Kaius88

A well-known tint installer in Los Angeles (Song's Tint Masters) offered a couple of options and gave me quotes. This guys is supposed to be one of the best in the business, as you can verify throughout this forum. Here are the options:

Huper Optiks Ceramic 40% tint: Maximal heat protection and UV/IR protection. High-end product with lifetime warranty. $475

Madico CH Polyester 35% tint: Fair heat and UV/IR protection. Mid-level product. No fade, no peel. Lifetime warranty. $250

I am not taking metallic because of possible NAV interference. I just want something to protect against sun during the summer. Which would you guys pick?

twister

Is this going to be all around (rear window, back & front side and passenger windows)? To be honest, that ceramic going to be waste of money. Heat difference not going to be that significant. Ceramic material is obviously more expensive. You will be fine with the other tint, even so anything over $200 sounds overpriced.

twister

True, my opinion is based on the feedback from others (from East Coast), not the first hand experience. Still, its too high of an investment for something that can get scratched/damaged so easily, especially with little kids in the car considering Kaius and I are in the same boat I need to find out exactly the tint material I got on mine, but in a summer during our East Coast heat wave with 100 deg and me being parked in the middle of open parking lot - car was cool inside!

cocopops

iTrader: (1)

wow. Those prices are really quite high, especially the Huper Optiksceramics. Usually I won't spend more than 300 on tints. If you do decide to get it, please post pics. I wanna see how it looks on the SGM ES350. If its great, I might do my tint before next year's summers' arrival.

toneman

Well, if you live in an area where tint shops are almost as numerous as liquor stores (okay I'm exaggerating a bit but not by a whole lot)--e.g., in L.A.--sure I can see where $200+ for a tint job may be too much...but that's more a function of competition rather than whether a tint job is really worth that much.

At the same time, however--and I can say this because my brother owns and operates a auto tint shop--from a practical standpoint there is really no such thing as a "flat rate" for tinting a vehicle. Some vehicles are more difficult to tint than others, while other vehicles require more labor to tint. Even with the frequently-requested "tint the two rear door windows (if sedan) plus the back window" tint job, the amount of time will vary depending on how many panes of glass are on each of the two rear doors--some rear doors have but one pane, while others (like the ES 350) consist of two panes. All other things being the same, which door would be the easier of the two to tint--i.e., which door will require less time to tint?

Given the above, it is not entirely out of the realm for a complete (4 doors plus rear window) tint job on the ES 350 to run more than $200; if a tint shop is willing to charge much less for such a job--well it is their choice to charge less for the labor portion of the install...and I might even go as far as to say that such places probably run their business model similar to those car stereo places that advertise the "$1 car stereo install".

It's so easy to tell yourself that the bottom line is getting the cheapest and most affordable price possible, but I can tell you right now that even w/ tint jobs, you do get what you paid for.

Kaius88

im considering the Ceramic. Yes its expensive, but this shop is one of the best in Los Angeles, and I feel it may be worth it. then again my little girl might be tempted to scratch it and kick it from time to time. My car is parked indoors 90% of the time...at home and office. I guess from my parking habits, i might not need the ceramic. The Polyester CH is a lot less and has sufficient protection. I might get that. I think in the end i'll make a decision at the shop and see what the products look like....tho i think the demo will draw me to ceramic.