Tinting the prius 2010..good idea or bad?

Did some price comparing around the area and read some reviews online. Sonny's was priced well @ $185 but After reading several positive reviews I will probably be going with The Tint Guy in Lawrence. I plan to go slightly darker than legal, probably about 28%, and from what I read he can do any level you want. Thanks for the info though, it was good to have several shops to compare.

Just for info, I also called Tint King in Billerica, they use Llumar tint and charge $250. Then Car-Risma in Lowell charges 179.99 and uses SunTek Hi Performance. All of the above offer lifetime warranty.

 

What shop did you go to in LA? I too live on the westside and just got a winter grey. Wondering also if theres any green hue to the johnson tint you put on?

 

wow that tint has a very green hue.

 

Here is a picture of mine with tint.

 

Here is a picture of mine with tint.

 

Not trying to sell anything here but if anyone needs any advise about window tint you can send us an email and I will be glad to answer any questions you have. I've been tinting windows for over 15 years so I have a lot of knowledge I can share about tinting your vehicle and maybe save you from making a bad purchase.
We also have all the laws and a lot of information on our web site. Please feel free to visit if you like.

firstcoastglasscoatings.com

I will also answer any questions anyone asks here on this forum as long as I see the post.

James Cox

 

I'll say this from my personal experience on the 2010 Prius, as I've had lots of my other (or previous) cars tinted.

On the 2010 Prius, if you go with something like a 35% all the way around (no windshield), then it comes out looking like another car with possibly 40-ish % tint. Since there's a lot of light coming into the car, I think the Prius can get away with a darker tint, even if you have the dark gray leather interior. I originally had 35% on my car but it was too light looking for my tastes (too much light coming in, as you could also see directly into the car and read a magazine that's sitting on the seat from the outside). So I decided to go with a double layer and I put 50% over the existing 35% tint. In the end, the 2 tints are a hair lighter than the 23% tint that's offered at the shop I had it done at (I'd say around 24% after some rough calculations). That being said, sure I could've pulled off the 35% and went with 20% but I figured I'd save myself some extra work and use the extra layer for more heat rejection.... I'll test this when I drive it out in the sun later and see how it feels with the sun beating on my face. But even on a black car and with dark gray interior, the 24% still isn't that dark but it looks good IMO. You can still see the person inside the car, but you can't make out who it is from a distance, like driving on the freeway (which is what I was going for). If standing you're next to the car, then you can easily see the person inside. The same with the back as you can see items in the back seat if you're next to the window, but to the average person just walking by it's harder to see in for privacy. I'll take some pictures of it this weekend after I wash my car.

With the 2010 Prius windshield, I actually had a 50% tint on there but I immediately took it off. Since the windshield is so slanted, any tint on the windshield will look darker than it really is. On my Land Cruiser, the windshield is very vertical so the 50% that I have on the windshield in that truck doesn't effect any driving at night (that's also with 20% on the rest of the windows). I'll probably keep the tint off my Prius windshield since I like the 24% look that I have and don't want to have it too dark inside. But if I do decide to tint the windshield again for the summer, I'll just do 70% as anything lower will be too dark. And yes, having some tint on the windshield, as 'unsafe' or 'illegal' as it is, does make a noticable difference in sunlight glare, and heat rejection when parked outside in the sun. If you apply any tint to the windshield, just do it smartly so it doesn't effect your night time driving, and so that it doesn't stand out from the rest of the car.

Just my $.02 on that matter.

 

35% (on front windows) is way to dark on a California car if you don't want to get risk being hassled by the police. Even with ivory interior I got pulled over twice before finally removing it and going to 70%.

 

Interesting, considering the Prius is already tinted ~75% in the factory glass. I haven't gotten around to tinting my Prius, but I had assumed it'd be darker because of the tinted factory glass.

 

Interesting. Of all of the Prius' I've looked at the dealerships before I bought mine, I didn't see one that came tinted from the manufacturer. I'm about to drop $219 (w/windshield banner) for my window using the 3M lifetime guarantee 20% window tint all the way around, except the little window below the taillight.

Will post before and after pics.

 

~75% is hardly noticeable, but that's how much the factory glass is tinted (IN the glass, not using a film).

 

Aye, those are the specs I have seen as well.

 

That's what I would've thought too. But it kind of makes sense that since there's a lot of big windows on the car that lets a lot of light in, you would need a darker tint to make up for the difference. When I put 20% all around on my Land Cruiser, I thought it was going to be too dark but it was perfect because the windshield (before I tinted it) let it a lot of light and it still it up the interior. The same goes for the Prius.

I looked through the previous pages of this thread and found these pictures that best described how my tint looked on my black car. Ironically, both of these cars (the owners) posted the same % tint was used as what I had as well. I hope the owners don't mind, as I'm just using their pics as a reference point, since the tint I had was exactly the same shade/darkness.



Here's what 35% looked like on my car. It's pretty see-through IMO, especially under the sunlight or under a street light at night (it looked like my windows weren't even tinted under the fluorescent parking lot lights at Costco the other night with 35%)








After changing mine to an approx 24%, it looks pretty much like this (this is 20% for the owner), but my tint is a hair lighter. It's obviously darker than the 35%, but on a Prius still allows more light into the car than say if you used the same 20% on a Camry or Accord (I've seen those cars with 35% and 20% and due to the glass sizes and numbers, tint appears darker on those cars).










Now that owner has misty gray interior so it shows up. But even with the dark charcoal leather interior in my car, I can still see the seats just as clear as in the above pictures. The 20% is a darker tint, but still see-through enough for privacy but then not completely dark like other cars I've seen on the road. The 35% looked very light and didn't really hide or protect anything, and was very see-through. Again, these are just my opinions as others may like the 35% look or vis versa.

 

New Prius Tint Question

Just got a Prius IV, going to get 20% on rear and passengers and something light on front doors as in CA, what does everyone do to the small window area under hatch that already has a little tint to it? do you do the same as back or lighter to match it since already has some?

Thoughts?

 

Re: New Prius Tint Question

I went ahead and did it the same as the rest of my windows. If you got the top back window done a certain % then do the same % on the small read window. It'll look fine. I have 18% on everything but the windshield.

 

Re: New Prius Tint Question

I did 35% on the rear windows. I left the strip as is, I saw no need to tint it and want the visibility out of it.

 

Just got my 70% (NY Legal) and it looks good to me but I don't like them to dark anyway.

 

Just bought my Prius 3 days ago. Got it tinted 3% all the way around with Johnson Window Film. Here are the pictures. Heat reduction has gone down DRAMATICALLY. When I get out to California in August I am going to do the Lumair Air Blue 80 (BMW Style), Tint on the windshield. Since no one offers Ceramic Tint out here in Albuquerque.

So this was my first time with 3% tint. I have had all my cars 5% but out here I noticed that this lets too much heat in still. Its only been two days but I already notice a huge improvement. Ceramic tint is definitely the way to go if you can afford it!

I took these with my phone. I will upload better pictures if people are interested.

 

I was going to tint mine but this weekend I was in a rental with what appeared to be light tinting during the daytime and realized that at night the stuff decreased my ability to see pedestrians and made it more likely that I would hurt somebody with my car. That was it for me. I'd say "bad" to the OP.

 

I have the same color car and just had the windows tinted to 15% with Llumar film. I love the look of 15% plus it protects the leather and keeps the car a little cooler. Look sweet on the BRM too.