Questions on Car Window Tinting

[GO FURTHER]

Okay, I've got the car booked in tomorrow to get tinted.

Tint-A-Car... Which sells numerous brands, qualities and shades of window tint.

Questions though... How do you know that they have applied the tint you have paid for?

What's to stop an unscrupulous tinter giving you a cheaper tint?

How would you know?

Unless you are in the industry, they all look much the same once on a car apart from the darkness of the tint?

Thanks

[arronm]

I use Tint A Car. They are a well known business. I doubt anything dodgy.


I use "octane" on all my cars. They will be able to advise the tint value (rating) which will keep you legal in your state.

[GO FURTHER]

Originally Posted by arronm

I use Tint A Car. They are a well known business. I doubt anything dodgy.


I use "octane" on all my cars.

Thanks, I've choosen their more expensive Formula One tint.

Mainly because of the higher heat rejection of 70% (versus 60% of Octane) and also the SPF rating is 50+ (versus 30+ with Octane).

Also, the Mustang already has a slight tint in the manufactured glass, and was advised by Tint-A-Car that Octane would take it over the legal light transmission limit in Vic which is 34%.

[arronm]

Well there you go, see how important it is to get professional advice..

[ronwest]

Originally Posted by arronm

I use Tint A Car. They are a well known business. I doubt anything dodgy.

I used them for quite a few cars. Never a problem.

[nitro50th]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the laws regarding light transmission in window tint's are getting lowered (ie. darker tints allowed) in NSW with Victoria will be following shortly.

Can anybody confirm this to be the case.

[arronm]

Also in WA all but drivers and passengers windows can be a lot darker, not sure of the percentages. Just like the territory comes from factory.

[ford12]

You can tell if you have the tint you have chosen to be installed by checking the colour. ( All tints have a different colour )

[ford12]

Originally Posted by arronm

I use Tint A Car. They are a well known business. I doubt anything dodgy.


I use "octane" on all my cars. They will be able to advise the tint value (rating) which will keep you legal in your state.

There is always some dodgy people out there.
I had Tint a car install tint on a BA, you cant install metallic tint on a BA if you want your radio to work on AM stations. I payed for there top of the range tint only to have this metallic tint installed. When I picked up the car the radio was changed to an AM station and had little to no reception. It was like one of the workers there where telling me I had just been ripped off and he was letting me know by leaving the radio on AM for me to hear when I picked up the car.

[GO FURTHER]

Originally Posted by ford12

You can tell if you have the tint you have chosen to be installed by checking the colour. ( All tints have a different colour )

That would be fine if they gave you a sample beforehand and you held it next to the finished tinted car afterwards... But then again, how would you know they have given you the sample you paid for in the first place.

I looked at the different brands and samples they had there when I took the car in this morning, and to be honest, apart from slight differences in darkness, they all looked very similar.
It's not like ... One is brown, one is green and the other is black.

Once its installed on a car and depending on the lighting conditions, it would be very difficult to tell them apart IMO.

Anyway, my car is being tinted as I write this, and should be ready for pick up in an hour or so.

I just have to hope I got what I paid for.

[the_scotsman]

Same goes for anything in life though. How do you know you're getting anything you pay for?

You really can't go around in life asking that question every time you hand over cash for something. There comes a point where you have to put trust in the retailer/trader/tradesman. It's either that or you don't buy anything at all.

Originally Posted by arronm

I use Tint A Car. They are a well known business. I doubt anything dodgy.


I use "octane" on all my cars. They will be able to advise the tint value (rating) which will keep you legal in your state.

Same, I've used them on my last 2 cars, went with octane both times. Found them to be very professional. The bloke was really friendly and very helpful with any questions I had.

And the lifetime warranty is fantastic.

[GO FURTHER]

Just picked up the car... Tinting looks good with a Lifetime warranty.
Whether I got the right stuff, guess I'll never know?

Although, I am a fairly good judge of people I met face to face after a lifetime in sales and marketing, and after talking with the proprietor for a while, feel fairly confident he has done the right thing by me.

As an added bonus, they are also installed a free PPF "Wear & Tear" child-proofing kit. (Not that I have young kids anymore, as their all adults).

This is the 3M paint protection film which includes the door handle cups, door edges and boot sill.

I enquired what was the cost just to do the front bumper and bonnet which is the most vulnerable to stone chips, etc, and it costs $2,000 applied!

So don't think I will be getting it installed on the Pony.

He showed me his own AMG Benz he did, and I must say it does look very good and glossy when applied.

What makes it so expensive is the "self-healing properties" of the film, according to him.

[slowsnake]

Hello,
Before I left Sydney for Perth in 2008 I bought a VW Transporter Van.
Sliding side door,rear lift door and 2 front doors, I had just drove over and back a month earlier to see my mum in hospital,the sun on the Nullabor and Eyre Hwy to Perth was a killer both ways on your legs from the side windows in the cabin area.
Had it done at Tint a Car Seven Hills ( I think )
I asked for the darkest and best UV they had, I waited while they did it,they let me watch.
They said they would use " ambulance black " on back and side window,and a slightly lighter shade on front door glass.

It was brilliant and geez it was black as night, first night in Perth at nephews unit at Scarborough Beach it was broken into, smashed drivers window and ripped half my dash out to get my brand new stereo/iPod player, broke glovebox door to get stereo fascia, did 6 cars that night,cops said I was the only person who lodged a complaint?
I asked why just me, I said I saw the cars myself, all parked on kerb nose in,all with a window smashed., he shrugged his shoulders.

I immediately phoned RACWA insurance, they sent me for a new window and the guy wouldn't tint the window as dark as the other door,before I could look in and not see the driver, in fact you could not distinguish if it was male or female.
Told him done according to NSW requirements, he said illegal in WA.
Ended up with a drivers window that was see through and others black black black?

Oh and next day got my stereo back plus some "extras" from the cops, lol, about 2 months earlier when visiting mum in hospital I found a wallet/purse, so I handed it in,full of cash to the Scarborough Police, they said I was the first person to hand in a wallet purse that still had cash in it?

They took my details etc, when the cops called me to get my stereo it was at another police station, it was like Aladdin's cave, they asked me if I needed anything else? I said like what,he said anything?.. there were TV's, golf clubs and God knows what else.
I said just my stereo thanks, he said " mate this is all unclaimed its being auctioned off " so he flipped the PC screen around and said see that!..it had my name there as handing in wallet with cash and credit cards intact.

Then he said take what you want or we will fill your van up ourselves!.. That's a true story.

Cheers Billy

[Crazy Dazz]

You rarely get exactly what they claim.
The fundamental problem with most tint mobs, including Tintacar, is that they buy their film from Factory X, then apply their own "branding" and guarantees.

The problem then becomes that Wally's Windows will claim their "uber-plus" tint is the same film as Tintacar's "Octane", but you can't really tell.

The ultimate giveaway was the Dealer Bling-Bitch selling their "own" brand of window tinting, who actually admitted that they actually use Tintacar, including the same film. (After trying to sell it to me for $750, ultimately agreed on $450, the price quoted by Tintacar.)

The only way around this, is to research your film first, and insist on the branded film you want. I do this with work vehicles, we specify a particular 3M film, because we're only trying to lower UV, but want to keep visible light high.
Problem is that the film used by tintacar is undoubtedly decent quality, without the 3M price.

If you haggle, you can usually get Tintacar to drop their price, especially during winter.
I think that's the best bet. Never had any problems with them. Other places, who knows.

[ronwest]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

If you haggle, you can usually get Tintacar to drop their price, especially during winter.

I found that with "legal" tint they have pretty good specials in winter but if you want darker than legal they won't haggle, won't receipt it and won't warrant it either (at least that was with my local Tintacar up to a couple of years ago when my current car was done).

[NTF6]

Originally Posted by GO FURTHER

Thanks, I've choosen their more expensive Formula One tint.

Mainly because of the higher heat rejection of 70% (versus 60% of Octane) and also the SPF rating is 50+ (versus 30+ with Octane).

Also, the Mustang already has a slight tint in the manufactured glass, and was advised by Tint-A-Car that Octane would take it over the legal light transmission limit in Vic which is 34%.

Good choice, I use Formula One Dark Night.

[GO FURTHER]

Originally Posted by NTF6

Good choice, I use Formula One Dark Night.

Yeah, it's been 3 days now since I installed the tint, and the initial normal hazing and moisture from installation has dried out and disappeared. (Takes a little longer on these cold wintery Melbourne conditions).

The Formula One tint gives great privacy and looks darker than it is from the outside, due to the high contrast "illusion" you get when installed on a white car.

The real test of its heat rejection abilities of 70%, I won't know though till summer hits.

The tint has really given the car that prestigious look IMO.

[ford71V8]

Dark tint on a white car nearly always looks tops!