| Getting the
Windows Tinted, Finally
Here's some quick tips on how to
make sure you get a professional, quality tint job on your new
Honda. I came from out of town when I moved to Arizona, and
had purchased my car used, so when I decided to get my windows
tinted, I was pretty much at a loss of where to start. So I
called the local Honda dealership in town and asked them,
"Where do you guys get your Hondas tinted?" The
guy gave me the name of the place who they've been using for like
10 years. So I gave that place a call and set up an
appointment. This is a good first step. All Hondas
come from the factory to the dealer without an ounce of tint on
the windows. Which means all dealers have to join forces
with some local tint franchise where they can have all their work
done quickly, effectively, professionally and for a good
price. Every Honda dealership has a place. Your job is
to find that place.
Some benefits of going with a
tint company that your Honda dealer uses are probably pretty
obvious. Number one reason: this company is going to be
familiar with your car. They not only have been tinting cars
for years, but the majority of those cars have been Hondas, so
these people know the little quarks that have to do with your
glass, the way the window rolls up, the third brake light and
making sure they tint behind there, and all the other little
things that make your Honda unique to just another car with
windows. The guy that did my car had been doing Hondas for
over 6 years. Here's just a few of the questions I asked him:
Does your tint come with a lifetime warranty?
Yes. All of our tint is backed by a lifetime warranty
against fading, bubbling, peeling etc. for as long as you own
the car.
Do you tint behind the 3rd
brake light?
Yes. We have developed a special tool that allows us
to get behind the 3rd brake light without even having to remove
the rear deck. This saves us time, saves you money, and
keeps your rear deck fully in tact as it was originally (ie, no
added hums and vibrations from it not getting put back in just
right).
Does the tint go all the
way up the window, or does it stop just before the weather
sealant in the door?
We do the tint all the way up the window. So yes, it goes
all the way to the top. We don't mess around.
Do you do the rear window
as two pieces or as one?
We have been doing rear windows in one piece for many
years. We have the tools and the technique to where we can
do any window in one piece. One piece per window is
all we do.
Now of course I also asked all
the normal questions about the type of tint, the manufacturer of
the tint, the UV protection, the heat rejection, the percent of
visible light that each shade allows etc., etc. so don't forget to
ask those too. The tint they used is made by LLumar, which
is an excellent brand, probably one of the best, (but I'm not an
expert on tint brands. The only other brand I looked into
was Formula One). I got ATRCH 35% in the front and
ATRCH 15% on the sides and back. This has a charcoal color
to it, so it actually looks darker than your standard
tint. I chose to stay away from
the Limo Tint which is 5% just because I didn't want the added
worry of driving at night, which everyone says is a pain with limo
tint, and I didn't want a huge contrast in darkness from the front
window to the rear windows. You know the kind where the back
windows look painted black while the front windows are just barely
shaded. It's too ghetto for me. I didn't choose to go
the illegal route either, which if your going through a legitimate
dealer of either Llumar or Formula One, they aren't allowed to do
anyway, so just stick with the 35% and call it good.
Anyway, I'm long-winded I
know. So I dropped my car off, explained to them to drive
slow over bumps and to be careful of the chin spoiler than rides
only 4.5" above the ground. Hehe. :-) The
guy assured me he'd treat my car like it was his own. Two
and a half hours later the car was done and I drove back down to
the shop to get my first look at my new tinted Civic.
WOW! It looked better than I could have hoped. It was
dark. Even for a 35/15 combination, it looked awesome.
It was just what I had hoped it would look like. The tint
looked smooth. The tint looked clean, the windows looks
perfect. Now as most people know, sometimes scratches in
your windows that were there before but not noticeable tend to be
much more pronounced once the tint goes on. You can't do a
whole lot about this. Lucky for me I think I only noticed
one small scratch in the right back window, but it didn't look bad
at all. What I do notice a lot more now are the rear window
defrost wires that are orange. Man the orange on those
stands out more now. Oh well, no big deal.
So the tint is done, I'm very
happy with the results. I can drive at night and still see
through all my mirrors, yet my wife who was driving our Jetta that
night I picked it up said she couldn't see a thing inside the car
at all. Just a silhouette of a head bouncing around as I
flew over bumps in the road. Cool. During the day it
should keep my car much cooler too. So that's my blurb on
the tint. Take it or leave it. When you decide to get
your windows tinted, you'll actually find it's a pain trying to
decided what you think will look good when you really have know
idea till it's done. As long as you get a good feeling about
the place that's doing the job, then everything should work out
just fine. |
