TINTs, TINTs, TINTS. So many out there

what have you boys used. i was thinking of picking up a roll of Solar Gard and doing it myself. but the other brands sound good too.

 

whats the word?

The place I went to used Johnson Films. I've had their tint for the last 3 cars I've owned and never had a problem. My first car was 5 years old and I still own my 2nd car .. 2 years and now my legacy. They don't do wacky stuff like that black-to-silver fade or reflective. They do black and bronze.

 

just got my car tinted an hour after i picked it up from the dealer- 20% all around and 40% on the windshield- car looks sweeeeet! - not sure about the brand but the guy does tons of auto and commercial tinting

i've done it before myself about 15 years ago, though. unless the films are harder to work with, it shouldn't be too hard. if anything, i would think the films are easier to work with now with newer technology and all.

 

shoot. 2-4bills just to tint my windows!!!! i'll buy a 20 'x 100' roll myself for $150 and have enough to tint 20 windows. its not rocket science, just patience.

It's $165 to get all 7 windows tinted here in Atlanta with lifetime warranty. I called around and the price ranged from $165 to $300. I'm using a guy who's work I've seen on other suby's around town.

good lord, I only paid $120 for my car

 

 

Keefe

^^^

 

Well, yeah. But you're a cheap bastard!

Still looks good and I have my lifetime warranty.. so I ain't complaining.

 

Keefe

I think tint prices are cheaper during the winter seasons compared to the summer,..More people want tint when its hot and sunny,.

I decided to use the Huper Optik film. While this is probably the most expensive film out there, it has a few benefits that are important to me. You should know that there are three basic types of film out, polyester based, metal particle based, and ceremic particle based. There are some hybrid's of these catagories, but those are the basic. Polyester films are the generally the cheapest and are easy to work with, but some brands will fade or turn purple. Make sure you check the warrenty that comes with these types of film. Metal films are more more expensive, but have the lifetime warrenty to back it up. The down side to metal films is RF rejection, meaning your cell phone, GPS, radar-detector, and even radio reception can be adversly affected. The ceramic films are much like the metal films in qaulity, but do not cause any RF interferance and have among the highest heat rejection properties of any film. The ceramic films are also a bit tougher to work with from what I gather, and are also expensive (think high $300's for a sedan). But, my job dictates that my car retain the best RF transparancy possible, so I didn't have a lot of choice....

jJuxtaGT:

 

yeah, the huper oktic film is what i was looking into but couldn't find a dealer around here. are u in the bay area too? where'd you get your tint done? i have a wagon so i'll need 5 windows. i'm not prepared to drop $300+, so maybe i'll buy the film and install it myself. the windows are not compound curved, so it cant' be that hard. again, this ain't rocket science, just patience.

 

also i heard of places that computer cut the film, so no risk of scratching the windows with blades on your glass. when i had the tint on my 200sx done, the dude actually put some fairly deep cuts on the outside, which i was pretty upset about. so, now i'm a bit leary of those places that cut the pattern on your glass.

 

anyone have a bad experience like that?

I think tint prices are cheaper during the winter seasons compared to the summer,..More people want tint when its hot and sunny,.

 

 

I had mine put on last year at the end of July..

 

 

Keefe

i found a place in san bruno (n.CA) that charges $238 for wash, clay bar, wax, cleaning the interior, AND tint 5 windows. wow, what a bargain! only problem is they're about an hours drive for me. i don't know what brand tint they're using but i'll look into it.

jJuxtaGT:

 

yeah, the huper oktic film is what i was looking into but couldn't find a dealer around here. are u in the bay area too? where'd you get your tint done? i have a wagon so i'll need 5 windows. i'm not prepared to drop $300+, so maybe i'll buy the film and install it myself. the windows are not compound curved, so it cant' be that hard. again, this ain't rocket science, just patience.

 

also i heard of places that computer cut the film, so no risk of scratching the windows with blades on your glass. when i had the tint on my 200sx done, the dude actually put some fairly deep cuts on the outside, which i was pretty upset about. so, now i'm a bit leary of those places that cut the pattern on your glass.

 

anyone have a bad experience like that?

For Huper Oktic in the bay area these guys do it down in Fremont: http://www.automalltintfactory.com/ I ended up going to a place in Fairfield closer to where I live and just going with the metal based solar guard on my OBXT. Very satisfied with the look. 200 bucks and lifetime warantee on workmanship and tint. So far have had no problems with radio reception, either am or fm.

So, was that for 3 windows? Which gradient did you go for?

jJuxtaGT:

 

yeah, the huper oktic film is what i was looking into but couldn't find a dealer around here. are u in the bay area too? where'd you get your tint done? i have a wagon so i'll need 5 windows. i'm not prepared to drop $300+, so maybe i'll buy the film and install it myself. the windows are not compound curved, so it cant' be that hard. again, this ain't rocket science, just patience.

 

also i heard of places that computer cut the film, so no risk of scratching the windows with blades on your glass. when i had the tint on my 200sx done, the dude actually put some fairly deep cuts on the outside, which i was pretty upset about. so, now i'm a bit leary of those places that cut the pattern on your glass.

 

anyone have a bad experience like that?

 

Mtnsubie -

Sorry for the lag on the response. Exkneedragger is right, you want to talk to Sidney at auto mall tint specialists in Fremont. After much trolling around the net, he seemed to be the man to talk to. Did a great good, not the cheapest though. While I am a DIY kinda guy as well, I didn't want to take the chance of screwing it up on my new baby. While I think a little (lots) time and patience would produce good results, I fear tinting is one of those things that is simple in concept, but takes a lot of practice to perfect. When it came to the Huper Optik film, Sidney was reluctant to let one of his other guys do it, indicating this is not the easiest film to work with, and he has been tinting for 16 years (I did a lot of homework before I went to him). It is also worth noting that Metal films will not completely attenuate RF signals, just reduce them. Like I said before, had it not been for job with a navigation company, I would most likely have gone with a cheaper option. It looks like you can order the Huper Optik stuff online though, if you are still interested.

thanks.

 

yeah, the tinting i did was some years back and on without compound curves, which the wagon doesn't seem to have.

 

i'll be checking with this dude to see what he quotes me. sounds like i should not go with the metal. i'll stick with hybrid or ceramic.

http://img81.echo.cx/img81/9862/winter16dr.th.jpg

 

http://img81.echo.cx/img81/7926/legacy17am.th.jpg

if you decide to pput something like this on, u'll have to put on this part (circled in red)

 

http://img81.echo.cx/img81/7741/rwindow25gv.th.jpg

Paid $160 for my wagon. I wanted it dark so I paid cash.

phamilton,

 

thats a great price for 5 windows. what brand?

 

I was quoted $170 from one dude who uses solar gard. seems ok, but i am still thinking of just trying it on my own. hell a whole 20" x 100' pc for $160s. i could make a few mistakes and still come out ahead...and learn by doing....and make some $ back by installing it on some friends cars.

 

fbio12,

 

what r u showing us in the picture, circled in red?

Huper Optik is very nice. Be aware that like most other tint film companies, Huper makes different films. Their most celebrated are their ceramic based films, but I belive they do make metallic films as well. In all honesty, price aside, ceramic is best. Another ceramic film to consider is Formula One Pinnacle. Won't be much if any cheaper than Huper Optik ceramic films, but equally nice and might be available through more installer/dealers.

 

Personally, I went with Suntek Carbon, a pseudo ceramic film that contains no metal, so as to avoid RF interference, and falls between dyed films and ceramic films for heat rejection at a price that is much more affordable than true ceramic films.

phamilton,

 

 

I was quoted $170 from one dude who uses solar gard. seems ok, but i am still thinking of just trying it on my own. hell a whole 20" x 100' pc for $160s. i could make a few mistakes and still come out ahead...and learn by doing....and make some $ back by installing it on some friends cars.

 

 

Had it done in July '04 so I don't really remember. I seem to remember 3M? I had my wifes car done at the sametime and may have got a price break.

i just was quoted $200 (After 10% student discount, hokey) using the suntek stuff for 5 windows. not bad i guess, not a great price either. sidney seems to take tinting seriously at least. still that's more than i wanted to spend, but seems like a fair price.

 

the huper optik tint was 4bills! no way i'm paying that for tint!!!!

whos using suntek? good stuff?

To me, just like everything else, you get what you pay for. Sidney has been doing his craft for 17 years (I was a year off last time.) You want a master to work on your car, or some dude who just started. The dude who just started is going to be cheaper, always. It is not that the Huper Optik film is so expensive, it is that it takes four times as long to apply it because it one of the hardest to work with, and even then it will not be perfect, ceramic tints are too new for it to be a perfect product.

 

Knocking him for giving a student discount? You should be thanking him. If price is the big issue, go find some dude at the local car wash. It is starting to sound like you would not appreciate the professional manner he conducts himself anyways, which is difficult if not impossible to find in this profession. He carters to discerning customers who demand the best. I wouldn't trust my car to anyone less then a professional, for anything, and I will always be willing to pay for it.