Windshield tint issues for night time driving?

No its not ceramic, that was going to be like $500. $350 was for all windows except the lower rear but including the windshield. There was a lifetime warranty and I have been told that they are the best place in Rochester NY.

 

Get ceramic, it's worth the cost. Tint the lower small window so the entire back looks black.

 

The owner of the tint shop Im going to showed me the specs for the Carbon XP that I am getting compared to Ceramic. There was only 1% difference in heat reflectivity at 35% tint. If I was getting a darker tint like 5% or 15% then its a larger difference (ceramic would block more of the suns rays making the car cooler).

So I decided to save the $150 and go with the Carbon XP 35%.

 

My 30% is lighter than the non-ceramic 35% and it is a night and day difference of the heat it blocks.

The 70% I have on my windshield blocks the same amount of heat the 30% on the sides do.

Heat reflection has nothing to do with the % of the tint, it is the components of the tint that reflect the heat.

I would talk to a different shop. I know back there you don't have all the options we have out here in CA, but shop around, you are spending quite a bit of money.

In 6 months you will not think twice about the extra $150 you spent on the tint, but every time you are in the sun and you feel how cool it is inside, you will thank me for trying to talk you into ceramic.

I had normal tint on my past two cars, and finally paid the extra and went ceramic on the PiP and I enjoy the difference every day I drive it. But then again, here in So Cal, that is pretty much year round. Not so much so in Ithica (<-from Buffalo, I know those construction seasons)

 

Hey Phoenix, I am going to get a banner tint on my Prius and wondered what shade/darkness I should get. If you had to do over would you still have gotten "Limo" or would you go a shade or two lighter..

 

Also, when it comes to banner height is 6" or 8" preferable?

 

I guess I could chime in. Here in South Florida when its 97 degrees and 95% humidity Tinting is not so much an option as a necessity-- especially on a Black car! I went to a tint shop affiliated with the dealership because they had a deal with the dealership that netted me 60 dollars off the normally 260 dollars to do everything but the front. They also were the ONLY shop that used a COMPUTER CONTROLLED FILM CUTTER (this is very important for reasons I will describe later). They asked if I wanted a "legal" tint (yes). They said the the legal limit was 28% but, since you have to leave a little allowance for transmittance loss from the glass, most "legal" films come in 30%;However, since my
Prius 4 has some kind of radio antanne in the back window, you have to use a Non-metalic film that won't interfere with the signal which comes in 35%. So, I got the front driver side and passenger side at 35% and the other windows in the car at 20% except for windshield and the small back/bottom window which is already tinted at the factory (ALL of which is legal in Florida). The smaller back bottom window now looks untinted from the inside but looks the same as everything else from the outside. They said if they tinted over the factory tint on this back/bottom window, it would be too dark to be legal.
Then they told me about the 75% "Solar Tint" for the front that isn't really legal but, looks CLEAR to the naked eye, yet, supposedly blocks 40% of the heat. That was another 150 bucks that I am starting to regret. The problem is, the front tint is really thick. If you have ever seen heat waves rising off a really hot road or the desert (mirage), that would be how I would describe the visual distortions we are seeing in the front window--like everything is melting---You know, just like those LSD trips you had in High School!--LOL! My girlfriend won't stop bitching about it so, we plan to have it removed for something else and, hopefully a refund (all the other windows look great inside and out).
When we called to complain, the tint shop stated that it takes two weeks to cure and settle down but, we haven't noticed that its gotten any better now at the 17 day mark. The other issue I see with it at night is: There are little tiny glints of light that appear like grains of sand that light up when the headlights hit them but, thats not as annoying as the
"heat-wave" effect. So, in conclusion, I totally understand that the windsheild on a Prius is and absolute burning greenhouse effect, and, some kind of treatment is necessary if you live in the deep south but, I would carefully research it to find out if there are any issues with the film they intend to apply from those who have tried it before you go fowling your windsheild. And another thing to consider is how they cut the films. Most tint shops
CUT THE FILM BY HAND AGAINST THE OUTSIDE OF YOUR WINDOWS, and then, take them to the inside. This method is flawed in three very important ways...
The human hand will NEVER be able to cut that tint as accurately as a computer controlled cutter and, when done by hand, they are also picking up all the DIRT on the outside of the car and transfering it ONTO the TINT and INTO the INSIDE of the car and, the tint is being handled more by this method so it gets more soiled. I have also heard horror stories of guys getting their paint jobs nicked by a slip of the hand as the cutter is cutting the tint against the window. Do you really want some guy thats probably making minimum wage cutting films with a sharp instrument right on your 30,000 dollar car? And, I've seen all kinds of debris and bugs trapped in tint films and really sloppy cutting jobs when done by hand. For these reasons, I would ONLY go to a tint shop that cuts their films with a COMPUTER CONTROLLED FILM CUTTER---PERIOD!.
Its cleaner, (no debris or bugs in your tint), and, you won't see any flawed or rough edges where they didn't cut the tint the accurate size for the window. Also, any tint company that can afford a computer controlled cutter is not going to be some fly-by-night operation that disappears leaving you with no recourse should their tint job develope bubbling or peeling issues. A quality tint shop will offer a WARRANTY. Some tinting chain-stores will give you a lifetime guarantee that they will replace any tint at any of their shops if it bubbles or peels so long as you can show proof of purchase (or go to the specific shop that orginally applied it).
As far as the front tint affecting night vison...
I would say there is absolutely no noticeable diminishing of light transmission via the front window as it appears clear inside and out although they stated its 75% (aside from the minor "stary night" effect from the "grains of sand" or the "heat wave" effect I mentioned earlier). I have yet to notice any issues regarding the other windows at night but, as I have stated, all but my front window are tinted well within legal guidelines as I really didn't want to give "Occifer Stedanko" any noticeable reason to bill me for being illegal and force me to have to redo the entire car (at my expense). They do have tint meters that they can check your tint percentage with if they don't like your tint job (ticket). And, finally, the best time to get your windows tinted is just as you roll off the dealers lot because your windows are never gonna be as clean as they are on that day! Word!

 

More than likely he got a metalic tint applied that interfered with the signal comming to his radio. I was told I could not get a metalic tint for this reason.

 

Thanks for the lengthy, but informative post

 

The "Solar tint" I used on my front window is also called "Crystalline" and its made by 3M and from what I have been reading it is the main competitor of the Huper Optik and is a "hybrid" Ceramic.