Andrew LB

*WHEW*.... i was just there about 20 minutes ago getting a quote for my car and my buddies WRX. In the past i've had two vehicles tinted there and at least 6 freinds have cars tinted and its always been great. But the last time we used them was probably 4 years ago.

Good to know they're not doing good work because I was considering their Llumar 20% which would have been $200 for all windows.

I was a little set back when the guy told me that to tint the car using the 3m 20% it would cost F*****G $350. I laughed and left.

Andrew LB

Well.... after talking to a few friends, mostly my friends father who used to run Street Trucks, Import Racer, and a bunch of other magazines, he recommended a place in the city of Orange, CA called "Mike's Tint Shop" and i got my windows done this evening. He gave me the whole run down on the various grades of tint and why some are so expensive and i ended up blowing a pretty big chunk of change on the second best Llumar film available as well as the warranty where they'll strip the tint if i get nailed by the cops and re-apply it after taking care of the fine.

It turns out that cheap tint jobs which usually run between $150 and $200 use films that are 50% metallic and 50% dye or even less metallic which over time tends to change color. Yes... even the lower end Llumar, Mataco, and Sunguard films have this issue. I went with the 90% metallic llumar film which only allows 20% of the light to come through and it looks amazing. They did a phenominal job fitting the film, properly trimming the edges, and used one piece to do the entire rear window. I got a hooked up deal since my friends father uses the shop to tint the show trucks he builds for Street Trucks Magaizine and even then it was almost double the cost of buying the cheapest grade of Llumar film which is mostly dyed.

I figured that after spending $30k+ on a car, i had better not skimp on cheap tint and worry about it turning color years down the line and not reflecting heat properly.

Their offerings of films range from $155 to just over $400 with all the warranties, removal/replacement for tickets, and if you accidently scratch the film and IMO the job i had done was worth every dollar. I'll post up some pics tomorrow when its sunny so you guys can check it out.

BigEasy0420

I just paid $60 for back three windows '25% dark tint'