Anyone got their Prime tinted

I have the Lumar tint on my not-a-Prime. At least the shop claims its Lumar. Does Lumar make a non-ceramic tint? My Prius gets very warm inside. I have the darkest tint, plus a front & rear Heatshield when parked. This is the 2nd tint job, I went darker this time. But the car is stil very hot. The price was $350 for the Lumar.

Be honest guys, can you see out at night? I can't. (And yes it's illegal.) I'm ready to go back to the tint shop a third time, because even during day I can barely see the door mirrors. Makes it very hard to change lanes safely. And I get a lot of reflections inside the car.

 

I don’t remember the exact numbers, but that’s roughly what we paid, but including all but the windshield (can’t legally tint the windshield, in TX at least).

 

There are different products by LLumar, check out: Products | For Cars | LLumar Window Films -

I would not expect to see out of illegal tint. I think that's why they made it illegal for a reason.

You can tint the windshield in TX. See below:
TxDPS - VI Window Tint Program

The link is below his quote so click on that line that starts with "Anyone". It goes to a post by Pdog808.

 

CA law:
Front Side windows: Aftermarket film must allow more than 88% of light.
Back Side windows: Any darkness can be used.
Rear Window: Any darkness can be used.

Its only illegal because the dark tint is on the front side windows. (It's not as dark as the photo makes it look.) But obviously my front side windows do not allow 88% of light to come in. Police don't like that. I did it because I thought it would keep the interior cooler. Didnt work. Time to peel it off.

 

Actually, Llumar does not make a ceramic tint. More than one shop/installer has told me that only Huper has an actual ceramic. They have a patent on it. Others have their premium lines, but they aren't "ceramic." Whether that is a difference in name only, or an actual difference in technology, I'm not sure. I do believe Huper is best.

IIRC, I have Llumar CTX (their version of ceramic) 20% in back and 50% in front (nothing currently on the windshield). Even the 50% in front offers decent heat rejection. I paid over $600 without the windshield, which makes me doubt you got the CTX, but, then again, prices seem to vary widely. I thought I was getting a really good installer. I was wrong.

 

The install I got was excellent. No complaints there.
The tint on display said "Llumar"... maybe I'm wrong about it being ceramic. And it was more expensive than the other tint they have. When I take off my sunglasses I can see out a little better. But the sun comes in the front windshield, and then reflects off the side tinted windows. I can see the reflection of my dashboard in the tint. Very weird. Then I can't see the mirrors.

I need to go back to driving a Tacoma.

 

Since moving to California 27 years ago, I always get my front windows tinted significantly lighter than my rear ones. I usually go 20% in the back and something like 35-60% in the front. When I've had windshields tinted, I've always gone 70 or 80. I've never been pulled over for tint. I have been pulled over for various nonsense (never a ticket) about 10 times in the last 27 years in a variety of vehicles. No cop has ever commented on my window tint, so I think it being noticeably lighter in the front helps.

Tinting the windshield makes a car much cooler because the windshield is so large and because a lot of the sunlight coming through it can shine directly on your skin. Any heat rejection there helps a lot.

In your earlier post, you mentioned how hot your Prius gets when parked. I think that even the best tint will really only slow down how fast your car heats up when parked in the sun. If it sits in the sun long enough, it's going to get hot (unless you roll a window down a tiny bit). With the windows all rolled up, I guess tint might do a bit to limit how hot a car ultimately gets while sitting in the sun, but not a whole lot. I'm mainly looking for the heat rejection while driving so that I'm more comfortable in the car and the A/C has to run less.

You can get tint for the front side windows that is legal in California, but it is virtually clear. It offers little heat rejection and is really only good for blocking UV rays, in my opinion. I don't want dark tint up front because I'm sure I'd find it as hard to see out of as you are. But I do want at least 50% tint up front. I find California's tint laws absurd. If other states allow tinting up front, California can, too. Cops just want to be able to see inside your car so they can evaluate everyone and decide whom they want to pull over. They say it's for their own safety, but that's BS. They can tell people to roll down their windows during traffic stops, and cops in other states where front tint is allowed are doing fine.

Ultimately, the self-driving cars will change this. Many of the concept cars don't even have front seats. They just have a seat that looks like the horseshoe seat in the back of a limo. I don't know how they're going to justify any tint limitations in a vehicle where people don't even necessarily sit near the front of the car.

 

With the 50% Llumar CTX up front, I haven't noticed any interior reflections. And I can see my mirrors fine, day and night.

 

Just got my Prime tinted this afternoon.
45% in the front. 25% in the back including the rear curve windshield. The dude charged me $240 including lifetime warranty. Three hour job.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Yeah, my last 3 vehicles all had tint. Not quite as dark as my Prius. I've never been stopped by the police for tint; it's the people who commit a moving violation and get a ticket, then the officer might add the illegal tint to the citation. Probably just a fix-it ticket.

 

Just got mine done at a local shop that had fantastic reviews. They use the Johnson InsultIR and I got 20% all around (17% visibility) and they did a fantastic job and couldn’t be happier with it. $402.




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Good

Good ol’ stock prime. Love it

That’s false information. 3M Crystalline and DubIR are full ceramic. The first one with the patent was 3M with nano ceramic. that’s just a pitch huper sales got to justify their extememe mark up.
The most bang for your buck is DubIR.

 

Had all my windows tinted 20% except windshield a few months ago. Inside temps this summer hitting 118 degrees with the windows cracked while parked. Outside temps 100 degrees. Decided to do the windshield with Huler-Optik ceramic 70%. Didn’t change inside temp at all. Why? What am I missing here? Sure makes it easy on the eyes when driving on a sunny day .

 

How long was the vehicle sitting outside in the sun? No matter how good the tint, all you can do is reduce the amount of time it will take for the interior to heat up. Don't forget, ceramic tints are not as good as using a good, reflective sunscreen if you are leaving a vehicle sitting in the sun all day. And regular dark tints (say any tint job that costs less than $300) have much lower heat rejection than ceramic.

The real test is how hard does your AC work in Auto mode when you are driving in hot conditions. Check the fan speed which will go up the more heat it needs to offset.

 

Because huper optik 70% isn’t any good... not much heat rejection.. try Crystalline 50% or DubIR 55% way better

 

50% is way too dark to get away with in Southern Cal. Plus I'm going to say I'm very happy with my 70% Huper-Optik on my windshield after over a year of use.

 

We’re on a road trip to the Oregon coast from Boise and the temperature has been far more bearable and the AC has not had to work as hard. My wife was mentioning g how much more comfortable it felt than the van....she now wants the van done (facepalm).


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No cop no stop I’m rolling 35% on my front windshield. No stop or hassle yet. It doesn’t get hot in my car ever

 

Just had Huper Optik installed on my car. $250 for all 4 doors and the rear. When I went to pick it up, I noticed the lower section of the back glass was not tinted. From the outside, you can’t tell but from the inside, it is very noticeable. The shop says they will tint it for me but don’t normally tint the lower section because that is where you look out from in the rear view mirror. I’m still deciding if it will bother me or not. Has anyone had this experience?


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