Pros and Cons of window tinting
 

What are the pros and cons of window tinting?
I don't park mine (black exterior, black leather inside) in the sun for a long time but I guess tinting would protect the interior, right? So far I've been using Amor-All leather conditioner every 2 or 3 months. The leather still feels soft.

Does tinting really help keeping the temperature down? (I never had a dark tinted car.)

What about radar detectors, cell phone reception, AM/FM reception, GPS signals?
What will fail to work?

And how do I make sure that my tint job does not look purple in 5 years?
I'm willing to spend money, won't go for the cheapest but obviously it has to be worth it.

Thanks for advice

Peter

window tiniting will not effect cell phones am/fm (the antena is built into your rear window) or gps. it won't do a thing against radar/laser detectors (they aim for your lisence plate normally). pros are your car looks cool (subjective), inside temps will be down slightly...cons are you can get ticketed (not if you get a legal tint...see your state laws for this).

Yes it can... your GPS can be rendered useless if you use a metallized tint film that most tint places like to sell you. Since our GPS receiver is on the rear shelf, the signal will be weakened or blocked by metallized rear window tint. I saw this in person on my RX8 when I was testing films on my rear window, and several others on this board have had this problem. Cell reception can be affected somewhat as well, but not enough to kill the signal.

The tint places love the metallized because it's so resistant to fade, so they can warranty the hell out of it. However, if you have GPS you can choose a quality dyed film that is fade resistant (I personally have Madico Charcool on mine... follow the sig link for pics), or if you have the $$ you can get ceramic film... although I don't think you can get it as dark as other films.

Hey, really nice pics in your sig, G8rboy. Question on the body pieces that are attached to the sheet metal at the bottom just in front of your rear wheels: did those come stock, or did you add them on (and if so, where did you buy them)? Or did they come as part of the appearance/GT package? My car doesn't have them, and I'd like to get a set.

Thanks,
Bill

Thanks...

Yes, that is part of the appearance package, and I added the front splash guards (behind the front wheels), which I think helps balance out the look. They also reduce the mud/snow/salt from spraying off the front wheels and coating the sides.

Many thanks, G8rboy. I put front and rear mudflaps on mine, and not only do they look good (IMO), but they definitely help keep the car cleaner.

Sorry to Ptiemann -- didn't mean to hijack your thread, so I'll stop now. :)

Bill

will tinting effect the autodimming mirror?

Mine still dims, but I usually turn it off since tint provides the same function.

Window tinting will keep the car cooler..protect from UV...allow for more privacy....and it looks good :)

As far as fading? Most quality tint shops offer lifetime warranties, and they usually tend to be very slack on them.

As far as cons.....REAL dark at night..sometimes you cant see things unless they have a light or reflector on them. Stuff youd normally see by moonlight you may not be able to see. Backing out of my driveway at 4:30am every morning has proven somewhat challenging with the tint. The other con is if you get a dunderhead or new kid tinting your windows at wherever you take it. I had to have my tint job redone because there were bubbles left and a poor squegee job along the edges. It was redone for free of course..but a pain nonetheless. I've also heard of tint shops accidentally cutting the antennae in the rear windows.

I'd say though if you went to any respectable place you'll find it hassle free and problem free. especially with a black 8...DO IT

Deep tinting and autodimming mirrors mean it is hard to see more than just headlights behind you. That means you can't see the roof rack on cop cars until they light them up :D

Dennis

yeez... I had not thought about that one. I was ready to call some places but now I have second thoughts.

Thanks for the (short) explaining of the different materials/ technologies. That's what I had hoped for here.

Peter

unless you get limo tint (5%), it's really not that dark. if you've never had a tinted car before, it'll take a few nights of driving to get used to it, but it's not much to worry about.

as for the gps, most places sell both metallic and nonmetallic. i've found nonmetallic to be much more common and cheaper.

the heat benefits are minimal, but you might be a little happier during summer.

you'll be happy with the look, that's for sure. the cons are negligible unless you get super dark tint or get your driver and passenger windows (tickets).

definitely do it.

mannn i love the limo tint i have all around from the outside. but crap when im inside driving at night its pretty hard to see and try backing up or reverse park. WOW impossible cannot see anything. but hey it looks sexy haha

i have limo, no cons, i can see fine at night as long as there are street lights around...if not then you can't see but that goes without tint to. I love tint i can never go back.

Con - one BIG one:

It pisses off the cops. Even if it is "legal" tint. I have two friends that are cops, and both have said, no matter what the driver did in getting himself pulled over, if the front door windows have any tint other than what came from the factory, that guy's getting a ticket, period, no warning.

Reason why is that it makes it difficult to see what the guy is doing in the car - and makes the cop very nervous.

One of my friends does say that the best thing you can do to start off on a good footing in a traffic stop is to be sitting still at the wheel, with your hands on top of the wheel up high where the cop can see them and have the driver's window down. If you have your license and insurance card in those hands, so much the better.

But hands down, window tint = uncomfortable cop in a traffic stop. Uncomfortable cop = tickets.

The best way to handle it is:

Put the window down, shut off the car, put both hands on top of the steering wheel and wait.


Don't start looking for your license, your insurance card, your registration, etc. The cop will not know if you are going for a weapon or what. When instructed to hand over documents, you say "My license is in my wallet in my pocket, let me get that for you" and slowly do so. "My registration and insurance card are in the glove box, I will get that for you now".

If your windows are deep tinted, even putting your window down is not good enough since they can't see what you are doing (until they get to the open window) nor can they tell how many folks are in the car. If is also bad since other drivers can't make eye contact with you to see if you see them - are you going to pull out in front of them? Can't tell since the windows are too dark.

Tinting does make it a little cooler in the car during the summer, but I think is mainly just for show - unless you live in a really hot area - and is probably not worth the effort and expense.

Dennis

I was demonstrated by a few different shops what the main advantage in
nonmetalic (ceramic based) tint over metalic and what I noticed was that metalic does'nt reject heat well . I finally decided with 35% ceramic based tint and going with a shop that had a good reputation and saw some of their work....Huper Optiks is a highly used brand around in my area and the film is thick. I"ve had mine on for over a year with not one bit of disaticfaction in going with H.O.,Just make sure you let it cure for about 2-3 weeks if you plan on rolling down the windows. :)

One potential drawback is tinting according to one states laws and then moving to another state. I think I will need to strip my current 80% rear tint and replace it with 65% tint. So I will be paying twice for tint.

65% tint? that's nothing...but i dunno how sunny it is in St. Louis. When i see a cop i just roll the windows down, the 8's windows roll down in like 2 seconds. Plus if a cop pulls you over while your windows were down, he can't ask you to roll them up. So the moral of the story is just roll them down.

I think he meant 20% and 35%...

Yeah, but you can't roll down the back window and thats the one they really want to see through because otherwise its hard to tell how many people are in the car with you.

While that's true, most SUV's and minivans come from the factory with dark tinted rear "privacy glass"... cops can't do much about that. Even here in Illinois where you can't have /any/ tint on the front windows, you can have pretty much anything on the back window.

When I get pulled over, I just turn on the overhead maplight and put my hands back on the wheel. Problem solved.

Another problem with tint, is the rear window defroster...at least a car I had a while back had that problem...the tint went way way bad...maybe they have better tint now

Quality tint shouldn't have a problem with the defroster... I've had my '8 tinted for almost a year, and use the defroster almost daily during the winter.