Who's tinted their windows?

[thebigbobowski]

I need advice plz... When talking to my tint installer I asked for the back to be tinted in 1 piece, after I pick the car up I notice its in 2 pieces along the defrost line with a section of the defrost line missing. Take it back and he states I never requested 1 piece and his manufacturer doesn't make a 60" roll of film and for me to find who does and he will order and retint, also the defrost line is intact its just where the seam is. So I do, and he keeps the car for 3 full days due to complications and when I get the car back I notice the defrost line is still missing in those same places as well as a few unsightly scratches in the film... Should I ask for him to replace the defrost line and a full refund so I can take the car to someone who knows what they are doing? Oh and he scratched the chrome trim on both sides due to the windows being extended, those are on order at 380 ea and should be in next week so I have to tread lightly until I get the chrome pieces.. what a nightmare

Yes, ask for a refund (which you may or may not get) and absolutely find someone else who knows what they're doing. Plenty of us have had our full back windows tinted (myself included) and it was done well. Use social media to find other Model 3 owners in your area that have had it done and can make a recommendation.

 

[ninjarice]

30s all around except for the windshield.

 

[ebmcs03]

30s all around except for the windshield.View attachment 339049

Looks way darker than 30

 

[ninjarice]

@ebmcs03 It's the lighting. Bit of an overcast day today. Heres a pic before i had the rims powder coated...

 

[EfficientWatts]

I'm leaning towards XPEL PRIME XR PLUS vs Spectra Photosync because of price. Anyone else compare the two before? Thinking about going 45 all around (except for windshield and roof above driver). Want lighter look and don't mind it being less private.

 

[ECCtechguy]

All set here in NJ.
20% all around
Rear window one piece

Just gave it the first wash too.

 

[JG T3SLA]

Anyone else with white interior hesitant to tint their windows? I like the privacy a tint offers, but I love seeing the white seats so clearly through the untinted windows when I’m approaching the car. Such a striking look that I would hate to give up. Then again I don’t like feeling like I’m in a fishbowl while in traffic.

 

[rzareiser]

Anyone else with white interior hesitant to tint their windows? I like the privacy a tint offers, but I love seeing the white seats so clearly through the untinted windows when I’m approaching the car. Such a striking look that I would hate to give up. Then again I don’t like feeling like I’m in a fishbowl while in traffic.

Ha, I feel the same way on my white on white. All my previous cars have been 20%, but I’m thinking of 30% for the white interior. It’ll still be dark enough for privacy but also allow white interior to be visible. A white interior should still pop out with the 30%, maybe even at 25% because its so white. Anyone have any white interior with tint pics they could share? I’m going to be doing a partial front/hood xpel wrap and window tint in the next week so any pics or recommendations on % would be helpful! TIA.

 

[paulvinh]

Llumar CTX
35% 4 sides and rear window.
Costed me $399. Machine Cut.
So Cal

 

[ngogas]

I have white interior but going 20% all around. I like not to have people stare at me.

 

[11ac10]

All set here in NJ.
20% all around
Rear window one piece

Just gave it the first wash too.

Who did your tints in NJ? Also 3M? Xpel? Other?

 

[ngogas]

All set here in NJ.
20% all around
Rear window one piece

Just gave it the first wash too.

Beautiful!

 

[EfficientWatts]

XPEL PRIME XR PLUS 45 on sides and back (1 piece). Nothing on windshield or roof above front seats. Sky was overcast so it's hard to get good pictures. Still great visibility from the inside. The different between the back and front roof does not bother me at all and in fact I kind of like it. I have the Tesla sunshade if need be.

 

[Ejl80]

I'm leaning towards XPEL PRIME XR PLUS vs Spectra Photosync because of price. Anyone else compare the two before? Thinking about going 45 all around (except for windshield and roof above driver). Want lighter look and don't mind it being less private.

Funny you mention this... I've had both on my 3. Using a TES meter on different days...

Out of car -- 943 W/m2
XR Plus 15% Windows -- 15.3 W/m2
XR Plus 15% Rear where it is already dark -- 1.9 W/m2

Out of car -- 759.2 W/m2
Photosync 35% Windows -- 31.8 W/m2
Photosync 35% Rear where it was already dark -- .7 W/m2

Obviously it isn't scientific, not the same day, not the same angles, etc.. but to give you an idea. Pricing was about the same for both.

 

[EfficientWatts]

Funny you mention this... I've had both on my 3. Using a TES meter on different days...

Out of car -- 943 W/m2
XR Plus 15% Windows -- 15.3 W/m2
XR Plus 15% Rear where it is already dark -- 1.9 W/m2

Out of car -- 759.2 W/m2
Photosync 35% Windows -- 31.8 W/m2
Photosync 35% Rear where it was already dark -- .7 W/m2

Obviously it isn't scientific, not the same day, not the same angles, etc.. but to give you an idea. Pricing was about the same for both.

Interesting. 35% is a bit lighter so the performance there is relatively better when VLT is taken into account. However I didn't need the best of the best. Pricing for me was also a factor; photosync was more expensive, and that was with a 2 piece back vs 1 I was able to get with the XR Plus (if 1 piece I would guess it would have been even more).

 

[Ejl80]

Interesting. 35% is a bit lighter so the performance there is relatively better when VLT is taken into account. However I didn't need the best of the best. Pricing for me was also a factor; photosync was more expensive, and that was with a 2 piece back vs 1 I was able to get with the XR Plus (if 1 piece I would guess it would have been even more).

Gotcha. My XR Plus was same price (2 piece) as photo sync (1 piece) give or take. If I'm going to spend that much, I wanted the best performance possible. I only ended up going lighter because of the darn auto dimming mirror.

 

[MXWing]

I’ve found that white seats ADD about 15% VLT to whatever you choose.

You actually have to go darker to get the desired effect.

35 my standard for fronts look like 50.

65 on windshield was like no tint at all.

 

[EfficientWatts]

Hey all, want to get some advice. As I pointed out I got the 45 VLT XPEL PRIME XR PLUS. It looked great, I also sat in cars with darker VLT and thought it would be fine, and when I sit inside I still get great visibility during the day.

However I'm starting to regret this level of tint. I thought I was sure with my choice, but now I feel the back is too dark. Kinda wished I didn't tint the back first and revisit that later. I think I may be able to get used to that as I know 45 is light that average for most of y'all here.

The bigger issue is that I'm having a harder than expected time seeing out the sides and back at night. I thought I would be ok (as my previous car had 35 VLT) but perhaps the Model 3 has more built-in VLT reduction than I thought. Furthermore the back and side mirrors don't seem to take into account tint or ambient light, so it still dims all the way, making it really hard to see things other than lights.

I was caught off guard by this because I didn't see anyone else bring up that issue.

I'm kind of hoping that Tesla can release an update that allow you to tweak or turn off auto-dimming, but that could be a while.

I'm thinking that if I can't get used to this, the most cost-effective way would be to ask my tint shop to replace the front two windows with 70 VLT film. Later on I might just switch everything to 70 VLT (or maybe even leave the back untinted again).

Thoughts?

 

[thebigbobowski]

Hey all, want to get some advice. As I pointed out I got the 45 VLT XPEL PRIME XR PLUS. It looked great, I also sat in cars with darker VLT and thought it would be fine, and when I sit inside I still get great visibility during the day.

However I'm starting to regret this level of tint. I thought I was sure with my choice, but now I feel the back is too dark. Kinda wished I didn't tint the back first and revisit that later. I think I may be able to get used to that as I know 45 is light that average for most of y'all here.

The bigger issue is that I'm having a harder than expected time seeing out the sides and back at night. I thought I would be ok (as my previous car had 35 VLT) but perhaps the Model 3 has more built-in VLT reduction than I thought. Furthermore the back and side mirrors don't seem to take into account tint or ambient light, so it still dims all the way, making it really hard to see things other than lights.

I was caught off guard by this because I didn't see anyone else bring up that issue.

I'm kind of hoping that Tesla can release an update that allow you to tweak or turn off auto-dimming, but that could be a while.

I'm thinking that if I can't get used to this, the most cost-effective way would be to ask my tint shop to replace the front two windows with 70 VLT film. Later on I might just switch everything to 70 VLT (or maybe even leave the back untinted again).

Thoughts?

Pretty surprised you're having difficulty with this level of tint. That said, we're all different. I have 30% up front and 20% in the rear, which is darker than I've had before. Drove home from the tint shop at night and immediately thought I'd gone too dark. However, I adjusted after a few days and now think it's just fine.

Point being, I'd drive it for a week or two before making any final decisions.

 

[Glamisduner]

I'm thinking about going 50 all around, I don't know if I would get hassled for having 50 in the front though?
Or maybe 70 in the front (pretty much looks clear), and 30 rear sides and 50 rear? I don't want it to look goofy though.