Where to buy some window tint?
 

Anybody have any ideas on where to buy some decent window tint film? I'm wanting to cut my teeth and tint my company car... I seem to have the only vehicle in the fleet thats not tinted, and since I'm going to be damn near living out of it this summer, I want tint for heat/security issues. I've got a good grasp of how to tint, and I'm familiar with applying film( aka Large vinyl decals). I just can't find a place to buy some decent film that isn't raping you on price.

Any ideas?


And yes, I have looked at the walmart film... Just not sure I want to go that cheap.. ;)

Be careful, some places it's illegal to tint your windows other than factory tint.

All good here as long as I don't go past 25%, and in OK they never check... Pretty sure my 944 is 15 or 20 and its never gotten a second glance....

I wont go past 25 on this as it has a texas tag and will need to pass a texas inspection again....

Have you gotten a quote for a professional job? Last time I checked, it was about $220 for a Ford Windstar minivan. Those were big flat windows and probably easier than a sedan. The results were stellar. I know you've seen home hack jobs.

If you pursue it yourself, how about Napa? Locally we have a BAP that's very good. Maybe call your local one.

I've seen home hack jobs, and I've had professionals that hacked my vehicles too... Thats why I'm trying to find some film on a budget, I know I can figure it out... ;)

The only film napa has is the stuff thats not much different than that walmart stuff. Seems the good manus (3M, Llumar, etc) have pretty well clamped down and theres not much available to the open market. I'll start cruising ebay maybe...

I've done several cars myself over the years using the Gila film that I was able to get at parts stores. They have various levels of quality and color. I haven't bought any in 5-7 years.

One thing that I can tell you is that the pros use a machine to cut the tint these days. The last time I had a car done, they put in the make, model and year of the car and this machine with a huge roll of tint spit out all of the windows perfectly cut. For me at least, getting the tint cut the right size and shape is the hard part. I'd probably try to find a place that would sell me some pre-cut tint.

I think you can even find kits of pre-cut stuff on ebay, but I'm not sure what quality the film will be.

Good luck and let us know what you discover and go with.

Too bad there isn't a reasonable qualified shop that could do it for you, Sidney. I had my work truck done (just 2 windows) several years ago and it was worth it - they did a great job. Still holding up just fine and my truck sits outside 24/7 - in Florida!

I got some from an ebay vendor. Pre cut for my Toyota and it comes in lots of different strengths.
I did it myself, and it's pretty awesome except for one tiny hair and a spot with a half a dozen tiny bubbles.

Clean is king, but you can do it.

I had my Camry Hybrid done for about $200. they used some 10 year guarantee mylar stuff, but had to change the rear tint to some older stuff because it effed up the three antennas in the glass.

I could find a shop, but I'm not going to pay $200+ to tint an SUV that I'm going to have less than a year...


I'm trying to find some tint for ~$50 that I can DIY. I know I'll be getting a new company car eventually, but I don't want all my valuable stuff in plain sight for the summer.

Here's the linky to the ebay store I used.

Precut Film Front Door Windows Any Tint Shade VLT for Toyota Trucks Glass | eBay

How long have you had it on? Is it holding its color well?

Bout a year and a half, maybe 2 years. Yeah, it's holding up fine. It's not showing any scratching from the windows going up and down. I'm really pleased.

I guess I'll post my report next weekend.... For 27 bones, of I can get it on smooth, it'll be worth it...

Tint has always struck me as one of those DIY projects that remind you why it's worth paying someone to do. Easy to mess up and cheap to have done, I'm hardcore DIY but always have it professionally done.

I had no idea pre-cut tint could be had for so little. Go Sid, go! Looking forward to your report.