Has anyone ever done their own window tint? Is it easy or difficult to do?

 

sure, it's easy to do.
it's also easy to do wrong.
imho, it's one of the few things that I would leave to a pro; better to spend a couple of hundered dollars and have it last ten years, vs spending $20 and last a month or two.

 

i tried it once.

cliffs- it looked fukcing horrible.

just pay the $300 for a full good job than trying it yourself. most DIY jobs end up bubbling within a few months. if youre set on doing it yourself, theres pre-cut tint for sale on Ebay for 3rd gens

if youre in a big city, i would reconsider tint though...

 

Oh just wanted to get mine a little darker since its recently been sooo hot down here lately. 101 degree days down here.

 

I wonder about mine. This is the first car I've owned with non stock tinting. All is well for the moment, I've had the car since Feb. But I see plenty of other of tinted cars with alot of them bubbling up (especially rear window) and looking tacky,.

 

LOL...yeah I tired to do my back windows its kinda easy to cut it out and line it up but onces u get it wet then thats it ur done for lol mine stuck together and all that other crap im just gonna get the whole thing done over for $180 my tint is pretty dark tho and i never got pulled for it so im guessing its the one thats above 5% im not sure but yeah dont waste ur time, SPEND THE MONEY!...

 

dang thats expensive i can get it done for 150

 

for me it's easy.....but i've done a few cars already and already wasted about 100ft of tint practicing.

use the professional tint (it's not available at your local parts store).
sun guard, solar guard, madico, llumar, suntek, etc.

 

yeah but thats pro jobs, you can get a normal job for around $150 too

i was ready to get my 3rd gen done professionally, and i heard that cops will pick on people with tint and i thought BS. heard it from the street guys and a pair of cops from the mouth and i just thought better not. ive even been told by street guys to remove my clearcorners

 

I had a friend of mine who has tinted windows for a living for the past 15 years show me how to do it. I spent over $200 for the right tools and pro grade tint. If you dont use the pro grade tint and the right tools its gonna look like crap. I only did mine myself because I wanted to learn how to tint windows. The side windows are fairly easy, the back window is a pita, even for a pro like my friend it is difficult. If you just doing one car, pay a pro to do it. If your gonna do 4 cars like I did, and you wanna learn a new skill, and you have patience, buy the right tools and get tips from a pro.

 

Here is a question then. How long does a pro grade window tint last ? 5 yrs., ? 10 yrs., ? possibly 20 ?

 

I have seen one last 10 years, every window was nice except the rear (defrosted) window.
but, it was garage kept, for the most part. It was a dd, not a car that was hid from the elements, though.

 

I've got an appointment for next Tuesday to have ours done.

Going with 35's on the driver annd passenger windows, probably 20 on the rest.

Legal here in MO, no worries.

Wha wha what is this tire/wheel combo -



I hope not photochop!

 

Thats weird. I'm in Springfield and I had mine as dark as yours. I was heading to work one morning and got pulled over, at first I thought I did something wrong but no...The cop said my tint was too dark and said I need to take it off. Yeah right...got a 90 dollar ticket. First ticket I ever received and the only one to date. I don't even think speed tickets are that high. I'd be careful.

 

I like how yall revived a 2 year old thread. Lol

 

UJM I believe those are Infiniti G35 wheels with NO TIRES lol

I plan on buying some quality precut stuff from ebay. Ive done the side windows before with the same precut stuff; with the right tools our side windows are pretty easy to do. However I have ruined 2 precut pieces of rear window tint and cussed very loudly to say the least. My VE 5spd never got tinted in the back just had the side ones done. I plan on finding someone who can do just the back and hopefully I can get that done for < $100.

The only time Ive ever gotten a ticket was for window tint. Pretty sure it was 5% up front when I was 17 and yes I was an idiot. However where I live a window tint ticket isnt considered a 'moving violation' so it doesnt really 'count' lol. the $50 I had to pay did tho.

Does anyone have any experience with the reflective (not straight black) window tint? Im not going to go very dark (thinking 70/20/10) and I think it would look nice against the pearl white paint/chrome window trim...

 

Most places around here charge around $150 for a four door car, which usually includes a windshield strip. They also guarantee the tint and their work for as long as you own your car. Most of these places use high end tint as DanNY mentioned, and they block out UV rays.

 

No one will accuse me of not knowing how to use the search function!

 

That sucks!

Here is a link to the law, it must of been darker than 35 on the driver/passenger doors - in not, you got hosed.

Missouri Tint Information Link

 

Same here except the price, I think it is a couple hundred with the windshield strip.

 

If you can't roll them down, the cops can't check prove anything But IMO, anything darker than 30 is ugly anyway. I tinted my windows last summer, but before buying the amount of film I needed for all the windows, I tested a strip of 35% Llumar on a spare window and brought it to a shop to get it metered. Stock tint in addition to the strip was exactly 30% which is the lowest VLT in my state.

 

If a shop does it and screws up the tint job, they're obligated to fix it.

If you do it and mess it up, off to the store to buy more tint film, and strip it all off before re-applying it.

 

lol no doubt to that.

 

If you don't screw up, it's about $30 compared to $200 at a good shop. Screwing up one window costs about $3 extra. You could ruin 56 window cutouts and still come out on top.

 

so Hectic...all 3Gs have a stock 95% tint? is that what you're saying? Did not know that.

 

^Not exactly window tint. The majority of auto glass causes a darkening effect (the I cant think of the term). Put it this way...put a tint meter on stock windows, it will often read that the windows are slightly tinted

 

I have to correct myself, OR law (and my glass) is 35%, not 30% as I said before. Plus, the film I used is actually rated at 38% to compensate for the stock VLT. So that would mean it's about 97% for the stock glass.

 

That depends on what you consider your time to be worth, something to think about.

I need to get some pictures, the Maxima came out great, looks like a new car.

Trying to make up for it, how about some hurdling. I have to say, this might be a must see, a new respect for hurdling I now have.

http://youtu.be/-qhR0Ie64PI

 

DIY tint is a pia imo. Have it professionally done and it will last. As for the %, yes cars today have a degree of factory window tint. That's why I ussually go with 40% on my cars because with the factory tint it ends up being like 32-33% when metered.

 

Finally made the time to take a picture.



Does anyone have any suggestions for the side trim that is discolored? Can it be repainted?

 

Not true...they make testers that come apart so you dont have to roll down the window (one piece goes on the inside of the window and one goes on the outside I had mine checked on my old jeep and i started to roll the window down, he said "no need to roll it down"...came out at 1%

 

Yes it can be repainted. My car is actually the same color as yours and I just had my door moldings repainted.

 

Thanks, that's what I'll do.

Debated on going with bronze tint, the tintman did not stock it, made it a easier decision

 

That figures.. I guess it's good I'm legal then. I'm glad I don't live in California where tinting your windows is against the law. Who are they to say whether or not people can protect the inside of their cars from damaging rays? I'll tell you what, I'm never going to go without tint again after seeing what 20 years did to my seats. I realize there's clear films for that, but I have a hard time believing it does as good of a job at keeping heat out as well.

Once you go dark, it's the only way to park

 

Maine is good for tint laws...as dark as you want on all windows behind the driver seat...35% on the front driver and passenger windows. I have 35% on the fronts, and 5% on the rears. Cant believe CA doesnt let you tint with all the sun and heat out there

 

The moldings are held on with double sided tape.

 

I got mine professionally done. I've seen some people do it themselves and if you don't do it right it looks downright awful.

I have the factory tint on my car plus 40% and I still got pulled over (granted it was at night, I have black interior, and the cops were bored and profiling my car)

He gave me a warning because the second he walked up he could tell my tints weren't illegal, he just wanted to give a ticket out, luckily I got a bs warning.

 

I worked at an Audio and Accessories shop back in high school for free err I guess as an "intern" lol and learned how to install headunits, fogs, sound systems, and tinted windows... I'm glad that I "worked" there even though I did not make money, I gained some knowledge which has earned me some quick cash.

I'm actually planning on tinting my 2002 myself but I'm too damn lazy to buy the roll and cut the film. I'm just going to order the precut stuff from ebay and hope its ok quality. Has anyone actually used that precut film before?

 

Had my car tinted with limo all the way around minus front windshiled. Havent been able to enjoy it since the car is FINALLY at the body shop getting a make-over.

 

Thank you!