Danosaurus

I have an appointment tomorrow to get the windows tinted on my 09 TSX, and I am trying to decide on the tints. In my state, the front side maximum is 35%, but the rears can be any darkness. The installer said most people here go with 35% for the front sides and 20% for the back sides and rear but I'm not sure I'm going to like how it looks with mixed tint so I'm thinking about going 35% all around. I have read some people feel 35% is not dark enough, but I'm not looking for the drug dealer look anyway. I am also concerned with visibility at night.

My TSX is Polished Metal color with light gray interior. The primary goal is heat reduction so I am going with a shop that does XPEL XR Ceramic film.

Any thoughts or opinions?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

I also like the uniformity of the same percentage tint ALL around...
I did 35% legal all around AND I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER!

a ceramic tint will have a reflection to it anyway, won't be black in the sun...will have a silver mirror shine to it.
in the shade it will look darker/black.

i dont think you really have a choice, if you're going the legal route anyway...just get it uniform all the way around.

cu2wagon

Ceramic is the way to go for sure.

And I'm personally more of a fan of 20% all around. Sometimes it's a cash transaction though, depending on how strict the state is and how liable the tint shop needs to be (hint: not very).

YMMV. If you don't want the dark look, then go with the 35 in the best Ceramic you can get to keep the heat transmission down.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

like a month after I got legal 35% tint, Texas changed their laws and dropped it down to 25%

fml


i'm rockin Huper Optik ceramic tint! it's held up for 9 years already! will last the lifetime of the car!!

cu2wagon

I've got Huper Optik ceramic on the wagon and it was really nice. When I finally got around to getting the 4Runner tinted, the shop had stopped buying new HO and went to CeraLuxe, I think.

Got the truck tinted and since it had a factory darken on the rear windows, I did some sort of hodgepodge 20% front and 35 or lighter% rear so it looked even. And damn, the new technology was impressive. It is MUCH better at thermal blocking. Almost enough to make me want to take the wagon back to be redone. But I'm too cheap.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

yeah, i'm not paying another ~$350ish to re-do mine

Danosaurus

Thanks guys! So I got to the shop and looked at my tint options. The 35 looked pretty light, but as I said I do want to stay legal. I was about to get 35 all around when this other guy having his car done said "yeah I got all 35 on my other car and now I wish I would have gone darker"...I ended up taking the installer's advice and doing 35 on the front sides with 20 on the rear and rear sides. Turned out great and I'm very happy with it. The ceramic tint really keeps the inside noticeably cooler.

I am actually surprised how well the two tints blend. It's not even noticeable that front and rear are different. Hell I might have to double check and make sure they are actually different LOL.