starstreak

Well most tint shops in hawaii charge $400 for my car. unless I goto the cheap stuff. so huper otpic isn't THAT much more as far as cost...

vandit23

How many windows are you getting tinted for that price? Considering the other quality tints are 50% less or more...Huper is up there in price...I got all windows and windshield done for about $630 so I guess your price for the huper is about right...But in the end it's your choice. It does look good, though...I got 40% all around and 60% on the windshield...Oh, and the darker you go on the Huper, the more likely of the ghosting effect...At least that's what the tint guy told me...Something about Huper being REALLY thick compared to other tints...This is because Huper was originally used to tint residential and commercial properties...They just use the same stuff for cars...

starstreak

Sides and rear only. Hawaii tint law is 35% only. and only 4in on the front.
Whats this ghosting you keep talking about?

vandit23

Ghosting is sort of hard to explain...It occurs at places where the tint has been shrunk with a heat gun to accomodate the curves in the glass. This is what the tint guy told me. I'm assuming it is due to the thickness differences between the "heat shrunk" side and a "flat" portion of tint...ANyway, you can't really see at all, unless you are in bright sunlight, and are searching for them...I have a tiny spot in one of the corners of the rear window...However, my tint guy is VERY reputable, and was recoimmended highly by other CL members...So I guess it all depends on tinter experience with the Huper Optik...

dunnojack

ghosting is like discoloration in your tint where they heat shrink it.

I've been told it happens when you use too much heat. So I assume you have to take extra time to install ceramic tint, and heat it slowly.

starstreak

Well I found another shop. Whos supposedly the auth supplier for the Island. Yes, I thought I said the same thing about the other guy. Well supposedly he sells the tint to the other store because this store normally does building windows....k... Anyways, he has his own set for car installers (who does cars, not buildings. I asked if they were experienced, he said at least 10 years doing car windows...)

So he's gonna do it fro $300 cash. I guess I can't get much lower to regular car tint at that price. I'll find out next week Thursday.

tod071

Al's Tinting is the only one on Oahu to do the tinting. I was quoted $380 for all windows. Since my RX has factory tint on the rears, I asked for 35% on just the front and 80% all around. With Huper Optik, it cuts the heat down dramatically! I could tell the difference and its well worth it!
But, if I were you, I'd get the front windshield tinted w/ 80% also. Yeah, its another $220, but without it, the heat will still come through the windshield, and you might actually be disappointed.

Overall, is it worth $600? Definitely!

Dr. Jekyll

iTrader: (1)

I agree with tod071, Al's done all my tinting ever since he was at Auto Audio and I've continued using him when he opened up his shop in Aiea (Al's Tinting). I have no idea what the other shop is saying about being the importer than reseller to Al but if you want piece of mind, call Huper Optik directly and confirm it with them, they'll tell you Al is the only distributer. Also don't believe the other shop when they dis Al and his product. They work with Lexus simply because they are down the block from Lexus and Al's all the way in Aiea. I've known Al to be a straight up guy and someone who will work with you personally to assure you are completely satisfied. When I get that from a business I hardly consider the price. Just my 2 cents.

starstreak

No, no. Ace tinting did not diss Al's tint. But they also do the tint too. Supposedly they got my name when I sent my info on huper Optics home page.

update: i called Al. turns out I was right, Al is the distributor for car tint, and that Ace is for buildings. Since they only allowed to do buildings, they aren't supposed to give warrenties to car tinting. So I canceled mine and went with Al's. I don't know if after 5+ years if Al still has the same people tinting cars, but they did do two of mine b4.

tod071- Dunno about doing the whole front windshield. I like in Wahiawa, they love to tkt guys that does things like that or go with darker tint than allowed.

Oh great. And here I saw the '08 might have nav.... I wonder if I should put the tint on or sell teh car and get the 08?

tod071

80% is within legal limits. You can't tell there's tint, its basically clear. Plus, Al's doesn't do illegal tint . So, if they offer 80% front, its gotta be legal. They wouldn't even do 28% on my fronts (then, after checking with my friend, safety check establishments can go down to 28-29% and be within variance).

pingu

I'm still having a nightmare issue with this stuff 30%. Make sure they do not use too much heat when applying it to your windows or you will get ghosting. The company sucks for customer service also. I would go with Formula 1 instead.

tod071

Can you elaborate on your post? What nightmare issue are you talking about, 30%? What company sucks for customer service? And why Formula 1? Do they have a ceramic tint too?

starstreak

tod- in my prev post T&T does Formula-1 tint. Ceramic tints.

Oh 80% is light transmission. so 20% blocked. State law is 35% blocked. I think I understand what you mean.

tod071

Thanks, I didn't know TNT had ceramic tint. Yes, state law is 35%, but not the windshield. Windshield cannot be less than 80%. My friend actually metered his windshield w/ Huper Optik and it read 88%, so the 80% actually allows MORE light than factory glass!

bturkel1@v

Ha dit in my 545. Have it now all 22 windows upstairs in my home. To me - not a real big difference.