I'm not sure where the best place to post this is, but I'll start here.

How do I remove the window tint? The tint on my Volvo, now 12 years old, is faded, cracked, split and bubbling. What is the best way to get it off? I don't plan to keep the car more than another year or two, so don't really want to spend money having the tints redone.

Thanks

 

If your not comfortable doing this you might want to have a shop do it or you risk peeling off your rear defroster lines (assuming you have them).

If you want to try it I know of 2 ways of doing it. First is with a steamer, simply heat up the tint and glue with the steamer and pull away. There will still be some clean up of some left over glue after. You can also try spraying down the tint with amonia then placing a trash bag against the wet surface. Then let it sit in the hot sun. I would try the steam way first.

 

I remember being a kid and going at it with a razor blade.....? Little WD40 or Citrus cleaner for the glue, although the razor will get the majority of it.....Course that was YEARS ago.........

 

this is the exact method that i use... esp for the rear window where it is important not to damage the defroster lines... u need to make sure that it is a very hot day outside and spray the ammonia on liberally, then have the rubbish bag pre cut to the size of the window... and apply it onto where u sprayed the ammonia onto the inside of the tint... then let it bake in the sun for two hours... the glue will loosen and u can just peel the tint off like butter...

as for the side doors where it isn't as delicate... Razor blade scraper FTW and go to town.. cleanup sucks but alcohol or WD-40 helps to remove the remaining glue...

 

I used this method recently on the doors

Heat gun- hair dryer on high, start at a top corner- get the glue gummy and pick the edge loose with a new razor blade, then start heating and peeling, heat and scrape/peel- it may break off- dont worry, get as much as you can then go back and heat the small pieces and scape the rest right off

For the rear- place plastic garbage bage across top of seat and deck/speakers to protect them
Spray water- use sun, or use steamer with whatever you dare
Be gentle with the electrics- peeling only- no scraping

Rubbing alcohol and new razor blades to clean residue off side windows

yahoo search has good methods for the rear

 

i just went to the local tint shop and paid $10 per window and got it done

 

I just got my windows tinted 4 days ago with 20% tint which is more like 17%. It's a bit darker than the 20% I had on my 2G TL, so I wanted to swap it for 35%. Are you just spraying concentrated ammonia on it and what if you don't have a hot day available?

 

steam might work but a hot blow dryer is the way to go IMO, just go slow and make sure the glass is hot, you wont have any residue left over, comes off as clean as it went on