I know a guy, who is friends with a city cop here, he said that tint is the first thing they look for out there, he said if you have dark tint your going to get pulled over period. I guess its a probable cause thing. I'm going to have to go with the 50% Its better than nothing. ESPECIALLY if I can get the UVA stuff so my leather doesnt get owned by the sun.

 

There's some new stuff that came out fairly recently, lets 70% of visible light through; but blocks over 90% (I think it might have been 99) of heat and UV rays. I think manufacturer's are starting to use them in windshields; would be real nice to keep all that heat out.

I've been around a few cops since my back windows are tinted and haven't been pulled over, even on the strip where everybody is cruising and they're more than happy to pull people over and check them out. I don't know if I'm gonna keep it on mine, I might end up just taking it off.

 

Ive seen this tint in saabs except its clear... I woudnnt worry about the tint for now, just leave it on. did you know that thoes strips people put accross there front windsheilds are illegal 2?

 

the strips on the front windshield aren't illegal as long as they don't go farther than 5 inches down

 

I noticed on newer Lexuses, (such as the '01 IS300 loaner I have today), the glass as a slight green tint to it. Is that the film that lets in most of the visible light but blocks UV?

 

At my driver's ED class just a few months ago, a police officer came in to talk to our class and I shot a bunch of questions at him, one of them being window tint. He said window tint is a clear equipment violation and is an excuse for pulling people over. For example, a cop CANNOT pull someone over for reckless driving, they need a probable cause. Therefore, they can pull someone over for having "window tint" as their cause and then test for alcohol, cite for reckless driving or anyother violations on top of that.

My friend was pulled over for having 5% tint on all windows on his black M3 (in Illinois it's illegal to tint front side windows) and the cop really wanted to nail him for reckless driving because he was weaving through traffic.

My advice: Don't go past 50% (stay legal) unless you always obey traffic laws n such.

peeeesh,
XenonES3

 

Here the “Big Dig” State of Taxachusetts..opps Massachusetts the legal limit is 30% on the windows. So I had mine down and went to 30% of the sides and 50% on the back. If you get pulled of (which you probably will) the police officer(s) make you remove the tint on the spot! I know this because my father is a State cop in MA. He says if he can’t see the drive the car gets pulled.

I know in CT it is different along with Florida etc.

 

I hsbr 35% and they look great. they're not platinum or that silver one but they do have a metallic sheen. I'll post a pic soon

 

I have 35% bronze on my front and back windows and 50% on my windshield. In NJ any tint on front windows is illegal. I got a ticket for it once, but I was pulled over for turning on red (which is a point violation) so the cop gave me a break. I used to have a red Mazda MX-6 and I got pulled over for the tint all the time. I mostly got warnings, but from experience, getting pulled over for tint depends on the car your driving and the town your in. In my opinion go darker than 50%, its only a $43 ticket (in NJ anyway) and you most likley wont get bothered as long as you don't go too dark. Good luck!

 

It's an $85 ticket in MN, so you're taking a chance with a little bit of money here. BTW, no problems with mine yet, I've left the front windows with nothing and usually don't drive real crazy. Still debating on whether to pull it off or not.

 

First off I want to thank everyone for being so helful with my rudamentary questions. I really appreciate the help. If you haven't noticed I'm the kinda guy that likes to plan everything out in advance, as I've discussed topics like cleaning, DRLs and even tires when I havent even as yet put down the deposit. Hopefully we'll be through the refinance soon so I can go ahead and apply for the lease and order the car.

My next question has to do with tint. Now, I've never had a car tinted before, but I am interested in it for the ES because the exterior and interior are so dark, I'd like to keep it as cool as I can. I dont want anything really dark, or anything goofy and mirrored, just a normal tint that would compliment the car, what type does everyone think I should look into? I know its illegal to tint the windshield, but is it possible to have this done? I'm concerned about the tint looking odd if the windshield is different from the rest of the vehicle.

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate it

 

It is possible to tint the windshield. I think there is somebody in this ES forum who has tinted their front windshield....i forgot... who is it???

I personally like the 'traditional' smoke tint. Bronze looks good on certain colors. Mirror looks good on silver, light blues, light greens etc...

If you go light...say 35% all round you won't notice too much of a contrast between the front windshield and rest of the windows....check out Egainer's pics...he has 35%

 

here ya go...

 

tint

 

There is a relatively new tint that will block over 99 percent of heat and damaging UV rays, but still allow 70% of visible light through. I think manufacturers are starting to incorporate this into windshields on some cars, and I'm guessing you could probably get your windshield done without getting caught since it's not dark colored, it'd be barely noticeable. This would be ideal if you're looking to keep things cool and don't really care if people can see into the car.

There was a discussion on this here with more info a while back, I think it was in the Lobby, try searching for it.