Thinking about getting my car tinted but have a few questions

First and foremost, I ran a search and as you well know, the search engine on this site is alot like leaving an mp3 player in "shuffle" mode. Anyways, the time has come for me to finally tint my car and I have a few questions. I did some research on car tint and have found that the brands most widely used are Solar Guard, Formula One, and 3M.

The tint that I have personal experience with the most is Solar Guard. Seen lots of friends with that tint on their car and some have had good success while others not so good after a couple of years. My worst fear is bubbling of tint and the removal of tint since it could ruin my heating element lines on the rear window.

So all in all, what brand of tint would u go with? How much should I budget for? Did you stay within the legal limits? What color tint did you end up with? Have you had any bubbling with your tint?


PS. I am currently in the hot state of florida. I think legal limit is 20% for florida. My car is a CGM. Thanks in advance.

I live in fl. I want to get mine tinted also. I thought the legal tint in fl was 28%. IIRC the factory windows have a 7% tint to them so doesnt that make the max tint we can put on 35%?

Well I recently went with a friend to get a car tinted and the shop said 20% was the legal limit. He ended up getting 25% on the camry that we took unless the shop is misinformed? Bump for more opinions and suggestions.

Ive had both my GTOs tinted. I believe the tint is LLumar brand or something like that. The legal limit here in Iowa is something like 72% for the front and whatever you want for the rear, I had a car tinted once within the limit and you had to roll the window down to even see the difference. Since then Ive had every car tinted how I wanted. Yes Ive had a few tickets but oh well. On my PBM I got 5% on the rear with 35% up front and a 5% upper and lower windshield strip. The color of the car also can make the tint appear lighter or darker. That car isnt a daily driver, the windows are usually rolled down as soon as it leaves the garage. My only regret was to possibly go 20% in the front. Next my CGM, since its a daily driver and I didnt want to go too dark, after some debating went with 15% in the rear and 50% up front, with 15% upper and lower windshield strip. Its a nice medium. The rear isnt so dark its hard to see out but you cant see in. Also the windshield strips kinda help to make the front tint seem "lighter" but at some light levels(early morning hours or evening) even 50% can look dark. As for bubbles both have minor ones here and there, main problem is the black dots. Hope this helps you out.

http://www.tintcenter.com/laws/
This site has all the laws for tinting. It says Fl is 28%.

Mine with 35% on the doors and 15% on the rear three windows.

I work at a tint shop and my favorite we use is 3m, although I dont have 3m on my car except for my windshield because I bought it with tint. On my truck I used 3m 20% on the sides and back. If it were up to me I would get 3m or llumar. And remember you get what you pay for so dont get the cheapest stuff a shop has.

Go w/ 20% and call it a day. It's not legal in most states, but it is about the best when it comes to privacy and also still being able to see out of the car at night(specially when it's raining).
And we use Llumar/Formula one filmes here.

I have 3m metallic (3m offers both metallic and non-metallic) tint, very happy with effect and appearance. Have no problem with oem stereo receiver, but metal did seem to interfere with aftermarket stereo, also may hinder radar detector through rear windows or closed front windows.

also liked very much the Formula One I had on previous car, Camaro.

Go with 20%.

I have 20% on my Camaro and for the 10 years I lived in FL with it I never had a problem with cops bothering me about it, but as soon as I moved to NC with it I had a ticket within 6 months, but the limit in NC is 35%.

i have 3m on my car. i have 5% on everything but the front windshield, and even that i am thinking of putting on 35%. the tint laws in New Jersey dont allow any tint on the front side windows at all. yes my tint is illegal but i have yet to get a ticket for it and its been on for over a year now. i got pulled over only once for it and the cop didnt ticket me. actually said my car looked good. he was just looking for drunks coming from the bar i use to work at

Thanks for the responses. Will going with 20% not make me eligible for said warranties from Llumar, 3M or Formula 1? Although I'm leaning to the legal amount all the way around, just wondering since I've seen/heard of the lifetime warranties being void due to that. Bump for more opinions/suggestions.

Does Suntek Carbon suck??

I just had had one car done and was going to bring in the GTO this week.

Ran a little 5 minute search about suntek and it seems that the suntek carbon is the way to go if you decide to go with that brand. Looks like it has good reviews but I personally haven't ran into a car with it nor a tint shop with it down here (granted I've been to maybe 2 tint shops down here). Either way, how much are they charging ya for it? And what percent are you going with?

Where are you in Florida? I was going to post some before and after pics. I am definitely happy that I finally got it done.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jookmasta... Ran a little 5 minute search about suntek and it seems that the suntek carbon is the way to go if you decide to go with that brand. Looks like it has good reviews but I personally haven't ran into a car with it nor a tint shop with it down here (granted I've been to maybe 2 tint shops down here). Either way, how much are they charging ya for it? And what percent are you going with?

I have suntek Carbon on my car...so far so good been on there for 2 months now...
I have limo all around with 35% on the windshield..Paid $165 to have it all done plus take off my old tint

Located down in miami so I'm actually interested in any shops that yall could recommend. Seems that the tint industry is VERY saturated down here so coming up with a good price isn't what i need to worry about. A good installation is what is taking preference. As of now I'm just gonna contact authorized dealers for the major brands and see what quotes I get. Bump for more opinions and suggestions though.

My tinter has said the Suntek carbon is a great alternative to the formula one if a customer doesnt want to spend an arm and a leg. He keeps at me to just order in a few rolls of 35% and an 18% because he says its a great alternative. I've heard good things about it, and It does come w/ a lifetime warranty. I may give in and let him go ahead and order in a few rolls to try it out.


O.p, Llumar doesnt give a rats behind what % film you use and what state your using it in. They reimburse the shop for any warranty work, so they dont care. It is a 50 state lifetime warranty also, so it's good film to use if you move around alot. Your always covered.

Thanks for the heads up on the warranty thing. Bump for more suggestions and opinions. Gonna look into dealers for Suntek, Formula 1 and Llumar I guess.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jookmasta... First and foremost, I ran a search and as you well know, the search engine on this site is alot like leaving an mp3 player in "shuffle" mode.

Use the Google search option... or just go to google.com, type in your search query, and add "site:ls1gto.com" to the end of it... will only give you results from this site.

vBulletin has memory issues on larger sites like this one, not much that can be done about it, sorry...

Didn't mean to put down the search engine too harshly but I figured the wealth of info on this site would've done something to the search engine. Not much that yall could do since there is so much traffic but at least you get what I mean. I'll try the google thing though and see how that pans out in the future. Bump for more opinions/suggestions. Feel free to post any pics, especially if your tint is in the 20-30% range.

I had my car tinted with 3m all around 5% on everything except the windshield, cost me $180. Legal limit in florida is 26%, atleast thats what fhp told me when they were busting my balls about it. With 5% on the window, the meter read out 3%, so technically you could go with 28% if they made it, to be completely legal.

Llumar 35% in front, and 15% in back is what I had on my G6 before I had the GTO. After having it on for a bit over a year, no fade at all and as good as the day it was put on. Highly recommend them.

not to be a complete thread jack, but for the guys who were running 5% all around and 35-50% on the windshield, were there any problems seeing out at night? I have thought about doing this, but it is my DD and I make quite a few road trips and don't want to screw myself for night driving.

Quote: Originally Posted by PontiacGTO.info... I have suntek Carbon on my car...so far so good been on there for 2 months now... I have limo all around with 35% on the windshield..Paid $165 to have it all done plus take off my old tint

you must not drive at night lol

I have 35% (well, with the stock tint) which is the legal limit, and wish it could have been just a bit darker, say 25%. However the last thing I need is another inspection hurdle.

No one around here tints their windshields - must be different other places. Personally I think it's excessive and generally a bad idea.

I have 5% all around and a fat strip across the windshield that is 5% also. The shop I took it to only uses Llumar, because of the warranty. It has been on there for three years without bubbling. The rear glass was also done in one piece. I've been pulled over one time with it and it read 2% on the cops meter. He let me go because he pulled me over to ask if I had seen anything weird going on in the neighborhood. He also said the next cop won't be as gracious. He did say they generally give you to 15%, but the law is 28%.

As far as the question, is it hard to see at night. Yeah it can be. The light from the stereo and instrument panel reflects off of the tint at night, so you have to look through that. It is also hard to back up in a very dark place at night. With the windows rolled up I can't see the back up lights unless there is something there for them to reflect off of.

5% all around is not for the faint of heart, so I wouldn't recommended it. If you are worried about seeing at night I wouldn't go any darker then a 30% on the sides with a 20% on the back. Even that is going to darken your vision at night.

If all you want is heat reduction, the tint shop told me they could get a clear film. It blocks the UV light without tinting the glass. I might go back and have them put that on my windshield. In this Florida sun the dash and top of steering wheel is always hot as hell.

Hope some of this helps, good luck

Thanks for the insight! Bump for more opinions/comments/suggestions. Currently leaning towards Formula One Pinnacle but keep the responses flowing.

Bump for some midweek insight........looks like brazengoat went on posting rampage last nite lol.

Quote: Originally Posted by zowwiewowwie... not to be a complete thread jack, but for the guys who were running 5% all around and 35-50% on the windshield, were there any problems seeing out at night? I have thought about doing this, but it is my DD and I make quite a few road trips and don't want to screw myself for night driving.

You WILL need HID's in your fogs and lows if you plan on doing limo all around and the windshield 35% if you plan on driving at night...It was a hassle driving at night without the hid's...now that I have them they are fine...

Quote: Originally Posted by stevieg239... you must not drive at night lol

It was difficult until I put HID's on the car...Now its fine!

Thanks for everyone's $.02. I have HIDs in lows and fogs now. After hearing the feedback and the miles that I put on the car, don't think I am going to tint the windshield, but am going to look into going to the 5% vice the 15-20% that is on it now