Window Tint??

[Voymom]

I'm wanting to tint the front windows, and was wondering if anyone has done the DIY tinting with the stuff you can get from wally world? If so how was it to apply, and did it hold up? I will probably do 35% it's not dark enough for me honestly but it's illegal just the same lol

 

[Boricua SS]

i know you probably dont wanna hear this because this is why you made the thread... but with the hassle of doing it yourself, and the inexpensive cost to have it done the right way.. just take it to your local tint shop.. i got my front 2 done for $50 bucks...

 

[MDBT]

I have done the wally world/autozone/etc tints before and they work well for a while. Preparation is everything, poor prep and you'll have lots of imperfections. There are lots of good resources on the internet to learn the techniques and proper prep required. If I were going to do so myself I'd get a quality 2 ply pre-cut set from one of the ebay vendors. If you don't have the factory rear tinted glass I'd probably suggest a professional job if you're new to it. However prices around here seem to be closer to 120-200 for just a pair of front windows.

50% is all that's legal here for the front side windows, factory is 70% tint. If you're curious the % tint is labeled on the corner of each window.

 

[STLtrailbSS]

$50 bucks...

Missouri sucks ATLEAST $120 here, there have been some smaller shops that have opened since then but thats a deal here.

 

[YOUNG]

its about 65$ here for 10%
so yeah about 50$ down here in Tn

 

[MMIN]

I will just mirror what the others have said. Unless you truly have the desire to learn how to tint, I wouldn't mess around with it. It's frustrating and does take some skill to get it right. If your a picky person then definately don't mess with it as your first attempt won't be that great. Shop around just make sure they use a good name of tint and stand behind their work. We charge $90 for 2 front windows with lifetime warranty / johnson film but you will find prices do vary quite a bit.. The further south you go the cheaper it gets.

 

[Voymom]

75% is the legal tint for fronts which is what I have now and is stock, I have 5% in the back. As far as having someone else do it, it will cost me $175 for just the 2 windows plus a 30min drive and 3 week waiting list

 

[YOUNG]

good lord! there isnt any other places out there that do tint? use yellowpages.com and search for places!

 

[STLtrailbSS]

75% is the legal tint for fronts which is what I have now and is stock, I have 5% in the back. As far as having someone else do it, it will cost me $175 for just the 2 windows plus a 30min drive and 3 week waiting list

Well you can make your appointment now, tell the man to get you some cash by the and kill off some things on your list till then. lol
You can always plastidip your windows

The Audio Places love to get ya on tint, if that's where your looking broaden your horizon.

 

[jrSS]

75% is the legal tint for fronts which is what I have now and is stock, I have 5% in the back. As far as having someone else do it, it will cost me $175 for just the 2 windows plus a 30min drive and 3 week waiting list

Damn!! $175 for 2 windows?? I had mine tinted at 35% for $65 at pro tint in ft wayne. $175 they'd prolly do all the windows.

 

[MDBT]

I will just mirror what the others have said. Unless you truly have the desire to learn how to tint, I wouldn't mess around with it. It's frustrating and does take some skill to get it right. If your a picky person then definately don't mess with it as your first attempt won't be that great. Shop around just make sure they use a good name of tint and stand behind their work. We charge $90 for 2 front windows with lifetime warranty / johnson film but you will find prices do vary quite a bit.. The further south you go the cheaper it gets.

Too bad you're 400 miles away from me, I'd take you up on the price.

 

[Voymom]

Yeah I live in a very small town. We have 2 grocery stores for the entire place. No one in town will tint my windows, I either have to drive 30 minutes one way or 2hrs the other to Iowa City. And I looked in yellow pages, all the prices are about the same or more, no waiting lists though, but that price for 2 windows is just insane. I wonder how much the stealership will charge me?? Although they wont go below legal limit.

 

[Boricua SS]

yea, its pretty cheap here in ohio... the shop i go to has a computer with a printer, that all the guy does is ask me what year and make my ride is.. types it in.. loads the roll of tint, and it cuts out the exact shape to my windows... front 2 are $50 and all 5 are $99.99 with lifetime warranty... SCORE!!

 

[STLtrailbSS]

Dealer Receipt
$700+Super Duper Tinting Fee
Labor $87.00
Shop Material $14.00

 

[jrSS]

yea, its pretty cheap here in ohio... the shop i go to has a computer with a printer, that all the guy does is ask me what year and make my ride is.. types it in.. loads the roll of tint, and it cuts out the exact shape to my windows... front 2 are $50 and all 5 are $99.99 with lifetime warranty... SCORE!!

Where is this?? I smell a road trip for me to get some windows tinted. Lol. NICE!

 

[Short Bus]

$175??? WTF??? I paid $70 for the fronts and a sun strip.

 

[MDBT]

Where is this?? I smell a road trip for me to get some windows tinted. Lol. NICE!

I'd be interested to know where this place is as well. It'd be worth a 70 dollar savings to drive a bit. I'm assuming they do good work or he wouldn't be sharing.

 

[Boricua SS]

Where is this?? I smell a road trip for me to get some windows tinted. Lol. NICE!

you'll spend more in gas .. i think im like 5 hours from you here in ohio... its callled Sierra's ssomething lol.. cant remember the name..

 

[jrSS]

Lol. That's nothing. U gotta remember reg and I just drove to joysy this past weekend(well he mostly drove). Lol. But yea....I won't. 12 or so hrs one way. Whew.

 

[Voymom]

I agree the prices are rally inflated here. When I got all my windows and a sun strip tinted in WA state on my Mazda 3 it cost me $89.00 plus they gave me a ticket slip, so if I got pulled over and ticketed they would retint the windows at no charge plus a lifetime warranty. It wouldn't be this hard or this expensive back home that's for sure. And had I still lived in MI I would travel to OH for the tint lol

 

[BO TIE SS]

I tried the DIY stuff from Walmart today. I was trying to put 5% on the side windows (cargo area) of the 'Hoe. Spent a lot of time cleaning the window, cutting the film to fit...and ended up throwing a pile of wrinkled and twisted tint film mess in the trash.

I recommend paying someone to put it on for you. (That's what I'm going to do now)

 

[gsf1200m]

I vote do it yourself. I have done all my cars. I used to use walmart tint with no problems after five years. Now I go with the precut stuff from ebay. It makes things twice as easy. I would reccomend doing it indoors away from the wind.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Most dealerships have at least a traveling tint person. One guy does all the lil dealers back home.

Check stereo places and post a craigslist ad. Start asking around and likely you will find someone that does it on the side.

 

[TexazReece]

good lord! there isnt any other places out there that do tint? use yellowpages.com and search for places!

Man I was thinking the samething.......Mann that's high are they tinting the two fronts or yours plus 2 other cars

 

[Black_tb]

We paid 80 for the front two windows on mine

 

[djthumper]

They must be practicing on her tint. Two tests and the third time is the charm...

 

[TexazReece]

They must be practicing on her tint. Two tests and the third time is the charm...

 

[FlyingFischer]

I only paid $20 to get mine tinted 2 times.

I have a layer of 20% on the fronts and 2 layers of tint on all the other windows. A layer of 20% and a layer of 5%.

 

[DFWWIZ]

Man its cheap down here in TX. $50 for 2 windows. I used to do it alot-like 300 cars in 3 months a few years back. Been doing it since the early 80's when there was no restrictions. I use Llumar film which to me was easier to work with than others, but again that was back in the day. I'm sure other brands have improved. Handling is the big thing in tinting. Keep hands and tint and glass very wet at all times, work from vertical surfaces to minimize dust falling onto it and keep your blade sharp (break off), have a good squeegie and work the water out from top center out to sides and down. Water should have a few drops of liquid dish soap per every 8 oz of water in your misting bottle (an old armorall bottle works well). You will also need to have paper towels with a hard plastic thin spatula to wrap for sucking water in tight areas behind mouldings.

 

[Matt]

I had 20% put on my 2 fronts for $40. Matches the rest of the factory tint.

 

[tokahao]

35% is legal limit here in Oahu, had the 2 fronts done for $180. Yes, pretty steep but I had the cash and they convinced me that the ceramic coating kept the heat out. Overall I'm pretty pleased with zero regrets Place I went to is Al's Tinting Inc., right behind Lex Brodie's in Aiea.
View attachment 19529

 

[jayd1563]

Man its cheap down here in TX. $50 for 2 windows. I used to do it alot-like 300 cars in 3 months a few years back. Been doing it since the early 80's when there was no restrictions. I use Llumar film which to me was easier to work with than others, but again that was back in the day. I'm sure other brands have improved. Handling is the big thing in tinting. Keep hands and tint and glass very wet at all times, work from vertical surfaces to minimize dust falling onto it and keep your blade sharp (break off), have a good squeegie and work the water out from top center out to sides and down. Water should have a few drops of liquid dish soap per every 8 oz of water in your misting bottle (an old armorall bottle works well). You will also need to have paper towels with a hard plastic thin spatula to wrap for sucking water in tight areas behind mouldings.

dont forget a heat gun!!,good luck doing any back window and some side windows without heat shrinking it first....thats where alot of people give up doing it themselves,,nobody tells them it has to be heat shrunk to sit right.

 

[willn513]

I had 20% put on my 2 fronts for $40. Matches the rest of the factory tint.

This is my story too. Looks great and was cheap. If you're over $50 or $60 for just the front, they saw you coming.

 

[bmartinezx3]

i got on craigslist and found a guy under services to come to my house and do 20% in front two and 5% over stock tint everywhere else. all of that for $80 and $10 more for the windsheild strip. i gave him a $100 bill cause he did a good job and drove pretty far. he works at a tint shop mon.-fri. so he knew what he was doing it even came with warranty on tint and labor.

 

[sunliner]

I'm in northeast Florida...shop charged me $145 for 'full legal' tint (I think it's 35%) for all windows, and lifetime warranty.

 

[ItsOnVoy]

I'm in northeast Florida...shop charged me $145 for 'full legal' tint (I think it's 35%) for all windows, and lifetime warranty.

Thats not bad for all the windows! Does florida allow darker in the back windows? Because I know the fronts are 35% from what I read

 

[sunliner]

Thats not bad for all the windows! Does florida allow darker in the back windows? Because I know the fronts are 35% from what I read

They do allow darker in the back. I just looked online and the site I checked said 28 for front sides and 15% for the back but I'm sure I heard the guy at the shop say 35%.

found a moderately amusing discussion here:
Florida window tint law

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

In Indiana you can paint the rear windows black if ya want.

 

[FlyingFischer]

Washington has some pretty strict laws but on Trucks and SUV's any windows behind the front 2 can be as dark as they want and 35% on the fronts. That's why I went with 20% on the front(really cant tell the difference between 20 and 35), and I have 2 layers of tint on all my other windows. I calculated it out and my tint on all my other windows comes to 0.5%

 

[ItsOnVoy]

At least your states let you have front tint...mine doesn't let us have anything on the front