Tinted windows

[newcar]

Hi,
I have factory tinted windows on my mazda3. though I think it looks nice,I was wondering if they can be darkened. I like to get them darker than they are to help with protecting interior from sun etc...
I was just wondering if getting aftermarket tint hurts the factory tint. The dealer I bought my car does do window tinting,though not sure if they do it after the fact without charging out the ass. Then again Im not sure what the standard price for tinting windows is..

 

[NOmz3]

You can either tint over the factory tint, or have it removed completely and go with a darker grade.

 

[bdd]

most cars come with some kind of factory tint in the glass itself. you find this out when you get pulled over and tint checked by the cop. when places tint your windows, you may think you are getting 35% but you end up with 30 because of a 5% tint in the window from factory, so what you actually end up with is a ticket .. (true story). If you have a dark tint already from factory then you will be fine since it is actually tinted glass. If it is just a dark tint that was put on when you bought it new, chances are the dealership had it put on. That is the case with mine, and in the glove box there was a tag from the place they had it put on with the warranty and type of tint. If it is regular (post-factory) tint, I would not recommend putting more tint over it, have it removed and darker put on, if it is truely tinted factory glass, that should be no problem.

 

[RHAGEL]

I say go darker, it has helped keep my car cool and it looks nice too. I paid $170 for all my windows which is a prettty good price. The lowest I found was $160 but I wasn't too sure about the quality. In CA tinting the front windows is illegal so if your worried than check you states laws. I have had dark fronts for 8 years in 3 different cars and have never gotten pulled over.

 

[newcar]

tint

The window tint was put in by factory so,its not removable. Though the dealer does do tinting themselves,I would imagine they charge more than an actuall shop. I live in mo. I think we are allowed top of front window to be tinted.

I've seen ppls tint that looked purple,is that not enough layers or just plain worn out tint or just crap job??

 

[silla3]

crap job. here in tx you can do 6"down on the front window, 35% or lighter on front doors and whatever you want on the rest. i have none on the front window, front doors are 35%, rear doors and hatch glass are 5%.

 

[icspots]

The window tint was put in by factory so,its not removable. Though the dealer does do tinting themselves,I would imagine they charge more than an actuall shop. I live in mo. I think we are allowed top of front window to be tinted.

I've seen ppls tint that looked purple,is that not enough layers or just plain worn out tint or just crap job??

A lot of tint will turn purple if it's cleaned with amonia based cleaners. If you can find someone that uses good dyed films it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[mazda3zoom]

you should definately go darker. Here in MI you cant have anything lower then 4" fro the top on your front doors. In my sig i have 35% on my fronts and 5% one the rest of the rears. I had to take off my tint because of tickets but i couldnt deal with it, my car looked so weird without the tint. So now i have 5% all the way around. lol

 

[MightyMouse]

A lot of tint will turn purple if it's cleaned with amonia based cleaners. If you can find someone that uses good dyed films it shouldn't be a problem.

Actually, it is the dyed films that fade. The good tints use metal particles to do the tinting, and should never fade. There are even a couple really good tints out now that use ceramic particles instead of metal, because the metal particles can hamper electronic transmissions like cell phones, keyless entry etc etc.

And good tints are NOT CHEAP. I purchased some good stuff for my car, which has a really high heat rejection even though it is only 52% visible light transmission (very light), and is a metal/ceramic mix, but just to buy enough film to do my wagon cost $300 from a wholesaler, and THEN I had to have it installed.

 

[TheMAN]

all the north american mazda3s have 70% tinted glass all around... to get a LEGAL 35% (result) tint, you need to get 50% tinting done... a lot of shops either don't know about this technicality of the laws or they just want you to get the darker 35% s*** so they can charge you more