so what are your 2 cents on self tinting... my friend wants to do it on his car, and he's trying to get me to do it as well...
i told him that if i wanted tint i would want it professionally done since they have lifetime warranty's and stuff... and they would probably do a MUCH better job than we ever could...
but he doesnt want to pay that much..
i quoted my car a while back and it was like over $125 for the whole car... front, back, and rear...
fronts are illegal here in nj.. but i dunno hehe i dont like the way it looks without the fronts it looks incomplete...
any suggestions?
has anyone ever done their own tinting?

 

dark tint on the front you won't be able to see out of your car and to tell you the truth most people don't even tint the windsheild and the car looks fine. personally I'd get it professionally done, you'll avoid a lot of headaches if you mess it up yourself and like you said you get a warranty. I say around $125 is a great price for a quality job on a 4dr.

 

Get it done by a pro. You wouldn't save yourself a lot by doing it yourself if you ask me.

Brent

 

I just had mine done by a pro, and I have no complaints...if you do it yourself, you risk ripping the film or getting bubbles or something under the film. I have a 1 year warrenty against rips and tears and stuff. Only cost me $100, and the legal limit in Mass is 50% on doors, 35% on rear window, but I think they did it 50% on front doors and 35% on all the back windows. In any case, I'd say pro, you'd be better off in the long run. That's my 2 cents

 

DO NOT do it yourself, it will bubble and start to peel after 6 months and look like crap.

 

i've done it myself..it's takes A LOT of time and patience. if u don't have neither then go to a pro. i did it because it was a good learning experience for me. oh and i didn't get bubbles in it and etc and it's not peeling. but if u do end up doing it by yourself get the professional tint film. the cheap stuff sucks.

 

I tinted many cars in the old days and what I found is that if you're handy, you can do a quality job. However, it takes time and patience which I have less and less of now that I am older. Also, one thing I could never do was the rear glass above the trunk (curved). Since every car I owned for about the last 5 years had curved rear glass above the glass, I said forget it and left it to the professionals. Looking back, it was a very wise decision as my tint still looks new after 4 years.


The only thing I would tint myself now is if I bought a used pick-up truck. Rear window is flat and there's only two side windows (maybe 4 if it's an extended cab).

 

at least smoke the front windows. you won't catch any crap for that. as for tint, i like people to see me wave as i pass them hehehehe

 

Let a shop do it. It is a pain in the *** and it is very time-consuming. About 3 years ago, a shop tinted mine with 5% all around plus a double layer for a windshield visor. It was hard as hell to drive at night with that **** like that. I got a ticket about a year or so ago (GA law is 32% on the front doors. Any tint wherever else) and had it stripped and retinted for $145. I have a lifetime warranty and love the way it looks. It is made of a semi-metallic substance. Not mirror tint. It WILL NOT fade, peel, bubble, or turn disgustingly purple. If it does (by some miracle), the shop will refund your money AND retint at no charge!!! That's what I call a conviction to your product.

 

I didn't have $ to spare for the 150$ tint job so I started it myself... Did the 2 small corner windows on the rear doors, and 1 rear door, it looked good while rolled up, as soon as I rolled it down, you can see a big gap between the edge of the window and where the film began, plus it wasn't cut out straight so it looked kind of stupid, however when the window was up, it looked great, I did get a few small bubbles but that was because I didn't squege the film well to get the excess water out. This was done during the winter and OUTSIDE, which was very dumb on my behalf. Best time to tint is on a hot/dry summer day and yes, it is very time consuming and you need patience.
The rear glass would be the biggest ***** to get to, I got tired of it and went to a shop, however the shop messed it up a bit too, though I have no bubbles.