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2021 Factory tint?
- Thread starter JakeMoore
- Start date
OCJeff
Active Member
I'll know today. Picking up my MSM MY with that configuration.
How did it come out. A shop near me said that putting 70% xpel on all the rear glass brings the VLT to 14-16% so putting 30-35% xpel in the front will look good but won't match the rears because the front will be quite a bit lighter than the rears.
OCJeff
Active Member
Actually, I missed your "cork" comment. I actually had SunTek Carbon tint installed for a closer color match to the factory tint (and I don't spend a ton of time parked in the sun). I'm also old enough now that I don't want to be inconvenienced by a fix-it ticket and that whole process, so I didn't go super dark for that exact reason. I didn't want to add tint to the rears, and didn't want the front ending up darker than the back.
I only added 35% tint to the front sides, and 70% on the windshield. I like how it looks, more privacy than before, and a very close match between the front/rear windows. The factory rear was about 24 VTL, and front was 73 VTL. So adding 35% to the front brings it to 25% and a very close match to the front.
dagug
Member
If you want heat/UV protection in the rears, I would suggest putting 70% over the pre-colored glass. The factory glass is around 24% and so the 70% (which is typically the VLT of "clear" factory glass) will drop it to around 22% ish depending on the brand you use. In that case, putting 20% on the fronts will probably get you to the closest match when all is said and done. Most manufacturers will only offer a 20% or a 35% and nothing in between. 35% will be noticeably lighter and 15% (next level down from 20%) will be too dark. You might get lucky and find 25% which will match the stock rears but if you put any sort of heat/UV protection on the rears, it will end up just a smidge too light.
If you don't touch the rears at all, I'd go with the 35% since the factory ~70% VLT on the fronts will net you around 25% which should be very similar to the factory rears as @OCJeff says.
TLDR: If you plan to add heat/UV protection all around, go 20% in the front and 70% for the rears for the closest match. If you do not plan to touch the rears at all, go with 35% in the front (or 25% if the manufacturer offers it).
If you don't touch the rears at all, I'd go with the 35% since the factory ~70% VLT on the fronts will net you around 25% which should be very similar to the factory rears as @OCJeff says.
TLDR: If you plan to add heat/UV protection all around, go 20% in the front and 70% for the rears for the closest match. If you do not plan to touch the rears at all, go with 35% in the front (or 25% if the manufacturer offers it).
I meant to say *color. So your front and windshield have carbon ceramic but your rears don't have any tint whatsoever? Jus curious if your car still feels cool after being parked in the sun for few hours without any type of tint in the back?
Good to know DAGUG but according to my tint shop adding xpel XR black 70% to the rears would bring the VLT down to 14%.
I'll have them do all the rear glass first and put a meter on them post tint to get an exact VLT reading and then go from there on whether I'll decide to go with 20% or 15% on the front glass.
As far as the windshield goes I'm leaning towards 70 or 80 xpel XR blue.
dagug
Member
Yeah that's probably your best bet is to meter ahead of time. It'll all depend on exactly how much your specific windows are metering to begin with. With Tesla's questionable QC, I wouldn't be surprised if windows are metering anywhere from 18-25% stock which is probably why some people swear by 15%, others 20%.
Exelion
Member
There may be a difference in the front side windows, as some are double pane and some are single pane. That may make a difference in the darkness (or maybe not).
As far as the rears go, definitely a possibility. tesla can change window sources at any time and those glass companies can all have varying degrees of darkness.
Tha_Ape
Active Member
"Colored glass" is synonymous with "tint". I think you mean they don't have film on them, they're dyed like every other factory tinted car
Colored glass is colored glass.
Tint is a film.
They are not synonymous. Or they shouldn’t be.
I should probably start a new thread for this question but have the option to go with xpel XR+ or Rayno phantom film s9 on my TMY. XPEL seems to have really good reviews on their film and the shop has good reviews but is a fairly new shop. The shop that uses Rayno has 400 five star reviews on yelp and Google. Both shops are charging about the same price for either film so I'm up in the air on which film to go with. Your guys feedback and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Anyone in New York tinted their model Y front windshield and front door windows? A tint installer warned me that I can't put 70% xpel xr plus tints as it'll make it illegal in NY and I won't pass the inspection. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Mainly looking for heat rejection, that's why I wanted to do ceramic tints on all of the windows. Thanks.
dagug
Member
What inspection are you trying to pass? If you mean when you get pulled over and police try to meter your front windshield, that's impossible because the meter is like a handheld device that is meant to fit over both sides of the glass. If it's for emissions, you're driving an EV which has no emissions and window tint wouldn't be tested anyways.
I have 70% on my front windows and you literally can't tell the difference (inside nor out) between that and factory glass so unless there's some window tint specific inspection, I don't see how anything would get flagged in the first place for it to even get tested. And even then, not sure how they would test...
Sounds to me like your installer just doesn't want to deal with the hassle.
No cop would be able to see that a windshield has 70% on the windshield unless they pull out a meter that reads VLT%
