Window tinting... looking for ideas

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Old Mar 21, 2009 | 01:17 AM
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Window tinting... looking for ideas

I've got a Grigio TL, and it seems like while the stock glass has some tint, I need more.

Just curious what others are doing?

I got a quote today for $210 for regular tint, and $420 for ceramic (not sure it was the Huber Optik I've seen advertised or not).

Is it really worth 2 times the price for ceramic?
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Old Mar 21, 2009 | 06:06 AM
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Hey TM, I saw a FWD Grigio with dark smoked tinted windows at the Woodland Hills Promenade mall last weekend and it looked fantastic except for the 17's. Please post pics when you get it done. Hey, are you coming out for the Acurazine meet? It's April 18th, Sat 12pm at the Starbucks/RiteAid parking lot on Topanga/Ventura Blvd. I'm gonna show up to meet some peeps, but can't do the drive throught Topanga Cyn. to Santa Monica.
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Old Mar 21, 2009 | 07:40 AM
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I am going to get mine tinted either today if they fit me in or next sat.

You can look at my TSX with formula one tint....I don't remember if it was ceramic or not

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77523224@N00/sets/
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Old Mar 21, 2009 | 10:00 AM
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Originally Posted by bmode
Hey, are you coming out for the Acurazine meet? It's April 18th, Sat 12pm at the Starbucks/RiteAid parking lot on Topanga/Ventura Blvd. I'm gonna show up to meet some peeps, but can't do the drive throught Topanga Cyn. to Santa Monica.
That weekend has some conflicts, but I've made a note of it and will try to come out if possible... would be fun putting faces to some of the avatars!
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Old Mar 21, 2009 | 10:05 AM
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Originally Posted by Stash
I am going to get mine tinted either today if they fit me in or next sat.

You can look at my TSX with formula one tint....I don't remember if it was ceramic or not

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77523224@N00/sets/
The TSX looks great... please advise the details of what you get done on your TL... tint type, price, etc... and pics! Thanks...
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Old Mar 21, 2009 | 10:50 AM
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If you're interested there is also a 3G thread with a varity of tints on various color cars.

3G Show Me Your Tint Thread
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Old Mar 21, 2009 | 10:52 AM
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I have the Royal Blue, got 20% of the 3M non-metallic for around $300 all around
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Old Mar 21, 2009 | 10:56 AM
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I got regular tints, 35% all around, also on Grigio/ebony. It looks nice, but I wish I would have gotten 20% lol.
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Old Mar 21, 2009 | 03:02 PM
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Guys, is 35% considered "Light" or "Medium?" ....I got Light for the sides and Medium for the rear.
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Old Mar 21, 2009 | 03:52 PM
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I have a PMM and got 35% all around. Looks great and I shouldn't get hasseled by John Law. I think 35% is considered light but you couldn't tell by me. 20% is medium and probably a cop magnet and 5% is limo "I'm too cool for you to see me" illegal, at least on driver and passenger front side windows.
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Old Mar 21, 2009 | 04:32 PM
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I got 3M on the TL 35% all the way around which is the legal limit in NC for 260.
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Old Mar 21, 2009 | 07:48 PM
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I have a Grigio with taupe interior and I'm getting 20% tint next Friday, I was quoted $200 for 3M non-metallic tint. I had asked about ceramic, but they said the 3M wouldn't interfere with the GPS or bluetooth, so I'm getting the 3M.
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Old Mar 21, 2009 | 09:23 PM
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I've got the black over umber, and got mine done a month ago. One step down from the lightest he had and it appears to be well-installed and trimmed accurately. With the black, and the way the shiny bits stand out against it, the TL looks grrreat. I paid $160 and felt like I got a great deal.
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Old Mar 21, 2009 | 10:17 PM
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why

Why do you want to tint? if heat rejection is your purpose, the HO is king. i got HO 30 done for 325 and it was worth every cent...it wont turn purple and it keeps the car nice and cool in the sun. at that rice point i could not jusitify anything cheaper. lower quality tint and the hacks that often install them are not worth it...the guy that does 4( for me oes it for the rest of the local PCA chapter.
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Old Dec 4, 2009 | 10:18 PM
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Different Tint Options

Hey Everyone,

I'm going to get my car tinted next week, and I was hoping to see if anyone had any thoughts here. I'm getting it done @ Tint King in Billerica, I did my last car thru them and they were awesome.

Since I bought this car, instead of lease like my last one, I want to get a higher end ceramic tint, since the metallic one I had before caused issues with my radio.

The two options for ceramic tint that they can install is the Geosheid and the Huper Optick.

They'll install the HO for $400 and the Geosheid for $300.

Anyone have any experience with the Geosheild tint?
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Old Dec 4, 2009 | 10:20 PM
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Hüper Optik FTW!

Nothing is better.
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Old Dec 4, 2009 | 10:59 PM
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I just got mine tinted today, I got 20% Charcool tints from Madico

http://www.madico.com/WindowFilms/Auto_Products.asp

Looks awesome, no interference, and quite affordable. I'm thrilled with the way it looks. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

FWIW, when I picked my car up today, the guy was tinting a brand spanking new Aston Martin DBS ($275k, yeah) with the same exact tint...

Last edited by skipdeez; Dec 4, 2009 at 11:02 PM.
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Old Dec 4, 2009 | 11:09 PM
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I've had Madico tint before. It's definitely good stuff. But, it's not as good as 3M film, and like I previously mentioned...NOTHING beats Hüper Optik, although FormulaONE Pinnacle is on par with it.
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Old Dec 5, 2009 | 12:23 AM
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You can also try Suntek Carbon tint, the best non-metallic tint out there. It would only cost you $200. I got mine tinted last month and they are great, no bubbles and shrank nicely.
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Old Dec 5, 2009 | 01:21 AM
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please post pics when complete. I am interested in the huper optick, for car tint, do it once and do it right I had my 09 tsx tinted at carisma in lowell this past year it came out good and didnt mess around with the gps much atall. but I think with the TL i am going to use the ceramic tint on it. carisma doesnt offer it. too bad so let us know on the quality of work and i may have to take a trip down there in the spring.
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Old Dec 5, 2009 | 08:08 AM
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The guy at the tint place said that the Huper looked really good on silver color cars because of the color of the tint, I told him mine was black, and he asked if there was silver accent on it. He said the other stuff was more of a black color, if you wanted black on black.

I might end up with the more silver look, probably would look pretty awesome with the silver accents around the doors.

Anyone ever heard of the Geoshield before?
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Old Dec 5, 2009 | 08:18 AM
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If you do get it done, definitely post how it came out and pictures if possible. I'm the next town over from Billerica and was thinking about getting mine tinted too, but don't really know one tint place from another.
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Old Dec 5, 2009 | 08:26 AM
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I had llumar done for about 150 and it's been good so far.

What's so special about huper optik that it costs 400?
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Old Dec 5, 2009 | 10:21 AM
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Huper is a ceramic tint, it does not interfere with Radar Detectors, FM, AM radio, etc...
Additionally it's Heat Rejection (IR) is substantially higher than metallic and dyed tints. For example a 35% Huper rejects 81% of IR, where the Llumar is about 30-40% IR rejection for the same %.

Up here in Mass it does get hot in the summer, and we're limited to a max of 35% tint. Like most things, you get what you pay for. This way we can get great heat rejection without exceeding the legal limit.

Not sure what the long term differences are, but i would bet the dyed tints would fade over time.
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Old Dec 5, 2009 | 11:00 AM
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What are the warranties on the aforementioned tints? Are they all lifetime?
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Old Dec 5, 2009 | 11:09 AM
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Good choice. Huper is the way to go. But I prefer LLumar.
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Old Dec 5, 2009 | 03:06 PM
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Originally Posted by docboy
What are the warranties on the aforementioned tints? Are they all lifetime?
Yea, they're both lifetime warranty.

Originally Posted by chaiwala
Good choice. Huper is the way to go. But I prefer LLumar.
Can you elaborate? What are the pro's and con's of the LLumar tint? The only one i've ever head of before is the Huper, it's mentioned often in the tint talk.
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Old Dec 5, 2009 | 06:38 PM
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Originally Posted by petec2010
Yea, they're both lifetime warranty.



Can you elaborate? What are the pro's and con's of the LLumar tint? The only one i've ever head of before is the Huper, it's mentioned often in the tint talk.
Llumar is better at heat dissipation. Has the best UV blocking out of all other available tints. Used extensively in residential tinting, RV tinting, commercial tinting. Its the Pioneer Elite of the tinting world. Gives you the deepest black of all tints available. Visually the best tint around and a ricers dream.
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Old Dec 6, 2009 | 02:06 AM
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I haven't tried Geoshield but I had MAC (Madico Advanced Ceramic) on my last car and Huper on my current. No complaints with either.

Here's my car with Huper 40. The darkness varies with the angle and amount of sunlight; it doesn't usually look much darker than this. I'm having the windshield done with Huper 60 in January and will post a new pic after its done.

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Old Dec 6, 2009 | 03:12 AM
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As for the silver accent, I think your tint guy is referring to the reflective quality of ceramic film. Compared to the basic Llumar or 3M film that get darker as VLT decreases, ceramic films are darker but also visibly more reflective as the VLT decreases. The MAC 3000 I had while in Boston was very reflective at certain angles and almost had a "mirrored" look. Interestingly, with Huper 30, a lot of people have complained that the film has a blue hue.

Here's a link to pics of Huper on a few A4s that were done by the same place that did my 4G. You can see the reflective quality in a few of the pics. http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=297669
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Old Dec 7, 2009 | 07:28 PM
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Not having had a car with tint, something I was wondering is how much of a problem is when driving at night? In MA, it's 35% on side and rear windows and can't touch the front. Will I notice much of a difference?
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Old Dec 7, 2009 | 08:07 PM
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I have 30% tints and have no problem seeing at night. 15% and below is a bit tough from my experience. Don't tint the front unless you wanna get pulled over 24/7.
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Old Dec 7, 2009 | 09:46 PM
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I've noticed that each place is a bit unique when it comes to visibility with tinted windows. I didn't have a problem with 35% while I lived in boston, but I'd imagine encountering difficulties with anything lower. Also, I don't know of a ceramic film below 30% (maybe Llumar's FormulaOne Pinnacle goes below).

Out here, we can put anything on the rear 3 but nothing on the front 3 (whoops!). As for my rationale with the windshield, I agree its risky but I'm not going to do something insane like 30%. Huper 60 on the windshield isn't noticeable to me. There are worse things in life than having tint stripped from 3 windows...replacing a tire is one. The Cali sunshine is clearly affecting my judgement...
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Old Dec 7, 2009 | 09:49 PM
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Originally Posted by bw5556
I haven't tried Geoshield but I had MAC (Madico Advanced Ceramic) on my last car and Huper on my current. No complaints with either.

Here's my car with Huper 40. The darkness varies with the angle and amount of sunlight; it doesn't usually look much darker than this. I'm having the windshield done with Huper 60 in January and will post a new pic after its done.

That looks sharp! I just wish I could find a shop in Colorado that installs the Huper-Optik tint. Most I've found only offer the "metallic" tints, and from what I've heard they will interfere with the onboard electronics.
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Old Dec 8, 2009 | 08:31 AM
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Yea, Huper 40 is actually what they would install. They said that the 40 with the factory tint would put it right on 35%, for MA. Going to head out there this afternoon and look at photos of the Geoshield and Huper. I'll probably end up just going for the Huper for the insane levels of heat rejection compared to anything else on the market. I'll post pic's when i'm done.
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Old Dec 10, 2009 | 08:37 PM
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Huper Optik Tint

Just got the Huper Optik ESC Tint put on my 2010 TL.

Got it done up at Tint King in Billerica, MA. This was the 2nd car I've had done thru them, they did a great job, flawless work, especially for the Huper, which is harder to install than normal tints.

Depending on the view and time of day, it sometimes looks very dark, but mainly it has this classy silvery reflective view. Not super dark or black, it's really a color all it's own. I'm very happy with the purchase. Here are some pics.

...And yea, the car is super dirty...I know. We got killed with snow and rain the other day...






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Old Dec 10, 2009 | 08:43 PM
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Did you decide to go with 40 or is that 30?
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Old Dec 10, 2009 | 10:05 PM
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I think it looks sharp.

What's the percentage? As it looks perfect on a black car. I'm trying to find an installer and think I'd do the same as yours, as mine's black as well.
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Old Dec 10, 2009 | 10:11 PM
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Looks great dude. I got 20% Madico Charcools on mine, which is pretty dark, but looks awesome.
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Old Dec 11, 2009 | 02:11 AM
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Ah, I get it now...you went with ESC. I couldn't figure out why your HO was more reflective than mine. Two thumbs up, it looks great! Enjoy that heat rejection!
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