another window tint question please
 

OK. I've seen everyone's pictures, and I've got to say, I'm really seriously thinking about window tint now.

My question is... who does window tint? I mean, is there a shop that just does window tint? Or do you go to some auto body shop and get it done?

Please help, as I'm fairly clueless, but I want to get it done.

And I'm in Central NJ, so don't tell me to come over to your shop in Calgary! ;)

Usually there are shops devoted to tinting and alarms, some Audio shops do it. Look in your phone book, Im sure something will turn up.

I must be looking in the wrong section :-(

Thanks, I'll try harder.

Give your local performance shop a call, or even ask your Mazda dealer. I am sure someone will know of a place. Once you find a few places you can get quotes on pricing. There are different types of tint that can be installed not just the % of the darkness.

How deep into NJ are u. I live in NY about 20 mins. from Mahwah, NJ and I got mine done at a shop around here. Everyone that lives around here gets them done at this place. It is called AutoLovers and is in Middletown, NY.

try using a search engine like yahoo...use the yellow pages....you can put in your zip code so it will only search stuff from your area....and search for window tinting.... look in the automotive section

Just walk up to sombody that has a nice looking tint and ask them where they got it done.

;)

In the words of Montgomery Burns: "By Golly Mr. Smithers, I think you may be on to something"

Yup..... that's what I did

Make sure you ask at about 5-6 different places before you decide. Here in Vancouver prices range from 320$ to 160$ so as you can see, that's a big range ;)

Re: another window tint question please
 

Dude, there's this shop in Calgary...oh..nevermind :P

Any idea how dark you want the tint? Also, what type? Best bet is to call around and get price quotes. Be sure to ask about warranty and what it covers.

Does anybody know anything about the dealer tint? My dealer has a LX all dressed up with tint, 17" rims, and all the other sporty accessories. I liked the look of the tinted windows. The sticker said it was $300 for the tint. Is that a bad price? Is the tint any good? I really don't know anything about tint except there are lots of different kinds and prices.

Dermen, your dealer went through a tinting company and had the windows tinted. 300$ is quite a bit, and I'm sure that you could find a better price somewhere else. If you don't wanna bother going through the process though, I guess you can take that one :)

Thanks. I don't know anything about tint. I don't like how some tint is blue and purple. I like the smoke or black tint. I will just have to research it some more and learn about it.

I think Makaveli might have a point... that is: how much is your time worth. If the dealer tint looks great, then it might be worth the $300 just because:

a.) It's already done
b.) you don't have to spend time researching places/prices/quality... which could take days
c.) you don't have to worry about dropping your car off somewhere and being without it for a specified time.
d.) If you're going to finance the car, you're financing the car with the tint on it, so it's not really a direct $300 hit to your wallet (although in the long run, the tine becomes more like $400)

Just some things to think about.

I got mine done for 230 at tint king I got 20 % smoke mettalic film
they did an excellent job. Ive had it on for more than a year and it still looks great. I wouldn't go darker than 20%, because it would be to hard to see at night :camaro:
:tit:

okay, I think I'm finally getting my window tint, but I don't want to plan anything. Last two times that I had planned it, once I got into an accident the day before, and the other time I had to pay an extra 350 for school, so bad luck with those. But after A LOT of reading up and looking around at other people's rides this is what I think about tint....

People generally agree that 5% or 3% limo tint on the back windows makes it hard to look behind you at night when backing up and forces you to use your side mirrors which would be really annoying for me, so that idea is out the window
35% tint looks very classy and looks as dark as 20% during night, but isn't as dark during the day obviously.
20% is very dark while you can still see through it when backing up. This is what I need and that's why I'll probably settle for 20% all the way around except for the front two windows where I will get 50%. If it's illegal in your state to have your front windows tinted, then this is the way to go as the cops will hardly notice it.
It's always good to ask around for prices and look at the other cars that they've done as I've seen some really poor jobs that have a thick line of not-tinted glass around the tint. Doesn't look too great. It's worth to pay the extra 20-40$ for a good job.
Lastly, make sure that the film is metallized. If it is not, after a while (a few years) it will turn purple like you see on some cars.

For best info, ask mazdaspeedwest as he used to tint cars at his work. He knows his tinting ;)

I got mine tinted about 2 years ago. I got it done at a local top shop in my home town in West Virginia. I got the legal limit there since I still had WV tags. that was 35%. It cost me $110. It looks great, but for me, it is too dark. If it is night, and I am trying to turn, I can't see out my side windows hardly at all. And I don't have good night vision at all anyway. If I had it to do over, I would have gotten it lighter. It does keep the heat out well though. But I would check on some other people's cars and ask what % theirs is and whatnot so you don't get it too dark like I did.

Like Makaveli said, the dealer probably used an outside tint shop, unless they do it "in-house". You'll have to ask the accessory department at the dealer for either, A) the brand and type of tint they used or B) the tint shop they use and then go ask them. The dealer i now work at has "in-house" tinting and we use Llumar (ummm, nah i didn't have any influence there....) so the quality is top notch.

Dealer mark-up to $300 is pretty good, our mark-up goes $395. The dealer probably paid between $80-100 if just the rear (legal) section or $100-120 for the full car. (so the $300 is negotiable :))

BTW, Makaveli, i don't tint cars...well, very well anyway, anymore :) my experience comes from owning a tint and alarm shop for 5 years and just basically being around tinters and tint for as long as i can remember.

Is your Jetta sportin' a tint yet?