I was just told today by a Toyota salesman, David Chen at Toyota of Palo Alto, that we can order dark tinted window glass on a 2006 Prius from the factory. I cannot find any other confirmation of this. Another dealer said definitely not, and I cannot find any mention of such on Toyota sites. I don't like applied window film, as it doesn't last that long without getting unsightly. Some Toyota vehicles are indeed available with darker side and rear windows. Has anyone actually gotten such an option from the factory on a Prius?
Interesting...I'll stick around this thread b/c I'd like to know about that myself. I was considering after-market tinting at a nearby place I heard applauded on another thread, but if it's available installed by the factory or even the port, I'd much rather have Toyota do it.
I bought my 05 in Tampa and had Toyota tint mine (it was done at the port). It wasn't very dark though. Honestly I could barely tell that it was tinted. I wish I had saved the month and done it after the fact.
See this thread for some info and pictures I posted on the SouthEast Dealer Port-Installed tint. This will give you good idea on the tint job you will get in the southeast from the dealers here. http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=12144
Thanks for posting the link for the other 'tint' thread. Were you given different choices as to the darkness of the tint from Toyota or is that basically the only shade they do? I think I'll stick with my original notion and go with aftermarket tint because in the pictures, it doesn't look to be quite the shade/darkness that I was hoping for. Still want to keep it legal, but just barely.
My Eugene, Oregon dealer says no factory tint and no port- or dealer-installed tint. He referred me to a private tinting shop who charges $325. Bummer.
Nope, wasn't given a choice. I live in GA, but actually got the car in North Carolina. Both Ga and NC legal are 32% light transmission, and that is what the tint is you see in the pictures. Not sure what CA law is, there were some threads here in the summer that discussed different tinting levels. You might want to search for those threads, as well as discussion of metal-based tints possibly messing around with the nav system. I'm OK with the level of tint, though I was expecting a little darker. I've noticed on the grey days we've been having here that the tint seems to stand out more than it seemed to in the summer.
the local dealer here hires a local tint company to do selected new cars as they come in. so much for 'dealer' tint... edit: i should also mention we privately hired this tint company to do our own tint after we bought the car. looks great, lifetime warranty against peeling and fading, covers new film and labor to take the old out and put the new in...
