- Regular film? Nano-ceramic? Infrared nano-ceramic?
- How much should I expect to pay for the full car (i.e., all windows except for windshield)?
- What level of tint would you recommend? What can I get away with? I'm in California.
- Length of warranty I should expect?
Got some quotes for a few places. Price ranged from ~$240 for regular film (Llumar's Formula One or Suntek Carbon) to ~$650 for the infrared nano-ceramic. Not sure what would be considered a "good" price and whether or not I should splurge for the ceramic tint. I do live in an area where it gets consistently hot in the summer (100F+).
I did the ceramic 35% (legal limit in VA) on my current car and I’m not sure the ceramic has made much difference from other tinted cars I’ve had.
I have had cars tinted darker than legal and have been pulled over for it. Looks cool, but not worth it in my opinion now. Maybe I’m just getting older and wiser.
Edit: was about $400 for a Camry.
I live in a generally low cost area but you should be able to get pretty much any car done for 200-something, at least with the 'low end' film. In general i think the higher cost films are more of an upsell opportunity than they are an actual improvement. I'm way more willing to have a higher skilled installer install the cheapest tint, than have a crappy installer install expensive tint.
Down here a lot of car dealerships tint almost everything they sell in house, which means they have very experienced installers. Some dealership service departments will do tint on any car you bring in, so that's one way to be fairly certain you're working with an experienced installer.
Otherwise, tinters sort of fall in with a lot of other categories of tradesmen, which means being serious flakes and making a career out of pissing people off and then ghosting them. I honestly wouldn't assume a tint warranty means a damn thing unless you're getting it from an established shop that has little chance of disappearing. Hole in the wall places are here today, gone tomorrow when it comes to tint.
In CA front sides can only be max 50% I believe (not dark). Rear and side rear are un-restricted. You will see a LOT of cars with illegal tint though. They get away with it by lowering their windows if stopped. Obviously this creates a reason to pull you over if the cop is bored (in other words be very careful in Burbank).
