quality tint (lumnar) and no problems whatsoever.... and best of all the price, $80 each for my TL and RL

p.s. if u c hair inside your tint, that means they didn't clean the windows thoroughly.... dirty windows will cause bubbles too.... clean windows is the basic step 1 of every tint job

satl72

Out Tint Laws are very stict in VA, I wished I could put tints on my tls but dont want to get pulled for no reason at all.

WayneJay

I haven't noticed any halos, but I'll be sure to check. Hazy is probably a more accurate description. The first time I saw it I was thinking that the inside of the windows just needed to be cleaned, but unfortunately it wasn't that simple.

Yvuru

Thanks for the compliment. The guy who did the tint on my car said it would look darker than it really is because my interior is all black. GL on monday